Crime

MAKING HISTORY – FTPD officer Patrick Kanu is ceremoniously sworn in at the January 23 Township Council meeting. Officials said Kanu is the first West African uniformed officer in the township. Five new Franklin Township Police officers – two of whom are graduates of the Youth Police Academy – were ceremoniously sworn in at the January 23 Township Council meeting. …

Franklin Township Police are seeking the public’s help in their search for two missing boys. The boys, one 9-years-old and the other 11-years-old, were described by police as being brown-skinned Hispanics.

There were no reported injuries January 20 in a fire that started in the basement in a Hamilton Street building, police said. Police responding to a 6:35 p.m. call about the fire found smoke and fire smoldering from inside the walls, according to a press release from the Franklin Township Police Department. No one was injured or displaced as a result of the fire, according to …

UPDATE: FTPD Lt. Vincent Wilson said on January 20 that no one was reported missing, and that the search has concluded. A man’s reported cries for help – thought to emanate from a spot along the Delaware & Raritan Canal near Colonial Park – spurred an hours-long but fruitless search by police on January 19.

Franklin Township Police remind the public to report any suspicious activity to authorities. The reminder comes in the wake of a number of suspicious incidents in various part of the township.

With home burglaries becoming a statewide issue, the Franklin Township Police Department has issued a series of tips to help township residents stay safe. To help minimize the risk of burglary, the FTPD suggests the following measures:

Two township residents reported earlier this month that they were victims of fraud totaling of $43,000. In the first report, made December 7, a resident told police that four different people gained access to his bank account and removed $13,000 from it through wire transfers.

12/03/2023 Somerset residents were the victim of a burglary during the afternoon/evening hours on 12/02/23 in the area of Liberty Ln. The unknown suspect(s) entered the residence when it was unoccupied and stole jewelry valued at $30,000.00 and sneakers valued at $500.00. There were no signs of forced entry to the residence.

A 21-year-old township man has been sentenced to 12 years in state prison for a 2022 crash that left one person dead and injured others. Samuel Villar was sentenced on December 3 in state Superior Court in New Brunswick, according to a press release from the Middlesex County Prosecutor’s Office.

Police are investigating a Thanksgiving night fire in an Amwell Road home that left one person dead. Police and firefighters responded to the fire in a single-family home at approximately 11:49 p.m., according to a press release from the Somerset County Prosecutor’s Office.