A mob of 500 out-of-control teens took over a Colorado shopping complex Sunday afternoon, erupting into fights, and damaging property.
The unruly horde, a majority of whom were between the ages of 14 and 17, overran the Hoffman Heights Shopping Centre in Aurora, Colo., at around 1:30 p.m. Sunday, according to Aurora police.
The teens had gathered for an unpermitted sporting event before moving toward the shopping plaza, which houses a King Soopers supermarket and a Burger King among other businesses.
Over 70 officers from the Aurora Police Department were called to the scene to attempt to disperse the “unlawful assembly” of children, officials said.
Instead of leaving, the crowd fled into the bordering businesses.
A whoppingly large group rushed into the nearby Burger King, where they were packed shoulder to shoulder and began singing and dancing on the tables inside the dining room, according to videos posted to social media.
“POV: you took over a burger king,” the video was captioned as the teens belted out Carly Rae Jepsen’s 2011 hit “Call Me Maybe.”
One of the tables collapsed as the teens were jumping up and down, sending a teen to the ground before the crowd continued their ear-piercing performance.
Other misfits trekked across the parking lot into the grocery store, where they began vandalizing merchandise and raced through the aisles to evade store workers.
One unidentified teen held a table saying he “got it for my mom.”
“This crossed the line from a gathering of young people into a police matter because of the behavior and criminal conduct of some of those involved,” Aurora Police Chief Todd Chamberlain said. “We will not tolerate groups taking over roadways, disrupting businesses, damaging property or stealing under the belief that being part of a large crowd provides anonymity. It does not.”
No arrests were made and officials haven’t shared how many items were stolen or the cost of the vandalism.
“Investigators are reviewing available videos and other evidence to identify individuals responsible for criminal activity,” police said.
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Chamberlain called out the teens’ parents for failing to control their youngsters, which led to the afternoon chaos.
“We also need parents and guardians to understand the role they play,” Chamberlain added. “Know where your children are, who they are with and what they are being invited to through social media.
“When hundreds of young people suddenly gather and behavior begins to escalate, the consequences can become serious very quickly,” he said. “Police officers should not have to be pulled away from other community emergencies to manage behavior that could have been prevented.”
The event appears to have been a part of an event organized by self-proclaimed content creator Grady Ferrick, marketing a vitamin brand.
Ferrick, a one-time Division III basketball player at NYC’s Houghton University, has over 362,000 Instagram followers.
He shared photos of himself amongst the younger crowd in the shopping center parking lot, standing on top of a U-Haul truck and aboard a purple school bus.
The 22-year-old from Western, NY, calls himself a “professional content creator” with skills in high-quality photo and video, listing his experience as a self-employed content specialist on his LinkedIn.
He claims he attended Houghton from 2022 to 2026, where he earned an associate’s degree in photography and film.
Ferrick appears on the school’s men’s basketball roster for the 2022-2023 school year as a freshman.
