Police Blotter

New Jersey State Police said heroin seized in Middlesex County last month tested positive for the pesticide Carbaryl, which can cause loss of coordination and involuntary convulsions. “As if there could possibly be one more reason to never, not ever, not even once take heroin, there’s yet one more: Pesticide,” State Police said in an announcement…

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TOMS RIVER-Last week, a teen was shot at a Toms River apartment complex.  Yesterday, a man was shot near a construction site on Route 9, just a few miles north.

On January 11 at 11:50 pm an investigation was initiated as a result of a 36 year old Toms River man being shot. Initially, Lakewood Township Police officers responded to Monmouth Medical Center Southern Campus (Kimball Medical Center) after they were alerted by the medical staff that a shooting victim had just arrived by car. It was later determined that the man was shot near a construction site located at 2242 Route 9 in Toms River.

The victim was at the West Hickory Road entrance to the site when he was shot by an unknown man who approached him on foot. There is no suspect information at this time and the investigation is being conducted by Toms River Detective Lou Santora. He is assisted by Ocean County Prosecutors office Major Crime Unit Detective John Carroll and the Ocean County Sheriffs Department CSI Division.

The victim is listed in critical condition at a local hospital. Further information will be released as it becomes available.

Anyone with information is urged to contact Detective Lou Santora at 732-349-0150 extension 1276 or Detective John Carol at 732-929-2027 extension 3964.

ROBBINSVILLE – A Jackson couple were arrested and charged after stashed heroin bags fell out of the front of their car following a traffic stop on I-195 Monday morning, police said. John Dunn, 24, and Amber Winant, also 24, were stopped for an unsafe lane change and a missing front license plate in Robbinsville as they…

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A Philadelphia police officer was ambushed by a gunman and shot three times in the arm while sitting in his cruiser late Thursday, and a local news outlet is reporting that the suspect committed the act in the name of Islam. The suspect, a 30-year-old man who has not been named, approached officer Jesse Hartnett’s vehicle…

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LAKEHURST-The Lakehurst Police Department charged Joshua Wharton, 39, Lakehurst after an investigation by Sgt. Matthew Kline.

Sgt. Matthew Kline conducted an investigation into the distribution of heroin in the Lakehurst area. The investigation uncovered that Wharton was distributing marijuana and heroin in the Lakehurst & Manchester area. During the investigation information led to the issuance of a search warrant for 422 Maple Street and for Joshua Wharton’s 1997 Chevrolet pickup truck. The search of Wharton’s residence recovered 122 bags (doses) of heroin and a quantity of marijuana.

Joshua Wharton was arrested and charged with possession of marijuana, possession of heroin, possession of heroin with intent to distribute, and Distribution of a controlled dangerous substance within 1000 feet of a school, the Lakehurst Elementary School.

The Lakehurst Police Department was assisted by members of the Manchester Township Police Departments Narcotics Enforcement Team and Officer Theodore Wielichoski of the Ocean County Sheriffs Office K-9 unit.

The Lakehurst Police Department seized his 1997 Chevrolet S-10 pickup truck and a quantity of cash for civil forfeiture.

The public is reminded that they may submit tips to the police department at (732)657-7812 or online through our website at www.lakehurstpolice.org

TRENTON — Five state troopers who celebrated a Camden drug bust by waving a Puerto Rican flag in front of a camera were given 20-day suspensions after the photos became public, documents show. The discipline, disclosed for the first time in a recent State Police report, came five years after the 2009 photos were taken. Meanwhile,…

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Price gouging pharmaceutical man-boy Martin Shkreli has been arrested on securities fraud charges, according to a Bloomberg report today.   The 32 year old is suspected of plundering the life-saving drug Retrophin to pay debts.

Shkreli made headlines nationally when he raised the price of Retrophin from $13.50 per pill to $750 each.    He was arrested by federal agents in Manhattan on Thursday.

“Martin Shkreli, 32, ignited a firestorm over drug prices in September and became a symbol of defiant greed. The federal case against him has nothing to do with pharmaceutical costs, however. Prosecutors in Brooklyn charged him with illegally taking stock from Retrophin Inc., a biotechnology firm he started in 2011, and using it to pay off debts from unrelated business dealings. He was later ousted from the company, where he’d been chief executive officer, and sued by its board,” Bloomberg reported. “In the case that closely tracks that suit, federal prosecutors accused Shkreli of engaging in a complicated shell game after his defunct hedge fund, MSMB Capital Management, lost millions. He is alleged to have made secret payoffs and set up sham consulting arrangements. A New York lawyer, Evan Greebel, was also arrested early Thursday. He’s accused of conspiring with Shkreli in part of the scheme.”

Read the full story here: http://www.bloomberg.com/features/2015-martin-shkreli-securities-fraud/

TOMS RIVER-It was a sunny and warm June morning in 2004 when criminal investigators were canvassing the Dover Township neighborhoods around Chestnut Street that would eventually lead to Toms River’s  enacting of a no-knock ordinance.

Police were investigating the murder of 77-year-old Shirley Reuter, a 40 plus year resident and  founding member of Holy Cross Lutheran Church at her home on Chestnut Street.

Neighbors led police to identify Reuter’s murderer, 17-year-old Azriel Rashad Bridge, a Chicago door-to-door magazine salesman.

Reuter’s home was not the first Bridge went to. Earlier in the day, he was knocking on many doors in the neighborhood, meeting with rejection and refusal from many. Bridge was an aggressive salesman.

I have first-hand experience. He knocked on our door on Citta Court as he made his way up Citta Street towards Reuter’s home.

“Hi, I am selling magazines, I would like to know if you were interested…” he asked me when I opened the door a crack for him.

I told Bridge no thank you and attempted to close the door.  “How do you know you don’t want them if you haven’t seen them?” he asked.

8 years removed from the United States Marine Corps, unintimidated by his aggressiveness, I bid Mr. Bridge farewell and closed the door.  I later learned my immediate neighbors all did the same.

The next day, Reuter was found dead.   Bridge was their suspect.  Within twenty-four hours he was arrested, leading then Ocean County Prosecutor Tom Kelaher (current Toms River mayor) to issue a warning to Ocean County residents and begin his prosecution against Bridge.

“Under no circumstances should people let strangers into their homes,” Kelaher said.

That is what Reuter did.  She let the young man into her home after he asked to use her bathroom and for a glass of water.  Her kindness led to her death and to a series of no-knock ordinances in Ocean County municipalities.

In a thirty-two-page written statement to the police on June 11, 2004, Bridge stated he was selling magazines in Toms River on June 9, 2004, when Shirley Reuter allowed him to enter her home to use the bathroom.

While he was in the house, he saw a checkbook on a table and decided to put it in his pocket. However, the victim noticed defendant put something in his pocket and she confronted him about it.

As Ms. Reuter reached for the checkbook, Bridge stated he pushed her hard enough that “her feet actually came out from underneath her,” and as she fell, she hit her head on the corner of a table.

As the victim lay on the floor, Bridge admitted he struck her three times on the side of her face with a fireplace bellow to wake her up.

After the paddle broke, defendant used a poker from the fireplace “to poke her to see if she would wake up.” When the victim did not wake up, defendant put the bloody poker “back where it was,” and he got a knife from the kitchen, which he used to “poke” the victim in the neck. Defendant stated the victim’s body quivered “when the knife went through her throat.”

Bridge was later arrested on a warrant out of Illinois in Elizabeth.

During the police investigation in Elizabeth, Bridge  initially denied having any contact with the victim, however, about an hour into the interview, Investigator Joseph Mitchell learned from another officer that on June 9, 2004, he had given his supervisor a check for magazine subscriptions written on the account of David Reuter, Reuter’s son. When confronted with this information, Bridge confessed to the murder, and he gave a detailed audio-taped statement to the police.

On the way back to Toms River, Bridge agreed to show officers the route he took that day to get to Reuter’s home and his actions inside the home.

Police had a full confession.

The problem was Bridge told the police he was 18 years old.  It turned out he was just 17.  Kelaher, who was seeking charges that could have led to the execution of Bridge, was forced to drop all charges and charge Bridge as a juvenile.

Then Chief of Police, Michael Mastronardy (now Sheriff)  said police were alerted to Bridge knocking on doors in the Chestnut Street neighborhoods prior to the murder.   Bridge’s actions were of cause for alarm to those he came in contact with.

He was later sentenced to 55 years in prison in January of 2006.

In 2007, Bridge’s lawyers claimed his confession was not legal because he was a minor and appealed the decision, but it was rejected.  Defense attorney Philip Pagano also criticized police for interrogating a minor without attempting to contact the boy’s parents.

Superior Court Judge Edward J. Turnbach upheld the conviction.

“Considering the totality of circumstances, I find that the State has proven beyond a reasonable doubt that defendant was apprised of his constitutional rights, that he understood those rights, and that he intelligently and voluntarily waived his rights and gave a voluntary statement,” the judge said. “The motion to suppress the statement is denied, and it will be admitted into evidence at the trial of Azriel Bridge.”

“At the time of this incident he was a juvenile, one week short of being an adult. He was born to a woman who was 15 years old at the time she gave birth. And since age nine to 16-and-a-half[,] he has been hospitalized at least nine times. All the hospitalizations were in various psychiatric units in Illinois, Hard Grove, River Edge[,] and Nolan Treatment Center.

“Under the law there is no willingness present here to cooperate with law enforcement authorities. So there is absolutely nothing present here by way of mitigation. The murder of Ms. Reuter, a 77-year-old grandmother, was particularly heinous, cruel, depraved[,] and senseless,” the judge added.  “She was a stranger to the defendant. There was no reason, real or imagined, for the defendant to do what he did. Indeed, while a stranger, she allowed this young man into her house to give him a drink of water at his request. She was a good Samaritan. And you, Mr. Bridge, seeing a check[book] lying on the table, decided to [take it] and did murder her in the cruelest of manners.”

The murder motivated then mayor Paul Brush and councilman Gregory P. McGuckin to look into an ordinance solution that could protect the community against future attacks.  At the time, the township did require commercial door-to-door solicitors to register with the town prior to canvassing, but there was no mechanism in place for homeowners to opt-out of the soliciting.

By August of 2004, the township had enacted a “do not knock” provision in the township code.

The township now maintains a no-knock registry which is updated each January and July.  Residents who register are provided with green no-knock stickers to be placed on their dwelling to identify themselves to would-be solicitors.

Violations of the ordinance can result in fines up for to $1,250.00 and a one year revocation of the solicitor’s privilege to solicit in the town.

In recent weeks, residents have rallied to use the no-knock ordinance for a different reason, leading to a surge in applications.

In light of Lakewood based realtors’ aggressive door-to-door soliciting in North Dover and the township’s issuance this month of four more soliciting permits to those agencies, residents are feverishly lining up to be added to the registry.

At a North Dover neighborhood watch meeting this week, the township advised residents to contact the township to report those who violate the ordinance.

Today, Bridge is serving out his 55 year prison term at the Menard Correctional Center in Menard, Illinois.  He will be eligible for parole on July 12, 2052 and would be discharged in 2057.

Firefighters are battling a forest fire that has consumed hundreds of acres in southern New Jersey’s Pine Barrens. The fire broke out on Monday. Officials say no homes are in danger, according to an AP report.

The fire can be smelled in the as far north as northern Ocean County due to atmospheric conditions. The fire is located near the Brendan T. Byrne Forest.

Photo provided by Beachwood Police Department.

ARLINGTON,VA-On September 1, 2015 members of the Beachwood Fire Department escorted the Miserendino family to Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia, for the interment of Chief Thomas Miserendino.

“Chief Miserendino was a member of the Fire Department for over 40 years and has the distinction of being our longest serving Chief. Chief Miserendino had a long record of public service to the community of Beachwood,” the department said in a statement.

He served with the United States Navy and is a decorated Vietnam Veteran. Chief Miserendino can now rest in peace in the place he earned on our nation’s most hallowed ground.

Photos by Beachwood Volunteer Fire Department.

TOMS RIVER-It happened during and after Hurricane Sandy throughout the county, but how prepared are Ocean County’s fire fighters for the next natural gas fire or emergency?   Beachwood’s Volunteer Fire Department is more prepared after training last week at the Ocean County Fire Academy for just such scenarios.

On the evening of August 28, 2015, members of the Beachwood Fire Department attended advanced training on natural gas emergencies hosted by New Jersey Natural Gas at the Ocean County Fire Academy.

“We would like to thank Roger Grey and his staff from the gas company for allowing us to train with them, as well as Ocean County Fire Academy Director Ray Van Marter for facilitating this outstanding training,” the fire department said in a statement.

Photos by Beachwood Volunteer Fire Department.

MANCHESTER – On Saturday, September 5, 2015 at approximately 11:04 pm, members of the Manchester Township Police responded to the area of Route 37 and Colonial Drive for the report of an overturned vehicle. Upon arrival, officers located a, silver, 2012 Chevrolet Impala on its roof in the eastbound lanes of Route 37 just past the intersection of Colonial Drive. Initial investigation revealed that the Impala was traveling westbound on Route 37 when it failed to maintain its lane of travel and collided head-on with the concrete center divider in the area of Colonial Drive. The vehicle then went airborne, crossed over the concrete divider and travelled approximately 70 feet, before it flipped over onto its passenger side and rolled onto its roof in the eastbound lanes of Route 37.  After landing in the eastbound lanes, the vehicle proceeded to slide on its roof in a westbound direction on Route 37 before coming to final rest approximately 320 feet from initial impact with the median.  The driver, 21 year old Eric Larson of Jackson, was properly restrained at the time of collision and refused any medical treatment at the scene.  The passenger, 22 year old Taylor Bromberg, was also properly restrained; however, he sustained significant abdominal injuries.  Bromberg was transported to Community Medical Center in Toms River by the Manchester Township Volunteer First Aid Squad where is condition is not immediately known.  Also assisting at the scene were paramedics from MONOC as well as members of the Manchester Township Volunteer Fire Department, and the New Jersey State Department of Transportation.  The crash remains under investigation by Patrolman Ian Bole from the Manchester Township Police Department’s Traffic Safety Section.