Peoria Police Detail Saturday Incident at Northwoods Mall

The Peoria Police Department is releasing more information about a Saturday night brawl that forced officers to briefly shut down Northwoods Mall.

Officers received a request for assistance from mall security just before 5:45 p.m. When police arrived on scene, mall security was escorting a large group of juveniles from the property for loitering and being disruptive.

Video footage obtained by police showed about 30 of the youths begin to argue and shove one another  near the food court entrance on Sterling. Fewer than 10 actually engaged in a fight, police said.

Police said they fired pepperballs when the initial group near the food court entrance refused to disperse and became aggressive toward officers. One minor injury was reported during that dispersal.

At the same time, police said a separate fight broke out among several youth on the War Memorial side of the mall, near Lane Bryant.

As officers were breaking up those fights, more youth began arriving at the mall. Officers shut down the mall for around 20 minutes to disperse the groups and keep anyone from re-entering.

Four youth were detained at the scene, and one was arrested. That juvenile was released to his parents at the scene.

The additional details come after several days of social media speculation from the public, and requests for more information from local media, regarding the incident.

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