Teen stabbed, multiple arrests made in Ocean City boardwalk chaos on Memorial Day weekend

As the curtain rose on the Jersey Shore’s official summer season this weekend, a familiar problem reared its head: unruly teens crowding the boardwalk at night.

In Ocean City, however, the problem turned violent Saturday night as a 15-year-old boy was stabbed by an unknown suspect around 9:12 p.m. not far from a popular amusement pier. Police said the teen was transported to AtlantiCare Regional Medical Center in Atlantic City for non-life-threatening injuries.

The Cape May County town, which dubs itself as “America’s Greatest Family Resort,” has taken measures to prevent teens and young adults from crowding the beaches and boardwalk at night, including an 8 p.m. beach curfew, 8 p.m. ban on backpacks on the boardwalk, and an overall 11 p.m. curfew on the boards.

A social media post by Philly-based photographer Hugh E. Dillon showed hundreds of teens running off the boardwalk Saturday night after reports of fights, the stabbing, and “a smoke bomb set off.”

In a statement about Saturday night’s chaos, Ocean City Mayor Jay Gillian issued a blunt message to all parents and teens:

“If you don’t want to behave, don’t come.”

Gillian said officers made “multiple arrests” Saturday night and were able to “quickly restore order to the Boardwalk once the teens involved in these incidents were removed.”

“I understand the impact that this behavior has on all of our residents, guests and business owners, and I want to assure everybody that Ocean City will not tolerate it.”

It’s unclear how many arrests in total were made Saturday night in Ocean City. Neither the police department nor a spokesperson could be immediately reached Sunday afternoon. Last year, Ocean City issued more than 1,000 curbside warnings in a single weekend.

Meanwhile, up the coast, in Seaside Heights, Ocean County, unfounded reports of gunshots sent hundreds of teens pouring off the boardwalk as well. The town, famous for hosting MTV’s Jersey Shore, instituted a 10 p.m. curfew for teens under age 18.

In the city of Wildwood, a state of emergency closed the boardwalk after midnight until Monday morning, according to police advisories.

“Out of an abundance of caution due to emergent conditions that have resulted from civil unrest threatening the public health, safety, and welfare of our residents and visitors alike, the City of Wildwood has declared a state of emergency in order to maintain law and order within our jurisdiction,” a police notice read.

The state of emergency was lifted by 6:00 a.m., according to an alert from the police.

Neither the city nor the police department responded to requests for details about the nature of incidents that led to the closing.

Most Jersey Shore towns have enacted restrictions for teens in recent years, including a midnight curfew in Wildwood and a 10 p.m. curfew in adjacent North Wildwood.

“We do have concerns with large groups of juveniles gathering at night, but it has started to slow down in recent years,” North Wildwood Mayor Patrick Rosenello told The Inquirer recently. “It seemed like from 2020 to 2022, it really exploded and then it’s kind of waned.”

Anyone with information about Saturday night’s incident in Ocean City is encouraged to contact the detective bureau at 609-525-9129.

Staff writer Ariana Perez-Castells contributed to this article.