Group of teens accused of throwing smoke bombs at South Hills Village Mall will face charges
Six juveniles will be facing charges after Bethel Park police said they set off smoke bombs at the South Hills Village Mall. Police said the group threw the smoke bombs inside the Macy’s store about an hour and a half before closing time, setting off the security alarm.
Kevin Schran and his family live across the street from the busy mall.
“We don’t really experience any problems like that,” Schran said. “It’s a really nice neighborhood and area, so to hear something like that at the mall we go to a couple times a week, it’s pretty shocking.”
Police Chief Timothy O’Connor said it was last Thursday, June 15, when the five teens and a 10-year-old set off an unknown number of smoke bombs.
Schran finds the incident troubling, especially after hearing the youngest suspect is just 10.
“I have a 10-year-old daughter, so to put that into perspective, to know that kid’s at that age, is pretty shocking to hear,” Schran said.
One witness told Channel 11 the group was lighting the bombs and then hurling them in Macy’s garbage cans, filling the entire second floor with smoke. She later saw the kids being arrested near the “T” tracks at the mall’s parking garage.
“I think a precedent needs to be set before stuff like that gets out of hand,” said Schran.
The six kids are now banned from mall property, according to police, and face charges for criminal mischief and disorderly conduct and possibly for theft. Police Chief O’Connor said they plan to file the charges once the investigation is done.
Channel 11 reached out to the manager at Macy’s and the mall’s owner, and they told us they had no comment.
No one was hurt during the incident.
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