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Brawl at Village at Sandhill still concerning to business owners

Large crowds of teens, fights, and disruption still have business owners in Sandhill on edge.

COLUMBIA, S.C. — Two Sundays ago, large groups of teenagers packed the Village at Sandhill, and the result was a large brawl that shook up several business owners.

Samantha Barber said she has worked in the Village at Sandhill for nearly a year, and she and her coworkers have come to dread weekends.

"They break into cars, start fights, spit on customers. It's a toss-up of what you're going to get that night; it's a toss-up on what you're going to get any night, really, but Saturdays just seem to be the worst of the worst," Barber said.

Shekinah Baxter works at Poke Bros but was not working the night of the big fight. She said the incident scared her coworkers, and she hopes for better weekends moving forward.

"I do hope it dispurses a little bit, but it's good for business if they come," Baxter said.

After the fight, the Richland County Sheriff's Department released a statement explaining that deputies would no longer provide security for the area as an off-duty service. Since the sheriff's department's announcement, Baxter said the situation has become much quieter. 

Signs sitting in a vacant space a few doors down from Poke Bros warn of a curfew, but businesses said they've never seen the signs in use.

Barber said she hasn't given up hope that a curfew will be enforced. In the meantime, she's not letting her guard down.

"We know that the police will come if we call them, but how long is that wait going to be? Who is going to get hurt in the interim?" Barber said.

News19 checked back in at the Village at Sandhill on Saturday evening to gauge crowds and see if any fights were happening. On Saturday, there were no large crowds or fights, and individual businesses hired additional private security. 

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