CLIFTON – Two men face lewdness and other charges after they were caught in an alleged sex act on a display bed at Bed Bath & Beyond, according to a report on NorthJersey.com. Police were called to the store on Route 3 during business hours on Jan. 30 after an employee said the men were engaged…

Read more

TOMS RIVER-With the apparent breakdown of bail reform in New Jersey in the first 30 days of its existence, New Jersey’s Republican candidates have kept their distance from the topic.

After a month filled with news releases published by many of the state’s municipal police departments cataloging several dozen cases of violent offenders being released back into the community without bail, one thing is clear, bail reform in New Jersey is not working as promised.

The subject was highlighted after a two-time child sexual predator was released back into the small southern Ocean County community of Little Egg Harbor to the dismay of the local police chief and Ocean County Prosecutor Joseph Coronato.

Only one candidate for Governor in the Republican primary responded to our requests for comment on New Jersey’s bail reform woes, Joseph Rullo who lives in Little Egg Harbor, ground zero for bail reform’s breakdown.

Rullo told us bail reform has many problems as it is now.  Intended originally to allow low income offenders out of jail for minor offenses, it has become a golden ticket to get out of jail for some of New Jersey’s hardened criminals.

Rullo said New Jersey should not be releasing violent offenders back into the community without supervision.  He added that the state raised taxes to pay for the $500 million cost of the reform.

“Bail reform is tying up police with needless paper work,” Rullo said. “Rather than being on patrol, but that paper work also adds to overtime for police, with added expense to the municipalities.”

Rullo said the biggest issue with bail reform from his standpoint, beyond the inherent public safety concerns is that now the public will have to pay for those who fail to return to court to be relocated and relocated.  Prior to bail reform, the job of finding those who skipped bail was left up to private bail bondsmen at no cost to the public.

Now, according to Rullo, the municipalities will bear the cost of finding and returning those who skipped their court hearing, putting police departments in the unnecessary position, risking resources and officers in an effort to bring those people back to justice for a second time…sometimes third and fourth times.

As of this writing, neither the campaign for Kim Guadagno nor Jack Ciattarelli have responded to several requests for comment on this topic.

After an initial call by Peter McAleer, an appointed public information officer representing the New Jersey Courts, last week contesting our coverage of bail reform, McAleer has yet to address the topic since with us.   A request for comment from Governor Chris Christie on the subject also was not answered.

FRANKLIN TWP, GLOUCESTER CO.-A homeless man from California, living in New Jersey was arrested in Franklinville by Franklin Township police officers on Tuesday, January 17th.

Police charged Lester R. Cook, 23, with aggravated sexual assault, with penetration.

No further details were made available, but Cook was immediately released with a summons by police under direction of the judge, according to the New Jersey Bail Reform Act.

Source: NJ Bail Reform

TRENTON-A a Newark man was sentenced to prison on Friday for a violent crime spree in which he seriously injured a State Police detective when the detective tried to stop him from committing a carjacking and was ejected from the moving vehicle.Terry Saunders, 28, aka Tarik Smith, of Newark, N.J., was sentenced today to 10 years in state prison, including 8 ½ years of parole ineligibility, by Superior Court Judge Michael L. Ravin in Essex County. Saunders pleaded guilty on Nov. 14 to first-degree carjacking, first-degree robbery, and second-degree aggravated assault. He was sentenced to 10 years in prison on each of the first-degree charges, and five years on the second-degree charge, with the sentences to run concurrently. All of the charges fall under the No Early Release Act, so he must serve 85 percent of the sentences without possibility of parole.

Deputy Attorney General Annmarie Taggart, deputy chief of the Gangs & Organized Crime Bureau, handled the sentencing for the Division of Criminal Justice.

“Once behind the wheel of a stolen car, Saunders wielded that car like a weapon, with zero regard for the life of anyone who got in his way,” said Attorney General Porrino. “The State Police detective in this case is a true hero who risked his life to take this violent criminal off the street.”

“This sentence ensures that Saunders will serve a lengthy term behind bars, where he can’t commit robberies or threaten the lives of civilians and police officers,” said Director Elie Honig of the Division of Criminal Justice. “We have removed this menace from our communities.”

“Terry Saunders’ crime spree of stealing cars turned into mayhem as a result of his violent attempts to elude authorities, which ended-up seriously injuring a trooper,” said Colonel Rick Fuentes, Superintendent of the New Jersey State Police. “Our first priority is to preserve life and protect the community, and I commend this State Police detective who placed himself in peril in order to do just that.”

Saunder’s crime spree began at about 5:18 a.m. on Sept. 30, 2014, when he drove a stolen car onto the lot of Alamo Rent A Car on U.S. 1 & 9 in Newark. An unarmed guard, believing he was an employee, allowed Saunders to drive to the rear of the facility, where he stole a Chevrolet Tahoe. Saunders pulled the SUV up to the front exit and honked his horn, but the guard, who had become suspicious, approached the vehicle. At that point, Saunders rammed the gate. He then put the vehicle into reverse and crashed into two cars behind him. Another guard, who was armed and had seen the collisions, ran in front of the SUV, yelling for Saunders to stop. Saunders drove directly toward the armed guard, who fired his .40-caliber handgun once, striking Saunders in the shoulder. Saunders then crashed the SUV into the exit gate again, disabling the vehicle. Saunders fled on foot. The armed guard chased Saunders and struggled with him in an attempt to take him into custody, but Saunders escaped.

Following the failed robbery attempt at Alamo, an alert was broadcast to police with a description of Saunders, who was described as “armed.” In fact, there is no evidence that Saunders was armed at the time. Shortly afterward, a New Jersey State Police detective who was on patrol in Newark saw Saunders and noted that he fit the description in the bulletin. Saunders was engaged in a carjacking involving a Monte Carlo that had stopped at a traffic light on Frelinghuysen Avenue. Saunders opened the passenger door and told the driver to get in the back seat. Fearing Saunders was armed, the driver complied.

The detective, who saw Saunders get into the passenger side of the car and push the driver toward the back seat, parked his unmarked Jeep behind and perpendicular to the Monte Carlo. The detective exited his vehicle, stealthily approached the driver’s door of the Monte Carlo, and opened the door to kneel on the driver’s seat facing Saunders. The detective wrestled with Saunders to keep him from getting into the driver’s seat. The detective drew his weapon and repeatedly told Saunders to show his hands. Saunders, however, continued to struggle and ultimately put the car in reverse, accelerating backward.

The detective, who could not maintain his balance and feared he would be tossed from the vehicle, fired three or four rounds from his 9mm handgun at Saunders, none of which appear to have hit him. As the car reversed, the detective was ejected from the open driver’s side and was struck by the driver’s door. He was dragged several feet until the car crashed into the unmarked police car. The detective landed on the road with his head inches from both a rear wheel of the Monte Carlo and a front wheel of the Jeep. The car pulled forward several feet, at which point the detective – fearing the car would reverse over him and seeking to stop the carjacking and kidnapping – fired seven or eight more rounds from his weapon. One of the rounds struck Saunders in the back.

Saunders fled in the car, with the man he carjacked still in the back seat. After driving about 10 minutes, he got out of the car and fled on foot. The carjacking victim was unharmed. Later that night, Saunders was admitted to Harlem Hospital Center in New York City for treatment of his gunshot wounds. While at the hospital, he was identified and arrested in connection with the crimes in New Jersey. He was extradited to New Jersey, where he has been held in the Essex County Jail with bail set at $750,000.

Among other injuries, the detective suffered broken bones in his spine, a broken shoulder and broken ribs, as well as wounds to his head and other areas that required numerous staples and sutures to close.

Deputy Attorney General Vincent J. Militello presented the case to the state grand jury for the Attorney General’s Shooting Response Team and took the guilty plea. With respect to the police-involved shooting, after analyzing all of the facts and circumstances of this incident, it was concluded by Director Elie Honig of the Division of Criminal Justice that the detective used an acceptable level of force under the Attorney General’s Use-of-Force Policy in firing his handgun at Saunders. An officer may use deadly force in New Jersey when the officer reasonably believes it is immediately necessary to protect the officer or another person from imminent danger of death or serious bodily harm. An officer also may use deadly force in appropriate circumstances to make an arrest for the crimes of kidnapping and robbery. All portions of the Attorney General’s Directive on Police-Use-of-Force Investigations which were in effect during the course of the investigation were complied with.

NEW BRUNSWICK — Police are looking for a Plainfield man they say broke into a Union County home days after being picked up for another burglary in Middlesex County. The Middlesex County Prosecutor’s Office filed a motion Thursday asking the court to rescind the previous pre-bail ruling for Dawud Ward from Jan. 17 when the judge…

Read more

Bail reform has failed another New Jersey community this week as the South Plainfield Police Department watched a gang member they arrested hours before walk out of court without bail.

Omar R. Perkins, 23, was released from Middlesex County Jail on 1/27/2017 pursuant to the new Bail Reform Law.

Perkins, a G-Shine Bloods Gang Member, was arrested on 1/20/2017 after a court ordered search warrant was executed at his residence which resulted in the seizure of over $50,000.00 worth of heroin and a Hi-Point 9mm handgun.

Perkins was charged with Certain Persons Not to Possess Weapons, Possession of CDS with Intent to Distribute, Possession of CDS, Possession of a Weapon during a Drug Distribution Scheme, Possession of Marijuana and Possession of Drug Paraphernalia.

Perkins was arraigned today in accordance to new bail reform regulations. Despite the efforts of The Middlesex County Prosecutor’s Office to keep Perkins detained in the County Jail, a Superior Court Judge ordered that Perkins be released over the Objection of the Prosecutor.

SOUTH PLAINFIELD-The fast revolving door of New Jersey’s new criminal justice system was well oiled last week in South Plainfield where a man was set free twice over a three day span after committing burglaries.

The following report was published by the South Plainfield Police Department:

On Friday, January 13th 2017 at about 12:30pm, South Plainfield Police responded to a residence on May Ave. for a reported burglary in progress.

Upon arrival, Officers located a male on the property of the residence. Investigation revealed the male, Dawud Ward, 23 of 1135 Hillside Ave in Plainfield, unlawfully entered the unoccupied home. Ward was in possession of burglar tools, gloves and a garbage bag. Ward drove to the location in a family member’s vehicle, which was towed from the scene by police.

New Jersey State Police Superintendent, Colonel Rick Fuentes’ issued a response to the signing of the US-Cuban Law Enforcement Pact by then President Barack Obama.  The measure was one of many 11th hour actions by the former President before the transition of power to President Donald Trump.

Fuentes said:

On Monday, January 16, 2017, the White House signed a law enforcement pact with the government of Cuba that included the sharing of national security information on matters related to fighting terrorism and the scourge of the international narcotics trade. I have read this pact with great interest, as any aspect of the continued negotiations to normalize relations with Cuba impacts our continued advocacy to seek the return of Joanne Chesimard. Chesimard executed New Jersey State Trooper Werner Foerster in 1973 and fled to Cuba after escaping a New Jersey prison in 1979. She is most prominent among a rogue’s gallery of cop killers and domestic terrorists that have been given sanctuary by the Castro regime these past thirty years.

JACKSON-Fire suppression chemicals used for decades in fire training exercises and emergencies at the Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst has been found in quantities far exceeding EPA health advisory levels and base officials are asking Jackson residents to send in water samples for testing to determine how much those chemicals spread into the local water supplies.

The Air Force is currently sampling drinking water on base and in other surrounding towns for the presence of perfluoroctanesulfonic acid (PFOS) and perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) after base Health Advisory Levels (HAL) were exceeded.

A May 2016 report by The Intelligencer said the foam has been used to put out fuel fires on the base during training exercises and emergencies for decades and has now been detected in base drinking water.   An investigation found those chemicals may have reached Jackson water sources.

The EPA said PFOA and PFOS are fluorinated organic chemicals that are part of a larger group of chemicals referred to as perfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs). PFOA and PFOS have been the most extensively produced and studied of these chemicals. They have been used to make carpets, clothing, fabrics for furniture, paper packaging for food and other materials (e.g., cookware) that are resistant to water, grease or stains. They are also used for firefighting at airfields and in a number of industrial processes.

The chemicals were phased out by their primary manufacturer in the United States between 2000 and 2002.  Eight major companies have also voluntarily agreed to stop using the chemicals in their products.

“While consumer products and food are a large source of exposure to these chemicals for most people, drinking water can be an additional source in the small percentage of communities where these chemicals have contaminated water supplies,” the EPA said of the chemicals.  “Such contamination is typically localized and associated with a specific facility, for example, an industrial facility where these chemicals were produced or used to manufacture other products or an airfield at which they were used for firefighting.”

The EPA suggests levels over 70 parts per trillion (.2 per billion) are acceptable. Testing at the base found PFOA and PFOS levels in the drinking water as high as 580 parts per billion according to tests performed in 2015 by SES Construction and Fuel Services, of Tennessee.

That level is 2,900 times higher than the EPA guidance level, according to the 2016 Independent report.

According to The Intelligencer, the military, in 2015, found 30 possible sites around the base including streams and aquifers that could be transporting the chemicals to water sources outside of the base.  A test of those supplies was performed in August of 2016, which led to the notice published by the base this week, calling for voluntary sampling in Jackson and other towns surrounding the base.

“The preliminary assessment did not identify any immediate threats that would warrant sampling off base,” Staff Sgt. Caitlin Jones, a public affairs officer with the joint base, said in an email to The Intelligencer last spring.

Now, those samples are being requested by base officials.

How does PFOA, PFOS affect humans?  Studies indicate that exposure to them over certain levels may result in adverse health effects, including developmental effects to fetuses during pregnancy or to breastfed infants (e.g., low birth weight, accelerated puberty, skeletal variations), cancer (e.g., testicular, kidney), liver effects (e.g., tissue damage), immune effects (e.g., antibody production and immunity), thyroid effects and other effects (e.g., cholesterol changes).

You can read the full 2016 report at the Intelligencer.

The township this week sent out an “Important message for residents with private drinking wells”, offering free sample testing by the Joint Base. You can find out more on the Jackson Township website at www.jacksontwpnj.net.

Is Jackson’s MUA water safe?  According to Jackson MUA Executive Director David Harpell, the water is safe and was recently tested.

“The Joint Bases’ groundwater issues have not and will not affect the public water supply in Jackson,” Harpell said.  “Fortunately, due to location and depth of impact, there is no risk to the Jackson Township MUA’s public water supply wells from this problem.”

The Jackson Township MUA was required to test for PFOA and PFOS as part of the USEPA’s Third Unregulated Contaminant Monitoring Rule (UCMR3) and all 28 samples (14 for PFOA and 14 for PFOS) were below detection limits, according to Harpell.

“With that being said, JTMUA is concerned with the impact to private wells in the area and we have recommended to the Joint Base that they consider extending our water infrastructure to this area if a problem is found during the testing,” He added.

“We are very proud of the water system in Jackson,” Harpell said. “We have spent $30 million in capital improvements in the past 10 years and have major improvements being bid in 2017 (primarily a new water treatment plant and water main extension near Six Flags).  These efforts have made our system very robust and resilient even though we have been able to keep rates stable.”