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Police & Fire
MAIL-ORDER METH: NJ Man Who Shipped 100 Pounds Gets 14+ Years In Fed Pen MAIL-ORDER METH: NJ Man Who Shipped 100 Pounds Gets 14+ Years In Fed Pen
Mail-order Meth: NJ Man Who Shipped 100 Pounds Gets 14+ Years In Fed Pen A New Jersey man who shipped more than 100 pounds of crystal meth for sale cross-country through the U.S. mail was sentenced to more than 14 years in federal prison as part of a plea deal. Michael Venditti, 39, of Camden, was arrested during a controlled delivery of a package in September 2021. It had been intercepted on its way from Calexico, a Southern California town at the Mexican border, federal authorities said. Inspectors got a warrant to open the package after a drug-detection dog reacted to its arrival at a South Jersey postal facility, they said. Inspectors swapped some of the m…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
Body Pulled From NJ River ID'd As Woman Who Vanished 14 Years Ago, Family Says Body Pulled From NJ River ID'd As Woman Who Vanished 14 Years Ago, Family Says
Body Pulled From NJ River ID'd As Woman Who Vanished 14 Years Ago, Family Says The family of a New Jersey woman who disappeared finally has some closure. The body recovered along with three cars from the Cooper River in Pennsauken last week has been identified by her daughter as Bernadine Gunner, who went missing in July 2010. AFTER 13 LONG YEARS WE HAVE CLOSURE, MY MOM WAS FOUND 💔😢. SIP MOM I DON’T EVEN KNOW HOW TO FEEL RIGHT NOW…... Posted by Julia Young on Thursday, May 16, 2024 In a Facebook post shared Saturday, May 18, Julia Young says United Search Corps was behind the recovery operation in Pennsauken on Thursday, May 16, in which dive teams …

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by Cecilia Levine
Police & Fire
Driver, 32, Airlifted In Garden State Parkway Rollover Crash, Police Say (UPDATE) Driver, 32, Airlifted In Garden State Parkway Rollover Crash, Police Say (UPDATE)
Driver, 32, Airlifted In Garden State Parkway Rollover Crash, Police Say (Update) One person was airlifted in a crash on the Garden State Parkway in Ocean County on Sunday, May 19, authorities said. A Honda passenger car and Ford pickup truck were both heading south when the two collided near milepost 83.8 around 3:30 p.m., New Jersey State Police Sgt. Jeffrey Lebron said. The crash caused the Ford to run off the right side of the roadway and overturn in Toms River, Lebron said. The Honda driver, a 32-year-old Beachwood resident, was airlifted with serious injuries while the driver and passenger of the Ford suffered minor injuries. 2 medevac helicopters have landed…

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by Cecilia Levine
Police & Fire
SEXTORTION: Out-Of-State Fugitive Freed After NJ Senior Looking For Love Loses $20,000 SEXTORTION: Out-Of-State Fugitive Freed After NJ Senior Looking For Love Loses $20,000
Sextortion: Out-Of-State Fugitive Freed After NJ Senior Looking For Love Loses $20,000 A fugitive from Maryland charged with sextorting a New Jersey senior out of $20,000 online after getting him to take compromising selfies was immediately freed by a judge after surrendering to police. Posing as a woman, Ali H. Maman, 59, of Frederick, MD, communicated with an elderly Glen Rock resident through Instagram and WhatsApp, Police Chief Dean Ackermann said. The victim was convinced to share the risqué photos, then was contacted by someone else who demanded a $20,000 bank wire transfer in exchange for not posting them online, Ackermann said. The victim wired the money last July to…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
George Washington Bridge Climber, Not Protestors, Jams NYC-Bound Traffic For Hours George Washington Bridge Climber, Not Protestors, Jams NYC-Bound Traffic For Hours
George Washington Bridge Climber, Not Protestors, Jams Nyc-bound Traffic For Hours Police expected a protest that would throw the George Washington Bridge into chaos on Saturday and got something else entirely. A 24-year-old climber partially caused massive delays when he started climbing the Manhattan tower's south side shortly before noon May 18. What began as half-hour backups quickly stretched to more than 90 minutes on both levels during one of the busiest times of the average GWB weekend. All eastbound lanes were eventually closed at one point as Port Authority and NYPD emergency services officers with rappelling ropes and other rescue gear eventually got him down …

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
Member Of Burglary Crew That Targeted Asian Homeowners On 'Hit List' In NJ, NY, PA, Sentenced Member Of Burglary Crew That Targeted Asian Homeowners On 'Hit List' In NJ, NY, PA, Sentenced
Member Of Burglary Crew That Targeted Asian Homeowners On 'Hit List' In NJ, NY, PA, Sentenced 𝗨𝗣𝗗𝗔𝗧𝗘: A confessed member of a burglary ring that targeted Asian-American small business owners in New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania and Delaware was sentenced to 33 months in federal prison. Kevin Jackson, 57, of Rahway, NJ, must serve a little over two years before he'll be eligible for release because there's no parole in the federal prison system. Jackson was part of a second-story crew that the FBI said worked from a hit list of dozens of homes in the four states based on “stereotype and opportunity" from Dec. 2, 2016, to March 20, 2019. One of Jackson's associates told detectives t…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
Edison Scooter Rider Killed By SUV On Route 1 Survived By Son, Wife, Campaign Says Edison Scooter Rider Killed By SUV On Route 1 Survived By Son, Wife, Campaign Says
Raul Montoya-Chavez Killed On Route 1 In Edison Support is on the rise for the family of a 22-year-old man struck and killed by a vehicle on Route 1 in Edison. Raul Montoya-Chavez, of Edison, was hit in the southbound center lane of Route 1 at about 1:45 a.m. on Wednesday, May 15 as he tried to cross at Plainfield Avenue, Edison police said. Montoya-Chavez died of his injuries at an area hospital, police said. The 61-year-old Rahway man driving the SUV had a green light and is not expected to be charged, police said. A GoFundMe page raised for his funeral expenses had raised more than $3,400 as of press time. The page was laun…

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by Jon Craig & Cecilia Levine
Police & Fire
Fire Destroys 95-Year-Old Woman's 'Cherished Home' Along Jersey Shore Fire Destroys 95-Year-Old Woman's 'Cherished Home' Along Jersey Shore
Fire Destroys 95-Year-Old Woman's 'Cherished Home' Along Jersey Shore The Monmouth County home of a 95-year-old woman and her son was destroyed by a fire, according to a fundraising campaign. A GoFundMe page said Theresa and James Sangillo's home on Morris Avenue in Spring Lake caught fire on Saturday, May 11. More than $7,500 had been raised from at least 41 donations as of Friday, May 17. The GoFundMe's creator Diana DeMarco said Theresa's late husband Eugene built the home about 50 years ago. "This cherished home holds decades of memories, where Theresa raised her children, Michael and James, and where her own mother peacefully passed away at the remarkab…

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by Chris Spiker
Police & Fire
Plainfield Man Sentenced For DWI Crash That Injured Seven: Somerset County Prosecutor Plainfield Man Sentenced For DWI Crash That Injured Seven: Somerset County Prosecutor
Plainfield Man Sentenced For DWI Crash That Injured Seven: Somerset County Prosecutor A 24-year-old Plainfield man was sentenced to five years in prison on Friday, May 10, for a DUI crash that left seven people injured last June. Jose Cruz Villanueva-Izaguirre was behind the wheel of a 2004 Honda Civic and collided with a Kia Sedona after driving at high speed through a red light on June 11, 2023, at 2:09 a.m., Somerset County Prosecutor John McDonald said. Villanueva-Izaguirre, as well as his passengers — two adults and a teen — were seriously injured in the crash, authorities said. One passenger was found unresponsive in the back seat, suffering from near-fatal i…

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by Sam Barron
Police & Fire
NJ Police Chief Admits Coverup of Sex Affair With Subordinate NJ Police Chief Admits Coverup of Sex Affair With Subordinate
NJ Police Chief Admits Coverup of Sex Affair With Subordinate A retired New Jersey police chief admitted trying to cover up a sexual affair with a subordinate, authorities said. Andrew Kudrick, 50, will be banned for life from public employment and will receive probation instead of prison time in exchange, state Attorney General Matthew Platkin said. Kudrick, of Farmingdale, lied to Howell Township officials about the affair and “threatened to launch an improper internal affairs investigation” of a captain who called him on it, the attorney general said. A confrontation between the chief’s wife and his alleged mistress during a 2021 retirement party …

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
NJ Postal Worker Admits Spending $54,000 On USPS Credit Cards NJ Postal Worker Admits Spending $54,000 On USPS Credit Cards
NJ Postal Worker Admits Spending $54,000 On USPS Credit Cards A post office worker in South Jersey admitted going on a $54,000 personal spending spree, buying power tools, gift cards, groceries and more with U.S. Postal Service plastic. Austin T. Mahan, 44, of Cape May Court House, was working at the Sea Isle and Somers Point facilities when he used postal service credit cards at retail stores in and around New Jersey over a six-month period beginning in 2022, U.S. Attorney Philip R. Sellinger said. "These purchases included thousands of dollars’ worth of gift cards as well as various home décor items, home renovation materials, power and handhel…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
Police ID Electric Scooter Rider Struck, Killed On Route 1 Police ID Electric Scooter Rider Struck, Killed On Route 1
Raul Montoya-Chavez Electric Scooter Route 1 A 22-year-old man on an electric scooter was struck and killed along Route 1 in Edison, authorities said. Raul Montoya-Chavez, of Edison, was hit in the southbound center lane of Route 1 at about 1:45 a.m. on Wednesday, May 15 as he tried to cross at Plainfield Avenue, Edison police said. Montoya-Chavez died of his injuries at an area hospital, police said. The 61-year-old Rahway man driving the SUV had a green light and is not expected to be charged, police said.

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by Jon Craig