Mall of America tightens teen escort rules

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Mall of America
In this file photo, crowds of Black Friday shoppers attempt to push their way through security staff moments after the doors opened outside of Best Buy at the Mall of America in Bloomington, Minn., early Friday Nov. 25, 2011.
AP Photo/The Minnesota Daily, Mark Vancleave

BLOOMINGTON, Minn. (AP) -- The Mall of America is tightening its parental escort policy for some of the busiest parts of the holiday shopping season.

Mall spokesman Dan Jasper says unsupervised teenagers won't be allowed on Thanksgiving night, all day on Black Friday and the entire week between Christmas and New Year's. It stems from last year's melee the day after Christmas, when police say as many as 200 young people were involved and at least nine were arrested.

The Bloomington megamall's longstanding policy says unaccompanied teens 16 or younger are not allowed without an adult escort 21 or older on Fridays and Saturdays, from 6 p.m. until closing.

More than 180 Mall of America stores will open at midnight on Friday. A record 219,000 shoppers visited the mall the day after last Thanksgiving.

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