The annual Hoboken Santacon bar crawl in lived up to its notoriously rowdy reputation this year, yielding 14 arrests and four police officers injured, according to Police Chief Kenneth Ferrante.
By John Heinis/Hudson County View
“Between Noon-4am, the @HobokenPD responded to 429 calls for service, up from 282 during the same period at the 2017 SantaCon. This yr there were 14 arrests, down from 17 last yr,” Ferrante tweeted this morning.
“There were 33 City Ordinance summonses issued for drinking & urinating in public, down from 52 in ’17[.]”
The police chief, who is known for live tweeting the mayhem that often accompanies bar crawls in the Mile Square City, indicated that yesterday remained chaotic, despite the fact that arrests were down.
“We did have 4 officers who needed medical treatment. 1) Det. J. Quinones suffered a dislocated thumb. 2) Sgt. @W_Collins_ was punched in the jaw. 3) & 4) Sgt. E. Drishti & Officer M. DePalma had to be decontaminated after getting a lot of blood on them from combatnts [sic] at a fight,” he wrote on Twitter.
Despite the less than ideal working conditions, Ferrante noted that all four officers finished their shift, even Quinones – who encountered the man who punched him in the face later in the day.
Proud to say ,all 4 officers treated ,came back to work after treatment & completed their shifts. Ironically, Det. J. Quinones saw the individual who injured him later & was taunted after arrestee was released as per criminal justice reform, entered Texas Arizona to drink more. https://t.co/EfmRv2ykg7
— Chief Ken Ferrante (@KenFerrante) December 16, 2018
The chief also thanked his officers, the Hoboken Office of Emergency Management, Hoboken Emergency Medical Services, as well as the Union City Police Department – who provided additional aid – “for performing at the top of their game.”