Three Township Residents Charged With Gun Offense In Manville

Malcolm Allen, left, and Rashiene Rochester were among three township residents arrested in Manville Feb. 2 on a gun-related charge. Photo: Somerset County Prosecutor’s Office.

Three township residents – one a juvenile – were arrested Feb. 2 after a loaded handgun was found in a car they were driving in Manville.

Rashiene Rochester and Malcolm Allen, both 22, and a juvenile were arrested in the Marketplace at Manville shopping center, according to a release on the incident from the Somerset County Prosecutor’s Office.

The Somerset County Prosecutor’s Office Organized Crime and Narcotics Task Force received a tip on Feb. 2 that two black men would arrive at the shopping center in a black Mazda 3 and that they would possess CDS, according to the release.

Detectives set up surveillance at the center and saw a black four-door Mazda enter the shopping center’s parking lot at about 4:30 p.m., according to the release. Three black men exited the car and walked to its trunk. After it was opened, the man identified as Rochester and the juvenile started walking to a store, according to the release.

Detectives stopped the two before they entered the store, and other detectives approached Allen, who had by then re-entered the car. Allen was told of the narcotics investigation and, according to the release, consented to the search of the car.

Detectives found a loaded .22 caliber Ruger handgun and nine additional rounds of ammunition in the car’s trunk, according to the release.

All three were charged with 2nd Degree Unlawful Possession of a Handgun, according to the release. The juvenile was sent to the Middlesex County Juvenile Detention Center, North Brunswick, while Rochester and Allen were remanded to Somerset County Jail, Somerville. Rochester’s bail was set at $100,000, with a 10 percent option, while Allen’s bail was set at $50,000 with a 10 percent option.

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