Ravenwood - 08/17/05 07:00 AM
Cheap laptops in Richmond drove people to nearly kill each other.
A rush to purchase $50 used laptops turned into a violent stampede Tuesday, with people getting thrown to the pavement, beaten with a folding chair and nearly driven over. One woman went so far as to wet herself rather than surrender her place in line...An estimated 5,500 people turned out at the Richmond International Raceway in hopes of getting their hands on one of the 4-year-old Apple iBooks. The Henrico County school system was selling 1,000 of the computers to county residents. New iBooks cost between $999 and $1,299.
Officials opened the gates at 7 a.m., but some already had been waiting since 1:30 a.m. When the gates opened, it became a terrifying mob scene.
People threw themselves forward, screaming and pushing each other. A little girl's stroller was crushed in the stampede. Witnesses said an elderly man was thrown to the pavement, and someone in a car tried to drive his way through the crowd.
Was it near a Wal-Mart? Sounds like an ealy Day after Thanksgiving there.
Posted by: Sgt Fluffy at August 17, 2005 9:30 AMIt seems like the school district underpriced the laptops a bit.
Posted by: markm at August 17, 2005 12:33 PMWhen Geeks Attack!
Posted by: roger at August 17, 2005 1:48 PMIt wasn't geeks. The ever-bright county government decided to hold this sale at RIR. RIR is in the middle of a run-down, drug heavy area of the city. The vast majority of idiots that caused this near riot were white trash and ghetto thugs who were looking to make a quick buck on eBay or at the pawn shop.
Posted by: Nick Bourbaki at August 17, 2005 5:25 PMPrice controls always cause imbalances.
Posted by: Ron Hardin at August 18, 2005 7:12 AM(c) Ravenwood and Associates, 1990 - 2014