Crime

A two-man “Neighborhood Police Team” has been created to patrol the Hamilton Street business district. The team, which will officially deploy on July 14, is comprised of officers Steven Ellmeyer and Deyo “DW” Swartz, both of whom are 3-year veterans of the township police force. The Hamilton Street Advisory Committee sees crime as one of the major obstacles in bringing back the district …

June 30 Omola Akande of Somerset was cited for failure to stop after her car collided with one driven on Clyde Road by James Miller of Milford. Akande was making a left turn from Bennetts Lane to Clyde Road when the accident happened. § Dana Schmierer of Manalapan was cited for careless driving  after her car collided with a bicyclist, Deborah …

Update: Deshawn Carreker turned himself in to a Middlesex County Prosecutor’s Office detective on July 13, according to authorities. Carreker was remanded to the Somerset County Jail, Somerville, in lieu of $150,000 cash bail. Original Story: A 20-year-old township man has been arrested in connection with the June 24 assault and robbery of a man at Country Side apartments. Police are still …

A 42-year-old Trenton man was injured July 7 when he fell from a tree on Canal Road. The man works for a tree cutting service and was working at the time, police said. The man, who was not named, was wearing a harness when he fell, police said. The man complained of severe abdominal pains and was flown to Robert Wood …

A 27-year-old township woman remains in the Somerset County Jail, Somerville, facing charges that she committed four armed robberies in Franklin and New Brunswick. Laquita Cooper of Somerset was arrested July 6 at township police headquarters in connection with the armed robberies, which occurred during the last week of June. Cooper was arrested at about 3:30 p.m. while she was at the Franklin …

A tip to Somerset County authorities led to the June 30 arrest of three township residents and the seizure from them of more than $1,000 in drugs. Jessica Simmonds, 22; Chris Gardner, 24 and Shane Gardner, 23, were arrested as a result of a tip to the Somerset County Prosecutor’s Office Organized Crime and Narcotics Task Force, according to a …

Township police and county detectives are investigating the shooting death June 30 of a 35-year-old Willingboro man near a Route 27 apartment complex. Police said Francis Vandy was found lying on Hempstead Drive, near the Hempstead Gardens apartment complex, shortly after 8 p.m., dead of an apparent gunshot wound to his head. Detectives are attempting to determine a motive for …

A 27-year-old Somerset man faces 25 years in state prison after pleading guilty June 29 to a number of charges connected to the attempted murder of  four township police officers. Archie Ashley pleaded guilty to four counts of 1st Degree Attempted Murder, 1st Degree Disarming a Law Enforcement Officer, 2nd Degree Possession of a Weapon for an Unlawful Purpose, 3rd Degree …

Franklin High School’s Class of 2015 graduated June 26 at the Sun Bank Arena in Trenton, amid all the pomp and ciumstance – and beach balls – you would imagine. The FR&A was there, and here we present some scenes from the day.    

Update: Jason Molina, 16, of Bridgewater, will be tried as an adult in the May stabbing death of a 23-year-old Somerset woman. Superior Court Judge James F. Hyland, sitting in Family Court in New Brunswick, ruled June 19 that Molina may be tried as an adult in the fatal stabbing of Christine Huh in a New Brunswick apartment. Molina was …