Earlier this week it was reported that a brawl had occurred at a Chinese Apple Store while customers were in line to purchase the latest in Apple products. Today it appears as though Apple has resolved the incident while we also get a clearer picture of what went down at the store.
A senior public security official, while not elaborating on the deal, stated "the store and the injured parties have reached an agreement." While this statement is extremely vague, it is highly likely that Apple and the injured shoppers reached some sort of monetary agreement so that the whole incident can be left in the past.
To get a better picture of what exactly went down on Saturday, Chinese newspaper People’s Daily is reporting that a “foreign” staff member engaged with angry customers after prospective buyer Ding Wencheng allegedly jumped the queue to get into the busy Sanlitun Apple Store. Ding was thrown against the corner of an outside wall, which caused injuries to his face and wrist.
"He (the staff member) was saying something, but I don"t understand English and didn"t care about him," Ding told Mirror Evening News, explaining he had been standing near his wife in the line to buy an iPad 2. "He grabbed me by the collar and threw me."
Ding was allegedly a scalper who had been refused entry to the Apple Store, but denies the claim. After this incident had occurred, crowd members began to argue with the employee which caused several other people to be injured. As crowd members did not want security guards to close the store, shoppers rushed forwards, smashing the glass door.
There is no mention of the metal rod/bat in this report, but that is not to say there wasn’t some sort of weapon used as exact details surrounding the injuries of the four shoppers remains clouded. The Sanlitun Apple Store was open for business the next morning.
Image credit: China Daily | Thanks alexalex for the tip in the forums