NEW BRUNSWICK, N.J., Dec. 19 (ZFJ) — Seven people have been arrested in connection with a drug trafficking ring involving Rutgers University students, announced the Middlesex County Prosecutor’s Office on Dec. 5.
Operation RU Pharm was an undercover narcotics operation led by the Middlesex County Prosecutor’s Office Narcotics Task Force and assisted by the Rutgers University Police Department, New Brunswick Police Department, and Somerset County Prosecutor’s Office.
The operation, lasting several months, uncovered “a closed and private social media network” that Rutgers students used to buy and sell narcotics.
EDISON, N.J., Nov. 27 (ZFJ) — Four individuals have been arrested for a high-profile gunpoint robbery of over $500,000 worth of perfume and cologne from a FedEx truck, announced Edison police on Sept. 26.
The incident occurred on Sept. 5 when, according to police, the individuals threatened the FedEx truck driver with a firearm and forced him to drive to a nearby parking lot. There, the driver was bound while the robbers unloaded numerous cases of the fragrances before fleeing.
EDISON, N.J., Nov. 24 (ZFJ) — Julius Coaccioli, formerly a teacher at Woodrow Wilson Middle School in Edison’s school district, was sentenced to eight years in prison on Aug. 26.
Coaccioli reached a plea agreement with prosecutors and pleaded guilty to possession of child sexual abuse material in the second degree and stalking in the fourth degree.
Judge Thomas Abode of the Middlesex County Superior Court sentenced him to concurrent terms of eight years in jail for the possession charge and 18 months for the stalking charge.
COLLEGE PARK, Md., Oct. 5 (ZFJ) — A federal judge ordered the University of Maryland, College Park, to allow UMD Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) to proceed with their demonstration on Monday, Oct. 7.
On Sept. 1, after significant outcry over UMD granting a permit to SJP to use McKeldin Mall for an “interfaith vigil,” the university announced that demonstrations would be prohibited on campus on Oct. 7, and that a “university-sponsored Day of Dialogue” would be held instead.
Aug. 25 (ZFJ) — The New Jersey Office of the Attorney General (OAG) has revised its use-of-force policy to “increase the likelihood of peaceful resolutions to encounters between police and barricaded individuals,” Attorney General Matthew J. Platkin said in a statement.
The change in policy, which had last been changed in December 2020, comes weeks after the July 28 shooting of Victoria Lee, who was killed while threatening cops during a “mental breakdown.
METUCHEN, N.J., Aug. 22 (ZFJ) — Walid Beshai, 36, of Bayonne, was arrested by Metuchen police at his residence on Wednesday, Aug. 14, in connection with a fire in the borough on June 27, 2024.
Patrol officers responded to the scene of a fire on June 27, 2024, at about 1:30 a.m., according to an affidavit of probable cause submitted to the court by police. Three residents were removed from a two-family residential structure, and a garage that contained one of the victim’s vehicles was actively on fire.
EDITOR’S NOTE: This news report contains graphic details of the police-involved shooting and vulgarities that could be offensive or disturbing to some readers.
Aug. 19 (ZFJ) — Body camera footage of the fatal shooting of Victoria G. Lee, 25, of Fort Lee, by Fort Lee Police Officer Tony Pickens, Jr., during a mental health call on July 28 was released by the N.J. Attorney General’s Office (OAG) on Friday, Aug.
July 30 (ZFJ) — A Fort Lee police officer responding to a mental health call fatally shot Victoria G. Lee, 26, of Fort Lee, on Sunday, July 28, according to the N.J. Attorney General’s Office (OAG).
OAG said in a press release that on Sunday, at about 1:25 a.m., Fort Lee police responded to “The Pinnacle” apartment complex on Main Street after receiving a 911 call from a man reporting that his sister was having a mental health crisis and needed to go to the hospital.
EDISON, N.J., July 30 (ZFJ) — One motorcyclist was killed and one motorcyclist was seriously injured in a crash at the intersection of Route 1 North and Old Post Road in Edison on Sunday, July 28.
On Sunday, at about 8:13 p.m., authorities responded to the intersection after receiving a report of a multi-vehicle crash, according to a press release from the Middlesex County Prosecutor’s Office.
Police located Alexander Teshima Chong, 44, of Belleville, who had been operating a motorcycle at the time of the collision.
EDISON, N.J., July 26 (ZFJ) — Joan Franklin Polanco, 37, of Edison, has been charged in connection with the fatal stabbing that occurred in Edison on Sunday, July 21, 2024, announced Middlesex County Prosecutor Yolanda Ciccone and Chief Thomas Bryan of the Edison Police Department.
On July 21, Edison police responded to a call for a welfare check of the victim, according to a criminal complaint and affidavit. Shortly after, at about 4:37 p.
