2 Skaters Arrested At Lynch Park In Cambridge, Video Goes Viral

CAMBRIDGE, MA —Although the skate park's lights were on at the time, State police arrested two Boston men, saying they refused to leave a state-owned skate park in Cambridge on Sunday after closing time. The arrests were caught on video, that's since gone viral, and skating advocates are questioning the arrests.

The lights went up in the summer and officials tweeted they were up and ready for use, they argue.

"The lights at Lynch Family Skate Park are officially up and running," the Charles River Conservancy wrote in a tweet at the time. "As the days get shorter this fall, skaters will get to skate into the evening."

However the Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation runs the park and confirmed the park is not open after dusk until new signs are posted.

A trooper checking in on Lynch Skate Park about 8:26 p.m. spotted a number people still in the skate park well after dark. A sign hanging nearby indicates dusk is the time the park closes, according to state police.

Police said they made repeated requests for the group of skaters to leave, both from his cruiser and in person, and a trooper spoke with Derek Hanlon, 27, and told him to leave but when police said he didn't, they arrested him and charged him with trespassing and then they charged him with resisting arrest as more than a dozen other people looked on.

Regular skaters at the park say their friend was unjustly treated and the trooper did not read their friend his rights or explain why he was being arrested.

A friend of Hanlon posted a video to social media saying Hanlon had only asked police why they were being asked to leave when the lights were still on and didn't go out until 9 p.m.

The video, which had more than 270,000 views as of Monday, starts with and you can see Hanlon standing close to an officer who is pointing over his shoulder. Then the officer can be seen grabbing Hanlon's arm and taking it to handcuff him to the protests of friends in the background.

"Sir, sir, sir, I'm in a public place. This park is open til 9 p.m.," Hanlon says as the officer pulls out handcuffs and Hanlon drops a skateboard in his hands.

Hanlon does not submit to handcuffs, and the officer repeatedly tells the man not to resist and to put his hands behind his back and to calm down.

"I donated money for these lights, sir," says Hanlon.

When the officer can't put the man in cuffs, he picks him up and forces him to the ground to the shouts of people looking on. Hanlon still doesn't let the officers handcuff him and at least two other State Troopers step in to help.

A second man, Askia Burns, 24, was arrested shortly after he allegedly said he was going back to skate as soon as police left.

Both men were released on $40 bail and were set to be arraigned Monday in Cambridge District Court.

The video has more than 270,000 views:

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Photo by Jenna Fisher/Patch Staff