Intoxicated Bridgeton man arrested after chaotic convenience store disturbance, police say

A late-night disturbance at the Sinclair Dino Mart left a North Pearl Street convenience store damaged, employees shaken and Bridgeton police dealing with a man they said was intoxicated, irate and escalating rather than calming down.

Officers were called to 179 N. Pearl Street at about 10:50 p.m. on April 13, 2026, after a report of criminal mischief at the store. Police identified the accused as Denzel J. Costin, 31, of Bridgeton, and said he was angry toward both officers and store employees when they arrived.

The police account says the situation started before Costin ever entered the store. Officers said he damaged several vehicles in the 100 block of Walnut Street, then continued into the convenience store, where he punched a glass barrier and shattered it. By the time the scene was under control, the incident had gone well beyond a routine disorder call, adding damage inside the business to the street-level disruption outside.

Bridgeton police said Costin was charged with criminal mischief and failure to allow fingerprinting. He later received two additional charges for throwing bodily fluids at law-enforcement officers. He was transported to the Cumberland County Jail and lodged without further incident.

The case is the kind of call that can tie up officers, interrupt a business night shift and leave customers and workers dealing with the aftermath long after the lights are turned back on. Because it happened at a familiar commercial stop on North Pearl Street, it also raises a broader question for Bridgeton residents: whether police are seeing repeated late-night incidents in this corridor, or whether this was a single eruption of intoxication and disorder.

The Cumberland County Prosecutor’s Office says its incident blotter is a transparency tool and notes that an arrest is only an accusation. Costin is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.