Police Blotter

Police blotter reports are generally written by the authoritative agency and only edited by Shore News Network for grammar and accuracy. If you have any questions regarding the information in these reports, please contact the issuing authority.

Toms River Votes to Spend $5 Million to Buy Downtown Drug Infested Motel

The Toms River Township Council Tuesday night unanimously voted to introduce a pair of ordinances authorizing the purchase of a crime-ridden motor lodge for $4.8 million, planning to demolish it to create open space under a riverfront development plan, the mayor said. “The plan would be to knock it down,” said Mayor Thomas Kelaher, who attended…

N.J. gets first Sikh attorney general in U.S. history

Gov. Phil Murphy’s pick for New Jersey’s top law enforcement job got swift legislative approval Tuesday, hours after Murphy took office. Former Bergen County Prosecutor Gurbir Grewal became the nation’s first Sikh attorney general after Senate lawmakers approved his nomination with a vote of 29-0. Grewal, 44, is a first-generation New Jersey resident, born to Indian…

Driver killed, passenger hurt when car veers off road into tree

A driver was killed and passenger injured after a car crashed into a tree Monday night in Toms River, authorities said. The car was eastbound on Washington Street when it went off the road around 9 p.m. near the intersection of Clifton Avenue, Toms River police said in a statement Tuesday. Victims ID’d in fatal crash…

Will Phil Murphy Make New Jersey Pump Own Gas?

Don’t worry, Jersey. Your next governor may have grown up out of state, but he says he won’t make you pump your own gas. Gov.-elect Phil Murphy weighed in on the Garden State’s great gas debate Monday, saying he’s cool with allowing New Jersey to remain the last state in America where self-serve gas is prohibited.…

Another traffic death in state’s fastest-growing town despite new police push

A 29-year-old man was struck and killed by a car as he tried to cross Route 70 in Lakewood Sunday night, township police said. William Fernando Campo Verde, of Lakewood, was hit by a westbound 2017 Nissan Altima around 8:40 p.m., near Vermont Avenue, according to Detective Lt. Gregory Staffordsmith. Verde was crossing the highway outside…

Bamboozled: Plumbing giant A.J. Perri hit with record fine for deceiving customers

Plumbing giant A.J. Perri has been hit with a $100,000 fine – the largest ever levied by New Jersey’s plumbing board – and has agreed to reform its deceitful business practices under a consent order reached with the state Attorney General’s Office. The deal, finalized last week, follows a Bamboozled investigation that found the company routinely…