Seaside Heights, NJ — Memorial Day weekend at the Jersey Shore was supposed to be fun, but things quickly went wrong. There was a lot of fighting and disorder, and police had to close down a popular boardwalk and arrest more than 70 people, 21 of whom were children.
There was a lot of trouble in Seaside Heights over the course of 72 hours, from early Friday morning to early Monday morning. Seaside Heights is a popular summer vacation spot for thousands of people. Even though there were more police officers and safety steps in place to make sure that last year’s holiday violence didn’t happen again, there were still a lot of stabbings, fights, and other bad behaviour.
As of Sunday, 73 people were arrested in Seaside Heights, including 21 minors, according to Detective Steve Korman. Police were called to a lot of different situations, including three stabbings that happened within a block of the busy boardwalk, a 2-mile stretch of seaside attractions, amusement piers, and arcades. It’s troubling that none of the stabbing victims helped police, so no one has been arrested in connection with those crimes.
Things got so bad that just after midnight on Monday, Police Chief Thomas Boyd chose to temporarily close the boardwalk. “This was a proactive move to protect the public,” Korman said. It’s still not clear how long the closure lasted, though.
Among those arrested was a 21-year-old guy from nearby Beachwood. He was charged with obstruction, resisting arrest, and illegally possessing a firearm and other weapons. There was also a hit-and-run accident in Seaside Park over the weekend, where a person on foot was hit by a car and flown to a hospital by helicopter.
It was hard to keep the people under control and keep things in order, but this crazy scene happened anyway. Police were stronger than usual, with 100 more officers on duty than in previous years. Officials in the borough also planned to call in extra police if the growing groups of people, especially teens and young adults, got out of hand.
A bartender at EJ’s Tap House on the beach named Sarah Frailey said, “It’s been complete chaos these last few days.” “The mood was off, and all weekend you could feel the tension rising.”
People in the Jersey Shore still remember last year’s Memorial Day weekend, which finished with violence and arrests after a fight on the boardwalk left a 15-year-old girl stabbed. The area was temporarily closed off after that event, which officials called “civil unrest.” Fearful crowds rushed to exit ramps after hearing gunfire reports.
Mayor of Seaside Heights Tony Vaz said that there were plans to keep things from getting out of hand, but that the large and noisy crowds made it hard to follow through. Vaz said, “We want everyone to have a safe and fun holiday, but things got out of hand again this year.”
They are still looking into what happened and want anyone with information to come forward. As summer truly starts, people who live and visit the shore hope that the next few weeks will be safer and calmer.
“This article was written by Mathew Owen. AI tools were used lightly for grammar and formatting, but the ideas, words, and edits are all mine.”
