A 600-person brawl occurred in a parking lot outside a movie theater in Jacksonville, Fla., on Christmas night after a group of teens tried to force their way into the building. In the end, only five arrests were made.
The incident reportedly began at approximately 8:30 p.m. Wednesday when a group of teenagers attempted to force their way into a movie theater until they were confronted by an off-duty police officer working as a security guard.
As the teens rushed the security guard, the off-duty cop was able to force them back out of theater bu using pepper spray,
ABC News reported.
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The officer "administered pepper spray to disperse the group, locked the doors and called for backup, following protocol," Jacksonville Sheriff's Office spokeswoman Lauri-Ellen Smith told ABC News.
Shortly after the pepper spray was administered, "upward of 600 people moving throughout a parking lot about the size of a football field began fighting, disrupting and jumping on cars," Smith added.
The security guard called for backup to control the mob that was forming in the parking lot and 62 officers reportedly responded.
According to Smith, after police subdued the violent teen mob there were only minor injuries among the rioters and damage to property.
"Our response was quick and effective,"
Smith told News4Jax.com. "Our job is to keep people safe, first and foremost, obviously and that's what our officers did. They do that through tactical activities through crowd control by sequestering the group and again, keeping these folks safe, determining who's fighting, who's not."
Five teens were arrested and charged with crimes related to fighting, three of whom received felony charges while two juveniles received misdemeanors, ABC News reported.
The three who received felony counts were Tevyn Alonza Davis, 19, for resisting arrest and breach of the peace, Jaquade Marquis Miller, 18, for fighting and resisting arrest, and Khalil Ahmad Bradley, 17, for resisting arrest, refusal to disperse and breach of the peace.
Among the movies being shown on Christmas Eve at the theatre were "Tyler Perry's A Medea Christmas," "47 Ronin," and "Grudge Match."
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