An 18-year-old’s naked rampage at a busy Westfield has raised serious questions about the center’s security response after a group of shoppers were forced to make a citizen’s arrest of the teen.
The teenager, wearing only socks, began smashing glassware and coffee cups inside Westfield Marion, Adelaide’s largest shopping centre, on Monday.
Witnesses said the teen confronted a woman in a stroller before three bystanders, including a woman with a shopping cart, knocked him to the ground.
It is understood the man has autism and was in the middle of a mental health episode.
A woman who recorded the incident can be heard asking “where is the security?” as the man continues to throw glassware.
“We saw two security guards standing there,” said witness Michelle Palmer.
“(They) didn’t put their hands on him.”
The man was not charged, and police treated it as a mental health incident and helped the man’s carers take him home.
The man (pictured in the middle) began breaking glassware inside Westfield Marion on Monday.
Several shoppers were forced to make a citizen’s arrest on the man inside the shopping center.
It comes just months after three teenagers allegedly brandished machetes and batons at Westfield Marion, prompting the mall to close and prompting a heavily armed police response.
The NSW Coroner’s Court is conducting an investigation into possible failings in the shopping centre’s mental health system and security protocols following the mass stabbing at the Westfield Bondi Junction shopping center in April.
Six people were killed and many more were injured.
The center did not sound the alarm until a minute after police shot dead the perpetrator, Joel Cauchi.
A spokesperson for Scentre Group, which operates Westfield Australia, said: “Our security depends on the commitment, collaboration and cooperation of government law enforcement agencies to provide security for our customers, particularly in incidents requiring the use of physical protection”. force.’
‘Following the horrific attack at Westfield Bondi, we have further stepped up our security presence across all our Westfield destinations.
“We have introduced additional personal protective equipment, including vests, for all members of the security team, which has improved the prominence and visibility of our security team.”