VIDEO: Brawl at Michigan mall sparked by drunk, demanding customers at Foot Locker

2 men arrested for drunkenly starting fight at Foot Locker, police say

DEARBORN, Mich. – A brawl at a mall in Southeast Michigan left customers in disbelief on Black Friday.

"It was nothing but swinging, grabbing, slamming to the floor," Ronnie Elhouli said.

Elhouli recorded a portion of the fight at the Foot Locker store inside Fairlane Town Center in Dearborn on his cellphone.

"When I put the phone down, I was making sure something won't go flying at me," Elhouli said. "There was shoes falling everywhere, or someone pushed into me."

Dearborn Police Chief Ron Haddad said two customers were rowdy from the moment they stepped inside the Foot Locker. The men started demanding help from workers, and Elhouli said there were screams before the punches.

"The guy arguing goes to one of the guy workers, gets in his face and the worker drops all of his stuff and they start swinging from there," Elhouli said.

Police arrested two men for drunkenness and assault and battery. Employees rushed to help the manager, who suffered a few bruises.

"The employees showed restraint, but they also contained the situation so no one else gets hurt," Elhouli said.

Haddad said it's not a common scene at the mall.

"Fairlane Town Center crime is down almost 30 percent year to date, which is totally unheard of, considering you have 12.5 million annual visitors," Haddad said.

Police said when they arrested the drunken customers, they discovered that the customers didn't have any money to spend.

"They had no money on their person," Haddad said. "So for them to be there demanding someone to wait on them, it just doesn't fit."

"They must have been there on purpose to start a fight," Eltouli said.

The two customers were taken to jail.

"Maybe their judgment was impaired, but now they have some answering to do," Haddad said.

One man is still locked up, but both are scheduled to appear before a judge Tuesday. They are charged with drunken disorderly conduct and assault.


About the Authors:

Derick is the Lead Digital Editor for ClickOnDetroit and has been with Local 4 News since April 2013. Derick specializes in breaking news, crime and local sports.