Crime News

The township Police Department recently received a $4,400 grant to aid in its participation in this year’s “Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over” anti-drunk driving campaign. The department was one of 144 in the state to receive the grants for the program, which runs from Dec. 6 through Jan. 2, 2014. The grants come from the state Attorney General’s Office …

A Village Drive resident reported Nov. 29 that someone broke into their storage unit and stole and broke Christmas items. The resident told police the burglary happened sometime during November. The storage unit is located in the building’s laundry room, police said. Stolen were a Thomas Kincaid train set, valued at $1,000, and an artificial Christmas tree valued at $100. …

A Mark Street resident got a scare Nov. 29 when a gasoline can caught fire next to his outdoor fireplace. Police said the resident, who they did not identify, said he was lighting charcoal in the outdoor fireplace in preparation of cooking chicken when the small can caught fire. The homeowner extinguished the fire before police and the East Franklin …

Township police are investigating two thefts at Franklin Middle School, Francis Street. In the first incident, reported on Nov. 20, four iPads were removed from a file cabinet in one of the classrooms, police said. The iPads were valued at $300 each, police said. In the second incident, reported on Nov. 22, someone stole the metal steps from the school’s …

A Texas man on Nov. 24 took an early morning dip in the pond in front of the DoubleTree Hotel on Atrium Drive. The problem was that he was in his car when he did it. Police said that Wayne Schertz, 54, of Carlton, Texas, was driving his rented Cadillac down Atrium Drive around 2 a.m. when he lost control …

The owner of a Franklin “cash for gold” store was indicted on several charges related to last summer’s Operation “Somer Gold” sting by local, county and state law enforcement. David H. Rubin, 55, of Highland Park, owner of Wireless Source/Cash For Gold on Hamilton Street, was indicted on charges of 3rd Degree fencing, 3rd Degree receiving stolen property, two counts …

A 26-year-old Somerset man who police said tried to kill a township police officer during a struggle last summer has been indicted on several charges, including attempted murder. An indictment charging Archie L. Ashley with five counts of 1st Degree attempted murder, 1st Degree disarming a police officer, 2nd Degree possession of a weapon for an unlawful purpose, 3rd Degree …

A Somerset jewelry store pleaded guilty to 10 violations of state cash-for-gold consumer protection laws and must pay more than $5,000 in fines and court costs. Venus Jewelers, Rutgers Plaza, was one of five Somerset County jewelry stores caught earlier this year in a joint sting operation run by the state Attorney General’s Office, the state Division of Consumer Affairs …

Law enforcement agencies throughout the county are stepping their enforcement of laws banning using cell phones while driving. Traffic patrols will be deployed on a random basis to find drivers talking and texting while driving, according to a press release from Prosecutor Geoffrey D. Soriano, North Plainfield Chief of Police and President of the Somerset County Association of Chiefs of …

A Boulder Lane home was damaged the afternoon of Nov. 13 when a clothes dryer caught fire, police said. Police responded to the home at about 4:45 p.m. and were told there was a fire in the house’s utility room. Police officer Leonard Bird said he and Dan Krushinski, chief of the East Franklin Fire Department, doused the fire with …