Akron Flash Mob: Group Of 70 Teens Swarm Circle K Store In ‘Mob And Rob’ Attack



A flash mob of between 50 and 70 teens swarmed a store in Akron, Ohio, in what was known as a “mob and rob” that left the business in shambles.

The incident happened on Friday night at a store on West Market Street. Witnesses say there were about 40 young teens who stormed the store at about 12:30 a.m., but later estimates put it at between 50 and 70 juveniles.

A couple who happened to be pumping gas nearby were able to record the incident, showing the group storming into the store and coming out with handfuls of merchandise. Others took to destroying the store, throwing items in the parking lot, Newsnet 5 Cleveland noted.

“There are probably about 40 kids who just ran in and started grabbing stuff and are running around in the parking lot like wild children,” the woman said as she filmed the video. “I don’t know where they came from. They stole a bunch of candy. They just stole a bunch of stuff and are trashing the gas station right now.”

The incident seems to be part of a disturbing trend of teenagers using social media to coordinate flash mobs of mayhem. In other incidents teens have stormed malls, stores, and given areas of the city to rob stores and sometimes even beat innocent bystanders caught in the wrong place at the wrong time.

The flash mob incidents stretch back a number of years. Back in 2013, about 200 teenagers swarmed the Lauderhill Mall in Florida as part of a planned brawl, the Huffington Post reported.

Witnesses say it may have started as a fight between two girls, but quickly turned into a widescale brawl.

“I just heard that anybody that had beef with each other is supposed to come over here and fight,” said Frank Francis, a witness to the fight. “People was getting hit by [traffic] cones. Like fighting, like a brawl.”

The previous summer a mob of close to 300 teenagers attacked a Walmart in Florida, running rampant through the aisles and stealing a security scanner worth $1,500. The teens even attacked some innocent shoppers.

Some of the incidents have been quite costly. In Chicago, a mob organized by social media decided to target a single store, where they ripped off $3,000 worth of designer jeans.

The Akron flash mob didn’t do quite as much damage. A manager of the Circle K store said they only broke some store shelves and stole about $200 worth of candy and chips.

[Image via YouTube]

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