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Matthew Platkin

Police & Fire
Former Wildwood Mayor Admits To Healthcare Fraud, NJ Attorney General Says Former Wildwood Mayor Admits To Healthcare Fraud, NJ Attorney General Says
Former Wildwood Mayor Admits To Healthcare Fraud, NJ Attorney General Says A former mayor of Wildwood admitted to his role in a healthcare fraud scheme that stole more than $600,000 in government funds, authorities said. Peter Byron, 68, pleaded guilty to three charges on Friday, Sept. 27, Attorney General Matthew Platkin said in a news release on Monday, Sept. 30. Byron resigned as mayor in September 2023 after he was indicted in the case. According to court documents and statements, Byron, current Mayor Ernie Troiano Jr., and Deputy Mayor Steve Mikulski enrolled in the State Health Benefits Program (SHBP) despite being ineligible. The SHBP is only open…

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by Chris Spiker
Police & Fire
Philly Ex-Con Forced Captive Girls Into Prostitution At NJ Hotels: Indictment Philly Ex-Con Forced Captive Girls Into Prostitution At NJ Hotels: Indictment
Philly Ex-Con Forced Captive Girls Into Prostitution At NJ Hotels: Indictment An ex-con who was captured after a 15-year-old victim escaped from a South Jersey hotel room was indicted on a host of charges that include human trafficking, promoting prostitution and sexually assaulting minors, authorities announced on Thursday. Nieem Johnson, 40, whose last known address was in Philadelphia, was arrested in Atlantic City last Aug. 31 following a months-long state investigation, New Jersey Attorney General Matthew Platkin said. A second victim was rescued during the arrest, Platkin said in a Jan. 18 release. “The allegations in the indictment – holding two victims in a…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
Man Has Medical Episode And Dies Following NJSP Arrest, Authorities Say Man Has Medical Episode And Dies Following NJSP Arrest, Authorities Say
Man Has Medical Episode And Dies Following Njsp Arrest, Authorities Say A man charged with assaulting an officer suffered a medical episode and died after being arrested by New Jersey State Police, authorities said. Medical personnel were called to the NJSP Bridgeton station around 8 p.m. Saturday, July 8, after the arrestee became unresponsive, according to a release from the office of state Attorney General Matthew Platkin. Troopers tried to resuscitate the as-yet unidentified man, who was pronounced dead at Inspira Medical Center in Vineland the following evening -- 11:37 p.m., July 9, to be exact, the attorney general's release says. State Police had take…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
CHILLING VIDEO: Sharp-Shooting Officer Downs Rifle-Wielding NJ Madman Who Threatened Woman CHILLING VIDEO: Sharp-Shooting Officer Downs Rifle-Wielding NJ Madman Who Threatened Woman
Chilling Video: Sharp-Shooting Officer Downs Rifle-Wielding NJ Madman Who Threatened Woman Gripping video shows an irate man with a rifle threatening to kill a female homeowner before a steady-nerved local New Jersey police officer takes him down from a distance with a single shot. The fatal encounter from earlier this year plays out in a collection of video -- including one from the hero officer's body cam and another from a surveillance camera pointed directly at the house -- that was released by state Attorney General Matthew Platkin. The video is part of a state-mandated investigation into the police-involved death of Daniel Nevius Sr., 55, of Sicklerville this past January.…

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by Jerry DeMarco
News
NJ Police Officer, Woman Both Wounded, Suspect Dead In Domestic Incident NJ Police Officer, Woman Both Wounded, Suspect Dead In Domestic Incident
NJ Police Officer, Woman Both Wounded, Suspect Dead In Domestic Incident UPDATE: A police officer was shot responding to a domestic incident that left a woman wounded and the gunman dead Saturday afternoon in Warren County, authorities confirmed. Warren County Prosecutor Jim Pfeiffer confirmed that the suspect had shot the woman and then opened fire on officers responding to the 1:15 p.m. April 8 incident just off Hanover Street in Phillipsburg. The gunman then shot and killed himself, the prosecutor said. Both the officer, who was wounded in the leg by a round shot through his car door, and the woman, who was shot in the torso, were airlifted to nearby St. Lu…

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by Jerry DeMarco
News
NJ Troopers Justified In Shooting Driver From Poconos Who Shot Dog, Grand Jury Rules NJ Troopers Justified In Shooting Driver From Poconos Who Shot Dog, Grand Jury Rules
NJ Troopers Justified In Shooting Driver From Poconos Who Shot Dog, Grand Jury Rules A country music song played on the car stereo as a Pennsylvania driver who'd just crashed into a ditch off Route 80 shot his dog and was then shot and killed by two New Jersey State Police troopers. The troopers’ actions were justified, a grand jury has found. Panel members reviewed a collection of videos, among other evidence, before rendering their decision earlier this week, New Jersey Attorney General Matthew Platkin said Thursday, March 2. The videos, which can be found here, show the two troopers approaching the disabled vehicle from either side on Starlite Hill Road in the Columbia…

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by Jerry DeMarco
News
NJ Officers Justified In Shooting PA Man Who Rushed Them With Broken Bottle, Grand Jury Finds NJ Officers Justified In Shooting PA Man Who Rushed Them With Broken Bottle, Grand Jury Finds
NJ Officers Justified In Shooting PA Man Who Rushed Them With Broken Bottle, Grand Jury Finds UPDATE: Police in South Jersey had no choice but to shoot a Pennsylvania man who rushed at them with a broken bottle, a grand jury has found. Grand jurors had crystal-clear bodycam video of officers alternately imploring and commanding Amir Johnson, 30, to drop the bottle during a late-afternoon standoff in the middle of an Atlantic County highway in August 2020. “We don't wanna do this, man. Stop! Stop!" a Ventnor police officer shouts over and over in the video. “Put it down, bro, we don’t wanna do this,” another officer yells. Johnson, of Wilkes-Barre, keeps coming, however, and is onl…

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by Jerry DeMarco
News
NJSP Sergeant Justified In Shooting NY State Man During Furious GS Parkway Struggle Over Gun NJSP Sergeant Justified In Shooting NY State Man During Furious GS Parkway Struggle Over Gun
Njsp Sergeant Justified In Shooting NY State Man During Furious GS Parkway Struggle Over Gun A New Jersey State Police sergeant was justified in fatally shooting a New York State man who jumped him and tried taking his gun during a furious struggle on the shoulder of the Garden State Parkway, a grand jury has found. NJSP Staff Sgt. Randall Wetzel ended what had been a series of interactions between Maurice Gordon, 28, of Poughkeepsie, NY and law enforcers in Brick Township, Waretown, Stafford and, ultimately, Bass River in Burlington County, in an encounter two years ago that was captured on video. New Jersey law required a grand jury review of the incident despite the circumstance…

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by Jerry DeMarco
News
New Pot Law In NJ Lets Off-Duty Police Use Weed Without Consequences, State's Top Cop Says New Pot Law In NJ Lets Off-Duty Police Use Weed Without Consequences, State's Top Cop Says
New Pot Law In NJ Lets Off-Duty Police Use Weed Without Consequences, State's Top Cop Says Off-duty police officers in New Jersey can fire up a doob -- or use any other cannabis product -- under the state’s new legal marijuana law, the state’s top law enforcer said. Departments “may not take any adverse action against any officers because they do or do not use cannabis off duty,” acting New Jersey Attorney General Matthew Platkin wrote in a memo to police chiefs and directors at the local, county and state level. Employers also cannot fire or refuse to hire workers “solely due to the presence of cannabinoid metabolites in the employee’s bodily fluid,” Platkin noted. “But to be c…

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by Jerry DeMarco
News
Feds: 'Community Guns' Smuggled Into NJ Seized, Local Man, Georgia Woman Charged Feds: 'Community Guns' Smuggled Into NJ Seized, Local Man, Georgia Woman Charged
Feds: 'Community Guns' Smuggled Into NJ Seized, Local Man, Georgia Woman Charged A trio of “community guns” were brought into New Jersey by a Garden State man and a Georgia woman, a grand jury has charged. Most used in crimes in New Jersey are smuggled in from out of state, most often from the South, after being bought or stolen, authorities say. These include “community guns,” which two or more criminals stash somewhere – in a mailbox or a garbage can, under a rock or on the tire of a car, for instance -- for instant access and quick disposal by them and others. A grand jury indictment returned in Trenton charges Marquise Peterson, 28, of Trenton, and Quaneisha Frost-…

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by Jerry DeMarco