Crime

The Class of 2016 of the Franklin Township Police Youth Academy graduated July 15 in a ceremony held at Franklin Middle School. The nearly three dozen students spent the previous five days drilling, exercising and receiving instruction on a variety of topics, just as they would if they were in the real police academy. Included in the week’s instruction were visits from …

A township man and New Brunswick resident were arrested July 7 on weapons and drugs charges. Corey McDaniel, 33, and Cecil Kalawa, 38, of New Brunswick, were arrested at McDaniel’s home after township police and detectives from the Somerset County Prosecutor’s Office Organized Crime and Narcotics Task Force executed searches. A loaded Tanfoglio Giuseppe .380 caliber semi-automatic handgun, approximately one …

A township man remains lodged in Somerset County Jail after he was arrested for allegedly molesting a child for two years. Efren Merino-Hernandez, 23, was arrested at the Somerset County Prosecutor’s Office in Somerville, where he voluntarily reported after being located by police in Edison, according to a release from the prosecutor’s office. On July 7, detectives from the prosecutor’s office Sex …

Authorities are looking for the public’s help in catching a township man charged with molesting two children. Daniel Serrano-Urbina, 57, of Somerset Street, was charged July 6 with two counts of 1st Degree Aggravated Sexual Assault, two counts of 2nd Degree Sexual Assault, and two counts of 3rd Degree Endangering the Welfare of a Child, according to a press release …

Township Police Lt. Darrin Russo took his final walkout from police headquarters June 24 in a ceremony that included a pipes and drum corps, honor guard and presentation of a flag flown in his honor over the U.S. Capitol. Russo, 52, retires at the end of June with more than 30 years on the force as a patrolman, detective and supervisor. …

Chief of Police Lawrence Roberts was recently honored for his efforts in helping make the FTPD the most ethnically diverse department of its size in the state. Roberts received the award at a June 10 banquet held in Edison by the North Jersey Chapter of the National Organization of Black Law Enforcement Executives. Mayor Phillip Kramer also attended the banquet. Kramer and …

Franklin Township Police Lt. Gregory Borlan became Capt. Borlan at the June 14 Township Council meeting. A 23-year department veteran, Borlan was sworn into his new position surrounded by his family and with a number of fellow officers looking on. The council recently re-established the captain position at the request of Chief Lawrence Roberts. Roberts said the department needed a …

As they have for about 14 years before, a team from the Franklin Township Police Department on June 10 ran a leg of the annual Law Enforcement Torch Run for Special Olympics. The township squad was joined by runners from South Brunswick police, said FTPD Det. Kevin Fitzharris. “Combined, we have about 17 runners, and we’ve raised approximately $2,300 so …

A township doctor with a practice in Jamesburg was sentenced to one year in federal prison June 8 for his role in a kickback scheme involving a Morris County diagnostics company. Dr. Paresh Patel, 55, will also have to pay a $6,000 fine and had to forfeit more than $174,000 he received in bribes during the four-year scheme, according to …

Two New Brunswick men were arrested on drug-related charges May 31 in separate incidents, police said. The men, Josue Carrasco, 33, and Pablo Juarez-Ortega, 47, were arrested on or near Somerset Street after several days’ worth of alleged drug buys, according to a press release from the Somerset County Prosecutor’s Office. At about 8 p.m. May 12, police said, Juarez-Ortega sold …