Local man jailed after soccer field incident
BY PATRICIA A. MILLER
Staff Writer

BRICK TOWNSHIP - Police arrested a local man and charged him with eluding police, criminal mischief and other charges in connection with a Nov. 29 incident at the Midstreams Elementary School soccer fields.

Adam R. Wardell, 18, Brick, was also charged with reckless driving, three counts of failure to stop, driving an unregistered vehicle, driving as an unlicensed operator, driving an uninsured vehicle, driving an all-terrain vehicle with more than one passenger and failure to wear a helmet, police said. He was taken to the Ocean County jail, Toms River, where he was lodged in lieu of $50,000 bail with no 10 percent option, police said.

Midstreams School's principal called police at 1:14 p.m. and told them that someone was driving all-terrain vehicles and motorcycles on the field while children were at recess, police said. When an officer arrived, he saw someone operating a 2005 blue Yamaha ATV on the field. When the driver saw the officer, he sped off the field and onto Orion Drive, police said.

The driver then went through three stop signs, passed a stopped school bus, turned right on Rainbow Drive, drove into the woods, then fled on foot, police said. A passenger in the ATV told police that Wardell had been driving the vehicle.

When police apprehended Wardell, he told them that he guessed he "should have stopped," according to the police report.

The fields were damaged in the incident, police said.