What to Know
- Four softball players were charged with disorderly conduct after chaos erupted at a game site in New Jersey, sources tell News 4 New York
- According to the sources, fans were being cited for drinking and smoking hookah at the game site in Passaic's Pulaski Park on Sunday
- Some of the players allegedly objected to this and confronted police -- prompting their arrests; video of the field shows a wild scene
At least three softball players were charged with disorderly conduct after chaos erupted at a game site in New Jersey, sources tell News 4 New York.
According to the sources, fans were being cited for drinking and smoking hookah at the game site in Pulaski Park, located in Passaic, late Sunday afternoon.
Some of the players allegedly objected to this and confronted police -- prompting their arrests, the sources said.
Video from the field shows a wild scene, with multiple law enforcement officers handcuffing uniformed players on the dirt. The fray appears to continue into the parking lot as the cuffed players are led away, with many people yelling at cops.
Melvin Tobias, one of those arrested, says police were responding to just one open beer can and one smoker but started blanket ticketing.
"Why you got to give tickets to everybody? If just two people, just give tickets to two," he said.
However, Mayor Hector Lora contends police responded twice -- the first time to ask people to stop drinking and smoking and the second time to write tickets.
"If the police didn’t respond and something would’ve occurred, the first question would’ve been where are the police," Lora said, saying he firmly stands behind how police handled the incident.
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But, the ball players believe police overreacted.
The investigation is ongoing.
