COLUMBIA, S.C. — After a weekend with several fights, The Richland County Sheriff's Department says they will no longer have off-duty deputies working for the Village at Sandhill.
The department explained that until the mall and theater management demonstrate changes in the procedure for the safety of all patrons, deputies will not do special duty there anymore.
On Sunday, hundreds of teens flocked to Sandhill for a $4 movie promotion, which led to multiple fights outside of businesses in the area.
In a statement, Sheriff Leon Lott said "We cannot do this alone. No amount of law enforcement will take the place of involved parents and community partnerships."
Micah Tolbert who works at D & Tea, says the weekends are usually tough for the businesses at Sandhill.
"As far as affecting business goes, it definitely has affected business. I know a lot of other business owners are upset about the commotion going on. The stuff that happens, doesn't happen here. We hear about it happening, or see cop cars and stuff over there," Tolbert said pointing toward the movie theater.
The Christie family says they no longer come to the Village at Sandhill on weekends because of these crowds of teenagers.
"My wife and I, we try to do date night, and so we'll come out here to walk, but we don't stay too late because the number of kids that come out here, it doesn't create an atmosphere that you want to be in," said patron Zack Christie.
The Village at Sandhill does have a curfew of 6 p.m. for teenagers, and past that, all youth must be accompanied by an adult.