The release of Nike's newest Air Jordan sneaker was met with snaking crowds and impatience at shopping malls across the country Friday. In Tukwila, police say shoving, punching, booze and drugs were part of an early-morning pre-Christmas mall scene.

Police from across the Seattle area were called to Westfield Southcenter mall early Friday when a rowdy crowd of 2,000 showed up to buy the $180 Air Jordan XI, the newest version of the classic Nike shoe.

Some in the crowd got so out of hand that police used pepper spray on about 20 people in an attempt to get things under control. An 18-year-old man was arrested after punching an officer in the face; arrests also were reported at stores in Georgia and Michigan.

Tukwila police were woefully understaffed and didn't anticipate the crowd of nearly 2,000, said Tukwila police Officer Mike Murphy. Officers at the mall called in their full night-shift staff as well as officers from Seattle, Kent, Renton, Des Moines and the King County Sheriff's Office, said Murphy.

When two off-duty Tukwila officers — hired by the mall to deal with the shoe's release at four different stores — arrived at Southcenter at 3 a.m., crowds were manageable, Murphy said. Within two hours, however, the number of hopeful buyers swelled to nearly 2,000. People there for the shoe release were cutting in line, pushing, fighting, drinking and smoking marijuana, Murphy said.

"We used pepper spray on some of the fights to disrupt the crowds," Murphy said. "This was not a pro-police crowd. The crowd was less than cooperative with instructions from police to quit fighting and to quit cutting."

Only one person was arrested in the melee, the young man who punched the officer in the face. Murphy said he personally ejected a man from the mall for flashing gang signs. The man, he said, was close to the front of the line at one of the stores.

"When you get into a riot situation, your goal is not to make arrests. Your goal is to to stop the violence and stop people from being jerks," Murphy said.

Murphy said customers broke two mall doors.

Stores at the mall selling the shoe were Champs Sports, Foot Locker, Shiekh Shoes and Nordstrom. Most of the fighting and trouble stemmed from lines outside Champs and Foot Locker because they opened early, at 4 a.m., to sell the shoe, Murphy said.

The white and black patent sneaker quickly sold out everywhere. Some eBay sellers were offering the shoe on Friday at hefty prices of more than $500.

In Lithonia, Ga., at least four people were arrested early Friday at a mall after a crowd of customers broke down a door at a store selling the Air Jordans before it opened.

DeKalb County police told Fox 5 Atlanta that as many as 20 squad cars responded. Officers said they escorted most of the people outside, but took four into custody.

Police also said they had to break a car window to get two toddlers out after a woman went in after the shoes. She was taken into custody when she returned to the car.

It's not the first time the Nikes have caused an uproar. Some people were mugged or even killed for early versions of the Air Jordan shoe, which Nike created in 1985. NBA superstar Michael Jordan, now retired, endorsed the shoe, which became a status symbol and collectible among sneaker fans.

A new edition was launched each year, and release dates sometimes were moved to weekends to keep kids from skipping school to get a pair.

According to The Oregonian newspaper, the Nike Portland store started handing out wristbands on Thursday. With the wristbands, people were given the instructions to return to the store at 6:30 a.m. Friday with $180 for their shoes.

Around 3 a.m. Friday, the NikeTown Seattle store posted a notice on its Facebook page announcing its Air Jordan XI were sold out.

Facebook commenters on the Seattle NikeTown site said there were some 600 people in line, and they complained about pushing and shoving.

While Seattle police said they had no problems at the downtown Nike store, department spokesman Mark Jamieson said about 100 people showed up at Northgate Mall for the shoe's release. Mall security called for police backup after people in line started pushing and shoving. No arrests were made, Jamieson said.

Seattle Times news researcher Miyoko Wolf and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Jennifer Sullivan: 206-464-8294 or jensullivan@seattletimes.com. On Twitter @SeattleSullivan.