SEASIDE HEIGHTS – Three separate stabbing incidents in Seaside Heights and more than 70 arrests were all part of the mayhem that occurred over Memorial Day weekend.
The popular northern barrier island community saw as many as 100,000 tourists descend on it. Borough police reported that on May 25 a situation arose that led Seaside Heights Police Chief Thomas Boyd to close down the boardwalk. A man was arrested with a firearm.
Seaside Heights police responded to a report of a fight at Grant Avenue and Ocean Terrace where Patrolman James Hans arrested Byron Czaplicki, 21, of Beachwood. He was charged with possession of a firearm, resisting arrest, possession of a weapon for an unlawful purpose and obstruction of justice.
The first stabbing was reported around 8 p.m. on May 24 when a 21-year-old man was stabbed in the back on the Ocean block of Webster Avenue. The victim was evaluated by Tri-Boro First Aid Squad, then flown to Jersey Shore University Medical Center in Neptune. He was treated but refused to cooperate with investigators and declined further police assistance.
The second stabbing was reported around 6:45 p.m. on May 25 at Sherman Avenue and Ocean Terrace, and involved a 22-year-old man who was stabbed in the hip and taken to Jersey Shore University Medical Center by ambulance. This victim also refused to cooperate with investigators, according to police.
Photo courtesy EarthCam
The third stabbing happened just prior to Chief Boyd’s shutting down the boardwalk and the 18-year-old victim was a man who was stabbed in his right thigh and taken to Jersey Shore University Medical Center by ambulance. This victim also refused to cooperate with investigators.
There was also a report of a pedestrian hit by a driver who fled the scene in Seaside Park. The victim was flown to a trauma center. The victim was not identified and there was no update available on their condition.
Borough police also arrested 73 people between 6 a.m. May 23 to 6 a.m. May 26. Of those 52 were adults and 21 were juveniles. This represented a drop in the arrest total from last year’s Memorial Day weekend which saw 90 people arrested.
Officials had urged parents that communities like Seaside Heights and Toms River would be imposing a 10 p.m. curfew for juveniles and would be cracking down on inappropriate behavior during the holiday weekend.
Curfews as well as rental rules have been put into place as a means to deter parents from getting rooms to allow teens to have unsupervised parties and gatherings.
Seaside Heights police received backup from the Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office, the Ocean County Sheriff’s Office K9 units as well as the Brick Township Police Department.
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