Crime News

Several dozen members of the township’s Sierra Leonian community gathered at Hempstead Gardens July 16 to remember one of their own killed there last year. Francis Vandy was found by police June 30, 2015 lying in a parking lot at the apartment complex off Route 27, the victim of a gunshot wound to his head. Vandy was pronounced dead at …

The Class of 2016 of the Franklin Township Police Youth Academy graduated July 15 in a ceremony held at Franklin Middle School. The nearly three dozen students spent the previous five days drilling, exercising and receiving instruction on a variety of topics, just as they would if they were in the real police academy. Included in the week’s instruction were visits from …

A township man and New Brunswick resident were arrested July 7 on weapons and drugs charges. Corey McDaniel, 33, and Cecil Kalawa, 38, of New Brunswick, were arrested at McDaniel’s home after township police and detectives from the Somerset County Prosecutor’s Office Organized Crime and Narcotics Task Force executed searches. A loaded Tanfoglio Giuseppe .380 caliber semi-automatic handgun, approximately one …

A township man remains lodged in Somerset County Jail after he was arrested for allegedly molesting a child for two years. Efren Merino-Hernandez, 23, was arrested at the Somerset County Prosecutor’s Office in Somerville, where he voluntarily reported after being located by police in Edison, according to a release from the prosecutor’s office. On July 7, detectives from the prosecutor’s office Sex …

Authorities are looking for the public’s help in catching a township man charged with molesting two children. Daniel Serrano-Urbina, 57, of Somerset Street, was charged July 6 with two counts of 1st Degree Aggravated Sexual Assault, two counts of 2nd Degree Sexual Assault, and two counts of 3rd Degree Endangering the Welfare of a Child, according to a press release …

A township doctor with a practice in Jamesburg was sentenced to one year in federal prison June 8 for his role in a kickback scheme involving a Morris County diagnostics company. Dr. Paresh Patel, 55, will also have to pay a $6,000 fine and had to forfeit more than $174,000 he received in bribes during the four-year scheme, according to …

A township man was not injured May 22 after his car struck a tree on Berger Street. Police received a 9-1-1 call at about 10:13 p.m., stating that a motorcycle had crashed on the street, according to a press release from township police. Upon arrival, police found the auto, a 1996 GMC Jimmy, crashed into a tree. The car’s driver, …

A 40-year-old Somerset woman faces several charges after a May 18 incident at the Bridgewater Commons Mall during which she allegedly pepper-spayed store and mall security guards. The woman, Fantasia Johnson, was allegedly seen by a store security guard placing $154 worth of merchandise in her purse. She was stopped by the security guard and two mall security guars when …

Eight township police officers will receive Valor Awards May 16 from the 200 Club of Somerset County. The awards will be presented at a luncheon held at The Palace on Davison Avenue. The officers who received the awards are: Steven Elmyer, Nick Gambino, Brian Quigley, Walter Skrobowski, Deyo Swartz, Det. Drew Lea, Det. Derek Miller and Lt. Darrin Russo. Township …

A Park Street resident was arrested May 4 after more than $400,000 worth of heroin was allegedly found in his home and he allegedly tried to elude police by jumping from the building’s third story, police said. Luis Carreon, 27, faces multiple drug-related charges as a result of the arrest, according to a press release from the Somerset County Prosecutor’s Office. …