No arrests after teens rampaged at a haunted hayride in New Jersey

COLLINGSWOOD, N.J. (AP) — Police said they made no arrests after hundreds of teenagers went on a rampage last weekend, disrupting a haunted hayride fundraiser, taking over and stealing from a convenience store and brawling through residential neighborhoods in a suburb of Philadelphia.

Collingswood, a western New Jersey town, said it “will be reviewing and revising plans for public events given this new riotous trend.”

Although no arrests were made immediately following the violence in and around Knight Park and the thefts from the Wawa convenience store, an investigation is continuing, the borough’s mayor and police chief said in a statement Monday. It was not immediately clear whether any injuries were reported.

Officials said more than 200 teenagers were involved, including many dropped off by the carloads after 8 p.m. Saturday at the park where the borough’s parent-teacher association was sponsoring the Halloween-season event. The teens quickly began fighting with each other, cutting in lines and running recklessly through the area.

Local police decided to shut down the event, calling in help from neighboring departments and dispersing the teens. As they were doing so, a group of 50 to 70 youths took over the nearby convenience store, stealing items and causing a disturbance. Police dispersed them and the store shut down for the night.

Meanwhile, a group of nearly 80 teens engaged in what authorities called “a massive fight” in a residential neighborhood near the park. Police dispersed those teens as well.

The Associated Press