Fair 49°
Police & Fire
Suspect Fleeing Pre-Dawn Home Invasion Dies In Crash With Long Branch Police Car: NJAG Suspect Fleeing Pre-Dawn Home Invasion Dies In Crash With Long Branch Police Car: NJAG
Suspect Fleeing Pre-Dawn Home Invasion Dies In Crash With Long Branch Police Car: Njag UPDATE: A passenger in a vehicle fleeing a home invasion died after a collision with a Long Branch police cruiser driven by an officer responding to the call, authorities said. The call of an armed break-in on Elmwood Avenue near MacArthur Avenue came in at 3:59 a.m. Monday, Aug. 14, New Jersey Attorney General Matthew Platkin said Tuesday. "As officers were responding in marked police vehicles, one of the law enforcement vehicles was involved in a collision with a vehicle believed to be operated by a suspect from the reported incident," the attorney general said. Witnesses said the fleei…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
Elizabeth Man In Domestic Dispute Swings Knife Before He's Shot By Officer, Video Shows Elizabeth Man In Domestic Dispute Swings Knife Before He's Shot By Officer, Video Shows
Elizabeth Man In Domestic Dispute Swings Knife Before He's Shot By Officer, Video Shows UPDATE: It was over in seconds. An Elizabeth police officer fired a single shot to neutralize a man who swung a long-bladed knife at him inside a multi-family home, video of what became a fatal encounter shows. Officer Steven Lazo and his partner were responding to a 911 call of an unwanted person involved in a dispute on Amity Street shortly after 8 a.m. Saturday, July 29, when the incident occurred. After entering through a front door, they moved through the house toward the sounds of a woman screaming in a rear room, where two men were trying to restrain Estiben Alegria-Hurtado, a 42-ye…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Legal
Current, Former Wildwood Mayors, Commissioner Reindicted For Scamming Health Benefits Program Current, Former Wildwood Mayors, Commissioner Reindicted For Scamming Health Benefits Program
Current, Former Wildwood Mayors, Commissioner Reindicted For Scamming Health Benefits Program State authorities rebounded from a dismissed case with a new indictment against Wildwood’s mayor, a former mayor, and a city commissioner on health fraud charges. Superior Court Judge Bernard DeLury, Jr. cited a technicality in deep-sixing the state’s initial case against Wildwood Mayor Pete Byron, former Mayor Ernest Troiano Jr. and current City Commissioner Steve Mikulski nearly six weeks ago. The judge left the door open for state prosecutors to take another crack at it. A grand jury, in turn, returned a new indictment that New Jersey Attorney General Matthew Platkin said “demonstrates …

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
Elizabeth Man, 42, Armed With Knife In Domestic Dispute Shot, Killed By Police Elizabeth Man, 42, Armed With Knife In Domestic Dispute Shot, Killed By Police
Elizabeth Man, 42, Armed With Knife In Domestic Dispute Shot, Killed By Police A civilian shot and killed by an Elizabeth police officer responding to a domestic dispute this past weekend had a knife, authorities said. Estiben Alegria-Hurtado, 42, of Elizabeth, was shot within a minute of the arrival of city police responding to a call of an "unwanted individual" on Amity Street shortly before 8 a.m. Saturday, July 29, a release from the office of New Jersey Attorney General Matthew Platkin on Wednesday says. Officers rendered aid to Hurtado, who was taken by an EMS unit to University Hospital in Newark, the release says.He was pronounced dead at 11:36 p.m. Sunda…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
Man Has Medical Episode And Dies Following NJSP Arrest, Authorities Say Man Has Medical Episode And Dies Following NJSP Arrest, Authorities Say
Man Has Medical Episode And Dies Following Njsp Arrest, Authorities Say A man charged with assaulting an officer suffered a medical episode and died after being arrested by New Jersey State Police, authorities said. Medical personnel were called to the NJSP Bridgeton station around 8 p.m. Saturday, July 8, after the arrestee became unresponsive, according to a release from the office of state Attorney General Matthew Platkin. Troopers tried to resuscitate the as-yet unidentified man, who was pronounced dead at Inspira Medical Center in Vineland the following evening -- 11:37 p.m., July 9, to be exact, the attorney general's release says. State Police had take…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
FINAL MOMENTS: Video Shows Knife-Wielding NJ Man Shot Dead Charging Down Stairs FINAL MOMENTS: Video Shows Knife-Wielding NJ Man Shot Dead Charging Down Stairs
Final Moments: Video Shows Knife-Wielding NJ Man Shot Dead Charging Down Stairs A dispute over an in-home surveillance camera led to the death of a New Jersey man who charged at a police officer with a knife in his hand. Luke Mendez, 26, had his left hand wrapped around the knife handle as he barreled down a set of stairs inside the Middlesex County home, bodycam video released by New Jersey Attorney General Matthew Platkin shows. He was only two steps from the landing -- within less than three feet of Old Bridge Police Officer Christopher Hammel -- when three shots rang out. Mendez was pronounced dead at a local hospital about 90 minutes later. Platkin released the…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
Fugitive Shot Dead In JC Wanted For Killing Next-Door Neighbor, Wounding Husband In FL: Police Fugitive Shot Dead In JC Wanted For Killing Next-Door Neighbor, Wounding Husband In FL: Police
Fugitive Shot Dead In JC Wanted For Killing Next-Door Neighbor, Wounding Husband In FL: Police UPDATE: A man who was shot and killed in Jersey City by members of a specialized law enforcement team that hunts fugitives was wanted for shooting and killing his 67-year-old next-door neighbor and wounding her husband a day earlier in Florida, authorities said. Esteban De Jesus Jr., 56, had also attacked the couple with a machete before shooting them and fleeing shortly after 6:30 p.m. Friday, July 7, police in Orlando said Monday. Leonidas Duran was found dead on the grass of the complex and her husband wounded in their apartment’s doorway, they said. The husband reportedly was recov…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
Florida Murder Suspect Shot, Killed By Fugitive Task Force In Jersey City Florida Murder Suspect Shot, Killed By Fugitive Task Force In Jersey City
Florida Murder Suspect Shot, Killed By Fugitive Task Force In Jersey City UPDATE: A man who was shot and killed in Jersey City by members of a specialized law enforcement team that hunts fugitives was wanted for shooting and killing his 67-year-old next-door neighbor and wounding her husband a day earlier in Florida, authorities said. Esteban De Jesus Jr., 56, had also attacked the couple with a machete before shooting them and fleeing shortly after 6:30 p.m. Friday, July 7, police in Orlando said Monday. Leonidas Duran was found dead on the grass of the complex and her husband wounded in their apartment’s doorway, they said. The husband reportedly was recoverin…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
NJ Correctional Officer Indicted In Beating Of Resident Who Died NJ Correctional Officer Indicted In Beating Of Resident Who Died
NJ Correctional Officer Indicted In Beating Of Resident Who Died A correctional police officer at New Jersey’s maximum-security facility for sex offenders was indicted for his role in the beating of a resident who died days later of a stroke. Giuseppe "Joey: Mandara, 54, of Brick Township “abandoned his equipment, including keys and radio, and thereafter used excessive or unlawful force” on Darrell Smith at the Adult Diagnostic and Treatment Center in Middlesex County, the indictment says. A grand jury in Trenton returned the indictment charging Mandara with misconduct last week, according to a statement issued by state Attorney General Matthew J. Platki…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
Motorcyclist Killed In Crash Was Fleeing Off-Duty NJ Trooper At More Than 100 MPH, AG Says Motorcyclist Killed In Crash Was Fleeing Off-Duty NJ Trooper At More Than 100 MPH, AG Says
Motorcyclist Killed In Crash Was Fleeing Off-Duty NJ Trooper At More Than 100 MPH, AG Says A 24-year-old motorcyclist was being pursued by an off-duty State Police trooper in an unmarked car at more than 100 miles an hour when he was killed in a late-afternoon collision in Burlington County, New Jersey Attorney General Matthew J. Platkin said. A local police officer was following both vehicles when the crash occurred in Springfield Township shortly before 5 p.m. Tuesday, June 20, Platkin said early Wednesday evening. The pursuit was headed south on Route 206 when a 70-driver driver made a left turn onto the highway from westbound Jacksonville-Jobstown Road (County Road 670) and h…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
Suspended NJ Police Chief Indicted As Sexual Predator, New Charges Added: State AG Suspended NJ Police Chief Indicted As Sexual Predator, New Charges Added: State AG
Suspended NJ Police Chief Indicted As Sexual Predator, New Charges Added: State AG A local New Jersey police chief who’d already been charged with sexually preying on women is facing new allegations, the state’s top cop announced on Tuesday. Following his suspension amid sexual assault allegations, Manville Police Chief Thomas Herbst wrongfully held onto his badge, then displayed it as if was still on active duty to a police officer who’d pulled him over late this past January, Attorney General Matthew J. Platkin said. The charge was contained in an eight-count indictment returned by a state grand jury that focused mostly on what the attorney general called “sexually pred…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
SLEAZEBAG: NJ Case Worker Admits Groping Clients, Sexting Wank Pics, Threatening To Take Kids SLEAZEBAG: NJ Case Worker Admits Groping Clients, Sexting Wank Pics, Threatening To Take Kids
Sleazebag: NJ Case Worker Admits Groping Clients, Sexting Wank Pics, Threatening To Take Kids It’s about as low as someone who works in child welfare services can go. A now-former case worker with the New Jersey Department of Children and Families admitted groping women he was investigating, sending unwanted masturbation pics and threatening to have children taken from those who didn’t go out with him, authorities said on Friday. Gilberto Ortiz Jr., a 53-year-old bilingual family services specialist, told a mom he was investigating that he’d “help her” if she had a relationship with him, New Jersey Attorney General Matthew J. Platkin said. Ortiz warned the woman during a home visi…

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by Jerry DeMarco