A huge spring break party was dispersed by cops in Sunny Isles Beach, South Florida, over the weekend after clampdowns on gatherings pushed revelers toward normally sleepier communities.
Cellphone footage showed a massive crowd swarming the beach after an invite for the non-permitted gathering was reportedly shared on social media.
Officers used bullhorns and sirens to try and disperse the crowds following a fight reportedly breaking out on the sand on Friday afternoon, as shown in a video shared by Local10 News.
“Huge crowd started pulling on. There was two people fighting actually,” one eyewitness said, as reported by WSVN.
Police in South Florida are on high alert following fears partygoers who regularly flock to Miami Beach will head north instead, after city leaders promised those who came for non-permitted gatherings faced the “worst spring break ever.”
“Non-permitted gatherings and disruptive behavior will not be tolerated,” the Sunny Isles Police Department posted on social media.
Cops broke up the rowdy day party, also known as a “darty,” in Sunny Isles on Friday, but it’s just one of many sweeping along the east coast of Florida as the second wave of Spring Break ramps up.
Communities north of Miami Beach are bearing the brunt of the city’s spring break crackdown. In February, city officials asserted that there would be strict curfews and greater police presence than usual. In 2021, the city even used SWAT teams to enforce its stringent 8 p.m. curfew.
The threat appears to have worked yet again as spring break-related arrests in the city plummeted to 352 incidents as of March 20, about 13% lower than last year, according to data provided by Miami Beach police.
Fort Lauderdale, despite also making assurances that they would have similarly heightened police presence during spring break, is seeing the most action as a result of the Miami Beach migration.
While Fort Lauderdale did try to follow in Miami Beach’s footsteps, it did not include a curfew requirement, permitting the students to roam free.
It comes days after an illegal boxing match in Fort Lauderdale including a cryptocurrency-based betting system sparked chaotic scenes.
Video footage from the fight showed over 100 people gathered in a circle around sporadic fights as onlookers tried to egg on the competitors they bet on.
Spring breakers are even stirring up trouble on the complete opposite end of the state. In Fort Myers, one student bit off a man’s ear during a fight on St. Patrick’s Day.
He spewed racial slurs at the man while forcing his face in the sand, police said, before a bystander broke up the fight.
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