The Franklin Reporter & Advocate Eight Villages, One Community
A 34-year-old Somerset man wanted since the summer of 2025 was arrested February 18 while hiding in an unoccupied home on Girard Avenue, police said.
The man, Kenneth D. James of Lenox Place, escaped from his home, jumped a fence, and entered the unoccupied home behind his after a three-hour standoff with police, according to a press release from the Somerset County prosecutor’s Office.
There were no reported injuries during the incident.
James was convicted in absentia in May 2025 of various weapons and drugs offenses, according to the release.
James did not appear in court for the end of his trial or for his sentencing, and was named the Somerset County Prosecutor’s Office Fugitive of the Month in June 2025, according to the release.
According to the release, members of the Organized Crime and Narcotics Task Force Street Crimes Unit surveilling James’ Lenox Place home spotted him standing outside his property at about 7:50 p.m. on February 18.
When police approached him to arrest him, according to the release, James ran back into his house and barricaded himself in an upstairs room.
Detectives immediately requested additional units from the Narcotics Task Force as well as Franklin Township Police to establish a perimeter, according to the release. The Somerset County SWAT team along with Crisis Negotiators were activated and responded to the scene, the release said.
After not being able to contact James, the release said, Somerset County SWAT members entered the house at about 11 p.m.
James was not in the house, but SWAT members saw a partially opened second-floor window and screen, according to the release.
A search of the home’s back yard revealed a pair of slide sandals next to a fence, the release said. Police noticed that the rear door of an unoccupied home under renovation – fronting Girard Avenue and backing up against James’ property – appeared to have been broken into.
SWAT entered the home at about 11:29 p.m. and found James hiding on the first floor, shoeless, according to the release. He was then arrested without any further incident, police said.
James was initially held at the Somerset County Jail, Somerville, but was transported on February 19 to the Morris County Correctional Facility in Morristown.
James was convicted in 2025 of charges related to an arrest in 2021, after he was stopped on Girard Avenue by members of the Somerset County Prosecutor’s Office Organized Crime and Narcotics Task Force.
After being told by police to stop, according to the release, James ran into a neighboring yard where he concealed a loaded 9mm handgun on a basement windowsill, according to the release.
He was arrested in the home’s back yard, and a retracing of his steps resulted in the discovery of the gun, the release said.
A search of James’ car revealed about a half-pound of marijuana and packaging material, the release said.
James was convicted in 2025 of 2nd Degree Certain Persons Not to Have Weapons, 2nd Degree Unlawful Possession of a Handgun, 2nd Degree Possession of a Firearm During a CDS Offense, 3rd Degree Possession with Intent to Distribute a Controlled Dangerous Substance, 3rd Degree Resisting Arrest by Flight, 3rd Degree Hindering Apprehension or Prosecution, and 4th Degree Possession of a Large Capacity Magazine.
James is facing a mandatory minimum term of five years in New Jersey State Prison, five years to be served without parole, on the Certain Persons count alone, according to the release. James is also subject to 10 years in New Jersey State Prison on the second-degree charges, the release said.
As a result of the February 18 incident, James was charged with 2nd Degree Burglary, and 4th Degree Resisting by Flight, according to the release.
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