On June 22 at approx 10:45 am we came to the Swartswood State Park Main Office and booked two adjacent campsites for the total of $20.00.
We were given two separate permits one for each campsite. Two large firewood bags were also purchased for $12.00. Then we proceeded to park our cars on the rented space and started assembling our tents.
As we begun to prepare the table a female park ranger armed with a gun came over to us. She stated that ice cooler, which at the time was on the table, must be put inside the car and kept there, because bears in the area were known to come to people's coolers and eat the food. We complied with her and put cooler inside the van.
As we were grilling meat and preparing lunch the same female ranger showed up again demanding to inspect the inside of the black Lexus that was parked on our campsite.
No reason for the car search was given nevertheless owner of the car complied. She had found a beer case, which contained nothing more then an air mattress pump. Then she stated that alcohol is not allowed in the park and left.
We had finished our lunch. Since it was well before official quiet time, as to the park rules, the music in one of our cars was turned on. After about 15~20 minutes a man from another campsite that was close to ours came over and asked us to turn the volume of our music down.
We complied even though it was approximately 12:30 pm, man left. We had spent not more then an hour and a half on the campsite at that point. As we were sitting at the table and talking an armed male park ranger dressed in a white shirt suddenly appeared on our campsite and without introducing himself begun to yell: You've got to get the f*ck out of here! Pack your sh*t and get out! You are not staying here!
We rightfully demanded to know the reason for our eviction, because we have complied with every rule appointed by the park. It had only agitated the ranger and he demanded to see our permits for the campsite. We were shocked and frustrated by this development but we scrabbled and found one of the permits.
After the permit was given to the ranger he demanded to see all of our ID's along with registrations and insurance for all four vehicles. Ids and vehicle papers were also provided to the ranger.
By this time everyone in our group was very concerned and frustrated as to why we are being evicted and what if anything did we do wrong.
At this time one of our group members confronted the ranger and demanded an explanation for rangers actions. Ranger took out a police club and threatened to hit him. This seemed more like a prison camp rather then a recreational area. Our group member stated that he IS NOT going to fight but merely requires information. Then we tried to calm our friend down by taking him aside. And another person from our group began to talk to the ranger.
Again without stating any reason for our eviction he took out the pepper spry and got ready to spray her if she got too close to him. Numerous tries on our part to calmly diffuse the situation were met with loud yelling from the ranger.
Finally he stated: Ok! If this is the way you want to do it that is fine! He took his radio and ran away from our campsite.in about 3 minutes three or four State Park police cars pulled up to our campsite. This looked like a major drug bust or a raid to the surprised campers that were on the campsites next to ours. There was the female ranger who came to our campsite twice before, the male ranger who called for back up and two other rangers dressed in black uniform. The black dressed rangers begun to yell at us to get out again without stating any clear reason for our eviction.
When confronted about the grounds for our eviction they stated that it was not there jurisdiction but since the ranger in a white shirt wanted us to leave we had to leave.
Upset, frustrated and disappointed by such harsh treatment we wrote down last names and badge numbers of the rangers involved. As we were leaving, we were told that no refund would be given to us. The above-described behavior of the rangers was unacceptable and may provide grounds for law suites.
Gene
Fort Lee, New Jersey
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