Crime News

Following  through on a promise made in July, the Rev. DeForest “Buster” Soaries Oct. 24 called on the U.S. Attorney for New Jersey to launch a two-pronged investigation into the police shooting of a 27-year-old township man. In an Oct. 24 letter to U.S. Attorney Paul Fishman, Soaries asked for an investigation into whether Grant’s civil rights were violated by …

Update: Mayor Phillip Kramer thanked township residents “for showing extraordinary patience awaiting this report. That patience is a reflection of the trust this community has in our police force.” In his statement, Kramer said he would “also like to thank Reverend Buster Soaries for the role he played in that as well. “We will continue as always to strive to strengthen …

A 68-year-old Franklin Park man was reported in critical condition Oct. 22 after he was involved in an auto accident on Hamilton Street. Police said the man, who was not identified, was driving a 2001 Ford Expedition along Hamiton Street, near Sydney Place at around 11:53 a.m. when he apparently suffered a medical emergency. The car left the road and …

                Three Somerset residents were arrested Oct. 11 and charged with robbing a man on Townsend Court. Ibrahim Sesay, 22; Jovano A. Clarke, 22 and Maahya S. Walker, 20, were arrested following a motor vehicle stop at Beekman Road  and Route 27, according to a press release from the Somerset County Prosecutor’s Office. …

Five people were injured – and two had to be extracted – in a late-night automobile accident Oct. 1 on Route 27. Police said that shortly before 10 p.m., Miguel Salazar-Maediola, 30, of Fort Lee, was driving a 2002 GMC Denali north on Rt. 27 when he attempted to make a left turn onto Village Drive. The Denali was stuck by a 2003 GMC …

A 26-year-old township man was among two who admitted their roles in a “pay to stay” scheme unraveled by a federal sting. Harpreet Sachdeva, 26, of Somerset, and Sanjeev Sukhija, 35, of North Brunswick, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Madeline Cox Arleo in Newark federal court to separate informations charging them each with one count of conspiracy to commit …

A 38-year-old township man has been charged with sex crimes and computer theft in two towns. Thomas Canales was arrested at his home on Sept. 1 during an investigation by Detective Bill Coleman of the New Brunswick Police Department, Detective Dominick DeCarlo of the Edison Police Department and Detective Mark Morris of the Middlesex County Prosecutor’s Office, according to a …

A 22-year-old township resident was convicted of drug-related charges after a 2-day trial in Somerville. Jose Lozada-Rojas was found guilty of 2nd Degree Distribution of a Controlled Dangerous Substance after trial in state Superior Court, according to a press release from the Somerset County Prosecutor’s Office. According to police, Lozada-Rojas on July 16, 2015 met with an undercover detective in the …

Police are investigating a suspected suicide near a strip shopping center on Easton Avenue. At 10:11 p.m., police received a call of an unresponsive man in a parked car in the parking lot of 1830 Easton Ave., according to a press release from township police. Police found a 30-year-old man locked in the car, unconscious and unresponsive. Police said that …

Update 3: Isaiah “Ike” J. Bell was arrested the morning of Sept. 14 in a Staten Island, NY apartment, according to a press release from the Somerset County Prosecutor’s Office. Somerset County detectives, along with detectives from New York City’s 120th Precinct and detectives from the Staten Island Warrant Squad, arrested Bell without incident at about 9:45 a.m. Bell was …