Party post on social media leads to fights, intoxication at Jersey Shore
SEASIDE HEIGHTS, New Jersey (WABC) -- Thousands of people flooded Seaside Heights and Seaside Park Saturday night after seeing a post on social media, and the scene quickly got out of control with public intoxication and fights.
Authorities say thousands of young people just showed up without the town having any idea what was happening. It started on social media, after someone posted about a party on the boardwalk and beach around 5 p.m.
The party post, which went up Wednesday, promised a good time at the Seaside Heights beach for a $10 fee. It stated there would be a DJ and a music video shoot, neither of which was true. Beach passes run about $7, and there was no organized party -- just the invitation on social media.
The Seaside Heights Police Department headed off the plans, contacting the promoter to shut down the party. So he moved it to neighboring Seaside Park.
Cars that were packed to capacity arrived from all over, and local officials were overwhelmed. They say anywhere from 5,000 to 10,000 people were in the vicinity, on the boardwalk and beach.
"Mostly on the beach early on in the afternoon, playing volleyball, having fun, doing their thing," said Chris Guzman, with Ocean County Scanner News. "Later in the day, when police shut down the beach, they came into Seaside Heights on the boardwalk and like I said, most people were having a good time doing their thing. But some bad seeds getting into some fights, overly intoxicated, smoking marijuana up here, things that happen with large crowds at large events."
Seaside Heights has a population of around 2,800 people, while Seaside Park is roughtly half that at around 1,500 people.
Normally, crowds at the beach and boardwalk are welcomed, but not crowds like this. Some restaurants even had to close down.
Authorities say many who arrived were unaccustomed to the idea of purchasing a beach pass and instead hopped fences.
"You got 10,000 kids on the beach, another 3,000 each way trying to get on the beach," Seaside Heights police Chief Thomas Boyd said. "There were two entrances taking money, and they were just jumping the fence left and right. But what are you going to do? It's a private beach. It's not even my town. We came for assistance with Seaside Park because they were overwhelmed."
Seaside Park police say there were a few arrests for fighting, and no injuries were reported.
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