Two 15-year-old girls were arrested and charged with crimes Saturday evening after running through a Southeast Portland mall and wreaking havoc with a large group of other juveniles, police and witnesses say.

Police received a report that a group of juveniles were running through Mall 205, stealing and breaking things at about 5:40 p.m., Portland Police Sgt. Kevin Allen said. Officers stopped a group of several juveniles that were found nearby and arrested the two girls, he said.

One girl was charged with rioting, Allen said. Rioting is a class C felony offense, and according to Oregon statute, it means the girl participated with at least five others, engaging in “tumultuous and violent conduct” to create “a grave risk of causing public alarm.” Portland Police charged the other girl with disorderly conduct, interfering with a police officer, furnishing false information to a police officer and theft, Allen said.

Witnesses say the teens moved from store to store, stealing items and knocking over displays. One person reported being punched, Allen said.

It was about 5:30 p.m. when business owner Rachel Murray saw a group of kids running through the mall towards her seasonal Santa Claus photo operation, tucked into a corner of the mall near a magic shop.

Murray watched as the kids descended on her Santa display. One girl stretched out in the photo area, pretending to pose on Santa’s chair. A boy grabbed her basket of candy canes and walked away. She told him to stop and he threw the candy on the floor.

Murray said a lot of her baubles and ornaments from the display went missing.

The group of teens then went next door to the All American Magic Shop, where Murray watched them grab some merchandise and take off, she said. She alerted the store’s owner, Mark Benthimer, to the theft.

Benthimer said it was a large group -- about nine or 10 kids.

“They were raising hell coming down the mall,” Benthimer said. “I was on the way -- a big shop in the middle.”

The kids grabbed a couple small items, walking away with a magic set and a can of “party spray,” or silly string, Benthimer said. He confronted them, calling to them as they left the store.

“Then they threw it back at me and cussed us out,” he said.

The group moved on to Target and were soon kicked out of the store, Benthimer said. When they entered a nearby Famous Footwear, Benthimer peered through the storefront windows to watch, drawn by a commotion.

“The kids were just running back and forth down the aisle and the employees were chasing them in different directions,” Benthimer said. “They couldn’t catch them. It was almost comical.”

A Famous Footwear employee declined to speak to the Oregonian, citing corporate policy.

But Benthimer said it’s not exactly funny when the kids get violent -- he’s seen violence in the mall before. And Benthimer and Murray both say it’s not the first time an incident like this has happened. It’s common for groups of kids from a nearby school to come through the mall and steal or break things, Benthimer said.

Officers are continuing to investigate Saturday’s incident, Allen said. Investigators don’t yet know how much property damage was caused, but it seems to be mostly minor messes made by the group knocking things over, he said.

-- Emily Goodykoontz; 503-221-6652; egoodykoontz@oregonian.com