The Franklin Reporter & Advocate Eight Villages, One Community
May 2
A car owned by Brigitt Stokes of Holly Street was struck early in the morning while it was parked outside her home, she told police. The driver of the other car fled the scene.
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Cars driven by neil Orkin of Hillsborough and Miguel Zara of Somerset collided on Franklin Boulevard, when Orkin’s car was crossing the road from one parking lot to another. Orkin told police that he was coming out of the Exxon lot, trying to cross over to 980 Franklin Blvd. A stopped car opened up a space for him to pass through, but as he did, his car collided with Zara’s. Zara said he was stopping for traffic when his car was hit.
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An Edison man was charged with shoplifting after he allegedly tried to leave the Stop & Shop on Route 27 without paying for $65 worth of meat. Police said Daniel Catalfamo was seen by store security placing several bags of meat into a large bag.
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May 3
A car sustained about $3,000 worth of damage by a fire in its engine compartment, police said. The car was found burning on Amwell Road, near Mettlers Lane, police said. Millstone Valley and Elizabeth Avenue fire companies resounded and extinguished the fire, police said.
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May 4
No one was injured when a car caught fire while it was being driven on Hamilton Street, near John F. Kennedy Boulevard, police said. Police said there were two people in the car. The driver, who was not named, told police the car was pulled over when it started to feel hot. The fire was extinguished by Community Fire Department.
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More than $200 in cash and merchandise was stolen from a car while it was parked on Hadler Drive. The victim told police that she forgot to lock her car’s door when she parked it the night before. Stolen was $20 in cash and a pink coach wallet valued at $200.
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May 5
A Taylor Srive resident reported that someone keyed the side of her twice in three days while the auto was parked by her house. The first incident occurred between May 2 and May 3, wen someone scratched the 2001 Audi along the front passenger door. The second occurrence was between May 4 and 5, the victim said, when someone scratched the same area again. Damage was valued at $100.
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Rachna Chadha of Kendall Park was trying to park in the Baumley Nursery parking lot on Route 27 when, she said, she accidentally stepped on the car’s accelerator rather than the brake and hit three trees.
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Cars driven by Henry Koenig of Kendall Park and Yong Yoo of North Brunswick collided while they were both backing out of parking spaces in a Route 27 parking lot. Both drivers told police that the other was in their blind spot.
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May 6
Asha Jain of North Brunswick was cited for careless driving after she lost control of her car while turning into the Hempstead Plaza shopping center on Route 27 and drove into a tree. Jain told police she stepped on the accelerator rather than the brake.
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A car driven by Arthur Muccilli of Somerset was struck by the car in front of his on Cottontail Lane. Police said a tractor-trailer, driven by Carlos Araya of Union City, stopped on Cottontail Lane, near Campus Drive, so he could check a directional sign. Araya said he waved traffic around him and started to back up when he hit the other car.
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Cars driven by Rubi Gomez of North Brunwick and David Enny of Oakhurst were pulling into the McDonald’s parking lot on Somerset Street when Enny’s car struck Gomez’s.
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Brendon Amos of Somerset was driving a fire/rescue vehicle for township Fire District 3 on Hamilton Street, responding to an emergency, when his rig’s passenger side mirror struck a tree. The top right corner and right side of the utility box then struck another tree. Amos said he didn’t realize the trees were that far out into the street as he was pulling to the side of the road.
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Mary McDonald of Somerset was turning into her driveway on Amwell Road when her car was struck on the right by an auto driven by Jarid Kasmi of Hillsborough. Kasmi told police that McDonald signaled to turn left, so he started to pass her car on the right when the accident occurred.
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A car driven by Jenny Zhu of North Brunswick was stopped for traffic on Easton Avenue when it was struck in the rear by a car driven by Kailey Rocker of Far Hills. Rocker said she could not stop in time.
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Mahesh Adusumalli of Monmouth unction was cited for careless driving after the car he was driving struck one driven by Robert Gutrin of Somerset in Beekman Plaza, Route 27. Through an interpreter, Gutrin told police that he was attempting to make a turn onto Rt 27 when his car was struck on the driver’s side door. Adusumalli told police that Gutrin was driving fast and hit his car.
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Bruce Weinstein of Kendall Park told police he was traveling down DeMott Lane when his car hit a deer which had run in front of it.
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