Police arrested 17 people in Victorville, a city outside of Los Angeles, after protesters tried to storm a shopping mall and a group of youths opened items at a gas station market and left without paying, authorities said.

Most of the arrests were for unlawful assembly, and eight of those arrested were under age 18, according to Cindy Bachman, spokeswoman for the San Bernardino County Sheriff-Coroner.

The protests were over the acquittal of George Zimmerman, a Florida neighborhood watch captain who fatally shot Trayvon Martin, an unarmed black teenager, after a fight.

The majority of protesters in Victorville - about 80 of them - remained peaceful and obeyed the law during a rally in the desert city, Bachman said.

However, a "large group" gathered in a mall parking lot and tried to enter the mall, but mall security guards locked down the building and none of the protesters made it inside. Sheriff's deputies ordered the group to disperse over loudspeakers and detained about seven people who did not, Bachman said.

In addition, a group of 10 to 15 people described as "juveniles" went into a Chevron gas station at the intersection of Bear Valley Road and Balsam Road, opened items and left without paying, Bachman said.

No injuries or damage were immediately reported.