POINT PLEASANT BORO, NJ – At no time can you work out at a gym under Governor Phil Murphy’s COVID-19 statewide crackdown, even at the Anytime Fitness in Point Pleasant. Police charged Janice Lauria, the owner of the Route 88 fitness center with four counts of violating Murphy’s Law. The department received numerous complaints from local “Karens” reporting the violation to police.
Lauria also received a disorderly persons violation from the department who said, “The Point Pleasant Police Department had received numerous complaints from area residents reporting a violation of the Governor’s Executive Order, specifically, people suspected of using her gym, Anytime Fitness to workout.”
Point Pleasant Police said they are actively checking on businesses to ensure they are shut down. Police said they had given Lauria multiple warnings dating back to early March and on April 28th, as part of a compliance detail in the borough and observed people going in and out of the gym’s side entrance, the front windows covered with an opaque material, blocking the officer’s ability to peer inside the gym from the outside. After a one hour surveillance operation of the business, police said they moved in to shut it down and charge Lauria.
“Random people were approached as they exited the gym,” the department said. “These subjects admitted to working out in the gym, stating the owner would leave the side door open for them,” police said. Lauria now faces up to six months and a $1,000 fine. Luckily for Lauria, a bill sponsored by local Republicans has not seen the light of day. That bill could see fines for crimes such as Lauria’s as high as $10,000 if enacted.