‘They just wanted a break’: Man speaks on viral video of large crowd partying on Ocean Blvd.

MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. (WMBF) - A large crowd gathered Sunday afternoon in the middle of Ocean Boulevard, despite recommendations from city, state and national leaders to practice social distancing.

The incident was caught in multiple viral videos on Facebook that have been viewed hundreds of thousands of times.

The people in the videos are dancing to music, and there are several golf carts parked in the middle of Ocean Boulevard near 12th Avenue North.

King Yari Fields, who was visiting from North Carolina, shot one of the videos.

He said he was having dinner around 5 p.m. at the Beach House Bar and Grill for a friend’s birthday when a parade of golf carts and mopeds came down Ocean Boulevard and stopped in the middle of the street.

Fields said he doesn’t think the large crowd from Sunday was made up of gangs as he said some people believe, but people in general that just wanted to have fun.

“People are going crazy quarantined as well,” he said. “I don’t support them being out there, not social distancing, putting each other in danger, even the community, but at that moment they just wanted a break.”

Chris Capell, who’s from Kentucky, said his family went back to the hotel because of the rowdiness.

“We’ve been in the house too long already, being scared over this pandemic, then finally being able to get out and then getting scared being outside,” he said.

Aaron, who lives in Myrtle Beach, agreed it’s an overreaction to people being cooped up in the house for so long. However, he said reopening needs to be more controlled by city leaders so residents can also continue to enjoy Myrtle Beach,

“We don’t want this to come back and hit us again,” Aaron said. "We want to make sure this is a one-time event and learn from it as opposed to having to relearn and relearn and relearn.

The Myrtle Beach Police Department has not responded to a request for comment regarding the situation.

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