Exton carnival canceled after being shut down by police due to unruly crowd of juveniles
EXTON, Pa. (CBS) -- The Exton Square Mall Spring Carnival is canceled after the carnival company's permit was revoked following a large crowd control issue Saturday night, West Whiteland Police Department announced Sunday.
According to police, the decision to revoke the permit and fully shut down the carnival at the mall came as a safety precaution for attendees.
Police initially shut down the carnival in Chester County Saturday night after a group of juveniles created what officials described as an "unsafe environment" for those at the fair. Additional officers from agencies around the county were also called in to help with crowd control.
While they didn't specify exactly what happened, police said the large crowd in the outer lot of the Exton Square Mall was creating a disturbance.
West Whiteland Township police ask that anyone with video from the carnival on Saturday submit it through their tipline to help with their investigation.
Families say a night of planned fun instead turned into witnessing violence after the event was cut short, seven days before it was supposed to end.
Drew Davies, who lives in Thorndale, brought his two young girls to the carnival. As he was pulling up, they heard sirens and were met with a large police presence.
"We didn't know what was going on," Davies said, noting his girls were "disappointed to find out they couldn't even get in the front gate."
Jeff Good, the owner of Goodtime Amusements, the company that runs the carnival, said he's disappointed that his business is taking a hit because some teens decided to cause trouble. He said he had even taken the extra step to contract a private security firm that conducted bag checks. He plans to take down the carnival equipment Monday morning.
Police investigating fight inside mall
Davies took his two girls inside the mall, but inside they found only more chaos.
Police are also investigating a fight that they say occurred inside the mall after the carnival was shut down. The department released surveillance footage captured by a business at the mall and is asking for the public's help with identifying anyone involved.
The video shows a person with long hair being punched and kicked multiple times with several witnesses around.
"The second we walked into the mall, just a large group of kids in both directions screaming, 'Run!'" Davies said. "Then we actually witnessed a large group of kids walk up to one single kid looking into a store, hitting him in the face."
Davies and his daughters are shown in the background of the video posted by police. Davies said after witnessing the violence, he called the police. His daughters were crying and are still shaken up, he said.
"They were very scared. One of them said they never want to go back to the fair, the other one said they never want to come back to the mall," he said.
Davies said he never expected this to happen in the town where he grew up.
"Especially a town like Exton, I don't know the last thing that's ever happened here that would be mind-boggling like that," Davies said.
Anyone with information related to the fight is asked to submit a tip online or contact Detective Sergeant McCloskey at jmccloskey@westwhiteland.org.
The Exton Square Spring Carnival was previously scheduled to run from May 9 through May 18.
Any information related to ticket refunds must be directed to carnival staff, police said.