Crime News

A 22-year-old Elizabeth man faces multiple robbery and drug-related charges in connection with the Aug. 25 armed robbery of a Hamilton Street convenience store, police said. The man, Junior Perez, was initially arrested on drug charges after the car he was driving was stopped because it matched the description of the car allegedly used in the robbery, according to a …

A 20-year-old Somerset man remains lodged in the Somerset County Jail, Somerville, on trespassing and drug-related charges. Police said a tenant in a McNair Court home told police on Aug. 29 that she was in her room at around 3:45 p.m. when she thought she heard the first floor sliding glass door open. When she went to investigate, police said, she …

A man allegedly offering unwanted foot massages to women in several parts of the township has been caught, police said. Lawrence Malapitan, 19, of Monmouth Junction, was arrested on Aug. 3 after he had allegedly spent the summer offering foot massages to random women, including lifeguards at Society Hill pools, police said. Malapitan was also charged with harassment by South …

Police are looking for a 21-year-old township man they believe was the gunman in an Aug. 1 drive-by shooting on Ambrose Street. A reward of up to $1,500 is being offered for information leading to the arrest of Devin Alexander of Hamilton Street, who police say fired a handgun at a man while he was sitting in his parked car. A …

A township man was among two people arrested July 23 in connection with the armed robberies of two township convenience stores and a home burglary. The duo and another woman were nabbed when they were seen by a member of the recently deployed Hamilton Street Neighborhood Police Team apparently preparing to rob one of the convenience stores a second time, according to a release …

Update: Repairs are expected to last into the morning of July 23, according to township police. Motorists are advised to plan alternate routes. There were no injuries, but traffic on Easton Avenue was snarled for the afternoon commute July 21 after an oversized tractor-trailer snagged some overhead electrical wires, bringing them down on three cars and snapping four utility poles. Township …

  Township police have turned to the public in their search for a man they believe burglarized a Hillcrest Avenue home on July 13. The suspect is described as being a thin black man, 20-30 years old, about 5’11’ to 6’2’’ with a large tattoo on his neck and tattoos on both arms between his wrists and his elbows. Police said …

A man suspected of robbing two township stores at gunpoint on July 14 is being sought by township and county authorities. The man being sought robbed clerks at the 6-Ten convenience store on Hamilton Street and the D-Mart convenience store on Somerset Street, according to a release from the Somerset County Prosecutor’s Office. According to the release, at around midnight on …

Nearly three dozen township youth this week are getting a taste of what life is like in a police academy. They’re discovering that it can be loud and tiring, but is always challenging. This is the fifth year the Franklin Township Police Department has run its Youth Academy, said co-coordinator Det. Kevin Fitzharris. And, Fitzharris said, it’s the biggest class …

Four Somerset residents face defiant trespass charges after they were found July 13 having sex in a closed-off portion of a township hotel. Police said that Satchel Edeen, 18; Alec Smith, 18; Rose Williams, 22 and Brielle Conover-Kueck, 22, were found after staff at the Hotel Somerset called 9-1-1 to report trespassers. Police said they were led by hotel staff to an …