Video footage of a brawl involving up to 20 people at Bayfair Shopping Centre has sparked a police investigation but a fed up retailer says brawls are common in the area.
The video shows two young males involved in a fist-fight, encircled by a crowd in the main carpark area at the front entrance of the mall.
The fight happened on Sunday.
Raw Footage from THE WIRELESS NZ on Vimeo.
The 52-second clip ends after a car attempting to get through the group, which was blocking the the road, received abuse in response and was chased away.
The footage had been loaded online and on Facebook.
A Bayfair retailer who spoke on the condition she was not identified for fear of reprisals, said there was a "certain crowd" who caused trouble on a daily basis. "We've had a lot of thefts from here. There's often fights but Bayfair security do their best."
The retailer said fights happened "a lot" and regularly disrupted staff and customers.
"I think the biggest problem is the kids who would normally be trespassed or arrested and that kind of thing are too young, so they aren't," she said.
"They're aged anywhere from 10 to 20 years old.
"It's hard when you are trying to work and do your job when you have to deal with thefts and idiots.
"They hang around the bus stop.
"There are people who aren't even 18 that smoke and aren't meant to. It creates a real horrible atmosphere."
Western Bay of Plenty police area commander Inspector Clifford Paxton said police were called to an incident of disorder at Bayfair on Sunday but those involved had moved to different areas of the carpark by the time officers arrived. Mr Paxton said police were made aware of the video on Tuesday and were now following several leads.
Mr Paxton said police and the management at the shopping centre had already worked together to help make the mall a safe place people could feel comfortable in.
"At the end of the day, youths like to be seen and they like an audience," Mr Paxton said.
"Giving them a lot of attention isn't necessarily a good thing. If you look at some of the issues we've been having in the Willow St area and Bayfair, we need to keep it in perspective. This is a single incident where we have a number of people congregated."
A Bayfair spokespeson said management was told about the brawl soon after security guards broke it up and called police.
"This incident is isolated and one that we take very seriously. The safety of our shoppers and retailers, and all who visit the centre is our main priority. We have reviewed our security presence on site and had an initial meeting with New Zealand Police," she said.
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