Bethany Beach is enforcing an 11 p.m. juvenile curfew after a large crowd of teenagers caused chaos on the boardwalk Wednesday night and three were arrested.
Around 10:15 p.m. Wednesday, police spotted two males fighting on the beach at Garfield Parkway, surrounded by over 300 teenagers “chanting, yelling and enticing” them, according to a Bethany Beach Police Department news release.
Officers separated the two males and while they were taking statements, police said, another teen tried to remove a baton from an officer’s hip.
“The officer was able to retain his weapons and give chase,” the news release said.
The 18-year-old Newark male was then taken into custody, and as officers walked him up the ramp to the boardwalk, “the volatile crowd of teenagers began chanting and enticing officers,” according to police.
The crowd moved from the beach to the boardwalk in the area of the bandstand, where someone lit “an extremely large ground base sprinkler firework display,” damaging the boardwalk, according to the news release.
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“The unknown suspect caused a chaotic situation where (approximately) 100 subjects fled the area to prevent themselves from being burned and struck by the active fireworks display,” the post said.
A few minutes later, another suspect “lit an explosive, mortar style firework display that caused significant panic and distress to the crowds congregated on the boardwalk,” according to the post.
The firework sprayed in a 50-yard radius and numerous people were struck and burned, police said. A 17-year-old suffered “burn marks along her left hip/rib cage,” according to police. She was treated on the scene.
Security and body camera footage allowed police to identify the suspects who lit the fireworks, the post said. An 18-year-old male from Falls Church, Virginia, was taken into custody without incident, while the other suspect, an 18-year-old male from Selbyville, fled but was later taken into custody, police said.
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All three teens were charged with various misdemeanors.
Neither Bethany Beach police nor Town Manager Cliff Graviet immediately returned calls. Police Chief Michael Redmon was placed on administrative leave in May after he was charged with DUI.
“Parents,” the Bethany Beach Police Department said in a Facebook post Thursday, “Let’s do better. This is unacceptable to our Town, businesses, hotels, and guests.”
The same post said police “bumped our juvenile curfew” to 11 p.m., but according to the Bethany Beach Town Code, an 11 p.m. curfew for anyone under 18 was already in place.
The Bethany-Fenwick Area Chamber of Commerce’s slogan is “The Quiet Resorts.” Incidents involving unruly teens are uncommon in Bethany Beach compared with, for example, Dewey Beach, which just last month was dealing with crowds of “June bugs,” or recent high school graduates.
Shannon Marvel McNaught reports on Sussex County and beyond. Reach her at smcnaught@gannett.com or on Twitter @MarvelMcNaught
