Over 70 'Groups' Violated Ocean City Beach, Boardwalk Closures

OCEAN CITY, NJ — Plenty of people violated Ocean City beach and boardwalk closures last weekend, according to officials. Ocean City police dealt with more than 70 "groups" of people who violated the new-coronavirus restriction, according to Chief Jay Prettyman.

"Groups" is defined as one to six people. But the total doesn't count all who broke the rules.

"That does not account for the unknown amount of violators who left the beach when they saw the police car coming their way," Prettyman told Patch.

Mayor Jay Gillian announced March 25 that Ocean City would close its beaches and boardwalks. Read more: Ocean City Closes Beaches, Boardwalk During Coronavirus

The City Office of Emergency Management sent a special statement Saturday to reiterate that the beaches and boardwalk remain closed to all.

"These encounters forced us to utilize our reverse 9-1-1 system to issue a reminder that the beach and boardwalk were closed and to request residents/visitor’s cooperation," Prettyman said. "No summonses were issued, as most of the violators were reminded of the closure and complied with our requests to leave the beach and/or boardwalk."

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State parks reopened Saturday. But Corson's Inlet State Park closed off beach access less than a day into the park's reopening. Read more: Corson's Inlet State Park Closes Beach Shortly After Reopening

The Cape May County Health Department has reported 11 active coronavirus cases and 13 people cleared off quarantine as of Monday afternoon. No coronavirus deaths have been reported in Ocean City.

Read more: NJ Coronavirus Updates: Here's What You Need To Know

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