Arrest at Belmar Beach: Surfer allegedly did not have a beach badge
A video of a surfer being attacked and arrested at Belmar Beach for allegedly not showing his beach badge
Austin Downs on Storyful
BELMAR – Last week’s confrontation between a surfer and police stemmed from complaints from guards that surfers ignored their requests to show their identification, police reports show.
According to police documents, beach rangers complained that several surfers were coming through the dunes and ignoring the rangers’ requests to show their beach passes. Because of this, special district police officers were stationed on the beach between 17th and 19th Avenues to help rangers check the passes, the report said.
In the arrest report of the surfer, 28-year-old Liam Mahoney of Junction City, California, Special Police Officer Ryan Braswell said Mahoney did not have a beach badge on him. From there, the interaction spiraled out of control.
Mahoney’s arrest sparked an outcry in the surfing community, with many questioning the arrest and the need for a beach badge on social media. It also sparked a petition on change.org calling for the “decriminalization of beach access” that has garnered more than 1,400 signatures since it was posted on August 23.
Amanda X. Brock, a surfer from Tinton Falls, said she felt Braswell was specifically targeting surfers that day. The officer approached her after a beach pass checker had already checked her ID earlier in the afternoon, she said. Brock said her interaction with the officer occurred before the incident with Mahoney.
Brock said she was wearing headphones when Braswell approached her and waved to get her attention. She took the headphones off and he asked to see her badge.
She said it was attached to a hat she was carrying, but Braswell explained to her that she must carry the badge with her at all times while at the beach so she complies with the municipal ordinance, she said.
He told her, “Just know that if you take your hat off, you’re going to be cited,” the officer told her. “And I just gave him that look.”
Braswell said in the police report that Mahoney told him he was surfing and therefore “did not need a beach pass because access to the beach is free for surfers.”
“I told him that I believed he was referring to the law that said no one should be denied access to the beach or water, and explained to him that there were no barriers or fences in Belmar that would block his path along the shoreline and thus prevent him from reaching the beach,” Braswell claimed in his report.
Braswell said he then explained to Mahoney that under Title 40 of the New Jersey State Laws, they could be charged a fee to enter the beach.
“I told him there are several beach towns in (New Jersey) that have free admission, but Belmar is not one of them,” Braswell said.
The officer told Mahoney he was going to get a ticket for not having a beach tag on him and asked him to show identification or give his name. Mahoney said he didn’t need a tag and started to walk away before Braswell told him he wasn’t allowed to leave and would be arrested if he continued walking, the arrest report states.
After another similar discussion, the surfer refused to reveal his personal information and walked away from the officer.
When Mahoney didn’t stop, Braswell decided to arrest him for obstruction of justice and for not having or wearing a beach badge, he said in his report. At the beach entrance steps on 19th Avenue, Braswell told Mahoney he was under arrest.
As Braswell attempted to handcuff Mahoney, an “unknown woman” — Brock said was Mahoney’s sister — approached her, began screaming and attempted to prevent her arrest, the report said.
At this point in the interaction, body camera footage shows Mahoney and the woman saying he has a beach badge. Braswell did not note this in his report, but said he reviewed the footage before completing the report.
“I noticed a crowd of people approaching me as well and decided to take the suspect to the ground to handcuff him,” Braswell said in his report. “I was able to wrestle the suspect to the ground on the sand and as he lay there he continued to resist and struggle for a few moments, so I was still unable to handcuff him.”
In the body camera footage, Mahoney can be heard ordering the officer to loosen his handcuffs as he is led to the police car.
In the report, Braswell notes that Mahoney was taken to headquarters and processed without incident. Mahoney was charged with disturbing the peace, obstruction of justice, resisting prosecution and violating beach permits.
He was released on his own bail.
Jenna Calderón covers breaking news and unsolved cases in Monmouth and Ocean counties. Before joining the press, she covered The Queen City for Cincinnati Magazine in Ohio. Reach her at 330-590-3903; [email protected]
