More Than 500 Teens Descend On Woodbridge Mall Saturday Night, Shut Down Carnival

WOODBRIDGE, NJ — More than 500 teens descended on Woodbridge Center mall and a carnival in the mall parking lot Saturday night, in what Woodbridge Police say was another "pop-up party" that police got wind of ahead of time.

Videos posted to TikTok and other social media platforms showed teens running through the mall screaming and jumping on top of furniture. The carnival had to shut down early due to fights breaking out among teenagers in line waiting to get in, said police.

That's when hundreds of teens poured into the mall instead. Some stores in the mall closed early, and there were reports of customers sheltering in place inside stores, afraid to go out, as packs of teens ran through the mall.

"We estimate 500+ juveniles were involved," said Woodbridge Police in a summary of the incident released to the media Tuesday morning. "No arrests were made. One minor injury was reported from a juvenile attendee, who was treated and released to their parents."

Police said they learned ahead of time from social media posts that the planned teen meet-up was going to happen.

"Woodbridge Police learned that a pop-up party was planned for Saturday, May 24 at the Woodbridge Center mall during the carnival. Initial posts indicated a 1:30 p.m. start time, but later posts, one of which garnered approximately 17,000 likes, changed the time to 6:00 p.m.," police said.

Police said they were already on high alert after 300 teens descended on Menlo Park mall a week earlier. Seven teens were arrested in the Menlo Park mall incident, including one teen charged with assault on an Edison police officer. Also, in an unrelated incident, the Seaside Heights boardwalk had to be shut down Sunday evening due to crowd size and more than 70 people arrested over Memorial Day weekend in Seaside.

At 11 a.m. Saturday, Woodbridge Police held a briefing at the mall, attended by police officers from surrounding towns, where an operational plan was unveiled, said Woodbridge Twp. spokesman John Hagerty.

The first teens started entering the carnival at 3 p.m. Saturday, said police. This video posted to TikTok complained about the very heavy police presence at the carnival.

"They had the whole department there," the TikTok user posted. "Damn Jersey can’t have anything nice no more."

"At approximately 6:21 p.m., large groups of juveniles began arriving," according to Woodbridge Police. "Headquarters dispatched all available units to the mall for crowd control. The fair had robust security measures, requiring underage attendees to be accompanied by an adult, and quickly reached maximum capacity with a very long line. By 7:00 p.m., the fair stopped admitting people. Multiple fights broke out, and juveniles began jumping the fence to enter. At approximately 7:30 p.m., the carnival was shut down due to the juveniles' activity, and the crowd moved into the mall."

At 8:11 p.m. Woodbridge Police put out a call for mutual aid to help disperse the teens who were running through the mall screaming. Police officers from Carteret, Rahway, Clark, Sayreville and Edison responded, assisting in dispersing crowds from the parking lot.

By around 10:00 p.m., the crowds had fully dispersed, according to Woodbridge Police.

Last week: 300 Teens Descend On Menlo Park Mall; 7 Arrested (May 19)

Teens From Woodbridge, New Brunswick Involved In Menlo Park Mall Brawl (May 19)