‘Know Where Your Children Are’: A Colorado Police Chief’s Message to Parents, After 500 Teens Packed Into a Burger King and Jumped on Tables
"The consequences can become serious very quickly."
A mob of 500 teens took over a Colorado shopping complex Sunday afternoon, erupting into fights and damaging property. According to New York Post, most of the crowd was between 14 and 17 years old, and they overran the Hoffman Heights Shopping Centre in Aurora around 1:30 p.m. The teens had gathered for an unpermitted sporting event before moving toward the plaza, which houses a King Soopers supermarket and a Burger King among other businesses.
More than 70 Aurora police officers were called in to disperse what officials described as an unlawful assembly. Instead of leaving, the crowd fled into nearby businesses. A large group rushed into the Burger King, packing the dining room shoulder to shoulder and dancing on tables while singing Carly Rae Jepsen’s Call Me Maybe.
A video of the scene was captioned “POV: you took over a burger king.” Other teens crossed the parking lot into the grocery store, where they vandalized merchandise and ran through the aisles to evade employees. Amid the chaos, one unidentified teen was seen holding a table, saying he “got it for my mom.”
Police Say Parents Also Bear Responsibility
Police took the incident seriously despite moments like that one. “This crossed the line from a gathering of young people into a police matter because of the behavior and criminal conduct of some of those involved,” Aurora Police Chief Todd Chamberlain said. “We will not tolerate groups taking over roadways, disrupting businesses, damaging property or stealing under the belief that being part of a large crowd provides anonymity. It does not.”
No arrests have been made, and officials haven’t said how many items were stolen or estimated the cost of the damage. Police said investigators are reviewing available video to identify people involved in criminal activity. Chamberlain also addressed parents directly. “We also need parents and guardians to understand the role they play,” he said. “Know where your children are, who they are with and what they are being invited to through social media.”
He added that police “should not have to be pulled away from other community emergencies to manage behavior that could have been prevented.” Whether anyone actually faces charges depends on more than just being in the crowd. Under Colorado’s inciting riot statute, C.R.S. 18-9-102, a person who deliberately urges or directs a group of five or more people toward a riot can be charged with a class 1 misdemeanor. That charge becomes a class 5 felony if the resulting conduct causes injury or property damage.
Actually engaging in a riot, C.R.S. 18-9-104, is typically a class 2 misdemeanor on its own, but that classification can also increase depending on the extent of any harm caused. Because most of the crowd was under 18, Colorado’s parental responsibility law adds another layer. Under C.R.S. 13-21-107, the parents of a minor who willfully or maliciously damages property can be held liable for up to $3,500 per affected business or individual, plus court costs and attorney fees.
A separate statute covering shoplifting, C.R.S. 13-21-107.5, doesn’t cap parental liability the same way. That means a parent could owe the full value of anything stolen if a minor is found to have taken merchandise. The gathering appears to have been organized by content creator Grady Ferrick, who was promoting a vitamin brand.
Ferrick, 22, is a former Division III basketball player at Houghton University in New York. He has more than 362,000 Instagram followers and shared photos of himself in the crowd, including standing atop a U-Haul truck and a school bus.
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