Crime

Four township men – including one who owed more than $16,000 – were caught up in the latest deadbeat parent sweep conducted by the Somerset County Sheriff’s Office. The sweep, held from May 7 to 9, resulted in the arrests of 37 deadbeat parents who owed a collective $1.3 million, according to a press release from the Sheriff’s Office.

A 30-year-old township man was shot to death May 18 in Naaman Williams Park, and authorities are seeking the public’s help in their investigation. David D. Anderson of Henry Street was found by police at an area hospital, where he was being treated for multiple gunshot wounds, according to a press release from the Somerset County Prosecutor’s Office. Anderson later …

A township man must serve a minimum of 23 years in state prison for the August 2017 shooting death of  18-year-old Chamari Webb in front of a relative’s Battle Place home.

A 31-year-old Staten Island man faces multiple charges after he was arrested May 10 when he thought he was meeting a 13-year-old girl at a township coffee shop for a rendezvous that would lead to sex. Thomas McKernan was arrested at about 11:35 a.m. at the unnamed Cedar Grove Lane shop, following a month-long investigation that involved explicit online chats …

Five township residents have been arrested, and a local heroin distribution ring dismantled, in connection with an investigation authorities dubbed “Operation X Out.”

Several fire fighters were reportedly injured and nine families were displaced as a result of a fire in a multi-unit dwelling on Norwich Place April 25. None of the homes’ residents were injured in the fire, police said.

A microwave oven and a discarded cigarette were blamed for two fires that damaged homes in the township on April 6. The first, reported at 5:49 p.m., was in a Wilson Road home’s kitchen and was apparently started in the microwave, according to a press release from the Franklin Township Police Department.

A 17-year-old Franklin Park woman was seriously injured April 5 after the car she was  driving collided with a Freightliner truck at Olcott Street and Amwell Road, police said. Police said the woman was making a left turn from Olcott to Amwell in a Honda Accord when the accident happened.

A 19-year-old Franklin High School student was arrested April 3 and charged for allegedly phoning in a false bomb threat to the school in January. The woman, Annissia Gayle of Somerset, remained in the Somerset County Jail, Somerville, on April 4 pending her detention hearing, according to court records.

Update: Harriot surrendered to authorities at the Middlesex County Courthouse in New Brunswick at approximately 11 a.m. April 3, according to a release from the Middlesex County Prosecutor’s Office. The investigation is still ongoing. Harriot will be held at the Middlesex County Adult Corrections Center in North Brunswick pending an April 5 detention hearing, according to the release.