Man in brawl at Apple Store in Baybrook Mall says he was wrongly accused of shoplifting

Elissa Rivas Image
Friday, April 13, 2018
Brawl breaks out at Apple Store in Baybrook Mall
A man involved in a brawl at the Apple Store at Baybrook Mall says he was wrongly accused of shoplifting.

FRIENDSWOOD, Texas (KTRK) -- A man at the center of a brawl inside the Apple Store at Baybrook Mall said that the whole thing was a misunderstanding.

Julio Gonzalez told ABC13 the fight broke out over an Apple headset on Tuesday night.

"It's just a misunderstanding," Gonzalez said. "It's just messed up that it happened."

FULL VIDEO: Watch as fists fly inside Apple Store

Dramatic video shows fists flying inside the Apple Store at Baybrook Mall.

Gonzalez said he placed a headset on top of his baby's stroller as he pushed it inside the store.

He told us that he gave the stroller to his girlfriend when Apple called him up for his appointment and that she walked out, not realizing the headphones were on the stroller's canopy.

That's when the confrontation broke out.

"I'm like, 'Hey, hey, hold up, this is a misunderstanding, I haven't left the store, I'm inside,'" Gonzalez said.

Gonzalez claims a loss prevention officer in a red shirt grabbed the headphones with unnecessary force, slamming the box down through the canopy of the stroller, striking his son.

Apple wouldn't answer specific questions about what happened, but say the man in the red shirt who is seen in the video fighting with Gonzalez is not one of their loss prevention officers.

Mall officials referred ABC13 to police.

Neither Gonzalez nor his girlfriend were arrested for theft. However, his girlfriend was arrested for alleged possession of cocaine, which she says the alleged loss prevention officer found in her purse.

The couple is now asking if that search was legal or if her civil rights were violated.

SEE ALSO: Man speaks out after wild brawl breaks out at Apple Store in Baybrook Mall