Should Arden Fair ban unaccompanied minors, again? Mayor poses idea as brawls erupt

The city and Arden Fair are searching for solutions after two brawls broke out at the mall within three days, both involving large crowds of adolescents.

One solution posed by Sacramento Mayor Darrell Steinberg: Ban unaccompanied minors from the mall, at least for a while.

Arden Fair closed early Saturday evening after Sacramento police arrived in response to multiple fights inside and outside the mall. Sacramento Police Department spokesman Vance Chandler said the incident involved “at least a couple hundred juveniles that were here causing a disturbance and fighting.”

In a prepared statement Sunday, Steinberg said in part: “It may also be necessary, at least temporarily, for Arden Fair to prohibit anyone under 18 from visiting the mall without a parent or guardian. It is sad that some mess it up for all, but Arden Fair is a vital economic asset for our city. We have a responsibility to assure people the mall is safe.”

Arden Fair has put restrictions on unaccompanied minors before. On Dec. 26, 2016, dozens of Sacramento police officers and security guards helped enforce a ban on unaccompanied minors during peak hours. The American Civil Liberties Union contended this was a violation of civil rights, but the ban continued through that holiday season.

The mall did not ban unaccompanied minors in December 2017, Arden Fair spokesman Nathan Spradlin said in an emailed statement.

Arden Fair is seeking short-term and long-term solutions to the recent violent incidents, Spradlin said. “Nothing is off the table,” he said.

However, the goal is to keep the mall an “inclusive” environment, Spradlin said.

“Everyone can come into our mall.”

The fights were allegedly planned in advance on social media. Spradlin said Monday that social media planning is the main difference between this year’s incidents and those in 2016. Now, there’s a “coordinated effort with area youth to come to the mall and fight,” he said.

Spradlin said only one minor injury was confirmed.

Though there were reports of gunfire, Chandler said no firearms were discharged. Spradlin said some kids will clap their hands to imitate gunshots, and scream to make the situation feel dangerous.

“Perception becomes reality,” Spradlin said.

The mall functioned normally Monday, with most stores opening at 11 a.m. because it was New Year’s Eve. There did not appear to be a significant police presence or visibly increased security measures.

Lucca Lucich, a 27-year-old store manager at Zumiez, said the incidents shut down the mall around closing time Wednesday and around 6 p.m. Saturday.

“This was due to a bunch of teenagers, I’d say from about 14 to 20 years old, running around the mall and through the mall, and they were causing almost a brawl-type violence,” Lucich said. “It was a fight. But there was stuff posted on social media, on Facebook, days prior to it that said words like ‘Bring hammers, I’ll see you at the mall.’”

Zumiez sells skate clothes largely aimed toward teens. Lucich said he didn’t think a ban on minors is the right solution.

“It could definitely affect business,” Lucich said. “I think they just need to honestly enforce the area with police during times of violence. If somebody’s talking about it on Facebook or Instagram or Snapchat and a store manager like me, who’s not on any of those individuals’ Facebooks or Snapchats, knows about it two days prior, I think the local community could plan for it in some way.”

Some at the mall Monday favored the ban. Jacqueline Young-Carmona shopped and took photos by the Christmas tree with her two young sons.

She said she would support a ban on unaccompanied minors at Arden Fair, recalling her own actions as a teen.

“We kind of raised hell,” Young-Carmona said.

Though her two sons are younger than 10, she said she would still want to go with the mall with them when they reach their teen years.

“I’d at least be in the mall, so that way I could hear something,” she said. “I’m not one of those parents that are gonna just let my kids out. I mean, the world today sucks.”

In his statement, Steinberg also said “young people often don’t have enough to do” during summer and winter breaks from school, and suggested that Measure U funds could “provide unique opportunity for us to flood our neighborhoods with round-the-clock positive activities for young people.”

The Associated Press reported in 2016 that violence the day after Christmas also led a North Carolina mall to ban unaccompanied teens. Dec. 26 is typically one of the busiest days of the year at malls.

While Arden Fair has seen violence and closures, it’s not the only area mall with the potential for problems. Social media rumors suggested fights may have been planned to start at noon Monday at Delta Shores shopping complex in South Sacramento.

Between noon and 1:30 p.m., at least 10 Sacramento police vehicles and several private security SUVs patrolled the Delta Shores. No fight large-scale fights broke out during that time.

Sacramento Police Department spokesman Vance Chandler did not comment specifically on Delta Shores, but said the department is communicating directly with mall security and Arden Fair management to address the situation.

This story was originally published December 31, 2018 at 3:00 PM.