DA: Justin Bieber's Manager Arrested for Role in Mall Melee

Nassau County District Attorney Kathleen Rice and Nassau Police Commissioner Lawrence Mulvey announced today that the manager for teen pop idol Justin Bieber has been charged with intentionally hindering the efforts of the Nassau County Police Department as they attempted to call off an appearance by Bieber at the Roosevelt Field Mall when a near-riot occurred.

The manager refused to obey police when asked to send out a message on Twitter to Bieber's fans telling them the event had been canceled due to dangerous overcrowding conditions and prevented others from doing so as well, according to the DA's office.

Scott "Scooter" Braun, 29, was arrested this morning by detectives from the Third Squad and charged with one count of reckless endangerment in the second degree and one count of criminal nuisance in the second degree. He faces up to one year in jail if convicted. He is scheduled for arraignment today in First District Court in Hempstead.

Rice said that on Nov. 20, 2009, Bieber was scheduled to sign autographs at the clothing store, Justice, inside the Roosevelt Field Mall from 4 to 6 p.m. The event was coordinated by Bieber's record label, Island Def Jam Music Group (part of Universal Music Group), Tween Brands, Simon Property Group, Allied Barton Security and Braun.

To get an autograph, attendees were instructed to line up at a south garage staging area set up for the event. By 1:30 p.m., more than 3,000 people had gathered in the garage staging area outside a mall entrance, 2,000 more than expected. Police received 911 calls during this time to warn of the dangerous situation in the garage and concerns that people would be "trampled," DA Rice said.

The Nassau County Police Department and mall security decided that for public safety, the event had to be canceled and informed Island Def Jam Senior Vice President James Roppo, who was in charge of the event, and the crowd. Roppo was arrested in November 2009 for his role in the incident.

Despite police announcements that the event was canceled, some of the crowd left the garage and headed to the second floor walkway where the Justice store is located. They added to a crowd that had already gathered on the second floor. By this time school was ending for the day and the crowd swelled even more. The narrow area outside the store and the food court below grew dangerously crowded, according to the DA's office.

People were pressed against the glass storefronts of stores adjoining Justice. There was also a danger that glass panes of the second floor walkway or the metal rail above them would give way and that people, mostly minors, would fall to the first floor of the mall, DA Rice said. Police were concerned about people being trampled or crushed. People in the crowd continued to call 911 about the dangerous conditions.

Despite trying to cancel the event, police were hindered in their efforts to disperse the crowd by a message from Bieber's Twitter account, to fans stating: "On my way to Roosevelt Field Mall in Long Island, NY to sign and meet fans! I'm pumped. See u there."

It was then that police asked Roppo to send out a Tweet from Bieber's account telling fans that the event was canceled and they should leave the mall. Roppo was also instructed to tell Bieber not to come to the mall. Island Def Jam employees contacted Braun to send the Tweet out. When an hour passed, the crowd remained and no Tweet was sent, one Island Def Jam promotional person who had the password to the account tried to send the cancellation tweet but could not because Braun changed the password to the account so he could control the event, according to the DA's office.

Using Roppo's phone, police then contacted Braun and advised him of the dangerous situation at the mall. Despite earlier communications with Island Def Jam personnel, Braun lied to police and stated that this was the first he was hearing about it. When police asked him to send the Tweet, he refused saying that he was "in a meeting in Manhattan without access to a computer." When told by police that he would then be arrested, Braun asked police to make sure they spelled his name right on the arrest warrant, Rice said.

When police placed Roppo under arrest at the scene, Roppo called Braun asking him to send out the Tweet. Braun then sent two Tweets at about 4:30 and 4:33 p.m., one-and-a-half hours after police first requested that the Tweet be sent. Within 15 minutes of transmission of the Tweets informing fans that the event was cancelled and asking them to leave the mall, the crowd dispersed, Rice said.

"Mr. Braun put his own selfish desire for publicity above public safety and endangered the very fans who came to see his client, as well as innocent bystanders who were at the mall that day," said Rice. "By refusing to send out the cancellation Tweet and preventing others from doing so, he blatantly ignored police directives and put thousands of innocent people in harm's way. It was only through the fast and efficient work of the police department that a horrible disaster was averted."

"Conditions existed at this event that nearly resulted in the loss of life and serious physical injury," Commissioner Mulvey said. "Let this serve as a warning to those who ignore public safety, that we will apprehend and prosecute those who put our residents at risk."

Bureau Chief of the Economic Crimes Bureau Diane Peress and Assistant District Attorney John Campbell are handling the case for the DA's Office. Ravi Batra, Esq. and Joseph Conway, Esq. are representing Braun.

(Editor's Note: The charges are merely accusations and the defendant is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty.)