Region News Source

Southlake Mall reopened Monday which brought crowds of anxious shoppers who have been on lockdown for weeks but also brought out some negative attention on social media. A handful of videos surfaced this week and have gone viral of individuals fighting inside the mall. A few mall employees reached out to RNS with concerns on safety after 4-5 fights they witnessed in the first three days of opening. We followed up on these leads to see what is being done and the story line on this weeks issues. Hobart Police told RNS currently the mall has Officers working on Friday’s & Saturday’s for now which could change in the future. The mall didn’t respond back to our inquires as of Thursday on any extra steps for security and or rules to be added.

On Monday May 18, 2020 at approximately 3:30 PM, the Hobart Police Department received a call for service at the Sears parking lot with regard to 2 groups of teenagers arguing. According to police, mall security split up the 2 groups and told them to leave, which they exited the mall and then proceeded to the Sears parking lot and they still continued to cause a disturbance. Mall security responded to the Sears parking lot and called the Hobart Police Department, once Officers arrived they told everyone to leave the property, Hobart Police Captain James Gonzales told RNS. There were no arrests made during this incident and the group complied and left the premises.

Another fight broke out Wednesday, May 20, which is shown on numerous social media videos occurring between multiple people inside the mall between numerous females and males. At one point during the video an individual picked up a sign and attempted to throw it another. Hair and weaves could be seen on the ground in the video before mall security broke the altercation up. Police did not respond to this incident. Video from this altercation linked below.

On Wednesday, May 20, around 1pm Hobart Police responded to Southlake Mall for a physical altercation that occurred between multiple people. According to an Affidavit a female and male were walking out of a store when the female accidentally bumped into another female walking with three other individuals. Some words were exchanged and the couple proceeded out the store to the parking lot to avoid further altercation. The suspects however continued to follow the couple outside and begin yelling / berating them. At one point the male who was being yelled at threw a drink in the direction of the group of females following them but missing. At that point a female now identified as Karina Khan, ran up punched the female victim in her nose leading to a physical altercation. Three other females with Khan jumped into the fight as well, allegedly choking the female victim. The male attempted to step in and break the fight up in an attempt to help the female he was with. The male allegedly threw one punch but was unclear where he struck her. During the altercation the female victim dropped her phone and it was picked up and stolen by one of the four suspects, the report states. Police later recovered the phone in Khan’s pants. While searching the female suspects police also recovered a bag of marijuana in a purse which belonged to Khan.

Hobart Police filed charges with the Lake County Prosecutors Office which are currently pending. All suspects were brought to the Lake County Jail. All suspects are presumed innocent until proven guilty in court.