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Teenagers brawl outside of local hookah bar

Posted at 6:48 PM, Jul 02, 2018
and last updated 2018-07-02 19:48:58-04

Several large fights broke out last night outside a Corpus Christi night spot, and police say the people causing the trouble were in their teens.

It was supposed to be a fun event for kids at a local night spot, but then, the fights began. It happened around 9:30 last night at the Tropical Hookah Lounge on Nile Drive. 

Police say the event was wrapping up when about 300 minors spilled into the parking lot.

Cell phone video shows some of the fighting that broke out. It got so bad that two off-duty officers had to call for back up.

More than a dozen police units responded, and when it was over three kids had been arrested and four others were issued citations. The charges filed charges include assaulting a police officer and evading arrest.

KRIS 6 News tried to get a comment from the owners of the Tropical Hookah Lounge, but so far they have not responded. 

While no one was seriously hurt in the brawls, the father of one the kids says from what he saw, it could have gotten a lot worse.

Danial Fuller says his son called to be picked up when things started to get out of control outside of the hookah lounge. He says when he arrived, the scene was one of total mayhem. 

"There were fights happening in the street, I mean it was just chaos," Fuller said. 

Fuller says the event at the Tropical Hookah Lounge that his15-year-old son attended was supposed to end at 10 p.m., but the kids were let out 30 minutes early, before their parents were there to pick them up.  

"He called me about 9:30 and said, Dad you need to come get me, things are happening," Fuller said. 

When fuller got to the nightclub to pick up his son, he says was shocked by what he saw. 

"Everybody was outside. Every single kid here. It was probably 200 to 300 children, that were just in absolute panic mode. Fights happening," he said. 

Fuller says he is grateful for the way dozens of police officers handled the scene, and grateful that it did not turn out more violent. 

"Luckily there were enough police officers to be able to handle everything. But it was really on the verge of just absolute chaos," he said. 

He added that he will not be sending his son back to the hookah lounge. 

"You know it’s a kids event. You want to go there, you want to have fun, but the main thing is to be safe. But it just didn’t turn out that way," Fuller said. 

The Fire Marshall’s Office responded to concerns about how many kids were at this event. Chief Randy Page tells KRIS 6 News the lounge’s occupancy load is 180. 

The Fire Marshall’s Office does not know how many people were in the lounge last night, but they asked the owners to post the maximum capacity and stay within its limits.