BURLINGTON COAT FACTORY RIOT

COLUMBUS, OH – A riot broke out at a clothing store when a woman lied about paying for everyone’s items!
Linda Brown pulled up to Burlington Coat Factory in a rented stretch Hummer limousine. She walked up to the register and announced she had won the lottery and would pay for every customer’s merchandise up to $500.
People immediately began grabbing clothes and flooding the registers with purchases. Others called their relatives to come down and enjoy the woman’s generosity.
At least 500 people were running amok, while another 1,000 were waiting to get inside. After about an hour, Brown went to the bank claiming she would withdraw the money, but came back empty-handed. She soon fled the store in her rented limo.
“She was telling people she won $1.5 million,” Sgt. Lt. Michael Deakins said. “But it ends up she didn’t win anything. She had no money to pay for anything.”
When employees she was not coming back with the money, customers began rioting, throwing merchandise on the ground or running off with stolen clothes.
“Everybody was like, ‘I still want my free stuff,’ and that started the riot,” said Detective Steven Nace. “It looks like (Hurricane) Katrina went through the store.”
Once the limo driver realized he would not be getting paid, he turned Brown in to police. She had outstanding warrants for aggravated menacing, misuse of a 911 system and causing false alarms, but charges have been delayed pending a psychiatric evaluation.
Police said they were attempting to track down customers who stole clothing by reviewing surveillance video.