Fatality Confirmed In Multi-Alarm Paterson Blaze That Destroys One Home, Threatens Others Fatality Confirmed In Multi-Alarm Paterson Blaze That Destroys One Home, Threatens Others
Fatality Confirmed In Multi-Alarm Paterson Blaze That Destroys One Home, Threatens Others UPDATE: Authorities on Saturday confirmed the death of a resident in a late-night Paterson house fire that responders said could have been much worse. Firefighters moved quickly to keep the four-alarm Lafayette Street blaze from spreading, snuffing the threat such a fire posed to the neighborhood of tightly bunched wood-frame houses barely two blocks from the Passaic River. Paterson's bravest responded to a call of a fire with people possibly trapped at 103 Lafayette Street shortly after 11 p.m., Deputy Fire Chief William Henderson said. Firefighters found heavy flames on the second floor,…
Manchester Fire Was 'Intentionally Set': Prosecutor Manchester Fire Was 'Intentionally Set': Prosecutor
Manchester Fire Was 'Intentionally Set': Prosecutor A fire in a vacant structure earlier this week was intentionally set, authorities said. On Tuesday, Manchester police and Manchester Fire Department were dispatched on a report of a fire at a vacant structure on Ridgeway Road. Once the fire was extinguished, the Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office Arson Unit, Ocean County Fire Marshal’s Office, Ocean County Sheriff’s Office Crime Scene Investigation Unit, and Manchester Township Detective Bureau, were requested to respond to the scene and conduct an examination into the origin and cause of the fire.  The result of the…
Browns Mills Man Found Guilty Of Setting House Fire That Killed His Mother, 92; Her Companion Browns Mills Man Found Guilty Of Setting House Fire That Killed His Mother, 92; Her Companion
Browns Mills Man Found Guilty Of Setting House Fire That Killed His Mother, 92; Her Companion A 62-year-old man from South Jersey has been found guilty of igniting a house fire that claimed two lives, authorities said. Kurt Smith, who lived at the residence in the 500 block of Willow Boulevard in Browns Mills was convicted for causing the death of his elderly mother and her companion, according to Burlington County Prosecutor Scott Coffina. The house fire happened in October 2018 in the Browns Mills section of Pemberton Township, he said. Smith was convicted of two counts of second-degree reckless manslaughter, Coffina said.    Smith was accused of igniting flammabl…
Central Jersey Man Gets 10 Years State Prison For Realty Office Arson Fires Central Jersey Man Gets 10 Years State Prison For Realty Office Arson Fires
Central Jersey Man Gets 10 Years State Prison For Realty Office Arson Fires A 32-year-old man from Central Jersey has been sentenced to 10 years in state prison for setting fires that destroyed a realty company's offices, authorities said. The suspect also fired a weapon into one of the realtor's buildings, according to Acting Monmouth County Prosecutor Lori Linskey. Leonard J. Mazzarisi, III, 32, formerly of Burgundy Drive in Holmdel, was sentenced on Friday by Superior Court Judge Lourdes Lucas to five years for aggravated arson and an additional five years with 42 months without parole for possession of a weapon For an unlawful purpose, Linskey said. B…
Middlesex Man Who Torched Trenton Police Car Following Floyd Protest Gets 2 Years In Fed Pen Middlesex Man Who Torched Trenton Police Car Following Floyd Protest Gets 2 Years In Fed Pen
Middlesex Man Who Torched Trenton Police Car Following Floyd Protest Gets 2 Years In Fed Pen UPDATE: A Middlesex County man must spend the next two years in federal prison for stuffing a rag into the gas tank of a police cruiser and setting it on fire during a riot in Trenton following a protest last year over the death of George Floyd. Justin Spry, 22, of South Plainfield originally claimed on Twitter that he was brutalized by police, but federal authorities produced surveillance video showing otherwise. Spry and two other men involved in the arson attack took deals from the government rather than go to trial. All must serve out their entire sentences because there's no parole in…
SWAT STANDOFF: Barricaded Man Seized After Assault SWAT STANDOFF: Barricaded Man Seized After Assault
SWAT Standoff: Barricaded Man Seized After Assault UPDATE: An ex-con smashed his way into his girlfriend's home overnight with a sledgehammer, then beat her and held her captive at knifepoint -- at one point cutting her hair -- before he was captured following an hours-long SWAT standoff this weekend, authorities said. "I wasn't going to make it to see tomorrow," the Oakland victim said Owen R. Harshaney, 30, of Dunnelen, told her during the horrifying overnight ordeal, court papers show. The woman, who'd lost consciousness and suffered severe head injuries during the attack, managed to escape to a family member's home after Harshaney fell…
NJ Dating App Serial Killer Gets 160 Years In State Prison NJ Dating App Serial Killer Gets 160 Years In State Prison
NJ Dating App Serial Killer Gets 160 Years In State Prison A New Jersey man who used dating apps to lure and kill three women -- and tried to kill a fourth -- was sentenced to 160 years behind bars. Khalil Wheeler-Weaver, now 25, of Orange, was sentenced for three murders, an attempted murder and other counts of aggravated arson, desecration of human remain and kidnapping. Weaver was convicted in 2019 in on three counts of murder in connection with the deaths of Sarah Butler, 20, Robin West, 19, and Joanne Brown, 33.  He was also found guilty of the kidnapping, sexual assault, and attempted murder of a fourth woman, Tiffany Taylor, who surviv…
Ocean Grove Man Charged With Torching Perth Amboy Bar Ocean Grove Man Charged With Torching Perth Amboy Bar
Ocean Grove Man Charged With Torching Perth Amboy Bar A 36-year-old Jersey Shore man was charged with torching a building that left five bar patrons injured, authorities announced. Rey Zarzuela-Severino broke a bar window and set a fire within the Casanova Lounge on State Street in Perth Amboy around 3 a.m. Sept. 6, Middlesex County Prosecutor Yolanda Ciccone and Acting Perth Amboy Police Chief Larry Cattano said. Smoke from the fire entered into multiple, occupied apartments located above the bar. Multiple residents were later transported from the scene to a nearby hospital, where they were treated for non-life-threatening inju…
NJ Man Found Guilty Of Shooting, Torching Monmouth County Real Estate Agency NJ Man Found Guilty Of Shooting, Torching Monmouth County Real Estate Agency
NJ Man Found Guilty Of Shooting, Torching Monmouth County Real Estate Agency A former Monmouth County resident was found guilty Friday of setting a pair of fires, and shooting a BB gun at a Holmdel Township real estate agency, authorities said. Leonard J. Mazzarisi, III, 32, was found guilty of second-degree aggravated arson, second-degree possession of a weapon for an unlawful purpose, and third-degree unlawful possession of a weapon after a 5-week trial, according to the Monmouth County Prosecutor's Office. The incidents started on Aug. 19, 2017, when Holmdel police responded to a report of a possible arson at 51 Main Street, the site of t…
Last Of Trenton Police Car Firebombers Pleads Guilty In Federal Court Last Of Trenton Police Car Firebombers Pleads Guilty In Federal Court
Last Of Trenton Police Car Firebombers Pleads Guilty In Federal Court A Trenton man caught on video torching a police car during a riot in the city took a guilty plea in federal court. Earlja J. Dudley, 28, is the last of four men to plead guilty for their roles in the incident following what had been a peaceful day of protest against the death of George Floyd on May 31, 2020. Surveillance and bystander video show Dudley and another man opening the vehicle’s engine and igniting a fire during the unrest, Acting U.S. Attorney for New Jersey Rachael A. Honig said. In the video, Dudley is wearing a tank top and baseball cap with the Roman numerals “XIV” in red l…
Man Set Off Molotov Cocktails 3 Times In Jersey Shore Costco, Theater Parking Lot: Prosecutor Man Set Off Molotov Cocktails 3 Times In Jersey Shore Costco, Theater Parking Lot: Prosecutor
Man Set Off Molotov Cocktails 3 Times In Jersey Shore Costco, Theater Parking Lot: Prosecutor A Jersey Shore man was arrested for setting off molotov cocktails in a local Route 35 parking lot three nights last week, authorities said. Brendan J. Dunne, 24, of Holmdel, set off a series of fires believe to have started in a glass bottle containing charred pieces of cardboard in the Route 45 Costco and Cinemark parking lot July 19, 21 and 22, the Monmouth County Prosecutor's Office said. Hazlet police responded to the scene around 10:10 p.m. July 19, where an officer extinguished the fire and determined the source to be a homemade Molotov cocktail, Acting Monmouth County Prosecutor…
Father Arrested In NJ Arson Fire That Killed Baby Daughter, Grandparents, Prosecutor Says Father Arrested In NJ Arson Fire That Killed Baby Daughter, Grandparents, Prosecutor Says
Father Arrested In NJ Arson Fire That Killed Baby Daughter, Grandparents, Prosecutor Says A 23-year-old Trenton man has been arrested in connection with a fatal fire that killed has baby daughter and her grandparents, authorities said. Michael Sanders, 23, of Trenton, was charged on Monday with three counts of first-degree felony murder, arson and assault in the early Friday fire that killed three relatives, the Mercer County prosecutor said.  Sanders was arrested on Monday morning at a hotel in Plainsboro, Middlesex County, according to Mercer County Prosecutor Angelo Onofri. Multiple surveillance cameras  placed Sanders at or near the scene of the fatal fire shortly…