Teen charged with 2d Wal-Mart announcement
A 16-year-old Atlantic County boy arrested after the racially tinged announcement at the Turnersville Wal-Mart this month did the same thing Dec. 28, police reported yesterday.
WASHINGTON TWP., NJ - A 16-year-old Atlantic County boy arrested after the racially tinged announcement at the Turnersville Wal-Mart this month did the same thing Dec. 28, police reported yesterday.
The youth, whose name has not been released because he is a juvenile, is now charged with two counts each of harassment and bias intimidation, Washington Township police said.
He is accused of announcing over a Wal-Mart telephone March 14 that "all the black people" should leave the store, on Route 42. Police arrested him after examining surveillance cameras and social Web sites such as Facebook and YouTube.
Wal-Mart representatives have apologized and secured their public address system to prevent future problems.
After the incident, Loretta Winters, president of the Gloucester County NAACP, received reports that a similar announcement had been made before, but said Wal-Mart had considered it "just a prank" and had not reported it to police. She said "the persistence of the NAACP" had led to further investigation.
Police said Wal-Mart managers this week turned over a surveillance recording from December that showed the youth making a similar announcement about 10:30 p.m.