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Article Archive > Mercer County man admits to running over seagulls on purpose Mercer County man admits to running over seagulls on purpose EATONTOWN - A Mercer County man who was chased down by a furious couple who saw him methodically run over a flock of seagulls outside the Monmouth Mall pleaded guilty to an animal cruelty charge, authorities said. Jeffrey Karczewski, 22, entered the plea on Friday in Eatontown Municipal Court and incurred more than $750 in fines and fees for what happened on Oct. 18, said Victor "Buddy" Amato, chief law enforcement officer of the Monmouth County Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. It was on that day outside the mall, near Bobby's Burger Palace, that Karczewski, of Perilli Drive in Hamilton, circled the gulls multiple times in his Dodge Nitro and, according to Amato, "he lined them up in his sights and he just blew right through." "And he was laughing when he did it," Amato said, citing witness accounts. One bird was killed and two others were injured, but never found. The witnesses, a man and a woman, were "just outraged," Amato said, and chased Karczewski out of the mall area and into the parking lot of the Doubletree Hotel in Tinton Falls. They got his license plate information before he sped off, Amato said. Amato mailed a summons to Karczewski charging him with one count of animal cruelty. He tried to tell authorities that he didn't mean to run over the birds, but did so as he was searching for an exit out of the lot, Amato said. Because authorities did not take Karczewski into custody, his photo was not available. |