pepper spray used on crowds for tennis shoes ??

[littlewolf]

http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/dn/latestnews/stories/122410dnmetshoes.42eb1f8e.html



Mesquite police use pepper spray to quell clamor for new Air Jordan shoes at Town East Mall
04:43 PM CST on Thursday, December 23, 2010
By RAY LESZCYNSKI / The Dallas Morning News
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Mesquite police twice used pepper spray on shoppers at Town East Mall early Thursday as a crowd of 400-500 pushed for first access to limited pairs of Cool Grey 11, the new Air Jordan sneakers.
Though the first use of the spray was to help a child that police said was trapped against the door, nobody was hurt and there were no arrests. Problems with release of the shoe were also reported in Houston.

Mesquite Police Lt. Bill Hedgpeth said police were already staffing the site shortly before 6 a.m. when they noticed the child pushed against the door between the mall and parking lot that was scheduled to open early for the shoe sale.
"As the door opened to help the child, the crowd tried to enter," Hedgpeth said. Pepper spray was used to hold them back.

A couple minutes later, another push broke the same door and police again sprayed the crowd, Hedgpeth said.
Sandra LaClave, general manager for Town East, said the three stores that offered the shoes opened at 6 a.m. as planned and quickly sold out of their supplies. The shoes are being sold for $175-$200 per pair.