Cape May County officials threaten unruly teens after weekend incidents at Jersey Shore – NBC10 Philadelphia

After a weekend that saw a state of emergency declared in Wildwood and panicked crowds flee a stabbing on the boardwalk in Ocean City, Cape May County, New Jersey Attorney General Jeffrey Sutherland is threatening to charge “and possibly permanently register” teenagers who caused trouble on the New Jersey shore this summer.

“Those who come to our communities to cause trouble be warned: your poor choices and bad actions will not be tolerated and law enforcement will use all legal means to arrest and charge all lawbreakers. Instead of keeping positive memories, you will be charged and possibly permanently registered, which will affect your future,” Sutherland warned in a statement.

In a similar statement, Cape May County Commission Director Len Desiderio said he saw videos over the weekend of “some violent, lawless young people roaming our boardwalks looking for innocent victims to terrorize and attack.”

“We will not tolerate this and we will not allow these thugs to steal the summer from our families, our businesses and our friends who visit us,” Desiderio wrote in a statement.

Both Disederio and Sutherland praised law enforcement officials for their response last weekend.

Discussing an incident in Ocean City, New Jersey, in which crowds fled after a 15-year-old boy was stabbed to death in an incident that occurred on the boardwalk between 9th and 10th streets on Saturday night, Sutherland said, “Charges will be filed.”

Sutherland also said the incident remains under investigation.

However, no arrests have been announced in this incident so far.

Sutherland also said that both a stabbing incident and another fight on the Ocean City boardwalk over the weekend were quickly contained by police.

In Wildwood, where the boardwalk was closed after “civil unrest” broke out due to the influx of teenagers and young people into the area over the holiday weekend, Sutherland said the declaration of a state of emergency allowed police to maintain control of the area and prevent “the situation from escalating.”

Just like in Ocean City, police announced that there were no arrests in Wildwood in connection with the state of emergency declaration.

In fact, the Greater Wildwoods Tourism Improvement and Development Authority stated that the state of emergency was merely a “protective measure” and that no major incidents had ever been reported.

Instead, Sutherland said, law enforcement took these steps to ensure that these New Jersey shore communities could provide visitors, families and residents with the opportunity to “create positive memories.”

“Everyone in our coastal communities in Cape May County can be assured that police are here to keep our visitors, families and residents safe so they can enjoy their stay, create positive memories and continue family traditions,” he said in a statement.