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Police & Fire
Car Thief With Bullets Found In Meadowlands Motel: PD Car Thief With Bullets Found In Meadowlands Motel: PD
Car Thief With Bullets Found In Meadowlands Motel: PD A woman driving a car stolen out of Newark was found with several handgun bullets inside of a Secaucus motel Monday morning, April 24, authorities said. A Secaucus officer was patrolling near the Red Roof Inn on the Meadowlands Parkway around 7:35 a.m., when he "randomly" accessed the registration of an unoccupied Kia Forte that was parked, but running in the parking lot, Police Chief Dennis Miller said. The car had been stolen out of Newark in April 2003, and the driver — Doniesha Coar, 27 of Glassboro — was found inside the motel, Miller said. During a search of her jacket, Coa…

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by Cecilia Levine
Police & Fire
Pedestrian Killed By Train In Union County, Delays Reported Pedestrian Killed By Train In Union County, Delays Reported
Pedestrian Killed By Train In Union County, Delays Reported Delays were reported on NJ Transit's Raritan Valley Line Sunday morning, March 26 due to a pedestrian having been fatally struck. The RVL train 5515, which left Newark Penn Station just before 9:40 a.m., struck the pedestrian around 9:50 a.m. on Galloping Hill Road near the Roselle Park station, NJT officials said.  Service was suspended between Cranford and Newark Penn Station as of 11:40 a.m. Raritan Valley Line rail service remains suspended in both directions between Cranford and Newark Penn Station due to a pedestrian fatality near Roselle Park. Substitute bus service is being pro…

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by Cecilia Levine
Obituaries
Longtime Cranford Resident Jane Heyburn Dies, 60 Longtime Cranford Resident Jane Heyburn Dies, 60
Longtime Cranford Resident Jane Heyburn Dies, 60 Longtime Cranford resident Jane Heyburn died on March 18, surrounded by her family at home, her obituary says. She was 60 years old. A 1980 graduate of Cranford High School, Jane went on to earn her degree in business management from the University of Phoenix, prior to a 38-year career in the pharmaceutical industry, according to her obituary. Jane was being remembered as an avid gardener who loved to dance and spend time at the Jersey Shore. She is survived by her husband, Don; daughters Alexandra and Jessica; sisters Elizabeth Curry and Laureen Eldridge; and a host of nieces, nephews and…

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by Cecilia Levine
Police & Fire
3 Vehicles Collide On Garden State Parkway: State Police 3 Vehicles Collide On Garden State Parkway: State Police
3 Vehicles Collide On Garden State Parkway: State Police Three vehicles collided on the Garden State Parkway on Monday, March 6, in Union County, authorities said. The crash occurred at 1:33 p.m. on the parkway southbound near milepost 137.9 in Cranford, according to New Jersey State Police. Based on preliminary information, three vehicles were involved in a collision which caused one of the vehicles to overturn onto its side, State Police said. No injuries were reported and the lanes were re-opened within an hour, they said.

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by Jon Craig
Business
Young North Jersey Entrepreneur Has Message For The Non-Believers Young North Jersey Entrepreneur Has Message For The Non-Believers
Young North Jersey Entrepreneur Has Message For The Non-Believers One of North Jersey's newest business owners is also one of the area's youngest. At just 19 years old, Kamily Flores opened Craft Protein Bar in Cranford last November. And she's got a message for the non-believers:  "Don't underestimate us." The Elizabeth resident grew up watching her parents run a cafe of their own and knew quickly, she wanted to the same. "I grew up around entrepreneurial spirit," said Flores, a business marketing major at Union County College. "We like to work for ourselves." Flores felt her age worked to her advantage. "I'm young, I have nothing to lose," she told…

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by Cecilia Levine
Police & Fire
Driver Fatally Shoots Himself On Garden State Parkway: State Police Driver Fatally Shoots Himself On Garden State Parkway: State Police
Driver Fatally Shoots Himself On Garden State Parkway: State Police A driver fatally shot himself in a vehicle on the Garden State Parkway overnight, authorities said. State troopers patrolling the highway found a vehicle on the right shoulder at milepost 139 in Cranford around 3:30 a.m., New Jersey State Police Trooper Charles Marchan said. Upon approaching the vehicle, troopers saw a deceased man with one self-inflicted gunshot wound to his head, Marchan said. The incident remains under investigation and there was no additional information available.

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by Cecilia Levine
News
$1.4M Paid To Suspended NJ Officers Awaiting Trial For No-Show Extra Duty Jobs: Report $1.4M Paid To Suspended NJ Officers Awaiting Trial For No-Show Extra Duty Jobs: Report
$1.4M Paid To Suspended NJ Officers Awaiting Trial For No-Show Extra Duty Jobs: Report Four suspended police officers from Edison were paid $1.4 million during the two years they awaited trial for billing the town for no-show "extra duty" assignments, NJ Advance Media reports. The officers have been on paid suspension ever since, but were put on unpaid leave earlier this month when new indictments were announced against Sgt. Ioannis (John) Mpletsakis, 43, of Edison Township, Patrolman James Panagoulakos, 36, of Jackson Township, Patrolman Gregory Makras, 38, of Cranford and Sgt. Brian Rossmeyer, 45, of Bridgewater, according to the outlet and Middlesex County Pr…

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by Jon Craig
Police & Fire
4 NJ Police Officers Indicted For Bilking Town For No-Show 'Extra Duty' Assignments: Prosecutor 4 NJ Police Officers Indicted For Bilking Town For No-Show 'Extra Duty' Assignments: Prosecutor
4 NJ Police Officers Indicted For Bilking Town For No-Show 'Extra Duty' Assignments: Prosecutor Four suspended police officers from Central Jersey bilked their town for no-show "extra duty" assignments, authorities said. The Edison Police officers were charged with racketeering, bribery, theft, money laundering and witness tampering, Middlesex County Prosecutor Yolanda Ciccone and Chief Thomas Bryan of the Edison Police Department said on Friday, Oct. 14. They did not say how much taxpayer money was stolen by the former officers. Sergeant Ioannis (John) Mpletsakis, 43, of Edison Township, Patrolman James Panagoulakos, 36, of Jackson Township, Patrolman Gregory&nbs…

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by Jon Craig
News
PLOT TWIST: Attendant Helped Plan Gas Station Robbery Off Garden State Parkway, Feds Charge PLOT TWIST: Attendant Helped Plan Gas Station Robbery Off Garden State Parkway, Feds Charge
Plot Twist: Attendant Helped Plan Gas Station Robbery Off Garden State Parkway, Feds Charge Federal authorities charged a gas station attendant with planning the robbery of a newly-opened QuickChek where he worked just off the Garden State Parkway. An indictment returned by a federal grand jury in Newark accuses Tyrone Crutchfield-Davis, 27, of Linden of plotting the Dec. 15, 2019 holdup on North Avenue at Exit 137 in Cranford with three associates. Authorities had previously identified the other three men -- Wiggins Cadet, 24, and Khalil Brown, 23, of Roselle, and Zyquan McCray, 23, of Linden. It turns out Crutchfield-Davis -- a former standout high school quarterback with a cri…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
PA Man, 27, Seriously Hurt In Fiery Garden State Parkway Crash PA Man, 27, Seriously Hurt In Fiery Garden State Parkway Crash
PA Man, 27, Seriously Hurt In Fiery Garden State Parkway Crash A 27-year-old driver from Allentown, PA was seriously hurt in an early-morning crash on the Garden State Parkway Sunday, June 26, authorities said. Mafer Fermin Pena was rear-ended by an Acura near mile post 137.9 on the northbound side of the highway in Cranford around 4:45 a.m., New Jersey State Police Trooper Brandi Slota said. The Mazda traveled off the roadway to the right and struck a tree, and the Acura subsequently caught fire. Pena was hospitalized with serious injuries. The investigation remains active and ongoing.

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by Cecilia Levine
News
Driver Hospitalized After Italian Food Delivery Truck Destroys Traffic Light In Paramus Driver Hospitalized After Italian Food Delivery Truck Destroys Traffic Light In Paramus
Driver Hospitalized After Italian Food Delivery Truck Destroys Traffic Light In Paramus The driver of a refrigerated truck was hospitalized following a morning crash that uprooted a traffic light in Paramus. The victim was driving for Anacapri Foods in Cranford, which supplies pizzerias and restaurants, when he apparently suffered a medical episode on South Farview Avenue shortly before 9:30 a.m., responders at the scene said. The extent of his injuries couldn’t immediately be determined. Farview Avenue was closed in both directions near Paramus Fire Company 4 while Belfi’s Towing and a local electrical company worked to remove the traffic light. The crash severely dama…

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by Jerry DeMarco
News
Convicted NJ Child Porn Trafficker Gets 20+ Years In Fed Pen, No Parole, For Enticing Minors Convicted NJ Child Porn Trafficker Gets 20+ Years In Fed Pen, No Parole, For Enticing Minors
Convicted NJ Child Porn Trafficker Gets 20+ Years In Fed Pen, No Parole, For Enticing Minors A convicted child porn trafficker from Union County must spend no fewer than 20 years in federal prison for doing it again while soliciting two children to "engage in sexually explicit conduct online," authorities said. Christopher Gardiner, 39, of Cranford, must serve out just about all of the plea-bargained 20 years and eight months that he was sentenced to on Tuesday, Feb. 8, because there's no parole in the federal prison system. Gardiner, who'd been convicted of similar charges in Union County in 2007, conducted an "ongoing sexually graphic conversation on a web-based social media appl…

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by Jerry DeMarco