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| Air Jordans |
Offering for sale of Nike sneakers with the signing of former basketball star Michael Jordan has sparked riots and led to several arrests of eager shoppers on Friday in several U.S. cities, officials and media.
From one extreme to another country are thronging crowds from early morning in front of the stores to buy the "Air Jordan 11 Retro", a remake of a model launched in 1996 which went on sale Friday for $ 180.
In Tukwila, on the outskirts of Seattle, about 2,000 people began to spiral towards three o'clock, explained Mike Murphy, a spokesman for local police. "The doors opened at four, but the crowd had forced the entries" in the mall.
"There were fights, people pushing, some tried to sneak into the line and so lead to clashes. The police used tear gas to disperse some of the disputes" and one person was arrested after assaulting an officer, the spokesman said.
In Indianapolis, about 300 people gathered outside a shopping center and another 400 in another, according to the Metropolitan Police spokeswoman Catherine Cummings. While the situation was starting to get out of control, "the police managed to restore order quickly," without making arrests, he said.
Four arrested in Atlanta
Press reports also reported similar incidents in the states of Virginia, Georgia and Texas. In Lithonia, a suburb of Atlanta, the hunt for the Nike Air Jordan 11 resulted in four arrests. One was a woman who had left her two children locked in cars to queue, according to the local Fox channel 5.
Nike said he was "extremely concerned by reports of incidents involving the release of the Air Jordan 11 in some stores." "We encourage all who wish to purchase our product to do so in a respectful and safe."
On the afternoon of Friday, the discord and shoes were on sale at the auction site eBay bids were around $ 300 (about 230 euros). Some rose to more than $ 700 (about 530 euros). "I've worked on this for fifteen years and never seen a crowd so large and uncontrolled. There was a smell of marijuana and alcohol bottles lying," said Tukwila police spokesman.
