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Police & Fire
Man Tried To Abduct Teen Girl, Groped Woman In South Jersey Crime Spree: Prosecutors Man Tried To Abduct Teen Girl, Groped Woman In South Jersey Crime Spree: Prosecutors
Man Tried To Abduct Teen Girl, Groped Woman In South Jersey Crime Spree: Prosecutors A Monmouth County man was accused of trying to kidnap a teen girl and groping a woman in a Target parking lot as part of a two-county crime spree, authorities said. Quamel Benton, 35, of Farmingdale, was arrested on Friday, Mar. 22, Ocean County Prosecutor Bradley Billhimer said in a news release. He was charged with attempted kidnapping, luring, endangering the welfare of a child, criminal sexual contact, two counts of eluding, resisting arrest, and obstruction. Lakewood police responded to a report of an attempted kidnapping near Forest Park Circle at around 7:30 p.m. on Thursday, Ma…

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by Chris Spiker
Police & Fire
GOTCHA! Fugitive, 77, In 1997 Passaic Stabbing Captured After 26½ Years On Run GOTCHA! Fugitive, 77, In 1997 Passaic Stabbing Captured After 26½ Years On Run
Gotcha! Fugitive, 77, In 1997 Passaic Stabbing Captured After 26½ Years On Run Ramon Siri ducked authorities for 26½ years after they pegged him as the assailant who stabbed another man in a Passaic apartment in 1997. Then he slipped up. The city resident was arrested without incident late Tuesday afternoon, March 19, after authorities got a tip that he was back in town, Passaic County Prosecutor Camelia M. Valdes and Passaic Police Chief Luis A. Guzman announced Friday. Siri remained held in the Bergen County Jail, charged with attempted murder, aggravated assault and illegal weapons possession. Witnesses at the time said the unidentified victim was stabbed below t…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
Four Caught, One Sought In Brutal Stabbing Death Outside Garfield Bar Four Caught, One Sought In Brutal Stabbing Death Outside Garfield Bar
Four Caught, One Sought In Brutal Stabbing Death Outside Garfield Bar Authorities who’ve charged four men with the brutal murder of a man outside a Garfield bar last month turned to the public for help finding a fugitive gang member from Pennsylvania who sources said repeatedly stabbed the victim in the chest. Ricky “Angel” Vargas, 35, of East Stroudsburg, PA, and his four companions confronted Richard Franceschi, 31, of Hawthorne outside JoJo's Bar & Grill on Monroe Street before dawn this past Feb. 4, Bergen County Prosecutor Mark Musella said. Vargas had a knife and co-defendant Jayson William Rivera, 23, also of East Stroudsburg, had a handgun, the pr…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
Camden County Man Bound Women In Shed, Sexually Assaulted Them: Prosecutor Camden County Man Bound Women In Shed, Sexually Assaulted Them: Prosecutor
Camden County Man Bound Women In Shed, Sexually Assaulted Them: Prosecutor A Camden County man accused of tying up two women he knew in a shed, sexually assaulting them and choking one of them has been arrested, authorities said. On March 7, Waterford Township police received a 911 call from a woman who said that 26-year-old Brandon C. Fickenscher had attacked her on separate occasions, according to Camden County Prosecutor Grace C. MacAulay and Acting Berlin Township Police Chief Louis Bordi. Detectives learned that Fickenscher, of Berlin Township, had sexually and physically assaulted the victim in Berlin Township in December 2023, they said.…

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by Jon Craig
Police & Fire
STABBING AT AMERICAN DREAM: Video Posted, Secaucus Man Arrested STABBING AT AMERICAN DREAM: Video Posted, Secaucus Man Arrested
Stabbing AT American Dream: Video Posted, Secaucus Man Arrested Video shot at the American Dream Mall captured images of a Secaucus man charged with a stabbing this week. It's believed that two men tried to grab him in the cellphone video recorded from a level above the confrontation at the mall in East Rutherford shortly before 8 p.m. Tuesday, March 12. The bare-chested assailant pulls the shirt over one man's head and knees him in the face before going after the second. HudPost posted the video on X. Eyewitnesses say a stabbing occurred in the American Dream Mall during this encounter. We have not confirmed these details. pic.twitter.com/bB…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
Fugitive Wanted For Stabbing Atlantic City Convenience Store Worker Caught: Police Fugitive Wanted For Stabbing Atlantic City Convenience Store Worker Caught: Police
Fugitive Wanted For Stabbing Atlantic City Convenience Store Worker Caught: Police A wanted Atlantic City man was captured about a month after he stabbed a convenience store employee, authorities said. Francisco Bonilla, 34, was arrested by Vineland police on Monday, Mar. 4, the Atlantic City Police Department said in a news release. He was charged with attempted murder, aggravated assault, unlawful possession of a weapon, and possession of a weapon for an unlawful purpose. Atlantic City police responded to a stabbing on the 100 block of North Rhode Island Avenue at around 8:18 a.m. on Saturday, Feb. 3. They found the employee who was stabbed by a customer in an…

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by Chris Spiker
Police & Fire
Philadelphia Man Sentenced In Camden Assault: Prosecutor Philadelphia Man Sentenced In Camden Assault: Prosecutor
Philadelphia Man Sentenced In Camden Assault: Prosecutor A Philadelphia man has been sentenced to New Jersey State Prison for beating up a woman's boyfriend in Camden County, authorities said. Hampton Lee, 36, was sentenced to seven years in prison for aggravated assault on Friday, March 1, according to Camden County Prosecutor Grace C. MacAulay. On Dec. 10, 2021, Lee physically confronted a man in Camden about the man's girlfriend after an extended telephone argument, the prosecutor said. The unidentified victim went outside to confront Lee and the victim’s girlfriend followed shortly after, the prosecutor said. When the victim’…

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by Jon Craig
Police & Fire
Road Rage Incident, Fight With Weapons Leads to Arrest Of 4 Suspects In South Jersey: Police Road Rage Incident, Fight With Weapons Leads to Arrest Of 4 Suspects In South Jersey: Police
Road Rage Incident, Fight With Weapons Leads to Arrest Of 4 Suspects In South Jersey: Police Four Camden County men were arrested after a road rage incident prompted a fight in the street with weapons, authorities said. On Thursday, Feb. 29, shortly after 2 p.m., a detective with the Gloucester Township Police Department was traveling on Blackwood Clementon Road by Emerson Drive when he observed a Voorhees Police Officer (K9) stopped in the roadway with his emergency vehicle lights activated giving orders to four men to get on the ground.  The detective stopped to assist the Voorhees officer who said all four men were engaged in a physical confrontation in …

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by Jon Craig
Police & Fire
GOTCHA! Five Charged With Rash Of Bergen Armed Wristwatch Robberies, Stabbing In PalPark GOTCHA! Five Charged With Rash Of Bergen Armed Wristwatch Robberies, Stabbing In PalPark
Gotcha! Five Charged With Rash Of Bergen Armed Wristwatch Robberies, Stabbing In PalPark Authorities have charged five men with robbing three separate victims of wristwatches – stabbing one of them – in two Bergen County towns, thanks to an arrest by Port Authority police. Two of the robberies occurred in broad daylight on River Road in Edgewater last fall, Bergen County Prosecutor Mark Musella said on Friday, March 1. The third included a stabbing in the victim’s driveway in Palisades Park, the prosecutor said. One of two robbers brandished a handgun while a colleague stood lookout when they robbed the first Edgewater victim shortly after 3 a.m. Oct. 24, Musella said. The ro…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
WILD RIDE: Driver Drags Police Officer, Strikes Pedestrian At Wawa In South Jersey WILD RIDE: Driver Drags Police Officer, Strikes Pedestrian At Wawa In South Jersey
Wild Ride: Driver Drags Police Officer, Strikes Pedestrian At Wawa In South Jersey A 40-year-old Cumberland County took police on a wild pursuit that included dragging a police officer with his car and striking a pedestrian at a Wawa, authorities said. The driver, Jacob D. Griffiths, 40, of Bridgeton, ultimately was charged with multiple counts of eluding, aggravated assault, obstruction and hindering apprehension, according to the Cumberland County Prosecutor's Office. The pursuit started on Bluebird Lane in Millville at about 9 a.m. Wednesday, Feb. 28 when an officer was investigating a report of a robbery in Vineland. Griffiths sped off with a woman in the car, the pr…

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by Jon Craig
Police & Fire
Woman Knocked Unconscious, Kidnapped Outside Toms River Grocery Store: Police Woman Knocked Unconscious, Kidnapped Outside Toms River Grocery Store: Police
Woman Knocked Unconscious, Kidnapped Outside Toms River Grocery Store: Police A man was accused of kidnapping a woman in the parking lot of a Toms River grocery store, authorities said. Luis Morenogutierrez was arrested on Sunday, Feb. 25, the Toms River Police Department said in a news release. No age or hometown was given for Morenogutierrez. Police responded to customers arguing in the parking lot of the Aldi on Route 70 at around 6:55 p.m. When officers arrived, they learned a woman had been kidnapped at knifepoint by a man. The man assaulted her and knocked her unconscious at a different location. She was brought to the hospital for her injuries. Englewood pol…

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by Chris Spiker
Police & Fire
20-Year-Old Admits To Shooting Man In Head On Atlantic City Boardwalk: Prosecutors 20-Year-Old Admits To Shooting Man In Head On Atlantic City Boardwalk: Prosecutors
20-Year-Old Admits To Shooting Man In Head On Atlantic City Boardwalk: Prosecutors An Atlantic City man admitted to shooting another man on the boardwalk early in the morning, authorities said. Wesley Briscoe, 20, pleaded guilty on Wednesday, Feb. 21 to second-degree aggravated assault, fourth-degree pointing a firearm, and fourth-degree hindering his own apprehension. The Atlantic County Prosecutor's Office announced the plea in a news release on Friday, Feb. 23. A 20-year-old man was shot in the head on the Atlantic City Boardwalk at around 1 a.m. on Saturday, July 9, 2022. Investigators said surveillance video and witnesses confirmed Briscoe was the shoo…

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by Chris Spiker