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Man Arrested During PlayStation Chaos At Mall At Millenia

Posted: 11:54 am EST November 17, 2006Updated: 12:26 pm EST November 17, 2006

A line to get this year's hottest toy turned into chaos in Orlando. A mad dash to get the PlayStation 3 ended in one arrest outside the Mall at Millenia.

People who waited in line said Sony employees were supposed to hand out tickets to the first 16 people. That's how many PS3s were available. The 16 lucky ones would then return at 10 o'clock to make the purchase, but that didn't go according to plan.

Police officers in Orlando arrived at the Mall at Millenia shortly after 7:00am, when more than 100 would-be-buyers of Sony's PlayStation 3 tried to get their hands on the highly-coveted computer game.

"They all started rushing to the glass door. It was just madness," said eyewitness Jose Guzman.

Police said the large crowd was too much for mall security and Sony Style employees to handle. When officers tried to restore order by making people back away from the glass doors and form a single line, not everyone followed orders.

"They were going crazy. Everyone was going nuts. No one wanted to back up," said eyewitness Albert Hubscher.

So, many people waited in line for only 16 units. To make matters worse for those who walked away empty handed, some got lucky who shouldn't have.

"A security guard let a bunch of people in on accident, before they were letting people in. I was like, 'Ah, man, I didn't get in,'" said eyewitness Brooke Sproc.

Sproc eventually got in and had the white wrist band to prove it. But, for others, the whole experience at Mall at Millenia was not what they were expecting.

"It was handled absolutely incorrect. It was terrible," Hubscher said.

The Orlando Police Department said the person arrested was a 55-year-old man. He was charged with unlawful assembly and resisting without violence. One other person was kicked off the property for allegedly pushing a mall security guard.

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