Multiple fights broke out, and more than 100 teenagers swarmed around them at the Fashion Centre at Pentagon City over the weekend.
ARLINGTON, Va. — On Saturday evening, several fights broke out among more than 100 teenagers at the Fashion Centre at Pentagon City, causing the mall to be evacuated and shut down nearly two hours early.
The incident continues a trend of teens stealing and fighting at the mall.
Arlington County Police said three teens were detained after the brawls broke out, and they are now facing several charges, including riot, assault, and obstruction of justice.
On Sunday, the mall looked to be back to normal, but ACPD said there is an increased presence of patrols in the area.
Greg and Reshma Jones, who WUSA9 caught up with outside of the mall, said the Fashion Centre at Pentagon City is one of their favorite malls, and now they like to bring their 14 and 13-year-old teenagers, Amani and Aamir. So, they said, it is disheartening whenever they hear of incidents like what happened on Saturday.
“I think it definitely impacts business, it impacts how the malls can survive and stay open and safe,” said Reshma.
“We lived here almost 20 years, so it’s just unfortunate to see that stuff like this is happening,” said Greg.
Arlington County Police said that just after 7 p.m. on Saturday, they were called to the mall for numerous fights that broke out simultaneously in the food court. Witnesses said 100 to 150 teenagers formed a crowd around the fights, standing around and on top of tables to record on their phones.
Police said as officers were responding, even more fights continued to occur. ACPD then determined it was safest to close the mall nearly two hours early and have everyone evacuate.
A 13-year-old girl, a 15-year-old girl, and a 14-year-old boy were detained, and police have petitions for their arrest. ACPD said taking all three teens into custody involved them assaulting officers and security. A knife was found on the 14-year-old boy.
The Joneses said parents need to take better accountability.
“I think they just have to do a better job of, whether it’s curfews or making sure parents are around, supervising their kids. Just have a better control over their own kids and making sure they’re doing the right thing,” said Greg Jones.
Incidents of teens getting into trouble in the mall are becoming more and more common. Just this past fall, WUSA9 reported on two smash and grabs, one in September and the other, a month later in October, both involving teens.
Greg and Reshma do not want their kids to lose the little bit of freedom they get to experience at the mall.
“It’s sad because you don’t want to take that away from them because then they’re just going to be more in the house which they already are,” said Reshma Jones.
Arlington County Board Member, JD Spain Sr., said more conversations will be had in the coming days among the board, County Manager Mark Schwartz, law enforcement, and businesses. However, he said one solution could be partnering with non-profit organizations and finding safer outlets for teens.
“The idle mind is the devil’s workshop. And so we need to focus in on engaging our youth, so they won’t end up doing things like this,” said Spain Sr. “When malls close, businesses suffer, and one thing we don’t want to have happen here is for our businesses to feel like they’re not being heard or taken care of.”
Amani and Aamir have their own message for fellow teens in the area:
“It would be a safer environment if people would just control themselves and make sure they’re not doing bad things,” said Amani
“Violence is not the answer,” said Aamir.
Arlington Police said the fights on Saturday remain an active investigation.
In response to questions on what will be done to make the mall safer, ACPD said it “continues to collaborate with Fashion Centre at Pentagon City’s management and will continue to explore additional crime prevention strategies.” The department also said it currently has an off-duty detail on Friday and Saturday evenings at the mall.
