A Tuesday evening confrontation at a Mountain View convenience store escalated into a fight involving dozens of people, four of whom were arrested on assault charges, police said.
Anchorage police spokesperson Anita Shell said officers were dispatched to the Holiday store, at 4627 Mountain View Drive, shortly after 8 p.m. Callers reported "45 kids outside getting ready to get into a physical altercation," Shell said, but arriving officers saw many of them run or drive away.
One of the responding officers spoke with two people who were injured, a couple in their 40s. Medics took the man to a hospital with serious head injuries.
"The officer observed a large, apple-sized (contusion) on the back of his head — he had a bloody nose as well as numerous cuts and bruises all over his face," Shell said. "The female said she was hit numerous times."
The victim told police he had a prior head wound that was stapled shut, which made it difficult for medical staff to stop the wound from bleeding, according to a charging document.
A Providence Alaska Medical Center spokesperson said the victim has been treated and discharged.
Managers at the station told police a large number of teens gathered at the store to get free coffee offered by Holiday on Tuesdays. Some of the teens told police that the couple started an argument, which escalated when the woman pepper-sprayed them — but the woman said one of the teens threw a cup of hot coffee on her.
"This just became a melee," Shell said.
Various witnesses told police the fight quickly expanded beyond the original participants, including a driver who said he was attacked as soon as he arrived at the gas station.
"Someone threw a rock at him," Shell said. "As he attempted to grab the kid who threw the rock, someone else threw a bicycle at him."
An officer reviewed surveillance video and images from the store that showed 18-year-old Faizon Murray "over the victim with his foot cocked back in a kicking position," but video cuts out, the charges say.
After reviewing the video, officers arrested three juveniles, who weren't being identified because of their ages, Shell said. Murray, was taken into custody on counts of second-degree and fourth-degree assault. He was held at the Anchorage Correctional Complex for an arraignment Wednesday afternoon.