600-Person Brawl Erupts Outside Florida Theater Christmas Day

Five teenagers were arrested outside a Jacksonville, Florida theater on Christmas Day after a brawl erupted that reportedly involved 600 people. Apparently the fight, which sounds more like a riot, started when some people tried to get into the movie theater for free by bum rushing the entrance, leading the Hollywood River City 14 to lock its doors. Most of my gang fight experience is based on West Side Story, so I can only imagine that the finger snaps could be heard for miles.

Investigators say this began when a group of teenagers tried to barge into the Hollywood River City 14 Theater without paying on Christmas night.

An estimated crowd of 600 people started to gather in the parking lot

JSO spokeswoman Lauri-Ellen Smith told Action News an off-duty officer tried to subdue the crowd by using pepper spray and a melee erupted. [ActionNewsJacksonville]

Movies playing at the theater included A Madea Christmas, Anchorman 2, Grudge Match, and 47 Ronin. The lesson: if someone’s attempting to see Grudge Match, know you are dealing with a desperate person.

Soon after the pepper spray was used, “upward of 600 people moving throughout a parking lot about the size of a football field began fighting, disrupting and jumping on cars,” she said.

Sixty-two police officers were called to the scene to break up the brawl, “sequestering them and separating them,” Smith said.

Police arrested Tevyn Davis, 19; Jaquade Miller, 18; and Khalil Bradley, 17. The names of the other two suspects are being withheld due to their ages.

Only minor injuries and damage to property were reported. No gunshots were fired, according to Smith. [Yahoo]

By “minor property damage,” I can only assume that a few trucks had their nutz ripped off. Still, that 600 people could be involved in a mini-riot and no one got shot is Florida’s answer to a Christmas miracle.

[hat tip: DeathandTaxes]

 

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