Crime News

  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 …

A two-man “Neighborhood Police Team” has been created to patrol the Hamilton Street business district. The team, which will officially deploy on July 14, is comprised of officers Steven Ellmeyer and Deyo “DW” Swartz, both of whom are 3-year veterans of the township police force. The Hamilton Street Advisory Committee sees crime as one of the major obstacles in bringing back the district …

Update: Deshawn Carreker turned himself in to a Middlesex County Prosecutor’s Office detective on July 13, according to authorities. Carreker was remanded to the Somerset County Jail, Somerville, in lieu of $150,000 cash bail. Original Story: A 20-year-old township man has been arrested in connection with the June 24 assault and robbery of a man at Country Side apartments. Police are still …

A 42-year-old Trenton man was injured July 7 when he fell from a tree on Canal Road. The man works for a tree cutting service and was working at the time, police said. The man, who was not named, was wearing a harness when he fell, police said. The man complained of severe abdominal pains and was flown to Robert Wood …

A 27-year-old township woman remains in the Somerset County Jail, Somerville, facing charges that she committed four armed robberies in Franklin and New Brunswick. Laquita Cooper of Somerset was arrested July 6 at township police headquarters in connection with the armed robberies, which occurred during the last week of June. Cooper was arrested at about 3:30 p.m. while she was at the Franklin …

A tip to Somerset County authorities led to the June 30 arrest of three township residents and the seizure from them of more than $1,000 in drugs. Jessica Simmonds, 22; Chris Gardner, 24 and Shane Gardner, 23, were arrested as a result of a tip to the Somerset County Prosecutor’s Office Organized Crime and Narcotics Task Force, according to a …

Township police and county detectives are investigating the shooting death June 30 of a 35-year-old Willingboro man near a Route 27 apartment complex. Police said Francis Vandy was found lying on Hempstead Drive, near the Hempstead Gardens apartment complex, shortly after 8 p.m., dead of an apparent gunshot wound to his head. Detectives are attempting to determine a motive for …