3 violent incidents reported on Black Friday
The Puerto Rico Police Department said there were at least three reports of violent incidents related to Black Friday in Bayamón, Mayagüez and San Juan shopping centers as hordes of shoppers swarmed stores looking for bargains as the Christmas holiday season began in earnest.
Police Superintendent José Figueroa Sancha said that four individuals were arrested at 5:40 a.m. for private property damage and public disturbance at Plaza Las Américas in Hato Rey.
Initially, police had reported that four men, ages 18, 19, 20 and 22, took a fire extinguisher and began spraying its contents near Zara, a clothing store on the mall’s first floor, said an unnamed security director at the complex. He told police that the group also threatened shopping center security guards.
Plaza Las Américas security is handled by Ranger American Security, owned by Juan Bravo, who is allegedly being investigated by a federal Grand Jury along with New Progressive Party senators suspected of approving legislation to favor his security company.
Figueroa Sancha was not available for comment on the Black Friday incidents and it was not known if Ranger American was in charge of security at the Bayamón and Mayagüez stores where violence was also reported.
Agent Hugo Ramos, assigned to the Plaza Las Américas Police Station, said that an 18-year-old male resident of Bayamón and a 20-year-old resident of San Juan were summoned to appear at the San Juan courthouse next Wednesday, while another two men were released because they had nothing to do with the incident.
Another violent incident was reported at 4:30 a.m. at the Walmart in Mayagüez Mall.
Sergeant Lowel Matos Acosta, of the Community Affairs of the Mayagüez Regional Police, said that Walmart opened its doors at 4 a.m. and was allowing groups of about 25 to 30 people to enter the store as more than 800 shoppers waited outside.
Matos Acosta explained that the shop had two uniformed security guards and six or seven management employees keeping order in lanes that were organized by temporary fences.
At one point part of the group began shoving against the double glass doors of the store and broke them in an effort to get inside the store.
Matos Acosta reported no injuries among the crowd and said the manager of Walmart, Raymond Lugo, did not press charges against anyone. Lugo only filed a claim with police and for the insurance company to replace the doors.
“I have never seen anything so incredible,” Matos Acosta said, who has been in such events on previous years and estimated that the crowd this year was much bigger.
The sergeant said that police kept everything in order and would do so until closing time at 9 p.m., although traffic in all of the region’s shopping malls was heavy as of noon.
Matos Acosta said that despite rumors of shoppers fainting during the incident, not a single customer filed a complaint with police.
Yet another incident was reported at the Walmart store located at the Plaza del Sol shopping center in Bayamón, where the crowd reportedly stampeded when the doors opened before dawn and knocked down a security guard.
Police Superintendent José Figueroa Sancha said that four individuals were arrested at 5:40 a.m. for private property damage and public disturbance at Plaza Las Américas in Hato Rey.
Initially, police had reported that four men, ages 18, 19, 20 and 22, took a fire extinguisher and began spraying its contents near Zara, a clothing store on the mall’s first floor, said an unnamed security director at the complex. He told police that the group also threatened shopping center security guards.
Plaza Las Américas security is handled by Ranger American Security, owned by Juan Bravo, who is allegedly being investigated by a federal Grand Jury along with New Progressive Party senators suspected of approving legislation to favor his security company.
Figueroa Sancha was not available for comment on the Black Friday incidents and it was not known if Ranger American was in charge of security at the Bayamón and Mayagüez stores where violence was also reported.
Agent Hugo Ramos, assigned to the Plaza Las Américas Police Station, said that an 18-year-old male resident of Bayamón and a 20-year-old resident of San Juan were summoned to appear at the San Juan courthouse next Wednesday, while another two men were released because they had nothing to do with the incident.
Another violent incident was reported at 4:30 a.m. at the Walmart in Mayagüez Mall.
Sergeant Lowel Matos Acosta, of the Community Affairs of the Mayagüez Regional Police, said that Walmart opened its doors at 4 a.m. and was allowing groups of about 25 to 30 people to enter the store as more than 800 shoppers waited outside.
Matos Acosta explained that the shop had two uniformed security guards and six or seven management employees keeping order in lanes that were organized by temporary fences.
At one point part of the group began shoving against the double glass doors of the store and broke them in an effort to get inside the store.
Matos Acosta reported no injuries among the crowd and said the manager of Walmart, Raymond Lugo, did not press charges against anyone. Lugo only filed a claim with police and for the insurance company to replace the doors.
“I have never seen anything so incredible,” Matos Acosta said, who has been in such events on previous years and estimated that the crowd this year was much bigger.
The sergeant said that police kept everything in order and would do so until closing time at 9 p.m., although traffic in all of the region’s shopping malls was heavy as of noon.
Matos Acosta said that despite rumors of shoppers fainting during the incident, not a single customer filed a complaint with police.
Yet another incident was reported at the Walmart store located at the Plaza del Sol shopping center in Bayamón, where the crowd reportedly stampeded when the doors opened before dawn and knocked down a security guard.