Crime

Yellow police tape stretches across Matilda Avenue early in the morning of Oct. 23. Authorities are offering a reward of up to $5,000 to solve the Oct. 22 shooting on Matilda Avenue that left a 20-year-old township woman in critical condition. Earlier reports that the victim had been killed were incorrect. Police responded to a 9-1-1 call at about 7:20 …

Crime scene tape stretches across Matilda Avenue after midnight on Oct. 23. One person was reportedly shot to death in their car Oct. 22 while driving on Matilda Avenue. Preliminary details were sketchy, but Franklin Township police and Somerset County Prosecutor’s detectives were on the scene late into the night. Police have blocked Matilda from Franklin Boulevard to Ralph Street. …

Police said a 20-year-old Dayton man was seriously injured when his motorcycle collided with an SUV on Hamilton Street on Oct.14. A 20-year-old Dayton man sustained “numerous” serious injuries Oct. 14 after the motorcycle he was riding collided with a car on Hamilton Street. Police said that Danyal Rizwan was riding his Yamaha motorcycle east on Hamilton Street shortly after …

Sam DiGiovanna. A 50-year-old Somerset man who teaches at Watchung Hills Regional High School has been arrested on charges connected with his alleged sexual pursuit of a student there. Sean DiGiovanna, of Renfro Road, was arrested Oct. 10 at Warren Township Police headquarters and charged with one count of 3rd Degree Endangering the Welfare of a Child and one count …

The Somerset County Prosecutor’s Office has closed its investigation into township police use of its “union time” benefit, saying there is no evidence that any officer who used the perk violated the law or department policy. The Prosecutor’s Office did, however, criticize the FTPD’s former administrative team for poor record-keeping relating to the granting of “union time” to officers. The …

Tyrone Harrison. The 22-year-old Piscataway man who admitted running down a township resident while drag racing last year was sentenced Sept. 11 to 13 years in prison. Freddy S. Garcia, Jr. was sentenced to 10 years in prison for vehicular homicide and three years in prison for leaving the scene of an accident, according to a press release from the …

Fire fighters respond to a house fire on Ray Street on Sept. 10. Photo: Franklin Township Police Department. No one was injured in an early afternoon house fire on Ray Street Sept. 10, authorities said. But the house was heavily damaged and declared uninhabitable, forcing its occupants to find another place to stay, according to a press release from the …

A 32-year-old New Brunswick man was arrested on a drug charge Aug. 29 on Hamilton Street. Members of the Somerset County Prosecutor’s Office Organized Crime and Narcotics Task Force and the Franklin Township Police Department Crime Suppression Unit were conducting a “quality of life” detail in the area when they saw Marcelino Ortiz, of Harvey Street, talking to several people …

The interim priest serving the Catholic Community of St. Matthias will stay on until the criminal probe involving the church’s former spiritual leader is concluded. It was originally thought that Fr. Abraham Orapankal, who assumed the temporary leadership position near the end of 2018 – after the resignation of Fr. Douglas Haefner – would only serve through the summer of …

A 52-year-old township woman faces four years in state prison after she admitted July 26 to stealing thousands of dollars from a Rutgers University union. Shelby Hyman pleaded guilty to one count of 2nd Degree Misapplication of Entrusted Funds, and admitted that she took money from AFSCME Local 176 for her personal use, according to a press release from the …