Cases in 2015 Wal-Mart stampede mostly resolved, DA says

A year after dozens of teens went on a rampage through a Macon Wal-Mart, leaving a swath of destruction that made national news, most culprits that authorities identified have been punished.

Eight people were arrested and charged with rioting and criminal damage to property after being identified on the Zebulon Road store’s surveillance cameras during the June 28, 2015, stampede.

Six of the defendants have completed or are in the process of completing a pretrial diversion program, which requires about 200 hours of community service before the case is dismissed, Macon Circuit District Attorney David Cooke said Thursday.

One person wants a trial. Another person, the alleged ringleader of the 88-person stampede, is still awaiting orders from the Army, Cooke said.

Charges against Vashaun Chandler Rozier, then 18, were set to be dropped in November 2015 upon his enlistment in the Army. However, Cooke said there was “red tape galore” getting the deal sealed with the military.

Cooke said Rozier’s lawyer told him that the plan is for a commander to come meet with Rozier personally.

Rozier, who’d recently graduated from Westside High School and already had plans to enter the military, organized the party that most of the young people involved attended before going to the store about 2 a.m. that Sunday.

Initial reports were that damages from the stampede totaled more than $2,000. However, the total restitution for all the defendants was about $550. Cooke said he didn’t know whether Wal-Mart had received the money.

“At the end of the day, this was mischief, not a gang-motivated crime,” Cooke said. “We treat youthful mistakes like what they are, and I think this case has ended the way it’s supposed to.”

This story was originally published June 30, 2016 at 3:16 PM with the headline "Cases in 2015 Wal-Mart stampede mostly resolved, DA says."