A man was arrested after a sale at The Foot Locker in the Mall of Louisiana became chaotic.
Keenen Andre Poret,  21, of 2717 Dabadie Street, New Orleans, was arrested for inciting a riot and disturbing the peace after aggravating a crowd at the Mall of Louisiana on Friday.
The Foot Locker sale, which was set to begin at 7 a.m., prompted people to begin arriving as early as 3 a.m., according to Casey Rayborn Hicks, public information director for the East Baton Rouge Sheriff’s Office. The store was the only business open in the mall at the time.
Hicks said the crowd began to grow uncontrollably. By 5 a.m., approximately 600 people were present at the mall.
Mall security concerns swelled as visitors began to push at the doors of the store. Hicks said by 5:30 a.m. there were enough EBRSO and Baton Rouge Police Department officers at the Mall of Louisiana to disperse the crowd from the mall property, effectively stopping the scheduled sale.
Hicks said that at 7 a.m. enough personnel were at the scene to allow the sale to go on as planned. Customers were allowed to return to the mall property if they complied with instructions.
Most complied with the instructions, but Poret was seen causing aggravation with the remainder of the crowd. Hicks said he was removed and arrested.
“There was no riot,” Hicks said. “An unruly person was charged, but no riot.”
Hicks said after Poret was removed from the scene, visitors rotated into the store in groups of 10 until the sale ended at 8:00 a.m. Approximately 200 people attended the sale.
 
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Contact Lauren Duhon at [email protected]