Crime

A 29-year-old Manville man and his 7-year-old son drowned early in the morning of Sept.. 21 when the car in which they were riding plunged into the Delaware & Raritan Canal, police said. Police said Jorge Luis Florez-Martinez was driving a 2006 Avalanche SUV along Weston Canal Road at about 2:55 a.m. when he failed to make a turn, struck …

A pregnant Somerset woman was driving from her baby shower Sept. 16 when a balloon from the shower blocked her view of the road, causing her car to hit a tree, flip and trap her, police said. Police said Sushma Vemulapalli, 28, was driving down Pierce Street in the early evening when the balloon floated to the front of the car …

Police are looking for a New Brunswick man suspected to be part of a trio of home invaders who robbed a Phillips Road resident in June, 2013. Khalief James, 22, whose last known address was on Edpas Road in New Brunswick, has been charged with 1st Degree Armed Robbery, 2nd Degree Burglary and 2nd Degree Possession of a Firearm for an …

The township Police Department is seeking the public’s help in solving a rash of copper thefts in the Somerset section of town, according to a press release. More than a dozen cases of stolen coper tubing from air conditioning units have been reported, according to the release. The release does not say where these thefts occurred, other than in “commercial …

Township police, in conjunction with the Board of Education, will conduct a multi-pronged school safety initiate during the week of Sept. 2. Traffic laws will be “aggressively enforced” around schools and bus stops, and police will visit schools to meet with administrators and students, according to a release about the initiative.

A Kingsberry Drive resident was indicted Aug. 27 on insurance fraud and forgery charges in connection with claims she allegedly made after Superstorm Sandy in 2012. Sharon Fisher, 54, was indicted on two counts of 3rd Degree Insurance Fraud, two counts of 4th Degree Forgery and two counts of 4th Degree Uttering a Forged Instrument, according to a press release …

A 31-year-old Hempstead Drive man was arrested Aug. 27 in connection with two robberies and a burglary in the township in August. Arismendi Daniel Frias was arrested at his home by township detectives after a search there revealed items reported stolen on Aug. 11 from a Clover Hill Drive home, as well as clothing matching that used in the burglary and two …

The Franklin Township Police Department has not seen a need as of yet to apply to the federal government for surplus military equipment, police chief Lawrence Roberts said Aug. 26. In fact, according to a report published Aug. 24 on NJ.com, no Somerset County town’s police force has surplus military equipment.

A 1-year-old township girl is being treated at the Burn Center at St. Barnabas Medical Center, Livingston, after she burned herself the afternoon of Aug. 23, police said. The girl, a Smithwold Road resent, was running around her house and accidentally knocked over a pot of coffee on herself, township police Sgt. Philip Rizzo said in a press release.

A 49-year-old township man was sentenced to 22 years in state prison Aug. 21 for his conviction earlier this year on drug-related charges. Roger Covil of Coventry Lane will have to serve seven years and four months before he is eligible for parole, according to a press release on the sentencing from the Somerset County Prosecutor’s Office.