4th of July brawl spills out of Astroworld and into nearby Shell Station

Cameras capture massive brawl on tape

11:44 AM CDT on Thursday, July 7, 2005

By Reggie Aqui / 11 News

What started as a Fourth of July celebration at Astroworld ended in an all out brawl that spilled into a convenience store on Kirby at the Loop Monday night.

11 News has obtained surveillance video from the store, which shows the chaos.

The fights eventually spilled into the amusement park's parking lot, then apparently continued down the street at a McDonalds restaurant at Fannin at the South Loop in southwest Houston.

Witnesses say a dozens of people then moved the brawl to a Shell station and made a mess inside.

"And then this bunch of 50, 60, 70 guys came in the store and then they started fighting with the baseball bats and stuff. And then they started throwing things and stuff and stealing and moving out the door. We couldn’t shut the door because they were in it. In like five minutes it was all over," said store clerk Raz Neupane.

Amin Ali had to clean up Tuesday after the Fourth of July party. The Shell station's manager said the attendees were "all teenagers" and were all uninvited.

Overnight, employees bagged up the merchandise Ali can no longer sell. "At least $1,000 worth," Ali said.

The nine cameras positioned all around the Shell station show just how the incident happened.

Around 9:30 a big group of teens swarmed the parking lot. Soon enough, Ali said, the crowd got out of control, wielding bats and then throwing merchandise around the store. Plenty of items went out the door, skipping the cash register.

"$500 to $600 worth of beer, he steal, everybody. Two 18-pack, three 18-pack, one right here, one right here," Ali said as he described how the teens carried beer out of the store.

So why did it all take place at this Shell station? Because of the attractions. Astroworld sits just across the street.

Six Flags security broke up a fight inside the gates and in the amusement park's lot around 8 p.m. as the park was closing.

The Shell station's management said the unruly crowd quickly traveled from the park to the pump.

Ali described some of the mess the teens caused. "All candy going right here on the floor. Almost everything." He said the teenage mobs are becoming a holiday tradition. "One is Halloween time, one is Fourth of July."

The tradition keeps getting more expensive, which is why Ali has called for better backup from the park, the police and his own store. "I tell my boss I need security next time," he said.

A Six Flags spokesperson said several arrests were made by off-duty police officers working for Six Flags Monday. By the time the police got to the Shell station, the crowd had dispersed and none of the suspects was caught.

The damage was quickly cleaned up and there were no serious injuries. It is not known if charges will be referred in the incident.
http://www.khou.com/news/local/stories/khou050705_cd_astroworld.76e67634.html
There's video as well.

Surprised nobody posted this (found out about it on FARK), though maybe my search technique might be off if this has been posted.