A wild brawl among groups of teens on a Long Island boardwalk was captured on video, and now it is leading to calls for stepped up police patrols ahead of the summer season.
The fight broke out Thursday evening near the busy boardwalk in Long Beach, video showed. A large group of teens was seen fighting — then suddenly running as the chaos spilled over onto the boardwalk.
Cellphone video showed the moments after a teen was hit in the head with a pipe during the fight, which caused the group to flee.
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"They got into a verbal argument that wound up being turned into a physical altercation. You know, it's unfortunate," said Ron Walsh, the acting city manager and police commissioner for Long Beach.
The owner of the beachfront restaurant Riptides said when he heard the fight, he ran down to break it up.
"We ended up going down there. There was some construction workers to help me break it up, and the kids just dispersed in one everywhere," said owner Brian Braddish. "I would assume that someone was hit with an object. I didn't actually see it, but I'm looking to get it like a police presence up here."
He's not alone in that wish, as it's a familiar cry among locals, especially the past few years The boardwalk has seen fights as crowds and summer heat collide.
"I only saw two cops today and I've been here since 9:00 a.m., and we should have more police here considering the money that we pay for here," said Long Beach resident Roberta D'Amore.
Police increased their presence on the boardwalk Friday. The department usually increases patrols after Memorial Day — generally when beach crowds start getting larger as summer begins — but they're starting early this year and with more force.
Commissioner Walsh called Thursday's happenings an isolated incident, and blamed the early-season fracas on the unseasonably warmer weather.
"It's April 14th, it's not supposed to be beach weather. So we were out here yesterday when the when the situation occurred. We were right on top of it. It wasn't like it took the officers a while to get here. We have our ATVs already up on the on the boardwalk," said Walsh.
He added that officers spoke with the parents of the kids involved.
"We have our detective division working on it and looking for the kids who haven't been identified yet. But I'm confident that this is not going to be a repeat type of occurrence, especially with these kids," Walsh said.
