Facebook Posts Lead to Arrests for Alleged Skate Park Thefts

Facebook posts bragging of doing drugs and stealing souvenirs from the dismantled gave the Ocean City Police Department an easy tip to check out the possibility of illegal activity at the Sixth Street and Boardwalk facility, according to Capt. Steven Ang.

"I didn't walk out of that place empty-handed last night," one of the posts said, according to Ang.

Safety concerns related to deteriorating equipment and the prohibited use of bicycles at the city-owned park had led crews to dismantle the park earlier this week, according to Jim Mallon, director of community services, who said the city would reassess the condition and type of equipment before replacing it.

The sudden disappearance of the park's ramps and rails angered the local skating community, and allegedly led some to try to salvage pieces of it.

Acting on the information from Facebook, established surveillance at the park on Wednesday night (Oct. 26). They watched two people leave a vehicle and fail to get into the gated park at about 8 p.m. that night. But the same two suspects returned at 12:45 a.m. (Oct. 27) with a third person riding a BMX bicycle, Ang said.

One of the suspects got into the park through a hole in the fence and tried to pass a 20-foot section of skateboard rail over the fence to the two other suspects outside the park, Ang said.

Police then approached the men and arrested all three without incident.

James P. O'Brien, 24, of Somers Point, is charged with theft and criminal trespass. Erik J. Sammartino, 19, of Somers Point, and John J. Rutkowski, 20, of Somers Point, are each charged with theft, according to Ang.

Police are continuing to investigate thefts that may have occurred prior to the most recent incident and are asking anybody with information to call 609-399-9111. Sgt. Pat Randles, Patrolman Doug Swillo and Patrolman Matt Schaffer conducted the investigation.

The Ocean City Skate Park opened in 2002 at a cost of a little more than $130,000. The city says it will consider rebuilding the park with safe equipment appropriate for bikes, scooters and skateboards, if it determines they are the most popular uses, according to Mallon.

A Facebook page (not related to the aforementioned pages), Rebuild Ocean City Nj Skatepark, now has 465 followers.

One of the posts appears to validate the city's safety concerns. A poster identified as Rampage Skatepark Equipment says:

"Seize the moment and lobby for a proper concrete park. I have been doing maintenance on this park for years and the money that was needed to keep it in safe repair became too much. The service life of the equipment was rapidly coming to an end and the town has already started considering alternatives. Bitching isn't going to get the park back, but working with them could get a dope state of the art park in its place."