More Trespassing Arrests At Old Essex County Hospital Grounds

Authorities have made more trespassing arrests at one of Essex County’s most popular urban legend sites… the defunct Overbrook mental institution in Cedar Grove.

On Sunday morning around 3:30 a.m., officers with the Essex County Sheriff’s Office arrested five people inside Building Two at the former Essex County Hospital Center grounds on Fairview Avenue, reported RLS Media.

The Hospital Center - a defunct psychiatric care facility that housed mentally ill patients – shut down in 2007. Since its closure, the county-owned property has become a popular urban legend and exploration site despite being off-limits to trespassers.

Police from the Essex County Sheriff’s Office regularly conduct plainclothes surveillance and make trespassing arrests at the location, according to Weird NJ.

“We receive a lot of messages asking about security and police presence around the area,” a Facebook page titled “Overbrook Insane Asylum” states. “Remember that this is area is on private property and trespassing is illegal.”

“In 2008, the local sheriff amped up police presence on the property, leading to 34 arrests over the course of 3 days, though it was rented out as a location for the tacky Travel Channel series Ghost Adventures the same year,” Abandoned NYC states on its website. “Rumors of 24/7 surveillance still serve to ward off would-be trespassers.”

Photo by AbandonedNJ

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