Teens arrested after mall incidents

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) - Five teens were arrested Saturday evening after large fights broke out inside and around Castleton Square Mall.

No shots were fired, but police responded with a heavy presence, first near the McDonalds on 82nd Street.

Police reports show about 20 teens were fighting just after 6 p.m., and dispatchers told police at least two guns had been pulled out.

Two teens were arrested at that scene, including a 17-year-old, who police say tried to hide a loaded gun. 18-year-old Ryan Grooms was also arrested, for possession of alcohol.

Around 7:30 p.m., officers were called to the mall. Reports show it was crowded with juveniles who were shouting and fighting.

Officers arrested one teen for fighting in the Sears end of the mall.

Two more were arrested after knocking down a clothes rack inside Sears, then resisting both a security guard and an officer.

Reverend Charles Harrison with the Ten Point Coalition says he spoke with IMPD’s chief Sunday morning.

Ten Point had focused their efforts on specific neighborhoods and downtown this weekend.

“The kids tend to move according to where we are, if we’re in one location, they tend to move to another location,” said Harrison. “We knew eventually that was going to happen in Castleton, what had been happening downtown.”

“We really have to deal with this issue, what do we do with our youth, particularly on the weekends,” he added. “What we need to do is create a safe haven for these kids, where we can, as a city, make sure there’s supervision, adult supervision, and also police presence for the 2-3% who come for trouble. I think we really need to address this issue, and we’ve gotta get the city-county council on board with this.”

You'll remember at the beginning of January, shots were fired at Lafayette Square Mall , and no one was hurt.

At the end of January, shots were fired outside Circle Centre Mall , and no one was hurt.

Both those incidents prompted monthly meetings and more security downtown, but Harrison says this latest incident shows more needs to be done.

“That's how we can best use our crime prevention dollars to prevent crime in our city; we really need to focus on that,” said Harrison.

A spokesperson for IMPD says their weekend response plans worked; they were able to re-deploy officers to saturate the area when this happened.