Micheal Jordan fans and hordes of desperate sneaker buyers lined up outside the malls nationwide where the big demand for the Nike sneakers led to riots after the company released only 100 pairs of the shoes to selected stores nationwide according to Yahoo sports.
The "re-release" of the $180 shoes incited violence in Indianapolis, Seattle, Detroit and Jersey City. Police had to use force outside Southland Mall in Detroit where a 21-year old man was arrested for inciting a riot.
Witnesses say mall security called police about 5:30 Friday morning after a crowd of about 300 started to force their way through the doors before the mall opened. About 100 people gained access and slightly damaged the interior of the mall before order was resumed.
In Seattle, police needed pepper spray to disperse rowdy mobs of shoppers.
In New Jersey, a man was stabbed multiple times after he got into an argument with another man while waiting in line to buy the sneakers inside Newport Centre Mall. When police arrived, they found the man dazed and in a puddle of blood. His condition is said to be non-life threatening.
The unidentified man told police he argued with a man before being set upon by a group of four to six others. He thought he was only being punched until he realized they had knives in their clenched hands.
The black and white patent-leather sneakers—last released five years ago—went on sale at midnight and are copies of the shoes Chicago Bulls legend Michael Jordan wore during his 1994-96 comeback years.
While thousands of customers are crazy enough to literally fall all over each other to get the shoes, it is Nike which should take more care to prevent this sort of violence. But bad publicity is still publicity and that's the bottom line.
People even lose a sense of right and wrong when it comes to grabbing the prized sneakers.
ABC News reported that Indianapolis police had to break the window of a woman's car to get two children out after the woman left them to wait in line. She was later arrested according to the AP.
Nike has been releasing Air Jordans for over twenty-five years and the company still doesn't take into account what kind of trouble the long lines and mad chaos a limited availability of a product incites—or do they?
So if you are in the market for expensive sneakers with a pepper spray bouquet or accented with blood stains, head to your local shopping mall, step over a few helpless people and pick up a pair.
