Toy grenade prompts evacuation of Seaside Park beach

SEASIDE PARK — An already mostly empty beach was completely cleared for around an hour on Sunday when police received a report of a grenade on the beach.

Police were called to the area of the 7th Avenue beach around 12:50 p.m. where they found what appeared to be a hand grenade, Cpl. Steve Shadiack, said. Officers who arrived on the scene did not know whether the grenade had washed up on the beach, or had been placed there as it was found around the high tide line, Shadiack said.

"We really don't know where it came from," he said.

Several agencies were initially contacted, according to Shadiack, including the Ocean County Prosecutor's Office, Ocean County Sheriff's Office, and the New Jersey State Police. It was Det. Chris Bonner of the Ocean County Prosecutor's Office who determined the item was either a replica or toy grenade, and was made out of plastic, Shadiack said. At that point the other agencies were notified they were no longer needed.

"To look at it, at a safe distance of a few feet away it looked pretty real. There were no markings on it to indicate it was a toy," Shadiack said.

Shadiack said from the time officers arrived on the scene until the time the all clear was given was around an hour.