December 28, 2013 Brookyln New York (CBSNewYork) — The NYPD assigned extra officers to patrol a Brooklyn mall on Friday — a day after it was crashed by a teen stampede.
Cops swarmed the Kings Plaza Shopping Center in Mill Basin to prevent any hint of a repeat of a flash mob of more than 300 kids who started fighting, yelling and running wild.
Mall officials requested that "minor children have an adult escort" at the buyers' haven.
The pandemonium on Thursday was sparked by a Facebook post in which young people were urged to put Kings Plaza "on tilt," police sources said.
Video posted online of the madness shows several girls getting into fights before police officers intervene, and other kids dashing throughout the mall.
Abu Taleb watched in horror as the teens poached items from other vendors. He said he couldn't escape the throngs of pint-sized pickpockets as they raided his jars of sweets — and tried to get their paws on his cash.
"It was scary," Taleb told the Daily News. "Everybody was scared. There were a lot of people, a lot of kids. It was very loud. Security tried to stop them, but they could not do it.
"Kids tried to get my cash from the register," he continued. "(One) had scissors and was acting like he (was) going to attack me."
Despite online evidence of the mall melee, Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly said no one filed a complaint about being assaulted or robbed.
Deputy Chief Kim Royster said cops were called about 9 p.m. Thursday to disperse the crowd of rascals, who caused more of a ruckus than a crime.
"They weren't stealing anything," said the NYPD spokeswoman. "They weren't assaulting anyone. They were going through the mall, making loud noises. Some were fighting with each other.
