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Police & Fire
South Jersey Teens Arrested In Carjacking, Armed Robbery, Near-Fatal Shooting South Jersey Teens Arrested In Carjacking, Armed Robbery, Near-Fatal Shooting
South Jersey Teens Arrested In Carjacking, Armed Robbery, Near-Fatal Shooting Two teenagers have been arrested in connection with this week's carjacking, armed robbery and near-fatal shooting in a market parking lot, Gloucester County authorities said. On Monday at about 6:50 p.m., police officers from Deptford Township responded to Rastelli’s Market, 1276 Clements Bridge Road in Deptford on a report of a 42-year-old victim who was seriously injured during an attempted carjacking, according Chief Thomas Gilbert of the Gloucester County Prosecutor's Office.  Deptford Township parol officers found the victim in his pickup truck, which had travelled …

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by Jon Craig
News
NJ Human Trafficker Gets 50 Years For Forcing Girl, 17, Into Prostitution NJ Human Trafficker Gets 50 Years For Forcing Girl, 17, Into Prostitution
NJ Human Trafficker Gets 50 Years For Forcing Girl, 17, Into Prostitution A Trenton woman who cruelly forced an underage girl into prostitution must spend at least 20 years in state prison before she’ll be eligible for parole. Superior Court Judge Darlene J. Pereksta on Thursday sentenced Ashley Gardener, 32, for a series of jury convictions for human trafficking, promoting prostitution and child endangerment, among other crimes. Pereksta sentenced Gardener to 50 years altogether, 40% of which she must serve before she can seek a parole hearing.  It marked the final chapter in what authorities said was a prime example of a crime that occurs “in the shadows,…

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by Jerry DeMarco
News
Fugitive NJ Ex-Con Captured After Weapons Seizure Faces Federal Charges Fugitive NJ Ex-Con Captured After Weapons Seizure Faces Federal Charges
Fugitive NJ Ex-Con Captured After Weapons Seizure Faces Federal Charges Cedric Lewis had been out of state prison all of two months when detectives who’d been watching him moved in and found several weapons – including a rifle loaded with 30 rounds of ammo – along with crack and heroin that they said belonged to him. With the heat on, the Bloomfield ex-con headed south but was captured by U.S. marshals in Atlanta three months later. Lewis, 29, will be headed to federal prison for a much longer stretch than before depending on the outcome of a grand jury indictment returned in U.S. District Court in Newark that charges him with being a convicted felon in possess…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
Prosecutor: Edison Shooter, 29, Slammed With 48 Years In Prison Prosecutor: Edison Shooter, 29, Slammed With 48 Years In Prison
Prosecutor: Edison Shooter, 29, Slammed With 48 Years In Prison A 29-year-old man from Middlesex County is looking at spending his next 48 years in state prison, authorities said. Christopher “C-Dub” Thompson of Edison was sentenced on Thursday for fatally shooting a 23-year-old man from New Brunswick in October 2018, according to Middlesex County Prosecutor Yolanda Ciccone. Thompson was sentenced by Superior Court Judge Thomas J. Buck for the murder of Larenz O’Garro.  In a separate case, Thompson was sentenced to 10 years in state prison for possessing a handgun after a prior conviction. In total, Thompson will have to serve …

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by Jon Craig
Police & Fire
SEEN HIM? Fugitive Sought In Jersey Shore Shooting SEEN HIM? Fugitive Sought In Jersey Shore Shooting
Seen HIM? Fugitive Sought In Jersey Shore Shooting Authorities are searching for an Ocean County man wanted in a shooting. Donald Rutter, 51, of Tuckerton is wanted for attempted murder and weapons charges, according to Ocean County Prosecutor Bradley D. Billhimer. Rutter is a suspect in a shooting that involved bodily injury on Tuesday night in Little Egg Harbor Township, Billhimer said. “Rutter has not yet been apprehended (and) is currently a fugitive from justice,'' Billhimer said on Wednesday. About 7:30 p.m., police responded to a 9-1-1 call about a shooting at Jarvis Marine on Radio Road. Patrol officers found Thomas Jarv…

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by Jon Craig
News
HERO: NJSP Honors Trooper Shot While Protecting Woman From 'Lawless Caravan' HERO: NJSP Honors Trooper Shot While Protecting Woman From 'Lawless Caravan'
Hero: Njsp Honors Trooper Shot While Protecting Woman From 'Lawless Caravan' New Jersey State Police Trooper Rick Hershey was investigating a home invasion when the assailants returned and started shooting. Hershey took a bullet trying to protect their female target, but that wasn’t all. Despite a critical gunshot wound in his abdomen, the trooper whacked a fleeing vehicle with his service weapon in order to create a distinguishing mark that would help identify it. This week, the New Jersey State Police cited Hershey’s “fearless and courageous actions” in honoring him as its 2020 Trooper of the Year. It all began in the Harding Wood Trailer Park in the South Jerse…

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by Jerry DeMarco
News
Manhunt Ends: Immigration Detainee Who Escaped From Essex Jail Captured, ICE Says Manhunt Ends: Immigration Detainee Who Escaped From Essex Jail Captured, ICE Says
Manhunt Ends: Immigration Detainee Who Escaped From Essex Jail Captured, ICE Says A Guatemalan national who escaped from the jail in Essex County while awaiting a deportation hearing is back in federal custody, authorities said. ICE agents captured Luis Cordon-Guzman, 31, on Saturday, ending an extensive manhunt involving several law enforcement agencies, Newark ICE-ERO Field Officer Director John Tsoukaris announced. “As a result of the investigatory efforts of the dedicated men and women of ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations Newark Field Office, this criminal alien is back behind bars," Tsoukaris said Monday night. “Our officers worked day and night over this past …

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
U.S. Marshals Capture Linden Homicide Fugitive In Atlanta U.S. Marshals Capture Linden Homicide Fugitive In Atlanta
U.S. Marshals Capture Linden Homicide Fugitive In Atlanta Members of the U.S. Marshals Service captured a 38-year-old fugitive wanted for a Linden homicide in Atlanta, GA on Monday, authorities said. Dion M. Johnson is facing charges of first-degree murder and a pair of second-degree weapons offenses in connection with the death of Darrell Q. McKoy, Union County Prosecutor Lyndsay V. Ruotolo said tuesday. Linden police officers responded to the 1200 block of Essex Avenue shortly after 12:45 p.m. on Oct. 5, where McKoy was found outside having sustained serious injury, Ruotolo said alongside Linden Police Chief David Hart. McKoy was take…

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by Cecilia Levine
News
Escaped AC Bank Robber From Philly Headed Back To Fed Pen Escaped AC Bank Robber From Philly Headed Back To Fed Pen
Escaped AC Bank Robber From Philly Headed Back To Fed Pen A convict who escaped from a South Jersey halfway house after serving 10 years of a 12½-year federal prison sentence for robbing an Atlantic City bank was sent back to the slammer on Thursday. Gary Mitchell, 60, forfeited 14 months of "good time" credit, which he must now serve, U.S. Attorney Craig Carpenito said. Mitchell entered a Commerce Bank branch on North Pennsylvania Avenue in July 2007, handed a teller a note that said "I have a gun" and demanded all hundreds before fleeing with $1,300, authorities said. Captured by the FBI two months later, Mitchell took a plea deal from the gove…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
Paramus Man Charged With Threatening To Kill Federal Judge Paramus Man Charged With Threatening To Kill Federal Judge
Paramus Man Charged With Threatening To Kill Federal Judge A Paramus man threatened to kill a federal judge whose address he bought online, said authorities who arrested him. William Kaetz, 56, mailed a message to the judge’s house last month asking that a case he had pending be expedited, asking that the judge be recused and saying that the “excessive delay” was “unacceptable to him,” U.S. Attorney Craig Carpenito said. Less than a week later, Kaetz left a voicemail telling the judge the case should have been decided weeks ago, that he “wanted the judge off his cases and off the bench, and adding that he “would not take ‘no’ for an answer,” the U.…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
State Police: Monmouth County Pair Arrested For Armed Robbery, 100 Vehicle Break-Ins State Police: Monmouth County Pair Arrested For Armed Robbery, 100 Vehicle Break-Ins
State Police: Monmouth County Pair Arrested For Armed Robbery, 100 Vehicle Break-Ins A pair of men from Monmouth County have been arrested for armed robbery and breaking into about 100 vehicles, authorities said.  Mario Mondragon, 21, of Long Branch and Genaro Guzman, also 21, of Shrewsbury Township are accused of committing the robberies and burglaries in five municipalities between April and June, New Jersey State Police said. State Police detectives with the Troop “C” Criminal Investigation Office along with members of the Eatontown Borough Police Department, Tinton Falls Police Department, Ocean Township Police Department and Long Branch Police Department, identifi…

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by Jon Craig
Police & Fire
U.S. Marshals Capture Fugitive Wanted In Sex Assault Of Union County Girl U.S. Marshals Capture Fugitive Wanted In Sex Assault Of Union County Girl
U.S. Marshals Capture Fugitive Wanted In Sex Assault Of Union County Girl A fugitive wanted in a 2018 Union County sexual assault of a child was found in Tennessee, authorities said Wednesday. Jose A. Donis, 53, was taken into custody by members of the U.S. Marshals Service Tuesday evening in the Whispering Hills neighborhood of Nashville, Acting Union County Prosecutor Lyndsay V. Ruotolo and Plainfield Police Director Lisa Burgess said. Donis had been renting a room in the Plainfield building in which the victim lived when he sexually assaulted her from early June 2018 to late September of 2018, Ruotolo and Burgess said last month. A warrant was issue…

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by Cecilia Levine