DURHAM – Approximately 50 young people coped with Friday afternoon’s hot weather by jumping off the bridge over Wiswall Falls on the Lamprey River.
Under normal circumstances, the sight of dozens of teens and college students swimming in the beloved swimming hole would be a welcome sight heading into Memorial Day weekend.
But the swimmers were violating Gov. Chris Sununu’s executive order prohibiting gatherings of more than 10 people aimed at reducing the spread of coronavirus. At about 3:45 p.m., Durham police responded to call alerting them of the mass gathering.
Police dispersed the crowd and asked the more than 20 drivers who parked along Wiswall Road to move their vehicles because parking was prohibited along the street.
Officer Katie Callahan said no one was issued a citation. SHe said warnings were issued for violating the mass gathering prohibition and parking violations. While she said there was no ordinance prohibiting people from jumping off the bridge and swimming, the swimmers’ shoes and clothing was blocking traffic.
"We gave warnings because everyone was congregating on the bridge and we asked people to move their cars on the street because it is a tow zone," Callahan said. "It’s tough for us to enforce so we’re doing the best we can."
Callahan expects nice weather to draw more swimmers to Wiswall, but she asked swimmers not to block the road and wait to jump off the bridge if there are multiple groups already there going forward.
The weekend should see a reprieve of bridge jumpers with temperatures in the low 60s Saturdays and high 50s on Sunday.
"Everyone needs to make sure they’re following the six feet of distancing and not congregate," Callahan said.
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Before officers arrived, swimmers said no one seemed to mind the groups of 10 or more people on the bridge at any one time. They said drivers passing by did not encourage them to separate.
"Lee Fire drove by and waved," said Matt Steele of Durham.
Other swimmers said they did not care about the orders not to congregate in groups of 10 or more.
"It’s a free country and we wanted to come down here," said a preteen boy who declined to give his name.
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Durham police disperse crowd of youth at popular swimming hole - Foster's Daily Democrat
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