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Monday, apr 29
Police & Fire
Gunshot Fired In Photo Booth At Urban Air, Police Seize Boys 12, 15
A steel plate prevented a potential tragedy at Urban Air in South Hackensack when a loaded gun brought into a photo booth by two boys -- one 12, the other 15 -- went off, authorities said. "If not for the steel plate, the round could have gone through the machine and struck an innocent victim," South Hackensack Police Detective Sgt. James Donatello said. The 6:30 p.m. shooting on Sunday, April 28, was another in a series of incidents that have recently drawn a massive law enforcement response to the all-ages Urban Air Trampoline & Adventure Park just off westbound Route 80. Surve…
Police & Fire
Cops ID Man Stabbed Dead, 32, In Central Jersey
A 32-year-old man from Perth Amboy was stabbed to death Sunday, April 28, authorities said. Jason Torres was found collapsed at about 9 p.m. at Smith and Maple streets in Perth Amboy, according to Middlesex County Prosecutor Yolanda Ciccone and Chief Lawrence Cattano of the Perth Amboy Police Department. Torres was taken to Hackensack Merdian Health Raritan Bay Medical Center where he succumbed to his injuries and was pronounced dead, they said. Anyone with information or surveillance footage of the area is asked to call Detective Jose Santiago of the Perth Amboy Police…
Police & Fire
Ex-Con Formerly Of Paterson Convicted Of Selling Fentanyl To Federal Operative At Jersey Shore
𝗨𝗣𝗗𝗔𝗧𝗘: An ex-con from out of state is facing a significantly long federal prison sentence after being convicted of selling fentanyl to a government cooperator at the Jersey Shore. Jurors in U.S. District Court in Trenton found former Paterson resident Djavon Holland, 37, guilty of possession with the intent to sell the deadly drug, U.S. Attorney Philip Sellinger said. As an ex-con with multiple convictions on his record, Holland, currently of Virginia, could be sentenced to more than a decade in federal prison. Holland served a majority of an eight-year state prison sentence after he was …
Police & Fire
Fatal Stabbing Reported In Central Jersey: Prosecutor
There was a fatal stabbing Sunday night, April 28 in Perth Amboy, authorities said. The stabbing occurred near Smith and Maple streets, the Middlesex County Prosecutor's Office confirmed. UPDATE: Police ID Man, 32, Stabbed Dead In Perth Amboy An office spokeswoman said Monday, April 29 that a press statement was being prepared and was waiting on notification of next of kin. Perth Amboy local scoop posted video on Facebook of the crime scene.
Police & Fire
Fire Destroys Pizzeria, Food Mart In Jersey Shore Town
Two Ocean County businesses are recovering after a major fire on Saturday, April 27. Photos show flames shooting from the roof of Jays Food Mart and Cuzzin's Pizzeria in the strip mall on Herbertsville Road. Firefighters say the blaze broke out around 5 p.m. Firefighters are operating at a 3rd alarm structure fire at Cuzzins Pizza on Herbertsville Rd. In Brick. Numerous... Posted by Jersey Coast Emergency News on Saturday, April 27, 2024
Police & Fire
Machete-Wielding Man Chases Another Driver Through Toms River, Crashes In Brick Township: Cops
A 29-year-old Beachwood man has been arrested in a Toms River road rage incident, police announced. The victim was stopped at a red light on Water Street around 6 p.m. Wednesday, April 24 when a man later identified as Austin Martinez pulled up in a Blue Jeep Liberty, and tapped on the window with a machete, police said. The victim tried to flee from Martinez, but he followed the victim to the Ocean County Mall, chasing them through the parking lot, Toms River police said. The victim called 911 and drove to the Toms River Police Department. The Jeep Liberty continued north on Ho…
Police & Fire
'Static Never Dies': Anonymous Tip Leads To Arrest Of NJ Man, Cops Say
Police in North Jersey have arrested a 25-year-old man wanted for eluding an officer this week, they said. Deyah Shaabneh was arrested thanks to an anonymous tip, Fairfield police said on Saturday, April 27. Shaabneh was believed to have been in possession of a concealed carry weapon and is known to drive a 2023 Acura TLX bearing NJ/X37SBP or NJ/DEMON, which is a fictitious license plate, Fairfield police said. Shaabneh had been wanted for eluding a Fairfield officer on Wednesday, April 24, police said. His permit for concealed carry was deactivated but police warned he may have been …
Police & Fire
'Large-Scale' PA Burglary Ring Targeted Home In Somerset County: Prosecutors
Half a dozen people are charged in connection with a "large-scale" home burglary scheme, according to the Lehigh County District Attorney's Office. At a press conference on Friday, April 26, prosecutors and law enforcement said an organized ring of thieves stole more than $160,000 in goods from homes in Lehigh, Berks and Northampton counties. They also targeted at least one home in Warren Township, New Jersey, authorities said. Beginning in 2019, a team of state and local police agencies began investigating burglaries and attempted burglaries in Allentown, Bethl…
Police & Fire
Man Intentionally Set Fires At Central Jersey Property Since December: Police
A Monmouth County man was accused of intentionally setting fires on the same property over the past five months, authorities said. Albert Caporaso, 49, of Hazlet, was arrested on early in the morning on Friday, Apr. 26, the Hazlet Township Police Department said in a Facebook post. He was facing charges for several arsons since Saturday, Dec. 2, 2023. A Hazlet officer was watching the South Laurel Avenue home at around 11:56 p.m. on Thursday, Apr. 25, when a man matching the suspect's description from previous arsons walked onto the property. The man, later identified as Caporaso, entered a…
Police & Fire
PA Motorcyclist, 38, Killed In Route 1 Crash Identified By South Brunswick Police
Police in Central Jersey have identified the 38-year-old Pennsylvania motorcyclist killed in a Route 1 crash earlier this week. Lawrence Green of Marcus Hook, PA, was operating a Honda motorcycle near Major Road during the 7:40 a.m. crash on Tuesday, April 23, according to South Brunswick police. Green was driving on the shoulder of Route 1 northbound when he was struck by a Chevy Malibu attempting to merge onto the Major Road off-ramp, police said. Police did not release the name of the Chevy Malibu driver and no summonses had been issued. The investigation is still active and anyone wit…
Police & Fire
Police ID South River Driver Killed In South Brunswick Crash
South Brunswick police have released the name of the driver killed in a single-vehicle crash on Tuesday, April 23. Curtis Bryant 3rd, 65, of South River was driving a Nissan Maxima on Route 535 when the vehicle left the roadway and struck a utility pole, police said. The crash occurred just before 6 a.m. The investigation is still active and anyone with information is asked to call the lead investigator PFC Jason Gassman at (732) 329-4000 ext. 743.
Police & Fire
Woman Killed In Early Morning Crash In Central Jersey
A woman was killed in an early morning crash in Monmouth County, authorities said. Manalapan police responded to the crash near the intersection of Route 9 and Ryan Road just before 4:30 a.m. on Thursday, Apr. 25, Monmouth County Prosecutor Raymond Santiago said in a news release. When officers arrived, they found two vehicles involved in the crash. A woman driving a 2017 Nissan Sentra was rushed to a hospital where she was pronounced dead. A man driving a 2023 Jeep Grand Cherokee stayed at the scene and was brought to a hospital with minor injuries. No charges or summonses have …
Police & Fire
Pair Who Dumped Body In NYC Face Murder Charges: Somerset County Prosecutor
The two men who killed a 46-year-old Somerset County resident and then dumped his body in Brooklyn last December were indicted on Thursday, April 25, with first degree murder, authorities said. A grand jury in Somerset County levied the indictments against Daniel Matthews, a 44-year-old Brooklyn resident, and and Andrew Mumby, a 47-year-old New Brunswick resident in the murder of Artis Young, a Franklin Township resident, Somerset County Prosecutor John McDonald, Somerset County Prosecutor’s Office Chief of County Detectives Francisco Roman Jr., and Franklin Township Public Safety …
Police & Fire
‘Crypto Con Man’: Imprisoned Instagrifter Gets 7 Federal Years For $8M Fraud Scheme
UPDATE: Imprisoned Instagram influencer “Jay Mazini” apparently thought that rolling on his partners in crime could mitigate the damage of a conviction for scamming investors out of at least $8 million. Three years into a mandatory four-year New Jersey state prison sentence for kidnapping an online critic, the 28-year-old Instagrifter from Bergen County agreed to rat out his friends in exchange for leniency in a federal fraud case in Brooklyn. Trouble is: He didn’t deliver much, authorities said. Mazini, whose real name is Jebara Igbara, ended up sentenced to seven years in federal prison …
Police & Fire
National Guardsman Who Led 2-Day FBI Search In NJ Admits Pepper-Spraying Police At Capitol Riot
A military police officer who led federal officials in a two-day search across a New Jersey neighborhood has pleaded guilty for his role in the Jan. 6 Capitol riot. Gregory Yetman, 47, of Helmetta, pleaded guilty to assaulting, resisting, or impeding certain officers with physical contact before U.S. District Chief Judge James E. Boasberg. Yetman, an enlisted military police officer with the U. S. Army National Guard, traveled to Washington, D.C., on Jan 6. 2021, and attended a rally for then-President Trump at the Ellipse, court documents show. After the rally, Yetman walked to…
Police & Fire
David Shroitman Indicted In Maryrose Fealey's Death
A Somerset County grand jury has indicted a 27-year-old man for the killing of a young woman in January. On Thursday, April 25, David C. Shroitman was indicted for the Jan. 30 murder of 27-year-old Mary Rose Fealey in Somerville, Somerset County Prosecutor John McDonald announced. Maryrose Fealey Maryrose Fealey Facebook Fealey, a Somerville resident, was found by Somerville police responding to a 911 call, outside a residential complex on North Bridge Street She had been returning home from a local business, the passenger door of her car wide open with her belongings spread …
Police & Fire
Former NJ Middle School Teacher Sexually Assaulted Student: Prosecutor
A 32-year-old former teacher from North Bergen has been charged with sexually assaulting a student at Carteret Middle School, authorities said. Jeffrey Munguia was also charged on Wednesday, April 24 with endangering the welfare of a child, according to Middlesex County Prosecutor Yolanda Ciccone and Carterest Police Chief Dennis McFadden. The investigation revealed that Munguia was the victim’s teacher at Carteret Middle School when the incident occurred in 2022, they said. He was arrested without incident on Wednesday. The investigation is active and continuing. An…
Police & Fire
Driver Runs Red Light Causing Montgomery Crash: Police
A 32-year-old Hillsborough resident was injured in a car crash in Montgomery on the morning of Tuesday, April 23, when the driver of the other vehicle ran a red light, authorities said. At 7:35 a.m., a 2017 Mini Cooper was driven by a 40-year-old Princeton resident was heading westbound on Cherry Valley Road when it failed to stop for a red light and struck a 2023 Kia Forte that had entered the intersection going southbound on Great Road, Montgomery police said. The driver of a Kia complained of head pain and was evaluated on scene by EMS, police said. The Princeton resident was issued a su…
Police & Fire
Stew Leonard's Announces Opening Of New Food & Wine Store In North Jersey
Stew Leonard's has announced the opening date for its food and wine store in Passaic County. The Stew Leonard's Farm Fresh Food and Wine store will be opening on Friday, May 17 in Clifton's Styertowne Shopping Center at 467 Allwood Road. The 56,000 square foot grocery and wine store is the second of its kind in New Jersey and will feature more than a dozen local vendors from dozens of Garden State farms. The new store will move from its current location at The Promenade Shops at Clifton. The store will feature animatronic shows and a 14-foot tall lighthouse. "This is the most fun my…
Police & Fire
NJ Couple Convicted Of Turning Immigrants Into Slaves
UPDATE: A South Jersey couple was convicted of forcing a pair of undocumented immigrants into slavery after luring them to America. Bolaji Bolarinwa, 50, and Isiaka Bolarinwa, 67, of Moorestown were discovered when one of the victims told her college professor, who alerted the FBI, U.S. Attorney for New Jersey Philip Sellinger said. Originally from Nigeria, the couple were living in New Jersey as U.S. citizens when they recruited two victims to follow them, Sellinger said. They "engaged in an egregious bait-and-switch, luring the victims with false promises of a life and an education …
Police & Fire
NJ Feds: Repeat Child Porn Collector Satisfied 'Deviant Desires' With Chats, More
A convicted NJ child porn collector had only just been released from federal prison when investigators said he tried buying kids’ shoes on Facebook Marketplace. And that wasn’t all they said that Andrew Chu, 33, of Edison was up to. Authorities who examined Chu’s laptop and cellphone reported finding more than 100 pornographic images of naked underage girls. They also found live chats that Chu had with naked underage minors while masturbating, a complaint filed in federal court in Newark by U.S. Homeland Security Investigations says. One of them was only 11 years old, agents sa…
Police & Fire
Local NJ Police Sergeant Took Child Porn Images From Investigation For Himself: AG
A local South Jersey police sergeant cherry-picked child porn images for himself from a case that his department was investigating, a grand jury indictment charges. Suspended Vineland Police Officer Christopher Ortiz, 39, of Estell Manor "requested from a subordinate and obtained via email" at least 17 images from a child pornography investigation for unauthorized use, New Jersey Attorney General Matthew Platkin said. All told, investigators found that Ortiz "possessed, viewed, or had under his control at least 100 items depicting the sexual exploitation or abuse of children," the attorney …
Police & Fire
'Chameleon': Wife-Killer Facing Charges In 33-Year-Old NJ Murder Case Featured On Dateline NBC
A convicted killer facing new charges in connection with his second wife's death in Mercer County will be featured in a two-hour broadcast titled "Chameleon" on Dateline NBC on Friday, April 26. John David Smith III has served 20 years in an Ohio prison for the murder of his first wife. Now, he faces murder charges in New Jersey for killing his second wife, Fran Gladden-Smith, 33 years ago in West Windsor. At 9 p.m. Friday, Dateline NBC said it will reveal a "gripping investigation exposing (the) man suspected of multiple murders." Victims' relatives and detectives who put Smith behin…
Police & Fire
Ex-Con Sentenced For Home Invasion, Sexually Assaulting Woman In Asbury Park: Prosecutors
An Asbury Park ex-convict will spend more than three decades in prison after he was convicted of a home invasion and sexual assault, authorities said. Shawn Connolly, 37, was sentenced on Tuesday, Apr. 23 to 40 years in prison, Monmouth County Prosecutor Raymond Santiago announced in a news release. He'll be eligible for parole after 34 years under the No Early Release Act. Asbury Park police responded to a home on Seventh Avenue just before 5:30 a.m. on Tuesday, Sept. 14, 2021. Officers immediately found Connolly, arrested him, and recovered what he stole from his pockets. Investigat…
Police & Fire
Man Convicted Again Of Murdering, Torching NJ Woman, 70, For Money
𝗨𝗣𝗗𝗔𝗧𝗘: Questionable DNA evidence found under the fingernails of a 70-year-old Bergen County woman bludgeoned and burned in her home may have gotten her killer a new trial, but it didn't change the outcome. For a second time, a jury in Hackensack convicted Daniel Rochat on Wednesday of all charges in the brutal September 2012 slaying of real estate agent Barbara Vernieri in her East Rutherford home. Rochat, 48, of Wood-Ridge was originally convicted in June 2017 of beating Vernieri, then pouring gasoline on her and around her home before setting it on fire to cover up the crime scene. Pros…
Police & Fire
Gas Attendant Stole Thousands From Customers At Central Jersey Wawa: Prosecutors
A former Monmouth County gas station attendant was accused of stealing thousands of dollars from customers, authorities said. Patrick Brown, 48, of Newark, was indicted by a grand jury on 52 counts, Monmouth County Prosecutor Raymond Santiago announced in a news release on Wednesday, Apr. 24. He was charged with 13 counts each of third-degree credit card fraud, third-degree false uttering, third-degree theft, and fourth-degree credit card theft. Freehold Township police said the thefts at the Wawa on Route 9 North happened "during a limited amount of time" in August 2023. Bro…
Police & Fire
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: Enraged Driver From NJ Mounts Mid-Manhattan Sidewalk Aiming For Pedestrian
An enraged New Jersey driver was recorded trying to run down a shirtless man in broad daylight on a midtown Manhattan sidewalk. The wild road rage pursuit continued up West 39th Street near Seventh Avenue before the driver left his Ford Taurus with three wheels on the sidewalk and confronted his target, footage shared by What Is New York on Instagram shows. "Call the cops! Calls the cops!" the man shouts. The pedestrian -- whose pants are down around his thighs, exposing red boxer shorts -- responds, then tries to duck into a building. A man at the door shoves him back onto the street. T…
Police & Fire
Whole Foods Worker Goes Missing After Shift At North Jersey Store: Police
A 60-year-old Orange man has been missing since he worked a shift at Whole Foods Market on Sunday, April 21. Rousier Romain did not return home after he left his shift abruptly at the Whole Foods in Vauxhall, Township of Union police said. Romaine left Whole Foods at 3:40 p.m. and was last seen on foot in the parking lot near the fence along the edge of Route 78, adjacent to the property, police said. Romain’s vehicle was found parked in the lot and his cell phone is currently turned off, police said. Romain suffers from several medical conditions which require medication, police said..&nbs…
Police & Fire
Threatening Bathroom Graffiti Temporarily Closes Private NJ School As Police Investigate
𝗨𝗣𝗗𝗔𝗧𝗘: Police were reviewing security video to determine who's responsible for a threat specifically mentioning Blacks and Hispanics that was found scrawled on a bathroom wall at Dwight-Englewood School. The K-12 school was closed on Wednesday, April 24, following the discovery earlier in the week of a message that investigators said threatens to "get even." The Bergen County Prosecutor's Office was alerted and police in Englewood are working the case, assisted by the county sheriff's forensics team, which collected evidence. "There's concern right now considering what just recently trans…
Police & Fire
Pedestrian Struck, Killed In Central Jersey
A 75-year-old pedestrian from South Amboy was struck and killed in a crash last week, authorities said. The man's name has not been released pending notification of next of kin, South Amboy police said on Wednesday, April 24. On Wednesday, April 17 at approximately 4:15 p.m. South Amboy police responded to the intersection of South Broadway and John Street for a report of a pedestrian struck by a vehicle. Police found a male victim lying in the roadway and began life-saving efforts. The victim was taken to Robert Wood Johnson Hospital where he was pronounced dead, p…
Police & Fire
She's Leaving Home: End Of Marriage Triggers Uneventful Mahwah 'Standoff'
A SWAT team and other tactical units responded to a Mahwah home Tuesday afternoon after a resident expressed concern over suicidal comments she told police her husband had made, authorities confirmed. Fortunately, they weren't needed. The woman went to police headquarters early Tuesday afternoon, April 23, concerned over her husband's response when she said she was leaving him, responders said. A quick check determined that there are weapons in the home in the northeast section known as Cragmere near the Rockland County border. Out of "an overabundance of caution," Mahwah Police Chief Tim…
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