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Air Jordan XI Retro Concords spark arrests, fights
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They braved long lines, rowdy crowds and even pepper spray to nab a pair of the new Nike Air Jordans.
Sneaker fans from coast-to-coast stampeded to grab the shoes, which went on sale at midnight Friday across the nation.
A shouting match erupted outside the Staten Island Mall around 10:30 p.m. Thursday between two men waiting for shoes, police said.
Shoppers started lining up behind police barricades around 9 a.m. and about 1,000 has amassed by 10 p.m.
Mayhem broke out when Vincenzo Gavrity, 19, “squared up” to another man baring his fists, screaming and cursing, police said.
The second man piped down when cops moved in, but police say it took several officers to restrain the flailing Gavrity.
“F--- you, I’m getting my shoes,” said Gavrity, whose jacket blew off in the dust up as he attempted to avoid handcuffs, according to the criminal complaint.
Gavrity was arrested and charged with disorderly conduct, resisting arrest and obstruction of governmental administration.
Police pepper-sprayed about 20 people in Tukwila, Wash., after they got in a fight waiting for the new shoes, the Seattle Post-Intelligencer reported.
Police said the incident began after more than 1,000 people began lining up around midnight to get a chance at purchasing the Air Jordan XI Retro Concords, which retail for $180 a pop.
Eventually, a group of customers began pushing and the situation escalated.
“Around 3 [a.m.], there started to be some fighting and pushing among the customers,” a police spokesman told the Associated Press. “Around 4, it started to get pretty unruly and officers sprayed pepper spray on a few people who were fighting, and that seemed to do the trick to break them up."
One man was arrested in that incident — and did not get his sneakers.
In Lithonia, Ga., four people were arrested after overeager customers broke down the door to a store selling the sneakers.
Police were also called to shopping malls in Florida, Indiana, Texas and Virginia to control the crowds, ABC News reported.
“I don’t remember anything like this in the recent past at all, definitely not with the iPhone or anything like that,” Linda Jackson, a spokeswoman for the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department, told ABCNews.com.
In New Jersey, one shopper told My Fox Philly that a fellow shopper had threatened gunfire if he didn't get the shoes.
“Security opened the door, and it was complete mayhem,” shopper J.R. Santos told the TV station.
In addition to being hot Christmas gift items, the sneakers can resell for hundreds more — and could increase in value.
By Friday afternoon, pairs were going for $510 on ebay.
While the hysteria over the shoes seems extreme, it's sadly become predictable for the popular shoe, which first debuted during its namesake's NBA career, in 1985.
Source: nydailynews.com