Crime News

A Lumberton man was convicted March 27 of 1st Degree Armed Robbery in connection with an October 2011 robbery at a township Radio Shack store. Michael Mitchell, 31, was convicted after a trial in state Superior Court, Somerville, according to a press release from the Somerset County Prosecutor’s Office. In the release, authorities said Mitchell and an accomplice, Emendo Bowers, …

A “limited number” of St. Matthias School students were evacuated for a short time March 10 after a written bomb threat was found on a door of a 4th grade classroom, police said. Police said the threat was found by a teacher at the John F. Kennedy Boulevard school shortly after 8 a.m. The not said that a bomb was …

A Franklin Greens apartment resident reported March 1 that someone stole a metal table from their patio. Police said the apartment is located on the first floor of building facing John F. Kennedy Boulevard. The 40-inch table, valued at $150, was described as being made of brown metal with a glass top. The owner said they last saw it on …

A 7-year-old township child is being treated at St. Barnabas Burn Center after sustaining 2nd degree burns over 30 percent of his body, police said. Police responded to a 9-1-1 call at about 4:42 p.m. to find that the boy had accidentally pulled a pot of boiling water onto himself. Emergency medical personnel from Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital responded …

A January incident in which a 3-year-old was left on a Franklin Park School bus all day was deemed by a state agency to not be a case of child abuse or neglect, but rather one of “miscommunication.” But the Somerset County Prosecutor’s Office and township police are still reviewing the matter for possible criminal charges. That was the update …

A 16-year-old township resident has been arrested in connection with the Feb. 27 fire that briefly emptied out Franklin Township High School. In a release about the incident, Somerset County Prosecutor’s Office spokesman Capt. Jack Bennett said the youth has been charged with 2nd Degree Aggravated Arson. Bennett said the youth used a lighter to set fire to a piece …

An unoccupied car on Ray Street was shot at multiple times the evening of Feb. 25, police said. Township police received a call about gunshots at about 8:40 p.m., according to a release on the incident from the Somerset County Prosecutor’s Office. Township police officers, detectives and members of the prosecutor’s Major Crimes Unit responded, the release said. The incident …

A fight over a cell phone charger led to a man being sent to Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital, New Brunswick, police said. Police reported that on Feb. 25, a fight between two men broke out in front of a Pickering Place home. Police said the two men – identified only as a 41-year-old Asian man and a 42-year-old black …

Collected snow from multiple storms last week was blamed for the collapse of two structures in the township, police said. On Feb. 13, a 100 x 75-foot portion of a roof at 65 Clyde Rd. collapsed due to the weight of collected snow, police said. There was no one in the building at the time, police said. Five businesses are …

A Franklin Middle School teacher has been arrested on charges of possession  and distribution of heroin, according to court records. The Franklin Reporter & Advocate is not naming the teacher because the arrest has not yet been publicly announced. Details of the arrest are included in Superior Court records reviewed by the FR&A. The teacher was arrested last month, outside …