Police ID Bicyclist, 44, Struck, Killed In Central Jersey Crash Police ID Bicyclist, 44, Struck, Killed In Central Jersey Crash
Police ID Bicyclist, 44, Struck, Killed In Central Jersey Crash Police have identified a 44-year-old bicyclist from Union County killed in a weekend crash in Middlesex Borough, authorities said. Darwin O. Mestanza Rivera, of Scotch Plains, died in the crash at 6:57 a.m. on Saturday, July 29, Middlesex Borough Police Chief Matthew P. Geist said. Mestanza Rivera was struck from behind by a Jeep Patrol as he rode west on South Avenue near the corner of Howard Street, Geist said. He was pronounced dead at the scene, he said. The driver of the Jeep Patriot declined medical attention. Charges are possible but had not been filed, a polic…
NY Dealer Gets 11 Years, No Parole, For Moving Fentanyl, Meth, Coke By The Pound Into NJ NY Dealer Gets 11 Years, No Parole, For Moving Fentanyl, Meth, Coke By The Pound Into NJ
NY Dealer Gets 11 Years, No Parole, For Moving Fentanyl, Meth, Coke By The Pound Into NJ A dealer who admitted flooding four North Jersey counties with massive quantities of fentanyl, meth and coke is headed to federal prison for more than a decade. Juan Carlos Merced Moreno, 45, of Manhattan must serve out just about all of his plea-bargained 11-year sentence because there's no parole in the federal prison system. Moreno and his partners operated a fentanyl mill in Washington Heights that supplied traffickers in New Jersey with at least 25,000 pills that were distributed throughout the Garden State, U.S. Attorney for New Jersey Philip R. Sellinger said. Authorities disco…
$10K Mega Millions Winners Sold In NJ $10K Mega Millions Winners Sold In NJ
$10K Mega Millions Winners Sold In NJ A winning pair of Mega Millions tickets each good for $10,000 were sold in Middlesex and Union counties. The third-tier prizewinning tickets from the Friday, June 16 drawing matched four of the five white balls and the Gold Mega Ball drawn winning the $10,000 prize. Those tickets were sold at the following locations: Middlesex County: Metuchen Corner Deli, 640 Middlesex Ave., Metuchen Union County: South Street Market, 64 South Street, New Providence. The winning numbers for the Friday, June 16, drawing were: 04, 24, 34, 45 and 57. The Gold Mega Ball was 19 and the Megaplier Multipli…
Colombian Nationals Nabbed After NJ Home Break-In Nets Jewelry, Furs, Cash, More Colombian Nationals Nabbed After NJ Home Break-In Nets Jewelry, Furs, Cash, More
Colombian Nationals Nabbed After NJ Home Break-In Nets Jewelry, Furs, Cash, More Three Colombian nationals remain in federal custody and a fourth has already been deported after the government said they stole jewelry, a Rolex, an antique rifle, furs and cash in a home burglary in Union County. The quartet also took a stamp collection, luxury bags and more after breaking into the Cranford home shortly before 5 p.m. last Nov. 30, U.S. Attorney Philip R. Sellinger said. They then loaded the valuables into a red Honda Accord that they'd driven there, an FBI complaint on file in U.S. District Court in Newark says. Sellinger, who put the total value of the loss at more than …
Crane Operator Who Made $1.5M At Port Newark Convicted Of Tax Fraud: Feds Crane Operator Who Made $1.5M At Port Newark Convicted Of Tax Fraud: Feds
Crane Operator Who Made $1.5M At Port Newark Convicted Of Tax Fraud: Feds A crane mechanic at the Port Newark Container Terminal was convicted by a federal jury of trying to cheat the IRS. Over a five-year period beginning in 2014, Jonathan D. Michael of Union County gave his boss a W-4 falsely claiming that he was exempt from having any federal tax withheld, authorities said. The IRS notified Michael in 2016 that he wasn't entitled to exempt status, but he wrote to the company and contended that his bogus W-4 was correct, they said. Michael, of Springfield, also didn't file any personal income tax returns, even though he was paid roughly $1.5 million in salary,…
2 Injured, 1 Critically, In Somerset County Fire: Prosecutor 2 Injured, 1 Critically, In Somerset County Fire: Prosecutor
2 Injured, 1 Critically, In Somerset County Fire: Prosecutor Authorities are investigating the cause of a Somerset County fire that hurt two residents, one critically. The blaze broke out at a home on Mountain Avenue in North Plainfield around 3:10 a.m. Sunday, June 4, Somerset County Prosecutor John P. McDonald said alongside local Police Chief William Parenti. Two men were taken to a nearby hospital for treatment, where one of them remained in critical condition, McDonald said. The cause of the fire was being investigated but did not seem suspicious, the prosecutor added. Assisting agencies include fire crews in Bridgewater/Finderne, Bound Brook,…
Lotto Ticket Sold At Union County 7-Eleven Nets $10K Lotto Ticket Sold At Union County 7-Eleven Nets $10K
Lotto Ticket Sold At Union County 7-Eleven Nets $10K Two lucky lotto players, one in Union County and the other in Ocean County, won $10,000 playing New Jersey Lottery in the drawing held on Friday June 2. The two players matched four of the white balls and the Gold Mega Ball drawing, winning a third-tier prize. The tickets were sold at a Wawa in Manahawkin and a 7-Eleven in Union. The winning numbers for the Friday, June 2, drawing were: 03, 16, 19, 36 and 60. The Gold Mega Ball was 25 and the Megaplier Multiplier was 02.
Noriega Nominated For NJ Supreme Court Noriega Nominated For NJ Supreme Court
Noriega Nominated For NJ Supreme Court Michael Noriega, a Union County resident, has been nominated to be the newest justice on the New Jersey Supreme Court. Gov. Phil Murphy formally announced Noriega's nomination on Monday, May 15. Noriega, who was born in Weehawken, will be replacing Justice Barry Albin, who reached the mandatory retirement age. Noriega, who was raised in Union City and lives in Fanwood, is Murphy's fourth appointment to the bench. Noriega, 45, is a partner at Bramnick, Rodriguez, Grabas, Arnold, and Mangan, based in Clifton, working as a defense and immigration attorney. Noriega also spent five years as…
Election Fraud: Notorious NJ Consultant Charged With Filing Fake Petitions For Partner Election Fraud: Notorious NJ Consultant Charged With Filing Fake Petitions For Partner
Election Fraud: Notorious NJ Consultant Charged With Filing Fake Petitions For Partner A controversial New Jersey political consultant was charged with election fraud for filing nearly 2,000 bogus petitions in a lame, transparent attempt at getting his life partner on the Democratic primary ballot for governor, state authorities charged. James Devine, 61, of Lambertville, filed 1,948 fraudulent petitions with the Secretary of State’s office to get Lisa McCormick on the ballot for the June 2021 primary, Attorney General Matthew J. Platkin said on Tuesday, May 2. "Jim" Devine -- who had been political director of the New Jersey Democratic Committee in the 1990s -- might be bes…
NJ Teacher Admits Posing As Woman To Lure Dozens Of Boys Into Sending Nude Vids, Pics NJ Teacher Admits Posing As Woman To Lure Dozens Of Boys Into Sending Nude Vids, Pics
NJ Teacher Admits Posing As Woman To Lure Dozens Of Boys Into Sending Nude Vids, Pics UPDATE: A former Union County grade-school teacher and youth soccer coach from Morristown admitted in federal court that he posed as a woman online to lure at least 70 underage boys into sending him nude photos and videos, authorities said. Steven Brooks, 36, who’d taught fifth grade at Washington Elementary School in Summit and helped run the Livingston Soccer Club for nearly a decade, used other images of child pornography to solicit new material, an FBI complaint says. One of the videos he received from an underage victim “depicted the minor masturbating,” it says. FBI agents reported f…
Major NJ-Based Fentanyl Ring Smashed: 20+ Pounds, 9,000 Doses Seized, Eight Men Out Major NJ-Based Fentanyl Ring Smashed: 20+ Pounds, 9,000 Doses Seized, Eight Men Out
Major Nj-based Fentanyl Ring Smashed: 20+ Pounds, 9,000 Doses Seized, Eight Men Out More than 20 pounds of fentanyl and an additional 9,000 doses of the deadly drug were seized with the arrests of eight members of a major trafficking ring that operated on both sides of the Hudson River, authorities said. Those charged in the federally-led offensive range in age from 37 to 60. They come from New Jersey, New York and Pennsylvania but operated primarily in and around Union County, U.S. Attorney for New Jersey Philip R. Sellinger said. The multi-pronged, eight-month operation relied on all levels of law enforcement, from federal agents to local police who watched and document…
Mastermind Of 84 Brazen Burglaries In Nine NJ Counties, Rockland Gets Plea-Bargained 14 Years Mastermind Of 84 Brazen Burglaries In Nine NJ Counties, Rockland Gets Plea-Bargained 14 Years
Mastermind Of 84 Brazen Burglaries In Nine NJ Counties, Rockland Gets Plea-Bargained 14 Years UPDATE: A Teaneck ex-con was sentenced to 14 years in state prison for leading a band of brazen burglars who authorities said committed no fewer than 84 broad-daylight home break-ins throughout New Jersey and Rockland County. Keith Perry, 39, took a deal from prosecutors rather than risk the consequences of a trial, New Jersey Attorney General Matthew J. Platkin said on Tuesday, March 14. Perry was among several people arrested in April 2021 for dozens of burglaries committed over the previous six months in nine New Jersey counties — Morris, Bergen, Essex, Somerset, Hunterdon, Union, Passai…