CHICAGO, IL — An Illinois man says a security guard hit him with an SUV while he and a friend were riding electric scooters in the parking lot of Ford City Mall, a shuttered shopping center on Chicago’s Southwest Side. The confrontation was captured on video and later shared on TikTok by the user Decayingmidwest, who said he and his friends explore abandoned places across the Midwest.

In the clip, the scooter rider can be heard trying to explain that the group was only driving around and “chilling.” The video then appears to show the guard driving onto the sidewalk, striking the rider, and knocking him to the ground near a wall.

How the parking lot confrontation unfolded

According to the account shared by Decayingmidwest, the encounter began while the group was moving through the mall parking lot and onto the sidewalk. A security guard in an SUV followed the rider, who was seen on the scooter near the abandoned property.

The rider says he tried to calm the situation, but the guard accelerated toward him instead. After the impact, the guard reportedly made a U-turn and shouted, “Stay your [expletive] out the mall!” The video shows the rider on the ground after being hit.

He later said the situation escalated again when the guard parked, got out, and approached on foot. The rider claimed he was cornered and that the guard then reached into the back of the vehicle, pulled out what he described as a metal pipe, and swung it as the man tried to escape through bushes.

A shuttered mall becomes the backdrop for a tense encounter

Ford City Mall has been closed, and the unusual setting is part of what drew attention to the video. The group behind the post has built an online presence around exploring decaying and abandoned locations, especially in the Midwest, which has made their visits to old properties a recurring theme.

That context helped the clip travel quickly online. Viewers were reacting not only to the scooter crash, but also to the contrast between a quiet, abandoned shopping center and a confrontation that suddenly turned physical.

The post described the experience as happening at Ford City Mall and framed it as an especially memorable visit. CBS News later spoke with the men involved, adding a local-news spotlight to a video that had already gained wide attention on social media.

What the rider says police told him

After the encounter, the rider and his friend spoke with police, according to the account he shared online. He said officers told them they could press charges, but that they would not do so themselves.

The rider also said Chicago police refused to arrest the guard, even after he offered to identify him. That claim quickly became a major point of discussion in the comments, with some viewers urging him to seek legal help and others saying the situation sounded much more serious.

Because the men have already spoken with CBS News, the incident appears to be drawing broader public attention beyond TikTok. It is not clear from the account whether formal charges have been filed.

Online reactions mix outrage, humor, and concern

Commenters responded strongly to the video, with many saying the rider should contact a lawyer and pursue a lawsuit. Some of the replies were angry and direct, while others used jokes to express disbelief at what they had just watched.

One commenter suggested the rider should “press charges,” calling the incident “attempted murder and hit and run.” Another joked about the mall takeover angle, writing, “When you take over the mall can I get 1 year of free rent.”

The range of responses reflects how quickly a short video can turn into a public debate about safety, property access, and accountability. In this case, the reactions also show how a single confrontation at an empty mall can resonate far beyond Chicago.

Why the video spread beyond one local incident

The footage tapped into a familiar online fascination with abandoned places, but it also crossed into a more serious question about how far security personnel can go when confronting trespassers or visitors. The video’s intensity and the rider’s description of what happened made it especially shareable.

Part of the interest comes from the setting itself. An empty mall parking lot is an unusual place for a sudden crash, and the visual of a scooter rider being hit by an SUV is hard to forget. The added claim that a metal pipe was involved made the story even more alarming.

For now, the publicly known details come from the rider’s account, the TikTok video, and the attention the clip has received from viewers and CBS News. The case remains a striking example of how a local dispute can become a national conversation once it is filmed and posted online.

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