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Ex-Jersey Shore Police Officer Stole From Real Estate Clients, Forged Documents: Prosecutor Ex-Jersey Shore Police Officer Stole From Real Estate Clients, Forged Documents: Prosecutor
Ex-Jersey Shore Police Officer Stole From Real Estate Clients, Forged Documents: Prosecutor A former Ocean Township police officer has been sentenced to probation for acts of theft and forgery associated with his former part-time work buying, renting, and selling real estate, authorities said. Cory R. Cole, 52, of Brielle was sentenced Thursday, Aug. 18 to three years of probation, after paying $8,400 in restitution to two victims, they said. Cole had previously resigned from the police department, according to Acting Monmouth County Prosecutor Lori Linskey An investigation by the Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office first revealed that Cole had forge…

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by Jon Craig
News
Ex-Cons Just Out Of Prison Charged With Carjacking Hackensack Driver In Rochelle Park Ex-Cons Just Out Of Prison Charged With Carjacking Hackensack Driver In Rochelle Park
Ex-Cons Just Out Of Prison Charged With Carjacking Hackensack Driver In Rochelle Park Two ex-cons who'd only just been released from prison carjacked a Hackensack driver outside a Rochelle Park supermarket, authorities charged. Anthony Aguilar, 24, of Garfield and Elijah Battle, 25, of Paterson were wearing masks when they accosted the driver and took his Audi in the parking lot of the D-Mart Indian-Asian Farmers Market on Rochelle Avenue around 8 p.m. June 16, they said Friday. The robbers abandoned the vehicle a couple of blocks away and fled in a red Toyota Rav 4 that had been reported stolen out of Paterson, investigators said. The victim sustained minor injuries. Mea…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
Longtime NJ Police Communication Officer Stole, Resold More Than $250K In Equipment: Prosecutor Longtime NJ Police Communication Officer Stole, Resold More Than $250K In Equipment: Prosecutor
Longtime NJ Police Communication Officer Stole, Resold More Than $250K In Equipment: Prosecutor A 21-year New Jersey police department communications officer was charged after allegedly stealing more than $250,000 worth of equipment and shipping it countrywide for personal gain. Eric Coran, 41, of Medford, was charged with second-degree official misconduct, multiple counts of theft, criminal computer activity and impersonation, and second-degree money laundering, Mercer County Prosecutor Angelo J. Onofri said in a joint release on Friday, August 12. Coran, a communications officer for the Robbinsville Township Police Department since 2002, was terminated as the charges were issue…

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by Valerie Musson
Police & Fire
NJ Woman Pours Gasoline On Man After Arranging To Buy Sneakers From Him Via SnapChat: Police NJ Woman Pours Gasoline On Man After Arranging To Buy Sneakers From Him Via SnapChat: Police
NJ Woman Pours Gasoline On Man After Arranging To Buy Sneakers From Him Via SnapChat: Police A 27-year-old woman of Manchester was arrested after offering to buy clothes from a man and then dousing him with gasoline and robbing him, authorities said.  An unidentified man, 18,, had arranged via SnapChat to meet a woman outside a Dollar General Store on Route 37 in Manchester to sell sneakers and other clothing, police said. When the man arrived at the store on Thursday, July 28, a woman poured a water bottle filled with gasoline on him, held a butane torch near him and ordered him to surrender his possessions, police said. She was later identified as Eboni Hester of Manchester…

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by Jon Craig
Police & Fire
Somerset County Man Busted With Stolen, Loaded Handgun Leads Cops On Chase: Prosecutor Somerset County Man Busted With Stolen, Loaded Handgun Leads Cops On Chase: Prosecutor
Somerset County Man Busted With Stolen, Loaded Handgun Leads Cops On Chase: Prosecutor A Somerset County man who was busted with a stolen, loaded handgun during an argument later led police on a chase as they were attempting to take him into custody, authorities said. Officers responding to a verbal dispute at a home on Burnt Mills Road found a handgun in an open lunchbox belonging to Jorge L. Mercado, 24, of Branchburg around 6:40 a.m. on Thursday, July 21, Somerset County Prosecutor John P. McDonald said in a release alongside local officials on Wednesday, July 27. The weapon had allegedly been stolen out of Williamsport, PA, and was loaded with a large-capacity magazine wi…

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by Valerie Musson
News
HEARTLESS: Grandson-In-Trouble Scammers ‘Settle’ For $4G From Senior Who Couldn’t Afford More HEARTLESS: Grandson-In-Trouble Scammers ‘Settle’ For $4G From Senior Who Couldn’t Afford More
Heartless: Grandson-In-Trouble Scammers ‘Settle’ For $4G From Senior Who Couldn’t Afford More Phone scammers who told a Fair Lawn senior that her grandson was in trouble settled for half the $8,000 that he supposedly needed for bail money after she told them she didn’t have it, authorities said. The callers were in for a surprise, though: The would-be victim notified police, who were waiting when the Bronx pair showed up to collect. The passenger got out after both pulled up to the woman's Plymouth Drive home, Sgt. Brian Metzler said. That’s when police moved in, he said. Elvin Guzman, 32, was seized, charged with theft and released under New Jersey’s bail reform law of 2017. the…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
Ex-Attorney Charged With Stealing $58K From Dead Client's Estate: Prosecutor Ex-Attorney Charged With Stealing $58K From Dead Client's Estate: Prosecutor
Ex-Attorney Charged With Stealing $58K From Dead Client's Estate: Prosecutor A former attorney has been charged with stealing nearly $60,000 from a deceased client’s estate and spending the funds on himself, authorities said. Michael Botton, 52, of West Long Branch is charged with theft by unlawful taking or disposition and failure to make required disposition of property received, according to Acting Monmouth County Prosecutor Lori Linskey. The charges are the result of an investigation by the MCPO Financial Crimes and Public Corruption Bureau, initiated as the result of a referral from the Office of Attorney Ethics of the Ne…

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by Jon Craig
News
PHOTOS: Stolen SUV Pursued By Civilian Crashes, Thieves Captured By Police In Paramus PHOTOS: Stolen SUV Pursued By Civilian Crashes, Thieves Captured By Police In Paramus
Photos: Stolen SUV Pursued By Civilian Crashes, Thieves Captured By Police In Paramus A stolen luxury SUV that rolled as a good Samaritan chased it had been stolen moments earlier by two teens who'd broken into the owner's Paramus home, authorities said. An auto detailer who was working at the Hasse Avenue home at the time chased the Newark pair Friday afternoon as they sped off in the 2020 X-5, which had been taken from the garage after the pair entered the house and apparently found the keys. Officers Dan DeRienzo and Don Liu were on patrol near the corner of Farview Avenue and Century Road when both vehicles came whizzing by, Police Chief Kenneth Ehrenberg said. The …

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
Unruly Youths Quieted By Toms River Police On Holiday Weekend Unruly Youths Quieted By Toms River Police On Holiday Weekend
Unruly Youths Quieted By Toms River Police On Holiday Weekend Toms River police said they had two incidents over the Fourth of July weekend involving unruly youths at Silver Beach. On Sunday, July 3, at approximately 11:30 p.m., officers responded to the beach, in the area of East Colony Road and South Surf Road for a report from private security of roughly 40 to 50 young adults refusing to leave. Upon officers arrival, the group was advised to disperse and did so without incident, police said. While walking back down the street, an officer heard a male within a small group begin to shout obscenities. Residents from several houses came …

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by Jon Craig
News
Current, Former Wildwood Mayors, Commissioner Charged With Scamming Health Benefits Program Current, Former Wildwood Mayors, Commissioner Charged With Scamming Health Benefits Program
Current, Former Wildwood Mayors, Commissioner Charged With Scamming Health Benefits Program The city of Wildwood’s former and current mayor and a city commissioner broke the law – committing “breaches of the public trust” -- by collecting health benefits that they didn’t earn, state authorities said Friday. Wildwood Mayor Peter J. Byron, former Mayor Ernest V. Troiano Jr., and current City Commissioner Steven E. Mikulski were charged criminally for fraudulently participating in the State Health Benefits Program (SHBP), Acting New Jersey Attorney General Matthew J. Platkin said. In order to be eligible for the benefits, they needed to be full-time employees “whose hours of work are…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
SEEN THEM? Suspects Accused Of Stealing Tropicana Casino Table Signs SEEN THEM? Suspects Accused Of Stealing Tropicana Casino Table Signs
Seen Them? Suspects Accused Of Stealing Tropicana Casino Table Signs New Jersey state police seek the public's help identifying suspects wanted for alleged thefts at the Tropicana Hotel and Casino in Atlantic City. On Saturday, June 4, at approximately 3 a.m., the suspects were captured on video surveillance removing numerous “Table Minimum” signs from closed gaming tables, State Police said. Anyone with information is asked to call the State Police Casino Operations Unit at 609-441-7464. Anonymous tips are welcome.

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by Jon Craig
News
NO BULL: Jersey Shore Trucker Stole $27K Worth Of Red Bull, Prosecutor Says NO BULL: Jersey Shore Trucker Stole $27K Worth Of Red Bull, Prosecutor Says
NO Bull: Jersey Shore Trucker Stole $27K Worth Of Red Bull, Prosecutor Says A local truck driver has been charged with the theft of wholesale quantities of Red Bull valued at more than $27,000, authorities said.  Christopher L. Hammond, 36, of the Oakhurst section of Ocean Township was charged with theft by unlawful taking, forgery and false uttering, according to Acting Monmouth County Prosecutor Lori Linskey. An investigation involving members of the Prosecutor’s Office and the Wall Township Police Department revealed that the theft took place at a Wall-based beverage distribution center in June and July of 2021, Linskey said. As pa…

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by Jon Craig