Brought to you by WBIW News and Network Indiana
Last updated on Wednesday, March 11, 2015
(INDIANAPOLIS) - A three-year-old girl and her father are recovering from injuries after they got pepper-sprayed this weekend at Circle Centre Mall.
The father and daughter got caught in the middle of the commotion by a group of teens and mall security guards.
The father says he and his daughter got got hit with pepper spray around 8 pm Saturday inside the Circle Centre Mall, where he'd gone to buy dress shoes for work. He noticed right away security guards dealing with hundreds of teenagers, some of them out of control.
Mall security was chasing some kids and one of them kind of pushed passed them, knocking the little girl over.
The concerned father says as mall security chased four kids, they ran in his direction and one of them dispersed pepper spray.
The little girl got some on her arm and in her face.
To keep the peace at the downtown mall, IMPD Downtown District Commander Karen Arnett, a mother herself, is appealing to the mothers of kids who come to Circle Centre.
"Keep in mind that you want your children to be safe so I would just suggest come down with them. Talk to your children when they are coming downtown and they are not supervised by you that we, as well as Simon Mall, expect them to be on good behavior."
That behavior is outlined in a code of conduct card which is distributed at the mall.
The three-year-old's father plans to have their family doctor check her out to make sure there are no lingering side effects from the pepper spray.
WTHI reports, the recent teen violence at Circle Centre Mall is nothing new. Several times in past years, police have had to break up fights.
Two years ago, after violence in and around the mall, IMPD began a crackdown, ticketing adult troublemakers. As for underage children, they were held by police who called their parents to pick them up.
Local church leaders also called for a curfew for teenagers downtown. They've walked the mall and the streets for the last few years, talking with teenagers and trying to head off violent confrontations.
Violence has also erupted at the Castleton Square Mall. In January, a brawl involving up to 20 young people was reported there.
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