Wildwood mayor issues statement on civil unrest that led to state of emergency
WILDWOOD, New Jersey (WPVI) -- Wildwood police say they have lifted the state of emergency that was put in place in the Jersey Shore community amid unruly crowds over the weekend.
Officials say the emergency declaration was issued due to civil unrest and an irrepressible number of calls for service that started on Saturday.
"Most of these calls were related to the extremely large number of young adults and juveniles that were in the city for the Memorial Day weekend," said city officials in a statement Monday afternoon. "At the peak of this civil unrest, mutual aid requests were sent out to multiple agencies in Cape May County."
ALSO SEE: Teen stabbed during altercation on Ocean City, NJ boardwalk
The high volume of calls also prevented police from responding to certain calls for service, which ultimately prompted the state of emergency to be issued early Monday morning, officials added.
Police closed the boardwalk to address the civil unrest before the measure was lifted around 6 a.m.
Wildwood Mayor Ernie Troiano Jr. released this statement on the weekend chaos:
"Wildwood will not tolerate unruly, undisciplined, unparented children nor will we stand by while the laws of the state tie the hands of the police. We wholeheartedly support the City of Wildwood Police Department in protecting this community from these nuisance crowds on our boardwalk and in the city."
Dan Schindler, the owner of East Side Surf Shop, says the weekend business and behavior on the boardwalk was fairly good. So he was surprised to learn about the state of emergency.
"When we left last night everything was under control and everybody seemed to be behaving," he said. "They started to enforce a curfew last night around 10:30 p.m., removing or asking people to leave the boardwalk who were under 18. For the most part, everyone complied."
No injuries were reported in Wildwood and police have not said if any arrests were made.
Wildwood wasn't the only shore town dealing with issues from large crowds. In Ocean City, a teen was stabbed on the boardwalk Saturday night.
Police say they initially responded to reports of a fight around 9:15 p.m. that night. At some point, they discovered a 15-year-old boy who police say had been stabbed by an unknown male.
The scene was unnerving for some.
"We thought we were coming to the safest place and it just was a little frightening," said Aimee Hird, of Franklinville, NJ.
Anyone with information on the stabbing is urged to contact Ocean City police at 609-525-9129.
Wildwood officials say the city is prepared for any bad behavior and will continue to be proactive in enforcing the laws.
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