Police: No Charges For Person Who Left Statue Outside NJ Gas Station
BURLINGTON, N.J. (CBS) -- Police say an individual has claimed responsibility for leaving a statue outside a gas station in a Burlington County town and they will not face criminal charges at this time.
The discovery of the statue was made in the early morning hours on April 18th outside the Burlington Gulf gas station on Route 130 and High Street.
According to the Burlington City Police Department, they were alerted to the statue by a resident who watched a video on social media depicting the statue.
A short time after the video was posted on social media, Burlington City Police Department patrol officers went to the area and located the statue, which was hidden in the bushes outside the gas station.
The officers removed the statue.
Once the gas station opened, Burlington City Police Department detectives spoke with its owner who said he, nor any of his employees, had any knowledge of the statue. Police said the gas station owner was "appalled" and said he did not know why a person would place something of that sort on their property.
A spokesperson for the Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst says that the statue is a pop-up gun range target. She can't confirm this target came from the base, but says they have been using the same ones since the 1980's. The image on the target is supposed to be a generic adversary with a helmet, the spokesperson says it is not meant to depict any specific nation or race.
"Not really upset, but I can't explain it. I don't know why somebody would do something like that," said the owner of the gas station.
On Monday, police say an individual arrived at the City of Burlington Police Department claiming responsibility for leaving the item where it was found. Police said it was determined that the item was found and left at the location where it was recovered by patrol officers. Police say the individual has no connection to the business and no intentions to negatively affect the operations of the gas station.
At this time, police say the individual will not face criminal charges for this incident.
Police say the case has been administratively closed by the agency.