-- A melee at a Kmart store in Wauwatosa Saturday morning was started by a computer glitch.
The store was running a promotion in which it would give away $10 to anyone applying for its credit card, but the computer glitch led to everyone's application being granted -- bestowing up to $4,000 in instant credit to anyone who applied even if they shouldn't have qualified.
Once word started to spread about the so-called "free money" Saturday, witnesses said things got pretty nuts inside the Wauwatosa store.
"They were having a big fight. Two ladies was jumping a lady over credit cards," witness Sylvester Wilson said.
Nearly a dozen Wauwatosa squad cars responded to the call just before 11 a.m. Saturday for what was called a large fight in progress.
"It was a nice brawl. It came from inside to outside. If you go up there, you'll see hair, earrings, all pulled out on the ground," Wilson said.
What started as a fight between two women in the crowded store evolved when several men intervened.
A store employee got punched in the nose and crashed through a glass display case. He was treated for a broken nose and various cuts.
Two suspects, a 22-year-old man and a 16-year-old boy, were arrested, accused of battery.
Meantime, Kmart is still trying to clear up the credit card mess.
Two employees confirmed for police that anyone who applied was being given instant credit -- from $850 up to $4,000. They also told police that people started calling other people to the store for so-called free money. The store ran out of credit applications.
One witness told police someone went to another Kmart, got some applications there and was selling them in the Wauwatosa Kmart parking lot for $20 apiece.
Kmart would not comment on how many people got the credit cards who shouldn't have or how much merchandise they were able to buy with them.
The store did put a stop to it, though. There are signs on the door saying it is not processing credit card applications at this time.
Citibank, which issues the Kmart cards, did not return WISN 12 News' calls asking if this happened nationwide. WISN 12 News reporter Nick Bohr spoke with a Sears corporate relations person Monday who told Bohr he could not really talk about the specific incident but said the credit problem was isolated. It was not a national problem, the spokesman said. Sears owns Kmart.
The suspects remain in custody awaiting charges, which could be issued Tuesday.
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