The Associated Press

CHAGRIN FALLS, Ohio - Police in this quaint northeast Ohio community of riverside shops and restaurants plan a crackdown to halt the annual post-Halloween pumpkin roll by teens.

Police will consider any gathering to roll pumpkins an unlawful assembly, Chief James Brosius said.

Backers of the pumpkin roll down a steep road say the ritual will continue.

"I don't want to be the class that stopped the pumpkin roll," said senior Molly Fishell, 17.

Each year after Halloween, teens smash hundreds of pumpkins on Grove Hill and slide through the goo on plastic sleds, garbage-can lids or large pumpkins.

Teens collect the pumpkins, sometimes by stealing them from doorways and porches in Chagrin Falls, located 15 miles east of Cleveland.

Farmers donate some pumpkins, too.

Police pledged to end the tradition after last year's event, when one student broke his teeth, another suffered a concussion and four were arrested.

A boy tossed a pumpkin at a cruiser, smashing the windshield.