Crime

A push on the wrong button on a power chair ended up with a 71-year-old man needing a rescue from the Delaware & Raritan Canal Sept. 12. Police said that the Scotch Plains man, who was not identified, was riding a “Jazzy” scooter along the canal tow path with another person walking alongside him, when they decided to turn around.

The Franklin Township Police sergeant charging the department with discrimination was denied further promotions not because of his race, but because he did not meet the department’s conduct or performance expectations. That assertion was among the defenses presented by the township in response to the civil lawsuit filed by Franklin Township Police Department Sgt. Dennis Hopson.

A township man faces 30 years to life in prison following his conviction on charges related to the Valentine’s Day 2015 killing of a Perth Amboy man. Jahmmel Cephas, 35, of Franklin Park, was found guilty of aggravated manslaughter in the shooting death of Richard Pryce, 31, outside a Perth Amboy bar, according to a Sept. 6 press release from …

Aug. 29 Aazize Ait-Ouaddi of Paterson was cited for careless driving after his car struck one driven on Easton Avenue by Sally Macaluso of Easton, Pa., while he was changing lanes. Kristine Zdrodowski of Monroe was cited for careless driving after her car rear-ended one driven on Bunker Hill Road by Debbie Horinko of Flagtown, as Horinko’s car was turning …

Police are seeking the public’s help in locating the suspect in the Sept. 3 robbery of TD Bank in Franklin Park. Police were notified that the robbery had occurred at the Route 27 branch at about 12:58 p.m., according to a press release from the Franklin Township Police Department.

A 63-year-old township man was killed Sept. 1 after he lost control of his motorcycle and hit a parked car on Hillcrest Avenue, police said. Police said Son McCalla of Hillcrest Avenue was driving a 2001 Yamaha motorcycle when it struck the rear of the car shortly after 11 p.m.

A 26-year-old Somerville man was arrested on an outstanding warrant after he was found unresponsive in a township motel room by the Somerset County SWAT team. The man, Ian Bockus, was found in the room on Aug. 18 with self-inflicted knife wounds on his left wrist, according to a press release from the Somerset County Prosecutor’s Office.

A 47-year-old township man suffered a head injury and broken arm Aug. 17 after his motorcycle collided with an ambulance at Franklin Boulevard and Highland Avenue, police said. Louis Kadubic of Somerset was riding his 2006 Harley Davidson motorcycle on Highland while Jason Meizenis, 43, was driving the Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital ambulance on Franklin Blvd., with the auto’s …

Aug. 8 Michael Laing of Franklin Park was cited for improper passing after his car struck one on Jacques Lane driven by Viralkuma Shah, also of Franklin Park. Laing’s car was passing the other when they collided. Aug. 9

A township-based cardiologist faces 10 years in prison and more than $700,000 in restitution and settlements after pleading guilty to charging the Veterans Administration for hundreds of procedures that were never completed. Dr. Apostolos Voudouris – whose main practice is in Jersey City but who provided services to the Veterans Affairs Medical Center in East Orange – pleaded guilty to …