Community Corner
Big Trouble in Big Apple: How Local Skateboarder Faced Jail Grind
Mark McCoy's cross-country trek after high school landed him behind bars with some friends.
High school graduation marks a time when many kids go on out-of-state adventures with friends. It’s a rite of passage that says: “I’m an adult now; I can do what I want.”
Mark McCoy’s road trip was no exception—just his final destination.
He went to jail in New York City.
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“We found a pellet gun in Colorado, and kept it like a souvenir,” McCoy said of the week and a half he spent skateboarding across the country last summer. “My friend pointed it at some guy in New York and he called the cops on us.”
His friend spent the night in jail; McCoy and his other cohorts were released later that day. His says his parents still don’t know.
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“We got rushed by 20 cops,” McCoy said while taking a break from grinding wheelies at La Mesita Park’s skate park. “Probably the worst part is they broke our $2,000 camera and confiscated all our firecrackers.”
It also put a financial burden on the boys and cut their trip short.
“It was supposed to be longer, but—you know—the whole jail thing,” said the Steele Canyon Charter High School grad. “Then we got into a car accident.”
