Yeah, We Got That Viral Email Too
We’ve fielded our share of bogus email forwards decrying the declining state of NorthPark Center, most notably a string of them in February referring to “gangs.” While we couldn’t corroborate those rumors, the latest viral email appears to be somewhat legitimate.
The email alleges that a gang beat up a Dallas Academy student near NorthPark last week, and that the manager of Macy’s refused to provide help when the bloodied teen’s friends brought him to the store to clean him up.
Here’s what we know:
- There was an assault on Jan. 2. According to Dallas police, “20 to 40” people beat up a 17-year-old boy and two others in a parking lot in the 9100 block of North Central Expressway.
- The 17-year-old boy is a student at Dallas Academy, a school spokeswoman confirmed, and “a great kid.”
- NorthPark issued a statement through Androvett Media acknowledging the incident, but defending the actions of Macy’s employees. “Macy’s staff responded professionally and compassionately in assisting this young man by calling 911 and contacting the Dallas Police Department.”
We’ve tried to reach out to the 17-year-old’s parents. Look for more details in this week’s paper.
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Calling the police but not letting the kid inside your store to clean up. Gee, that’s so compassionate.
Sounds like corporate butt kissing to keep Macy’s…
That movie theatre and food court ruined NorthPark.
The assault happened near the Sports Authority parking lot, near the Souper Salad and moved across Park Lane then across Central to the Macy’s lot. More than one student was beaten by the mob.
Curiosity got the best of those guys, they wanted to see a street brawl. The mob turned towards them, they tried to run away and were caught by the mob. It happens.
Word to the wise, don’t park anywhere between the DART station and the mall. Park in the Nordstrom garage or Neiman’s lot. Away from the mob areas.
This kind of problem will not go away. All you can do is limit your exposure to it. I wonder why no one stopped to help?
The bus stops at northpark need to go. Also they may need to do what mall of America did and put a curfew on kids under 16 who need to be with a parent after a certain hour on the weekends. There is a lot of riff raff in that mall now especially around the food court area.
OTHER BILL
Here is what happened. I have copied a portion of an email from the mom of the beaten boy’s girlfriend:
He was at Northpark on Monday with 2 guy friends. At 6:00 pm they left NP on the
Macy’s side and started walking towards the bridge over 75. His parents have
rented a condo in that high rise complex across 75 near Whole Foods. They
were jumped by a gang of kids who ran to the DART station after. Two of the boys ran
away but John (not real name) was beaten to a pulp. It took 30 seconds. Doctors believe he
was beaten by several different fists. He had 17 broken bones in his face. He
has been at Presby all week. He is facing several surgeries. The two
friends went back to find their friend, bloodied. They carried him to Macy’s
for help and to clean him off. Ready- the Mgr of Macy’s tried to throw them
out rather than help. He did not want anyone to know that this could happen
at NP. The police arrived as well as an ambulance which the Macys Mgr tried
to send away from “his” store. So after the parents
spoke to the police, this is what they learned. 1) kids are part of a gang
in So Dallas. Their initiation is to beat up a kid. They did not rob
him of his money or his IPhone. 2) they ride over on the Dart train-
3) they hang out at NP looking for a kid, well dressed,
nice shoes and follow them out to the parking lots. Daytime too! 4) police
said THIS HAPPENS ALL THE TIME! It is not reported on the news or in the
paper because NP will not allow it to be reported for fear that no one would
shop there if they knew how often it was happening!
I received the email string like all of you – multiple times – and reached out to Macy’s management to let them know what was going on and circulating in our community. The CEO of Macy’s spent many years in Dallas…as a side note….here is the response from him which includes his follow-up and inquiry to gather the facts. It appears from this that Macy’s did try to help. Read the response/email string below….
To say that I was alarmed and frustrated by the contents of your e-mail
this morning is an understatement. This is a terrible set of circumstances
around one of the most prestigious shopping centers in America.
First of all, I feel so badly about this vicious, random attack. Our
District VP, Dennis Lucking, who supervises our stores in the Dallas area,
is aware of the attack, was equally alarmed and has even reached out to the
family to check on the status of this young victim.
Secondly, the details in the e-mail you received from “Highland Park
Mother’s Association” appear to be grossly incorrect and i do hope a
revised, accurate version gets circulated. I could not imagine that the
Macy*s team at Northpark, or any other of our 800 store teams across the
country, would turn away a person in need of such assistance, and I have
been assured that we did not. In fact, not only did we invite the Highland
Park boys into our store, Macy*s associates administered first aid, called
his parents, called 911 and arranged for an ambulance to transport him to
the hospital. This is part of the culture of our company and the response
I would expect from anyone on the Macy*s team.
While the Macy*s response appears to have been the highlight of this
unsettling event, I am deeply troubled by this occurrance, even if it did
not happen at the Northpark Mall. (It appears the young man was assaulted
across I-75, outside a Sports Authority store, but ran to Northpark Mall
for refuge). I have asked our security department to review precautionary
measures with the Northpark Mall security services as well as the Dallas
Police department.
Thank you for bringing this to my attention. This incident warranted
taking me off my regular Monday meeting schedule today to attempt to find
some answers, and it was well worth the time invested.
Sincerely,
Terry Lundgren
—– Forwarded by Terry J Lundgren/MCS/MACYS on 01/09/2012 04:25 PM —–
From: Dennis Lucking/SouthCentral/MACYS
To: Terry J Lundgren/MCS/MACYS@MacysInc
Cc: Betsy Zeino/SouthCentral/MACYS@MacysInc, Tom P Roan/MCSNY/MACYS@MacysInc
Date: 01/09/2012 12:25 PM
Subject: Re: Dallas Northpark Incident
Terry,
I am aware of this incident, as my store manager called me on the 7th (this
past Saturday) to relay a conversation she had just had with a
representative of the Highland Park Mother’s Association, The facts of the
incident are as follows:
The young man in question was assaulted outside of Sports Authority, on
January 2nd, across I-75 from Northpark. He ran across I-75 and found his
friends and they entered Macy’s and sought help. They were assisted by our
Loss Prevention and a Sales Manager. The sales manager contacted 911 for
the boys, even though they asked him not to. In the interim, the Loss
Prevention Supv and Sales Manager locked down the restroom and cleaned him
up during the time of awaiting the ambulance. An ambulance responded as
well as the police. The police took a report and also contacted the boy’s
mother, who met him at the store before he was loaded into the ambulance.
This story made it’s way to the head of the “Highland Park Mother’s
Association”. On January 7th (this past Saturday), a representative of
the association met with Becky Brockey, VPSM, to let her know that they
would be boycotting the store because Macy’s refused assistance to the
boys. Becky explained to her the facts of the case, and stated to her
that we would never turn away anyone who needed help. At the end of the
conversation with Becky, the customer commented “I need to send another
letter to recant the letter I already sent”.
Loss Prevention contacted the police officer who is assigned to the mall,
who stated that as best he can recall it has been at least 6 months since
he has taken an assault or robbery complaint at the mall. We are not
aware of any similar incidents at Northpark Mall; however, we will meet
with Mall Management to determine if there is an issue that we are not
aware of , and will react accordingly with the partnership of Loss
Prevention.
I apologize for the delay in this response, but I have been working with
the Loss Prevention team this morning to ensure that we had all of the
facts before responding. I am planning on speaking with the boy’s family
this morning, and will send you a follow up note after I speak with them.
Thanks
Dennis
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Uh, Highland Park Mothers Association? Is this for real? I’ve never heard of it and am anxiously awaiting my invitation to join!
Why the hyper-focus on Macy’s? What is being done to find and prosecute the criminals?
Wow, those are some conflicting accounts! I tend to find the Macy’s account more plausible, but how did this story about the kid being denied help start…and this person claiming to have an email from the mom of the beaten boy’s girlfriend, is it a fake email not even written by her or does the mom really think that happened? Or did it in fact happen that way? I wonder if the parents will make a statement to clarify.
I agree with X – the criminals need to be found and this type of activity stopped.
The police officer assigned to NP must have forgotten about the armed robbery of couple as they were leaving the theatre in December 2011.
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