Crime News

A 35-year-old township man was sentenced to 60 years in state prison Dec. 21 for the murder of a Perth Amboy man on Valentine’s Day in 2015. Jahmmel Cephas was sentenced in New Brunswick by Superior Court Judge Colleen Flynn to 50 years in state prison for aggravated manslaughter, plus 10 years in prison for begin a certain person prohibited …

Two Churchill Avenue families and a family dog were sickened Dec. 15 when the boiler in the basement of their home malfunctioned and emitted carbon monoxide, police said. Police were alerted at about 11:42 a.m. by staff from an area hospital, in which the staff requested a welfare check on residents at the home, according to a press release from …

Franklin High School officials have once again found a fake gun in a student’s possession. At about 1:30 p.m. Dec. 14, an “alert teacher” at the high school saw a 14-year-old male student put what she believed to be a handgun in his backpack, according to a press release from the Franklin Township Police Department. The teacher contacted security and …

A 25-year-old Franklin Park man faces multiple charges – including six for attempted murder – following his alleged participation in what police said was a “three-month crime spree” that resulted in one death. Anthony “Smoke” Pinson was among seven members of what authorities called a “major gang” that committed robberies and murder in Middlesex and Camden counties, according to a …

Township police are looking into why a 15-year-old Franklin High School student took a fake gun to school on Dec. 5. The gun fell out of the student’s backpack in-between classes, at about 9:30 a.m., prompting school security to call for a school lockdown, according to a press release from the FTPD. The lockdown lasted only about five minutes, police …

A Dec. 1 fight among Franklin Middle School students ended with one of the combatants being temporarily placed in custody by the Franklin Township Police Department. Police released few details because the incident involved juveniles. But FTPD spokesman Lt. Phil Rizzo did provide an emailed statement. “Our School Resource Officer and School Security were alerted to a fight at the …

Update: Police said the incident was not a threat, simply a parent who was not familiar with the school’s pick-up procedures trying to get their children. No children were threatened. Original Story: Police are investigating an incident involving children that occurred Nov. 27 at Pine Grove Manor School, according to district officials. According to a statement released on the school …

Update: Police said that Mark Rodgers died from his injuries at 2:50 p.m. on Nov. 28. Original Story: A 63-year-old township man was listed in serious condition Nov. 25, one day after a deer crashed through his car’s windshield on South Middlebush Road. Police said that Mark Rodgers of Somerset was driving his 2017 Hyundai Elantra on South Middlebush, just …

Another township school was hit by electronics thieves, who got away with about 50 computers, police and district officials say. Sometime in the overnight hours of Nov. 19, a window at Conerly Road Elementary School was broken, allowing entry for the thieves, said FTPD spokesman Lt. Phil Rizzo. A total of 50 computers were taken from a laptop cart, said …

Police are investigating the Nov. 14 shooting of two Franklin Township residents as they sat in a car on Winston Drive. Both unidentified men, aged 23 and 24 years, suffered non-life-threatening injuries, according to a press release on the incident from the Somerset County Prosecutor’s Office. As part of their investigation, authorities are trying to determine whether two handguns found …