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Police & Fire
NJSP: 3 Charged, 5,000 Heroin Folds, $28,688 Drug Cash Seized In Garfield-Based Drug Operation NJSP: 3 Charged, 5,000 Heroin Folds, $28,688 Drug Cash Seized In Garfield-Based Drug Operation
Njsp: 3 Charged, 5,000 Heroin Folds, $28,688 Drug Cash Seized In Garfield-Based Drug Operation New Jersey State Police smashed a Garfield-based drug operation, seizing 5,000 heroin folds and $28,668 in suspected proceeds while arresting three people. Detectives from the NJSP Opioid Enforcement Task Force (OETF) at first focused on Luis M. Cuebas, 28, who they said ran the operation in Garfield with Victoria L. Rodriguez, also 28. Cuebas supplied a large amount of drugs in Lodi to Jasmin R. Willis, 29, of Manchester, whom they stopped soon after on the southbound Garden State Parkway in Middletown. In her vehicle, Willis had the 5,000 heroin folds, they said. Other detectives at the…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Lifestyle
91-Year-Old Former Flight Attendant From Central Jersey Beats Coronavirus Odds 91-Year-Old Former Flight Attendant From Central Jersey Beats Coronavirus Odds
91-Year-Old Former Flight Attendant From Central Jersey Beats Coronavirus Odds A 91-year-old great-grandmother from Central Jersey beat the coronavirus odds. After being hospitalized last month with coronavirus and pneumonia, Jean Powell -- a former flight attendant from Manchester -- is among the rare survivors from her age group.  Powell's 65-year-old daughter from Lacey, Kim Wedemeyer, had feared the worst, telling the Asbury Park Press: “I thought she was gone. . . .They say when old people get this, it’s a death sentence.” “I thought she was gone,” Wedemeyer said. “They say when old people get this, it’s a death sentence.” Not for Powell. After 10 days, Co…

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by Jon Craig
Police & Fire
More Trouble In Lakewood: Police Crash Catered Backyard Party, Packed Toy Store Lot More Trouble In Lakewood: Police Crash Catered Backyard Party, Packed Toy Store Lot
More Trouble In Lakewood: Police Crash Catered Backyard Party, Packed Toy Store Lot Police shut down a Lakewood toy store that had more than 50 customers gathered outside while an employee took orders in violation of mandatory state coronavirus closures, authorities said. The customers who'd gathered in the packed Toys4U parking lot weren’t social distancing or wearing masks, state Attorney General Gurbir S. Grewal said. Ten employees also were together in the store – only three of them wearing masks, he said. Ten cars blocked the fire lane, the attorney general said. Police charged owner Yossi Itzkowitz and manager Tzvi Blau with violating Gov. Phil Murphy’s closure of “…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
Prosecutor: Woman, 56, Killed Former Manchester HS Janitor Using Shower Rod, Tape Dispenser Prosecutor: Woman, 56, Killed Former Manchester HS Janitor Using Shower Rod, Tape Dispenser
Prosecutor: Woman, 56, Killed Former Manchester HS Janitor Using Shower Rod, Tape Dispenser An Ocean County woman killed a former Manchester High School custodian she lived with using a shower rod and a tape dispenser, authorities charged. Mary Carbone, 56, was charged with murder in the slaying of 55-year-old Frank Stochel at a home they shared in Manchester, they said.  Police found Stochel dead on the floor of his 6th Avenue home in the township's Pine Lake Park-section on Feb. 24 The county Medical Examiner ruled his death a homicide, Ocean County Prosecutor Bradley D. Billhimer and Manchester Township Police Chief Lisa Parker said in a statement. SEE: Death Of Former Manch…

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by Jon Craig
Police & Fire
Couple Admit Roles In Ring That Trafficked Fentanyl-Laced Heroin Into Raritan Bayshore Couple Admit Roles In Ring That Trafficked Fentanyl-Laced Heroin Into Raritan Bayshore
Couple Admit Roles In Ring That Trafficked Fentanyl-Laced Heroin Into Raritan Bayshore A Pennsylvania man admitted in federal court in Trenton that he participated in a drug ring that trafficked major quantities of heroin and cocaine into the Raritan Bayshore area. Guy Jackson, 47, was the 10th defendant snagged in a federal sweep to plead guilty in exchange for leniency at sentencing. The 11th is his wife, Lashawn Mealing, 48, who admitted trying to destroy evidence in the case. Jackson, of Effort, PA, “regularly obtained large quantities of heroin and cocaine for further distribution from co-defendant Gregory Gillens,” U.S. Attorney Craig Carpenito said Friday. Mealing wa…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
Toms River Teen Admits Killing Mom In Front Of Younger Brother Toms River Teen Admits Killing Mom In Front Of Younger Brother
Toms River Teen Admits Killing Mom In Front Of Younger Brother UPDATE: A Toms River man admitted Friday that he killed his mother in front of his younger brother late last summer. Edgar Diaz, 18, of Manchester, pleaded guilty to aggravated manslaughter in Superior Court in Toms River in exchange for a 20-year prison term at a scheduled March 6 sentencing. He'll have to serve 17 years of that sentence before he'll be eligible for parole under New Jersey's No Early Release Act. Diaz stabbed Margarita Diaz with a knife and slammed her head into the pavement outside their parked vehicle in a medical office park last Aug. 7, Ocean County Prosecutor Bradley…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
Prosecutor: Toms River Teen Admits Killing Mom In Front Of Younger Brother Prosecutor: Toms River Teen Admits Killing Mom In Front Of Younger Brother
Prosecutor: Toms River Teen Admits Killing Mom In Front Of Younger Brother UPDATE: A Toms River man admitted that he killed his mother in front of his younger brother late last summer. Edgar Diaz, 18, of Manchester, pleaded guilty to aggravated manslaughter in Superior Court in Toms River on Jan. 17 in exchange for a 20-year prison term at a scheduled March 6 sentencing. He'll have to serve 17 years of that sentence before he'll be eligible for parole under New Jersey's No Early Release Act. Diaz stabbed Margarita Diaz with a knife and slammed her head into the pavement outside their parked vehicle in a medical office park last Aug. 7, Ocean County Prosecutor Bra…

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by Jerry DeMarco