Bay City News--Frenzy over the release of Nike's new Air Jordan basketball shoes prompted a crowd of about 200 people to force its way into the Bayfair Mall in San Leandro Friday morning, police said.
The mini-riot at Bayfair follows a in the parking lot outside the Walmart on Hesperian Blvd. where a man was also shot on Black Friday and a third man was shot earlier in the year.
In the Bayfair incident, a crowd broke through an entry door at about 6 a.m. Friday to gain access to the mall and lined up outside the Foot Locker and Champs stores where the much-hyped shoes were to be sold, San Leandro police Lt. Jeff Tudor said.
Foot Locker management decided the situation was too dangerous and didn't open the store, Tudor said.
The crowd was so unruly that San Leandro police requested and received help from the Alameda County Sheriff's Department to calm things down, Tudor said.
The crowds finally left the mall after many orders to disperse, he said.
No arrests were made and no physical force was used, according to Tudor.
He said the situation at the mall, which is located at 15555 E. 14th St., has now calmed down and stores have opened and are operating smoothly.
There have been other reports of frenzied crowds at stores across the country where the Air Jordan shoes are being sold.
A shot was fired at the Hilltop Mall in Richmond shortly before 7 a.m. today as more than 1,000 shoppers waited outside for a chance to buy the shoes.
No one was injured and a 24-year-old Richmond man who allegedly accidentally fired the shot was arrested.
