EDGEWATER PARK, N.J.-
Police have arrested a Burlington County man for using a lawn mower to cut a racial slur in the grass in an open field.
Dennis E. Westphal, 19, of Edgewater Park turned himself in to the Edgewater Park Township police on Thursday, a day after authorities issued a warrant for his arrest, according to a statement from the Burlington County Prosecutor’s Office.
Police were initially alerted to the incident on Aug. 31 when a local resident called them, said Jack Smith, a spokesman for the prosecutor’s office.
The racial slur, which was cut into a field of tall grass on township-owned property, was also spotted by someone in a plane flying overhead who then alerted police.
Westphal was charged with bias intimidation and harassment and released on his own recognizance pending a court hearing on Nov. 15.
No telephone listing could be found for Westphal.
