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48°
Monday, may 20
Police & Fire
23-Year-Old Taiwanese Operator Of $100 Million Dark Web Drug Market Seized By Feds At JFK
Federal agents at JFK Airport seized a 23-year-old Taiwanese national who the Justice Department said owned and operated a dark web drug bazaar that produced well over $100 million in sales. The “Incognito Market” created by Rui-Siang Lin enabled its users to anonymously buy and sell drugs around the globe for nearly 3½ years, US Attorney General Merrick B. Garland and other federal officials announced on Monday, May 20. Lin -- also known as Ruisiang Lin, 林睿庠, Pharoah, and faro – mastermineded a clandestine e-commerce network where buyers could browse thousands of listings for heroin, LSD, …
Police & Fire
DUI Driver Charged In Hit-Run Crash With Pedestrian In Central Jersey: Prosecutor
A 31-year-old man from Central Jersey was driving under the influence when he fled the scene of a pedestrian crash, authorities said. Abel Bustos-Medel, 31, of New Brunswick, was charged with assault by auto, leaving the scene of an accident and DUI in the crash, according to Middlesex County Prosecutor Yolanda Ciccone and Chief Vincent Sabo of the New Brunswick Police Department. On Monday, May 20, at approximately 1:25 a.m., New Brunswick police responded to 100 Jersey Ave. for a pedestrian hit and run. Police found a man, 25, of New Brunswick, who sustained serious&…
Police & Fire
Rapist Convicted Of Sex Assault On 12-Year-Old Girl He Met Online In Bound Brook, Officials Say
A 22-year-old Piscataway man was convicted on Tuesday, May 14 of sexually assaulting a 12-year-old girl he'd met online in 2021, authorities said. In July 2021, a 12-year-old girl said she was sexually assaulted in Bound Brook by Lenic Galvan, a man she met on social media, Somerset County Prosecutor John McDonald said. Galvan arranged for transportation for the girl before he sexually assaulted her, authorities said. Following an investigation and DNA test, Galvan was charged with multiple counts of sexual assault and was convicted of sexual assault by contact and endangering th…
Police & Fire
Teenager Killed In Double-Shooting In Trenton: Prosecutor
A teenager was killed and a second teen was wounded in a shooting in Trenton on Sunday evening, May 19, authorities said. Stephon Fisher, 18, of Trenton, was pronounced dead shortly after the 5:50 p.m. shooting, according to Mercer County Prosecutor Angelo J. Onofri. Trenton police received a ShotSpotter activation for multiple rounds and several calls reporting two individuals shot at 2 Kingsbury Square, Onofri said. Both shooting victims were transported to Capital Health Regional Medical Center. The second 18-year-old victim, also a city resident, sustained three gunshot wounds a…
Police & Fire
Mail-order
Meth
: NJ Man Who Shipped 100 Pounds Gets 14+ Years In Fed Pen
A New Jersey man who shipped more than 100 pounds of crystal meth for sale cross-country through the U.S. mail was sentenced to more than 14 years in federal prison as part of a plea deal. Michael Venditti, 39, of Camden, was arrested during a controlled delivery of a package in September 2021. It had been intercepted on its way from Calexico, a Southern California town at the Mexican border, federal authorities said. Inspectors got a warrant to open the package after a drug-detection dog reacted to its arrival at a South Jersey postal facility, they said. Inspectors swapped some of the m…
Police & Fire
Body Pulled From NJ River ID'd As Woman Who Vanished 14 Years Ago, Family Says
The family of a New Jersey woman who disappeared finally has some closure. The body recovered along with three cars from the Cooper River in Pennsauken last week has been identified by her daughter as Bernadine Gunner, who went missing in July 2010. AFTER 13 LONG YEARS WE HAVE CLOSURE, MY MOM WAS FOUND 💔😢. SIP MOM I DON’T EVEN KNOW HOW TO FEEL RIGHT NOW…... Posted by Julia Young on Thursday, May 16, 2024 In a Facebook post shared Saturday, May 18, Julia Young says United Search Corps was behind the recovery operation in Pennsauken on Thursday, May 16, in which dive teams …
Police & Fire
Driver, 32, Airlifted In Garden State Parkway Rollover Crash, Police Say (
Update
)
One person was airlifted in a crash on the Garden State Parkway in Ocean County on Sunday, May 19, authorities said. A Honda passenger car and Ford pickup truck were both heading south when the two collided near milepost 83.8 around 3:30 p.m., New Jersey State Police Sgt. Jeffrey Lebron said. The crash caused the Ford to run off the right side of the roadway and overturn in Toms River, Lebron said. The Honda driver, a 32-year-old Beachwood resident, was airlifted with serious injuries while the driver and passenger of the Ford suffered minor injuries. 2 medevac helicopters have landed…
Police & Fire
Sextortion
: Out-Of-State Fugitive Freed After NJ Senior Looking For Love Loses $20,000
A fugitive from Maryland charged with sextorting a New Jersey senior out of $20,000 online after getting him to take compromising selfies was immediately freed by a judge after surrendering to police. Posing as a woman, Ali H. Maman, 59, of Frederick, MD, communicated with an elderly Glen Rock resident through Instagram and WhatsApp, Police Chief Dean Ackermann said. The victim was convinced to share the risqué photos, then was contacted by someone else who demanded a $20,000 bank wire transfer in exchange for not posting them online, Ackermann said. The victim wired the money last July to…
Police & Fire
George Washington Bridge Climber, Not Protestors, Jams
Nyc-b
ound Traffic For Hours
Police expected a protest that would throw the George Washington Bridge into chaos on Saturday and got something else entirely. A 24-year-old climber partially caused massive delays when he started climbing the Manhattan tower's south side shortly before noon May 18. What began as half-hour backups quickly stretched to more than 90 minutes on both levels during one of the busiest times of the average GWB weekend. All eastbound lanes were eventually closed at one point as Port Authority and NYPD emergency services officers with rappelling ropes and other rescue gear eventually got him down …
Police & Fire
Member Of Burglary Crew That Targeted Asian Homeowners On 'Hit List' In NJ, NY, PA, Sentenced
𝗨𝗣𝗗𝗔𝗧𝗘: A confessed member of a burglary ring that targeted Asian-American small business owners in New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania and Delaware was sentenced to 33 months in federal prison. Kevin Jackson, 57, of Rahway, NJ, must serve a little over two years before he'll be eligible for release because there's no parole in the federal prison system. Jackson was part of a second-story crew that the FBI said worked from a hit list of dozens of homes in the four states based on “stereotype and opportunity" from Dec. 2, 2016, to March 20, 2019. One of Jackson's associates told detectives t…
Police & Fire
Scooter Rider Killed By SUV On Route 1 Survived By Son, Wife, Campaign Says
Support is on the rise for the family of a 22-year-old man struck and killed by a vehicle on Route 1 in Edison. Raul Montoya-Chavez, of Edison, was hit in the southbound center lane of Route 1 at about 1:45 a.m. on Wednesday, May 15 as he tried to cross at Plainfield Avenue, Edison police said. Montoya-Chavez died of his injuries at an area hospital, police said. The 61-year-old Rahway man driving the SUV had a green light and is not expected to be charged, police said. A GoFundMe page raised for his funeral expenses had raised more than $3,400 as of press time. The page was laun…
Police & Fire
Fire Destroys 95-Year-Old Woman's 'Cherished Home' Along Jersey Shore
The Monmouth County home of a 95-year-old woman and her son was destroyed by a fire, according to a fundraising campaign. A GoFundMe page said Theresa and James Sangillo's home on Morris Avenue in Spring Lake caught fire on Saturday, May 11. More than $7,500 had been raised from at least 41 donations as of Friday, May 17. The GoFundMe's creator Diana DeMarco said Theresa's late husband Eugene built the home about 50 years ago. "This cherished home holds decades of memories, where Theresa raised her children, Michael and James, and where her own mother peacefully passed away at the remarkab…
Police & Fire
Jose Cruz Villanueva-Izaguirre Sentenced
A 24-year-old Plainfield man was sentenced to five years in prison on Friday, May 10, for a DUI crash that left seven people injured last June. Jose Cruz Villanueva-Izaguirre was behind the wheel of a 2004 Honda Civic and collided with a Kia Sedona after driving at high speed through a red light on June 11, 2023, at 2:09 a.m., Somerset County Prosecutor John McDonald said. Villanueva-Izaguirre, as well as his passengers — two adults and a teen — were seriously injured in the crash, authorities said. One passenger was found unresponsive in the back seat, suffering from near-fatal i…
Police & Fire
NJ Police Chief Admits Coverup of Sex Affair With Subordinate
A retired New Jersey police chief admitted trying to cover up a sexual affair with a subordinate, authorities said. Andrew Kudrick, 50, will be banned for life from public employment and will receive probation instead of prison time in exchange, state Attorney General Matthew Platkin said. Kudrick, of Farmingdale, lied to Howell Township officials about the affair and “threatened to launch an improper internal affairs investigation” of a captain who called him on it, the attorney general said. A confrontation between the chief’s wife and his alleged mistress during a 2021 retirement party …
Police & Fire
NJ Rapist Told 15-Year-Old They Can Do It Again If She's 'Not A Snitch,' Police Papers Say
Disturbing details have come to light in the case of a 41-year-old man arrested for sexually assaulting a 15-year-old girl this month in North Jersey. According to the affidavit for probable cause obtained by Daily Voice, Solomon Blay was in a white SUV when he approached his victim, who was walking home from school. Blay called the girl over to his vehicle, asked her age, and if she wanted a ride home, police papers said. She agreed, but instead of taking the girl home, Blay took her to his home, a basement of a home on Brighton Street in Union, the affidavit says. ** WARNING: The followi…
Police & Fire
Armed Suspect Found Sleeping Following Assault On Morristown Walking Path, Officials Say
An armed man accused of assaulting another person on a Morris County train system was found sleeping nearby, and promptly arrested, authorities said. Ricardo Martinez-Bonilla, 31, of Morristown, had gotten into an argument around 2:25 a.m. on Tuesday, May 14 on Patriots Path in Morristown off Martin Luther King Avenue, Morris County Sheriff James Gannon said. The victim told officers that the suspect was still in the area and provided a description. Sheriff’s Sergeant Kyle Koster, Sheriff’s Officer Brian Weber and Morristown Police found Martinez-Bonilla, sleeping on the trail, Gannon …
Police & Fire
NJ Postal Worker Admits Spending $54,000 On USPS Credit Cards
A post office worker in South Jersey admitted going on a $54,000 personal spending spree, buying power tools, gift cards, groceries and more with U.S. Postal Service plastic. Austin T. Mahan, 44, of Cape May Court House, was working at the Sea Isle and Somers Point facilities when he used postal service credit cards at retail stores in and around New Jersey over a six-month period beginning in 2022, U.S. Attorney Philip R. Sellinger said. "These purchases included thousands of dollars’ worth of gift cards as well as various home décor items, home renovation materials, power and handhel…
Police & Fire
Police ID Electric Scooter Rider Struck, Killed On Route 1
A 22-year-old man on an electric scooter was struck and killed along Route 1 in Edison, authorities said. Raul Montoya-Chavez, of Edison, was hit in the southbound center lane of Route 1 at about 1:45 a.m. on Wednesday, May 15 as he tried to cross at Plainfield Avenue, Edison police said. Montoya-Chavez died of his injuries at an area hospital, police said. The 61-year-old Rahway man driving the SUV had a green light and is not expected to be charged, police said.
Police & Fire
Update
: Newark Woman, 21, Gets Dozen Years For Jersey City Robbery Spree, Clerk Shooting
𝗨𝗣𝗗𝗔𝗧𝗘: A 21-year-old Newark woman is headed to federal prison for 12 years for her role in a violent robbery spree in Jersey City in which a fast-food clerk was shot in the chest. Siobhan Chandler will have to serve at least a decade before she'll be eligible for release because there's no parole in the federal prison system.Chandler had hoped for leniency when she took a deal from the government and admitted she was with ex-con Rodney Williams when he robbed a gas station and store at gunpoint and then shot a restaurant clerk during a third holdup last Nov. 14 Police captured bo…
Police & Fire
Disturbing Video Shows Infant Being Abused By 37-Year-Old NJ Woman, Police Say
Police have announced the arrest of a New Jersey woman seen in a disturbing video being circulated on social media. Multiple people called Trenton police on Wednesday, May 15, to report the video in which Vivian M. Harrell, 37, abuses an 8-week-old child, the department said. Harrell is seen covering an infant’s face, possibly blocking its airway, and speaking to the child in a vulgar and derogatory way, authorities said. Harrell was subsequently arrested and charged with second-degree assault and endangering the welfare of a child. The Division of Child Protection and Permanency is …
Police & Fire
Trafficker Who Mailed Hundreds Of Pounds Of Coke From PR To South Jersey, Philly Gets 10 Years
𝗨𝗣𝗗𝗔𝗧𝗘: A manager of a crew that purchased hundreds of pounds of cocaine in Puerto Rico that they shipped to South Jersey and Philadelphia via overnight mail was sentenced to a plea-bargained 10 years in federal prison. Philly resident Jose Gonzalez, 51, and his co-conspirators flew to San Juan on dozens of commercial flights from Philadelphia International Airport, U.S. Attorney for New Jersey Phillip Sellinger said. They paid cash there for multi-kilo quantities of coke, then used overnight delivery from U.S. Post Office branches in San Juan to ship it to various addresses in Philade…
Police & Fire
Fugitive Hunters Bear No Responsibility For Accused Killer's Suicide In Newark Park: Grand Jury
UPDATE: A team of fugitive hunters bear no responsibility for the death of a Newark man who shot himself rather than be captured, a grand jury has found. Don Jones, 50, was wanted for a homicide in Union County when members of the U.S. Marshals New York/New Jersey Regional Fugitive Task Force and city police chased him into West Side Park last Aug. 29, 2023. Jones pulled a handgun from his waistband, dashed to an open field and was surrounded by police, New Jersey Attorney General Matthew Platkin said on Wednesday, May 15. He then dropped to his knees, pointed the firearm at his head and p…
Police & Fire
Jumper Survives Plunge Off Victory Bridge In Central Jersey: Police
A person who jumped from the Victory Bridge in Middlesex County miraculously survived on Wednesday, May 15, Daily Voice has learned. Marine units from Perth Amboy, Woodbridge, and the New Jersey State Police responded to the bridge that brings Route 35 over the Raritan River around 3:30 p.m., Sayreville Police Lt. James Novak said. They found the jumper — alive — and brought them to Raritan Bay Hospital in Perth Amboy. The jumper's name and injuries are unknown at this time. Ten years ago, fences were installed along the bridge to prevent suicides, NJ Advance Media reporte…
Police & Fire
'Patient Broker' From Balto Goes To Federal Prison For Preying On NJ Drug Addicts
A Baltimore man was sentenced to a year and a day in federal prison for paying people to bribe drug addicts in New Jersey to go to specific rehab centers -- some as far as California. John Devlin, 37, is one of seven people who took deals from the government and admitted participating in a plot to defraud health insurance companies through patient brokering in several states, U.S. Attorney for New Jersey Philip R. Sellinger said. The confessed schemers enlisted "recruiters" to pay users addicted to heroin and other drugs with "robust" private health insurance several thousand dollars to ent…
Police & Fire
Victim Who Withdrew $10K From VA Bank Followed By NJ Man Who Stole It, Cops Say
Warrants have been issued for a pair from New Jersey and New York who police said targeted a victim who withdrew a large amount of cash at a Virginia bank. Pedro Bernal Montoya, 43, of New Jersey, and Antonio Ramos Acevedo, 33, of New York, watched as the victim took out $10,000 from a Springfield, VA bank on March 21, at 3:13 p.m., Fairfax County police said. Police did not say where in NJ or NY the men were from. They then followed the victim to a shopping center, where they broke into their vehicle and stole the money, police said. Detectives obtained warrants for Montoya and Acevedo&nb…
Police & Fire
Exclusive
: Bergen Man Awaiting Trial For Child Porn Dies By Drinking Kerosene
An East Rutherford man awaiting trial on child porn charges took his own life by drinking kerosene in the parking lot of a machine shop in Ringwood, multiple sources told Daily Voice. Building employees found the body of Michael Thomas Scheuerman, 41, in his car around 7 a.m. Tuesday, May 14, according to a police report. "He burned himself from the inside," a law enforcement source said Wednesday. "He was found hugging another bottle, apparently in case the first didn't do the job." Ringwood officers who responded to Bach Tools on Executive Parkway early Tuesday found Scheuerman's body in…
Police & Fire
Construction Worker Killed In Trench Accident ID'd As Former Rutgers Wrestler, 29
The construction worker killed in a Kenilworth trench accident earlier this month has been identified as a 29-year-old former Rutgers University athlete. Corey Greg Stasenko, of Cranford, was killed on Monday, May 6, during a project on Monroe Street, Daily Voice has learned. Police at the time, without identifying the worker, said he was trying to install a storm drain in the back of a business using an excavator when he became trapped around 9 a.m. First responders attempted life saving measures but he was pronounced dead at the scene, police said. Man, this really is heartbreak…
Police & Fire
School Bus Catches Fire In Sayreville
A school bus caught fire in Sayreville on Tuesday afternoon, May 14, authorities said. All seven passengers and the driver escaped safely, they said. Police and firefighters were at the scene of the fire reported at 3:55 p.m. on Louis Street, according to Lt. James Novak, a Sayreville police spokesman. Alternate arrangements were being made to bring the students home, Novak said. The cause of the fire had not been determined as of press time. Residents were urged to avoid the area.
Police & Fire
Trenton Fentanyl Dealer Sentenced In Jersey Shore Man's Overdose Death: Prosecutors
A Trenton man will spend several years in prison for his role in an Ocean County man's fentanyl overdose death, authorities said. Ryan Thompson, 35, was sentenced on Tuesday, May 14 to seven years in state prison, Ocean County Prosecutor Bradley Billhimer announced in a news release. He must serve nearly six years before he can be eligible for parole under the No Early Release Act. Thompson pleaded guilty on Monday, Mar. 4 to manslaughter in the death of a 55-year-old man in Berkeley Township. Police responded to a report of an unresponsive man in a home on Torrey Pines …
Police & Fire
Central Jersey Youth Soccer Coach Molested Players, Sent Sexual Photos, Prosecutors Say
A Monmouth County youth soccer coach has been accused of molesting two of his players and sending sexual pictures to several others, authorities said. Ryan Gunsauls, 32, of Union Beach, was arrested in Hazlet on Friday, May 11, The Monmouth County Prosecutor's Office announced his arrest in a news release issued Tuesday, May 14. Investigators said one boy told police earlier in May that Gunsauls had been sending him "sexually explicit materials" and asking for them on social media. More victims between 11 and 17 years old were identified and interviewed. Prosecutors said Gunsauls sent…
Police & Fire
Kristen Drayton Killed In Crash
A 31-year-old Franklin Township resident was killed in a crash last week in Central Jersey. Kristen Drayton was identified as the driver of the southbound vehicle that had slammed into a tree on Route 27 near Reler Lane just after 8:05 a.m. on Thursday, May 9 in Franklin Township, Somerset County Prosecutor John McDonald said. Drayton was pronounced dead at 9:30 a.m., authorities said. A section of Route 27 was closed for approximately four hours, authorities said. The crash remains under investigation. Anyone with information about this incident is asked to contact Of…
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