March 15, 2022
On January 22 at 7:14 pm, the Pickerington Police were called to the Marcus Cinema where a fight had erupted amongst a large group of kids.
According to police reports, when the officers arrived, they asked the teens to leave the parking lot, but that the “juveniles who had been causing the problem had (already) left on foot. Multiple groups of 5-10 juveniles were seen walking away from the theater toward Ulta Beauty and Steak and Shake.”
Then, a group of girls began screaming and pushing each other at the far end of the theater lot near the Steak and Shake.
“As we approached, the crowd began to separate but continued to yell. All the females involved appeared to be juveniles, with the exception of one female who stated multiple times that she was picking up her daughter.”
When asked which girl was her daughter, the woman pointed to several of the kids, and they all walked to the adult’s vehicle.
Meanwhile, Officer Matthew Swaney was near Steak and Shake speaking to another group of “five or six juveniles … trying to get them to calm down and leave.”
Despite the police presence, one of the girls began to scream in the face of another as if to instigate another fight.
Officer Mallory Nash, who had arrived to assist Swaney approached the instigator from behind, “took hold of her hands behind her back and escorted her to the front of my cruiser. I placed her in handcuffs behind her back and advised her that she was being detained. (Redacted) appeared to be angry and upset and initially would not speak to me.”
As Nash continued to question the girl in the cruiser, a crowd of “20-30 juveniles” began to surround Nash, Swaney and the two other officers on the scene – Officer Kareem Jackson and Officer Collin McMenamin.
“As the crowd of juveniles kept getting closer to us and continued to yell, I advised dispatch to contact the Sheriff’s department and see if any deputies were able to respond,” Nash said. “Dispatch contacted Reynoldsburg Police, Fairfield County Sheriff’s Department, as well as the Ohio State Highway Patrol. Units from all of those agencies responded to the scene.”
The girl was released to her aunt and the remaining teens all dispersed.
