A New Jersey beach town shut down its boardwalk after 73 people were arrested, three stabbings occurred, and multiple fights broke out within a 72-hour period on Memorial Day weekend.
Seaside Heights Detective Steve Korman told Asbury Park Press that 52 adults and 21 juveniles were arrested from 6 a.m. on Friday to 6 a.m. on Monday. The town’s boardwalk was shut down on Monday but later reopened for the holiday.
Why It Matters
Crime was reported across several New Jersey beach towns during Memorial Day weekend last year, including a 15-year-old being stabbed in Ocean City and an 11-year-old shot in Atlantic City. Wildwood, meanwhile, shut down its boardwalk last year over the holiday weekend due to “civil unrest.”
What To Know
Korman told Asbury Park Press that the holiday weekend brought around 100,000 visitors to Seaside Heights.
None of the three stabbings were fatal, and the victims were “uncooperative and signed off” any further assistance or investigation by law enforcement, Korman added.
The first stabbing happened around 8 p.m. Saturday on the ocean block of Webster Avenue. A 21-year-old man suffering from a stab wound in his back was taken to Jersey Shore University Medical Center in Neptune.
The next stabbing happened around 6:45 p.m. on Sunday at Sherman Avenue and Ocean Terrace. A 22-year-old man suffering from a stab wound to the hip was taken to Jersey Shore University Medical Center.
Officials then responded to a third stabbing around midnight on Monday where an 18-year-old man suffered a stab wound to the right thigh and was taken to Jersey Shore University Medical Center.
Korman told the newspaper that police responded to a fight at Grant Avenue and Ocean Terrace around 1 a.m. on Monday. During their response, officials arrested 21-year-old Byron Czaplicki of Beachwood and charged him with possession of a firearm, possession of a weapon for an unlawful purpose, resisting arrest and obstruction of justice.
In neighboring Seaside Park, a pedestrian was struck by a vehicle and flown by helicopter to a medical facility.
What People Are Saying
Ocean County Prosecutor Bradley D. Billhimer, in comments to Asbury Park Press: “While I am disappointed by the conduct of some of the people who came to visit Seaside Heights this weekend, the Seaside Heights Police Department and all of the assisting agencies, by and large, did a great job this weekend ensuring the safety of the majority of our visitors and our locals.”
Sarah Frailey, a bartender at EJ’s Tap House on the boardwalk, in an interview with the Asbury Park Press: “It’s normally not like this. There’s a ton of kids here over Memorial Day weekend, more than the usual in the last few years, a lot of fights on the boardwalk.”
What Happens Next?
Billhimer said he will work with police and the town’s mayor to ensure that improvements are continually made in planning for holiday weekends.
“We will not tolerate lawless behavior anywhere here in Ocean County,” Billhimer said.
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