Crime News

A 78-year-old woman suffering from dementia was found dead in her car in the Rutgers Plaza parking lot May 7, police said. A Silver Alert had earlier that day been issued for the woman, Anita Cupo, who was last seen in South Bound Brook.

Updated: On May 8, Fennes pleaded not guilty to the charges in state superior Court, Somerville. Fennes remains in custody in the Somerset County Jail, Somerville, in lieu of $100,000 bail. Original Story: A former 1st Grade teacher at Cedar Hill Preparatory School on Cedar Grove Lane faces charges that he sexually assaulted one of his former students.

A 37-year-old Somerset resident was killed early in the morning of May 5 when his vehicle apparently left the road and crashed into the Delaware River, according to New York State Police. State troopers reported that Stephen J. Maikisch, III, was found dead in his 2000 Jeep Grand Cherokee.

Update: The man killed in the collapse has been identified as Selvin Antulio Lopez-Castillo of Plainfield. Police said OSHA has determined that the workers “failed to meet proper trench safety requirements and a lack of shoring,” and a stop-work order has been issued until the investigation is complete. A contractor working on a new house on Neuville Drive died May …

Two men – one of whom sustained a head injury – were arrested May 1 in connection with an armed robbery on Myrtle Street. Louis Gonzalez, 18, of North Brunswick and Ajaan Genz, 20, of Linden, were arrested by Township detectives at Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital in New Brunswick where Gonzalez was receiving treatment for his head wound.

Major crime in the township is on the decline, state police statistics show. Still, the statistics show, the township’s crime rate remains among the highest in Somerset County.

To the rest of the world, they’re police officers, but to Maria Ducos, they’re more than that. “They’re not officers, they’re my angels,” Ducos said in speaking about township police officers Nicholas Gambino and Deyo Swartz.

One man was suffered smoke inhalation April 17 in an early-morning fire in a Reler Lane apartment. The unidentified 35-year-old man was taken to Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital in New Brunswick for treatment, police said.

Click the files above to hear radio transmissions from the Spruce Street fire. Files courtesy Franklin Township Police Department. Township police rescued a 78-year-old woman from a burning Spruce Street home April 15, suffering minor injuries in the process.

Three adults and one child were treated for smoke inhalation April 11 after a fire broke out in a Willow Avenue home. Police said multiple 9-1-1 calls were received at about 12:19 p.m. from people reporting the fire. Officers arrived at the scene to find smoke and fire coming from the home.