Shoplifiting incident at North Town Mall turns into brawl

A mother, responding to NorthTown mall where her child had been accused of shoplifting and detained by mall security, ended the night in jail after she became violent, Spokane police said in a news release.

Spokane Police officers responded to reports of five juveniles shoplifting from J.C. Penney. Security at the mall detained the youths and took them to the security office.

Security was spit on and hit by some of the detainees, according to a police news release. Once in the security office the mother of one of the children, Laura M. Hall, 41, showed up at the store with her boyfriend Kenneth P. Mankin, 47.

Police said Hall pounded on the security door and yelled at security personnel.

She then attempted to break down the door to the security office with a 5-foot-long bench outside the office, police said.

When she couldn’t get the door open, she began yelling at Mankin to help and hit him multiple times, police said. The couple eventually forced the door open.

During the incident, police said the children in the security office flipped the desk over, threw things and jumped on top of furniture all while yelling and swearing at security.

When police arrived, they were able to get the scene under control.

Two of the juveniles were booked on robbery charges while the other three were charged with misdemeanor theft. Hall was charged with disorderly conduct, malicious mischief and domestic violence assault for allegedly hitting Mankin. Police said Mankin fled the scene of the incident and charges will be filed against him for malicious mischief, according to police.