Massive brawls involving teenage girls at the kick off a New Jersey carnival caused so much chaos, including five arrests, that it “overwhelmed” local police and led organizers to cancel the remainder of the four-day festival.
Several fights broke out Wednesday night during the opening day of the Robelinig Carnival when the festivities became overrun with troublemakers, according to Florence town police.
Police were so “overwhelmed by unruly individuals” that they were forced to call in help from more than a dozen other nearby police agencies, including the Burlington County Sheriff’s Office.
Two 14-year-old girls, a 15-year-old girl and a 16-year-old girl were all arrested on charges of disorderly conduct.
One 14-year-old was also charged with obstruction and failure to disperse and the 16-year-old was additionally charged with resisting arrest.
An unidentified 20-year-old was also arrested and charged.
“During the effort to break up the fights, one officer suffered an injury,” Florence police said.
The cop was treated at an area hospital and released.
Florence police also said officials decided to cancel the remaining three days of the carnival, which through Saturday, because of the violence.
“The safety of our community, our officers, and all carnival attendees is our top priority,” police said.
One Garden State family with young kids showed up to the carnival Thursday only to be left disappointed when they had to turn around.
“I don’t understand why one incident got to shut it down for everybody else,” a father told CBS Philadelphia.