8/23/09 Greenwich Police Overwhelmed By Powerball

Greenwich suspends Powerball sales for 24 hours
USA Today

Town officials got permission from the state lottery to suspend Powerball ticket sales Friday, saying they were overwhelmed by would-be millionaires from out of state.

The ban also applies in the Cos Cob, Byram, Riverside and Old Greenwich portions of Greenwich, the first Connecticut town on the Metro-North Railroad out of New York City.

Powerball — which is expected to have a jackpot approaching $300 million for Saturday's drawing — is offered in 21 states and the District of Columbia, but not in New York.

Customers standing outside a Greenwich gas station in a downpour Thursday evening were sympathetic — to an extent.

"You also have to understand, it's such a large jackpot," said Dominic Pizzimenti of Astoria, N.Y., who took a train to Greenwich. "Maybe if we hit the jackpot we can afford to live in Greenwich and complain like everybody else."

Inside the gas station, store manager Varinder Kumer said he wasn't going to miss the long lines.

"It's too many problems. People get angry," he said.

Tickets will still be available elsewhere in Connecticut on Friday, including towns further north on the railroad line such as Stamford, Darien and Norwalk, the state lottery said.

Greenwich Police Chief Peter Robbins said police have been so busy monitoring the long lines that even major crime investigations have been interrupted.

"We applaud the responsiveness of the Connecticut Lottery," said Greenwich First Selectman Lolly Prince. "We have experienced serious public safety and health issues."

Prince said traffic has been so bad it could be difficult for emergency vehicles to get through. She also said there had been numerous traffic accidents and incidents of children locked in cars while their parents stood in long lines outside lottery retailers.

The legal authority for the suspension was not immediately clear. A 1999 state law — which expired June 30 — allowed Connecticut towns to suspend Powerball sales for 24 hours if state lottery officials verified that a huge influx of players threatened public health and safety.

Stamford Mayor Dannel Malloy said state officials had not talked to him about the matter. Malloy said sales in his town had not been too burdensome so far.

Malloy said if Stamford becomes inundated he would expect the same right to suspension as Greenwich.

Sgt. J. Paul Vance, the spokesman for the state police, said troopers had been assigned to eight locations in Greenwich to assist with crowd control between 8 a.m. and midnight daily.

Senate Majority Leader George Jepsen, D-Stamford, said many upstate legislators were wary of allowing individual towns to suspend lottery sales.

Senate Majority Leader George Jepsen, D-Stamford, said many upstate legislators were wary of allowing individual towns to suspend lottery sales.

Jepsen, who is now running for governor, said Greenwich legislators were seeking a unilateral right to shut down sales — "which might have been convenient for them, but not so convenient for the rest of the state," he said.

"Many upstate legislators feel that there are a lot of benefits to being a border town and having the proximity to New York City," Jepsen added. "Maybe there are drawbacks too, but the bad goes with the good."

Senate President Pro Tem Kevin Sullivan, D-West Hartford, said Greenwich residents were overreacting.

Sullivan suggested, with tongue in cheek, that Greenwich set up lottery kiosks on the town beach. The state Supreme Court ruled last month that Greenwich's residents-only beach access policy was unconstitutional.