Crime & Safety

Man Charged After False Report of Gunman in Warehouse on Halloween (911 Audio)

An Elizabeth man was charged last week for pulling a Halloween hoax on police with a fake 911 call reporting a gunman at a township warehouse.

Christian Lamberty, 23, was charged with making false public alarms and terrorist threats after he allegedly reported a warehouse employee was carrying a firearm and arguing with a manager of the facility on Oct. 31.

At around 9:30 p.m., police received a 911 call from a man who said his name was Raoul reporting a gunman at the Argix Direct warehouse on Middlesex Center Boulevard near the South Brunswick-Cranbury border. Police said there were over 100 employees inside the the 200,000-square foot building at the time of the call.

The caller reported a Hispanic male wearing all black was carrying the gun in his waistband as he was screaming at the manager in the shipping department over a work dispute.

South Brunswick Police officers surrounded the building and observed no signs of problems on the outside of the facility. Employees were detained and questioned as they left the building on a break, but no one reported any issues in the warehouse, police said. 

A warehouse manager then gathered all of the employees in one location so a team of officers could begin a sweep of the building to isolate and contain the gunman, however the caller was disconnected from the 911 dispatcher after he was asked to come outside and talk to police. Emergency dispatchers and detectives attempted to identify where the 911 call originally came from after the phone number came up as invalid, according to police.

Investigators were able to trace the phone used to make the 911 call back to Lamberty. At the time authorities determined the source of the call, a warehouse employee told officers there was a man later identified as Lamberty dressed all in black acting odd in the cafeteria, according to police.

Detectives then confronted Lamberty, who appeared "extremely nervous," said police spokesman Sgt. Jim Ryan. 

Lamberty, who had been working at the warehouse for a short time through a temporary agency, was not carrying any weapons and told officers he was unaware of any problems, according to police.

Officers informed Lamberty that they knew it was his phone that was the source of the 911 call. Lamberty then allegedly admitted to police that he made the call for fun.

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Lamberty was processed at South Brunswick Police Headquarters before being transported to the Middlesex County Adult Correction Center in lieu of $22,500 bail.

Find out what's happening in South Brunswickfor free with the latest updates from Patch.

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