EATONTOWN—A rift between Haitian-Americans and African-Americans in Asbury Park spread up to the Loews Cineplex Theater at Monmouth Mall on July 18, where multiple fights broke out in the lobby, bringing police from eight departments to the scene to quell the melee, according to police.
Three adults and seven juveniles had been arrested and two Eatontown police officers had been injured by the time it was over. Eight of those arrested were from Asbury Park, one was from Belmar and one was from Ocean Township.
A shooting the next day in Asbury Park was linked to the same disturbance, police said. No one was hurt in that incident.
Capt. Mark Kinmon of the Asbury Park Police said the incident at the movie theater began as a dispute in Asbury Park between the two ethnic groups during the day on Friday. He said many of the youths involved wound up at the movie theater later in the day.
Kinmon said that on Saturday, shots were fired at one of the young men involved in the Friday-night melee at 1:09 p.m. in front of 1042 Munroe Ave. in Asbury Park.
The bullets did not strike their intended target, he added. He said police located the victim but did not know as of Tuesday press time who the shooter was.
However, the officer said, "We do have evidence of the shooting. We have the actual shell casings from the bullets, and we have several witnesses."
Kinmon said the ongoing rift between the Haitian-Americans and the African-Americans has involved both shootings and assaults. He stressed that this was not gang violence but a dispute between the two ethnic groups.
"What started it was unreported, and we’re still trying to find the cause," he said of Friday’s incident.
Capt. George S. Jackson of the Eatontown Police Department said the fights at the movie theater broke out in the lobby at 11 p.m. He said the number of fights became so great that the Eatontown police called on seven other police departments for help in controlling the crowd.
Eventually, the crowd was dispersed, he added.
There were no reports of any theatergoers being injured, he said.
The other police departments called on for assistance were those of Shrewsbury, Oceanport, West Long Branch, Long Branch, Monmouth University, Tinton Falls and Fort Monmouth.
Jackson said the two police officers injured were Patrolman Ryan Braswell and Detective Lawrence Tyler.
He said Braswell suffered a sprained wrist while arresting a suspect outside the mall and was treated at Monmouth Medical Center, Long Branch, and later released. He said Tyler sustained an injured knee when he fell to the ground with one of the suspects inside the theater.
The adults arrested were Justin P. Robinson, 19, of Belmar, who is charged with being disorderly and resisting arrest, and Brandon R. Keyes and Marc C. Orival, both 19 and from Asbury Park, who were charged with being disorderly persons.
Seven juvenile males — six from Asbury Park and one from Ocean Township — were arrested and charged with being disorderly, resisting arrest and weapons offenses.
Jackson said all the adults arrested were later released on summonses, pending their appearance in Municipal Court.
He said all the juveniles were released to their parents or guardians, pending Juvenile Court appearances.
By Sherry conohan
Staff Writer
Violent ethnic dispute erupts at Monmouth Mall