Prankster Calls Cops on 'Unruly' Crowd Waiting for Generators

The desperate imperative to get a generator caused a someone posing as a store manager to call police about an unruly crowd waiting at a store that was scheduled to get a generator delivery.

Only thing was, the manager didn't make the call.

Woodbridge Police headed over to Harbor Freight on Route 1 and Gill Lane in Iselin around 11 pm Sunday, on the tip that the crowd waiting for generators was getting disruptive and unmanageable.

When police arrived, they found several dozen people, calming lined up and waiting for the store to open at 5 am.

Lieut. Wayne Russo said his assumption was that it was someone waiting in line who made the call, probably hoping to get an advantage in the generator wars as the area waits for the arrival of Hurricane Sandy.

So far, everyone has been nice, Russo said - the calm before the storm.

"It's very eerie. It's been very quiet. But we have had a number of domestic complaints and some arrests," he said. 

"People get cooped up together and they go a little crazy. And this is supposed to be a 36 hour storm."

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