‘Unruly’ crowds prompt early end to Pennsauken Summer Kick Off and result in 6 arrests
Police charged four young adults and two juveniles and canceled a scheduled fireworks show. It was the second such chaotic end to a South Jersey community event in as many weeks.
Another South Jersey community festival was brought to an abrupt halt Saturday by what police described as a large, unruly crowd that descended on the event, resulting in the arrests of six people.
The latest incident occurred during Pennsauken Township’s Summer Kick Off festival at a community recreation center.
As families were waiting for an expected fireworks show to begin around 9 p.m., multiple large crowds began to form and became disruptive, prompting authorities to cancel the show and end the festival 15 minutes early, township police said in a statement.
Police called in officers from neighboring townships to help disperse the crowds and eventually arrested four young adults and two juveniles on charges of disorderly conduct and failure to disperse, Pennsauken Township Chief Philip P. Olivo said.
“This type of unruly behavior is not acceptable and will not be tolerated in Pennsauken Township,” he said.
Olivo did not elaborate in his statement on what those charged had done to prompt their arrests and police did not immediately respond to requests for further clarification Sunday.
Still, it was the third time in as many weekends that a South Jersey municipality reported significant disruptions from hordes of disruptive teens and young adults.
Another crowd of more than 500 teenagers and young adults descended on a June 1 summer festival in Gloucester Township and a series of fights broke out, lasting more than two hours.
Officers arrested 11 people, and in the week since, have sought the public’s assistance in identifying others believed to have committed crimes. Five people, including three police officers were injured during the incident, police said.
Disruptive hordes of youths have also been blamed for mayhem that erupted up and down the Jersey Shore over Memorial Day weekend. Wildwood officials declared a state of emergency and ordered a total shutdown of the boardwalk on May 26 citing multiple fights and several instances of “civil unrest” that terrorized beachgoers and business owners.
In Ocean City, fights broke out, a smoke bomb was set off and a 15-year-old was stabbed, setting off a panic that sent young beachgoers stampeding off the boardwalk on May 25. Police said youths ran into nearby stores and some business owners later reported fighting to fend off would-be thieves rushing for their cash registers amid the mayhem.
Officials in all three towns have said the teenagers and young adults responsible for the chaos were mostly outsiders.
In contrast, all but one of the young adults arrested Saturday in Pennsauken Township lived within the township, authorities there said.
They included: India Allen, 19; Yamilet Meina, 18; and Damien Green, 20. The fourth person charged as an adult — Yamilet Meina, 18 — hails from Camden, police said.
It was not clear from court records whether any of them had retained attorneys.
Authorities did not release the names of the two juveniles who were also detained Saturday.