Video: Two arrested after brawls break out at Arden Fair

Arden Fair officials promised it would beef up security Saturday after two large-scale brawls and several smaller skirmishes sent at least two people to jail and forced the mall to close its doors early Friday evening.

Twenty or more people were involved in the fights in the mall crowded with after-Christmas shoppers.

The first fight started just after 4:30 p.m. in the mall’s upstairs food court, said Priscilla Gomez, a Sacramento Police dispatch supervisor.

“We started having groups who were confrontational with other groups” at the mall’s upstairs food court, said Steve Reed, security chief for Arden Fair Mall.

The second melee broke out about 90 minutes later, about 6 p.m., near the food court, Gomez said. As mall security and police moved the crowd downstairs, other smaller fights began to break out before police and security gained control.

Mall security and 12 Sacramento police officers rushed to the scene. Reports that shots had been fired were found to be false, Gomez said. Reed later said a planter knocked over during one of the scuffles was the source of the report.

Police detained a handful of people suspected of starting the fights, arresting at least two people, Reed said. No one was hurt.

The mall closed at 7:30 p.m., an hour and a half earlier earlier than scheduled, Reed said.

This story was originally published December 26, 2014 at 8:18 PM.