Police broke up a large pop-up party at a carnival outside the Woodbridge Center Mall on Saturday after hundreds of teenagers and young adults arrived and several fights broke out.
Woodbridge police said Tuesday morning that 500-plus juveniles were there after the meetup was organized on TikTok. No one was arrested and one teenager was treated for a minor injury.
Officials in Woodbridge said they were well-prepared for the party a week after a similar event attended by more than 300 people at the nearby Menlo Park Mall in Edison resulted in seven arrests and an injury to a police officer.
The Memorial Day weekend meetup occurred just as other crowds of teens descended on the Seaside Heights boardwalk, resulting in more than 70 arrests and three stabbings.
Woodbridge police said they learned days earlier of a pop-up party originally planned for 1:30 p.m. Saturday. A later post, which collected 17,000 “likes,” said the gathering would start at 6 p.m.
Police said they developed a plan in conjunction with other towns and at 11 a.m. held a briefing to prepare for the crowds.
The first groups of attendees showed up around 3 p.m., but went into the mall after they weren’t allowed to enter the carnival because juveniles had to be accompanied by an adult, police said.
Then at 6:20 p.m., many more people arrived at the carnival and it soon reached capacity. By 7 p.m. carnival security and police stopped letting people in which sparked multiple fights.
Some teens started jumping the fence and by 7:30, the carnival was shut down. People were directed into the mall instead, police said.
The situation was still chaotic enough at 8:10 p.m. that police officers from Carteret, Rahway, Clark, Sayreville and Edison were called in to help break up the crowd. The Middlesex County Sheriff’s office also assisted.
By 10 p.m. the cops had cleared the area.
Karyn Pampanin, the owner of Campy’s Amusements, which staged the carnival, said in a statement said the events are supposed to safe and family-friendly.
“Our carnivals are designed to be wholesome, family-oriented events,“ Pampanin said. ”We invest tremendous effort into ensuring they are safe and welcoming for everyone. However, the growing trend of social media-driven disruptions is deeply troubling and must be addressed.
Pampanin said the entrance policy which says children under 18 must be accompanied by an adult was disregarded by many.
“Despite these precautions, some adults circumvented the policy by accompanying the minors, only to leave them unattended once inside,” she said. This behavior undermines the spirit of our policies and compromises the safety of all attendees.
“We urge parents to take their responsibilities seriously and remain present with their children during events. We also call upon local and federal authorities to recognize the role of social media in organizing these incidents and consider regulations that could prevent further harm.”
The carnival was held on Sunday and Monday with shortened hours and no issues, according to Woodbridge police Capt. Brian Murphy and Pampanin.
Mall management couldn’t immediately be reached Tuesday.
Stories by Jeff Goldman
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Jeff Goldman may be reached at jeff_goldman@njadvancemedia.com.