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Athletic Director Stole $17K From Camden Catholic High School: Prosecutor Athletic Director Stole $17K From Camden Catholic High School: Prosecutor
Athletic Director Stole $17K From Camden Catholic High School: Prosecutor A 31-year-old former athletic director was arrested and charged on Tuesday, January 7 with stealing more than $17,000 from Camden Catholic High School, authorities said. Samuel Hardy served as athletic director between July 2019 and February 2024, Camden County Prosecutor Grace MacAulay and Cherry Hill Police Chief John Ostermueller said.  Hardy rented the school's athletic turf for his own personal benefit, authorities said. Between March 2023 and February 2024, he rented the turf field to local sport organizations, but there were no contracts or records of payment…

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by Sam Barron
Police & Fire
Father, Son Admit To Using South Jersey Deli In $100M Stock Inflation Scheme: Feds Father, Son Admit To Using South Jersey Deli In $100M Stock Inflation Scheme: Feds
Father, Son Admit To Using South Jersey Deli In $100M Stock Inflation Scheme: Feds A quiet deli in Paulsboro became the unlikely focal point of a $100 million stock manipulation scheme led by a father and son, authorities said. Peter Coker Sr., 82, of Chapel Hill, North Carolina, and his son, Peter Coker Jr., 56, pleaded guilty on Thursday, Dec. 19 to securities fraud and conspiracy to commit securities fraud, New Jersey's U.S. Attorney Philip Sellinger said in a news release. Coker Jr. is a former resident of Hong Kong. Prosecutors said the plan started around 2014 when two New Jersey residents opened Your Hometown Deli on Mantua Avenue. The pair soug…

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by Chris Spiker
Police & Fire
19-Year-Old Stabbed Man, 44, During Argument In Atlantic City: Police 19-Year-Old Stabbed Man, 44, During Argument In Atlantic City: Police
19-Year-Old Stabbed Man, 44, During Argument In Atlantic City: Police An Atlantic City teen was accused of stabbing another man during an argument, authorities said. Jerry Martinez, 19, was arrested on Sunday, Oct. 6, the Atlantic City Police Department said in a news release. Martinez was charged with aggravated assault, unlawful possession of a weapon, and possession of a weapon for an unlawful purpose. Officers responded to a stabbing report on the 2500 block of Atlantic Avenue at around 8:30 p.m. Police found the 44-year-old Atlantic City man suffering from a stab wound. The police department's surveillance center gave a description of the…

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by Chris Spiker
Police & Fire
Jersey Shore Business Owner Admits To Keeping Nearly $1M In Employees Taxes From IRS: Feds Jersey Shore Business Owner Admits To Keeping Nearly $1M In Employees Taxes From IRS: Feds
Jersey Shore Business Owner Admits To Keeping Nearly $1M In Employees Taxes From IRS: Feds A Brick Township construction company owner admitted to withholding his employees' taxes and not paying the money to the IRS, authorities said. Gerard Artz, 44, pleaded guilty on Thursday, Sept. 26 to failure to collect and pay over taxes, New Jersey's U.S. Attorney Philip R. Sellinger announced. He was the owner of Prime Installations, which operated in Brick and New York City. According to court documents and statements, Artz directed his company to withhold employment taxes from the company’s employees’ paychecks between 2016 and 2020. Prime Installations failed …

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by Chris Spiker
Police & Fire
Man Wielding Two Knives Slashed Victim At South Jersey Liquor Store, Police Say Man Wielding Two Knives Slashed Victim At South Jersey Liquor Store, Police Say
Man Wielding Two Knives Slashed Victim At South Jersey Liquor Store, Police Say A Bridgeton man was accused of slashing another man with knives at a liquor store, authorities said. John Paul Thomas, 69, was arrested, the Bridgeton Police Department said in a news release on Wednesday, Aug. 14. Officers responded to an assault with a knife at Supermarket Discount Liquor on North Pearl Street at around 3:34 p.m. on Tuesday, Aug. 13. Investigators said Thomas pulled out two knives and attacked the other man. The victim suffered cuts on one of his hands and the side of his head. When police arrived, the victim was holding Thomas on the ground. Thomas was ta…

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by Chris Spiker
Police & Fire
Four Jersey Shore Men Charged After Selling Ghost Guns To FBI Informant: Feds Four Jersey Shore Men Charged After Selling Ghost Guns To FBI Informant: Feds
Four Jersey Shore Men Charged After Selling Ghost Guns To FBI Informant: Feds Four Ocean County men were accused of using a 3D printer to sell ghost guns to an FBI informant, authorities said. The men facing charges in the case are James Hyres, 38, of Toms River; Dennis McMickle, 35, of Brick Township; James Opalenik, 51, of Ocean Gate; and Edward Trost III, 36, of Toms River. New Jersey's U.S. Attorney Philip Sellinger announced the charges in a news release on Monday, July 29. According to the criminal complaint, the four men were part of a gun-trafficking conspiracy throughout Ocean County in April and May 2024. Hyres created the ghost guns by using seve…

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by Chris Spiker
Police & Fire
South Jersey Teacher Who Molested Student, Had Victim's Nude Pics Indicted: Prosecutors South Jersey Teacher Who Molested Student, Had Victim's Nude Pics Indicted: Prosecutors
South Jersey Teacher Who Molested Student, Had Victim's Nude Pics Indicted: Prosecutors A Jackson Township teacher was indicted after being accused of molesting a student and having nude pictures of the victim, authorities said. A grand jury indicted 27-year-old Andrew Fantasia of Beachwood on Thursday, June 20, Ocean County Prosecutor Bradley Billhimer said in a news release. He was charged with possession of child pornography, two counts of endangering the welfare of a child, two counts of criminal sexual contact, and official misconduct. Investigators said Fantasia had "inappropriate sexual contact" with a student while on Jackson Memorial High School property bet…

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by Chris Spiker
Police & Fire
Maintenance Worker Convicted Of Stealing $4,500, Smartwatch From Central Jersey Apartment Maintenance Worker Convicted Of Stealing $4,500, Smartwatch From Central Jersey Apartment
Maintenance Worker Convicted Of Stealing $4,500, Smartwatch From Central Jersey Apartment A maintenance worker at an Ocean County apartment complex was convicted of stealing more than $4,500 and a smartwatch from an apartment, authorities said. Troy Jones, 58, of Jackson Township, was found guilty by a jury on Wednesday, Mar. 20, Ocean County Prosecutor Bradley Billhimer said in a news release. He was convicted after a nearly two-week trial. Jackson Township police responded to a reported theft at an apartment in the Gardens at Jackson Twenty-One complex on Chatham Court West on Thursday, Dec. 23, 2021. Officers found that when the apartment's residents returned home f…

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by Chris Spiker
Police & Fire
NJ Italian Restaurant Owner, 75, Faces Prison For Pocketing $500,000 In State Sales Taxes NJ Italian Restaurant Owner, 75, Faces Prison For Pocketing $500,000 In State Sales Taxes
NJ Italian Restaurant Owner, 75, Faces Prison For Pocketing $500,000 In State Sales Taxes The 75-year-old owner-operator of a New Jersey Italian restaurant faces up to three years in prison after admitting he stiffed the state out of nearly a half-million dollars in sales taxes over a period of nearly seven years. John Garofalo Sr. of Union Township – who owns Mario’s Tutto Bene restaurant in the township -- paid the outstanding $496,374.99 to the state as part of a plea deal that he hopes will get him leniency, New Jersey Attorney General Matthew Platkin said. His assistants will recommend that Superior Court Judge Sherry L. Wilson send Garofalo to state prison for three years …

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by Jerry DeMarco
News
New Jerseyans Hurt In Railing Collapse File Lawsuit Against Washington Commanders New Jerseyans Hurt In Railing Collapse File Lawsuit Against Washington Commanders
New Jerseyans Hurt In Railing Collapse File Lawsuit Against Washington Commanders A handful of New Jersey football fans are suing the Washington Commanders over a nearly-fatal incident after a game in January 2021, as reported by various news outlets. After a game against the Philadelphia Eagles, quarterback Jalen Hurts was greeting fans when a railing collapsed, injuring multiple spectators who fell between five and 10 feet onto concrete at FedEx Field. Four of the individuals who were hurt in the incident are suing the Commanders for gross negligence, seeking $300,000 to compensate for their physical and emotional pain, ESPN says. Soon after the incident, Hurts asked …

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by AJ Goldbloom
News
Federal Convict Who Hatched $400,000 GoFundMe Scam Gets NJ Prison Time, Too Federal Convict Who Hatched $400,000 GoFundMe Scam Gets NJ Prison Time, Too
Federal Convict Who Hatched $400,000 GoFundMe Scam Gets NJ Prison Time, Too UPDATE: A New Jersey man already serving federal prison time for a GoFundMe scheme that conned 14,000 donors across the country out of $400,000 to purportedly benefit a homeless veteran got a state prison sentence, as well. The plea-bargained five-year term approved by a Superior Court judge in Mount Holly on Friday will run at the same time as the 27-month federal sentence that Mark D'Amico of Trenton received in April. The difference is that there's no parole in the federal prison system, which keeps D'Amico in the medium-security United States Penitentiary in Lewisburg, PA for more than…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
NY Developer Admits Crimes In South Jersey Construction Project: Prosecutor NY Developer Admits Crimes In South Jersey Construction Project: Prosecutor
NY Developer Admits Crimes In South Jersey Construction Project: Prosecutor A New York developer has admitted using the credentials of a potential subcontractor to fraudulently gain approval for electrical permits to renovate a historic building in South Jersey, authorities said. Raphael S. Weiss, 61, of Brooklyn, pleaded guilty on Wednesday to second-degree computer-related activity and third-degree forgery in exchange for a suspended five-year sentence, according to Burlington County Prosecutor Scott Coffina. Weiss purchased a historic seven-story commercial building in Riverside Township to develop luxury apartments, Coffina said.  Weiss’s attorney and Ri…

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by Jon Craig
News
Hackensack Man Jailed On Child Porn Charges Hackensack Man Jailed On Child Porn Charges
Hackensack Man Jailed On Child Porn Charges UPDATE: A Bergen County-based insurance underwriter for entertainers, athletes and corporate executives was released pending court action on child porn charges, records show. Matthew Heitman, 33, was arrested Thursday during a raid of his Hackensack home, Prosecutor Mark Musella said. The former Upper Saddle River resident "used the Internet to view, download, and possess more than 1,000 digital files and distributed multiple digital files depicting nude and/or sexually explicit prepubescent and pubescent children," the prosecutor said. Heitman was discovered during a "months-long Internet…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
Authorities: NJ Mom Set Apartment On Fire Then Fled With 3 Kids To Perth Amboy Authorities: NJ Mom Set Apartment On Fire Then Fled With 3 Kids To Perth Amboy
Authorities: NJ Mom Set Apartment On Fire Then Fled With 3 Kids To Perth Amboy A Hillsborough mom was charged with intentionally starting three fires inside of her apartment before fleeing the scene to Perth Amboy with her three kids, authorities said. Hillsborough police got a 9-1-1 call around 11:10 p.m. April 20 for a fire at a Treeman Drive apartment, Somerset County Prosecutor Michael H. Robertson announced in a joint release. A neighbor told police she saw Jacklyn McLoughlin, 33, fleeing the unit where she lived with her kids just before fire companies and police responded, Robertson said. An investigation found that the fires were planned and deliber…

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by Cecilia Levine
Police & Fire
'Want Rona?' Police Say Video Shows Morris Man Deliberately Coughing On Estranged Wife's Things 'Want Rona?' Police Say Video Shows Morris Man Deliberately Coughing On Estranged Wife's Things
'Want Rona?' Police Say Video Shows Morris Man Deliberately Coughing On Estranged Wife's Things A Morris County man was caught on surveillance video coughing on and touching objects in his estranged wife’s home, saying he had “the 'rona,” authorities charged. “Do you want the 'rona?” Nikolas Whitehill, 39, of Parsippany, is heard asking on the video, state Attorney General Gurbir S. Grewal said. A court order allowed Whitehill to enter his wife’s house on alternating dates when she isn’t home to feed the fish, Grewal said. She provided video footage to the police from March 28, he added. Police charged Whitehill with violating an executive order issued by Gov. Phil Murphy that make …

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by Jerry DeMarco
News
Murphy Relents, Allows Gun Shops To Open Amid Coronavirus Crisis Murphy Relents, Allows Gun Shops To Open Amid Coronavirus Crisis
Murphy Relents, Allows Gun Shops To Open Amid Coronavirus Crisis Gun shops in New Jersey can now open as an essential business during the coronavirus outbreak -- but "by appointment only and under limited hours," Gov. Phil Murphy said Monday. Murphy originally classified gun shops as "non-essential" businesses required to be closed as part of an executive order. He changed that on Monday, saying that he was following U.S. Department of Homeland Security guidelines, which added gun dealers, ranges and manufacturers to its essential business guide for its coronavirus response on Saturday. “It wouldn’t be my definition, but that’s the definition at the fed…

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by Jon Craig