WELLINGTON FLA. Jan 5 2008 — The Tallahassee college student at the center of last week's mall brawl between a local family and deputies had his buttocks exposed and was repeatedly warned to pull up his sagging pants before he was banned from the Mall at Wellington Green in August, sheriff's and the mall's representatives say.
Mall security warned Frantz Leger, 20, three times to adjust his clothing Aug. 16, sheriff's Capt. Greg Richter wrote in an e-mail to Wellington officials Friday recapping the incident.
deputy "said that he had the trousers down to the crack of his ass," Richter said in an interview. "He would pull them up, then pull them right back down."
The family's account is at odds with the mall and the Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office.
The sheriff's reports indicate that Leger became belligerent and used "obscene and racial expletives" following the mall's requests.
The mall's general manager, releasing a written statement on the incident for the first time on Friday, said that behavior, not Leger's pants, was why the mall imposed a one-year ban. That conflicts with earlier statements by both the sheriff's office and the Leger family.
The manager, Dorian Zimmer, said it was a customer who first complained about Leger's attire in August. Leger pulled up his pants after an initial request, but law enforcement saw them back down 15 minutes later in the food court, she added.
"It wasn't the fact that the underwear was exposed and baggy pants were on," Zimmer said, noting that many mall shoppers wear baggy jeans. "It was the fact that we felt the situation was indecent."
The Leger family did not return phone calls Friday. Frantz Leger, who initially said he was a student at Florida State University, actually attends Tallahassee Community College; his family has lived in Wellington since 1992.
In an earlier interview, Frantz Leger said his pants were about an inch or two off his waist and the only thing exposed were undergarments. He said he complied with mall security officers' request before they ordered him not to return to the mall.
On Dec. 27, however, Leger returned to the mall, where deputies arrested him on charges of trespassing, sparking a melee with his family that drew at least 20 deputies, a couple of canine units and a sheriff's helicopter to the mall.
Deputies say the family attempted to stop Frantz Leger's arrest. The Leger family said the deputies were the aggressors after it questioned the arrest and leveled racism charges. The family is of Haitian heritage.
Six Leger family members were arrested including Frantz Leger's parents, 52-year-old Joseph F. Leger and 50-year-old Marthe J. Leger, on charges that included resisting arrest and battery on an officer.
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The family's account is at odds with the mall and the Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office.
The sheriff's reports indicate that Leger became belligerent and used "obscene and racial expletives" following the mall's requests.
The mall's general manager, releasing a written statement on the incident for the first time on Friday, said that behavior, not Leger's pants, was why the mall imposed a one-year ban. That conflicts with earlier statements by both the sheriff's office and the Leger family.
The manager, Dorian Zimmer, said it was a customer who first complained about Leger's attire in August. Leger pulled up his pants after an initial request, but law enforcement saw them back down 15 minutes later in the food court, she added.
"It wasn't the fact that the underwear was exposed and baggy pants were on," Zimmer said, noting that many mall shoppers wear baggy jeans. "It was the fact that we felt the situation was indecent."
The Leger family did not return phone calls Friday. Frantz Leger, who initially said he was a student at Florida State University, actually attends Tallahassee Community College; his family has lived in Wellington since 1992.
In an earlier interview, Frantz Leger said his pants were about an inch or two off his waist and the only thing exposed were undergarments. He said he complied with mall security officers' request before they ordered him not to return to the mall.
On Dec. 27, however, Leger returned to the mall, where deputies arrested him on charges of trespassing, sparking a melee with his family that drew at least 20 deputies, a couple of canine units and a sheriff's helicopter to the mall.
Deputies say the family attempted to stop Frantz Leger's arrest. The Leger family said the deputies were the aggressors after it questioned the arrest and leveled racism charges. The family is of Haitian heritage.
Six Leger family members were arrested including Frantz Leger's parents, 52-year-old Joseph F. Leger and 50-year-old Marthe J. Leger, on charges that included resisting arrest and battery on an officer.
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