Lakewood, NJ
Police & Fire
Pedestrian Struck, Seriously Hurt At Garden State Parkway Gas Station Pedestrian Struck, Seriously Hurt At Garden State Parkway Gas Station
Pedestrian Struck, Seriously Hurt At Garden State Parkway Gas Station A pedestrian remains in serious condition after being struck by a car at a service station in Lacey Township, authorities said. The victim was struck by a car at the Forked River Service Station shortly before 9 p.m. on Sunday, according to New Jersey State Police.  The pedestrian was taken to an area hospital, where he was listed in serious condition, according to Sgt. Lawrence Peele, a state police spokesman. The name of the driver has not been released. The man, whose name and age have not been released, suffered head and leg injuries according to initial reports.

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by Jon Craig
Lakewood, NJ
Police & Fire
Man Reportedly Found Hanging From Tree In Lacey Township Man Reportedly Found Hanging From Tree In Lacey Township
Man Reportedly Found Hanging From Tree In Lacey Township DEVELOPING: A man was found hanging from a tree in Lacey Township on Wednesday afternoon, reports say. The man's body was spotted by a passerby on Caruso Lane in the Bamber Lake section of the township around 2:30 p.m., initial reports say. The man was purple in the face when the passerby cut him down from the tree, according to Exit 74 scanner news on Facebook. It wasn't clear where exactly the man's body was found, or how long it had been there. His condition was unclear. South Toms River medics were responding, the scanner page said. CHECK BACK FOR UPDATES

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by Cecilia Levine
Lakewood, NJ
Police & Fire
Lacey PD: 'Shelter In Place' During Armed Standoff Lacey PD: 'Shelter In Place' During Armed Standoff
Lacey PD: 'Shelter In Place' During Armed Standoff Some residents of Lacey Township are being asked to "shelter in place in their homes," while police and the Ocean County Sheriff's Department negotiates with an armed man. Both law enforcement agencies issued an alert about 5 p.m. stating that Beach Boulevard will remain closed to traffic in both directions, between Waikiki and Molokai drives until it's deemed safe by police. An initial, unconfirmed report said that a man was found nude and bloodied in the backyard before barricading" himself from police and that he  is possibly armed with hunting firearms.

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by Jon Craig
Lakewood, NJ
Police & Fire
Jersey Shore Restaurant Owner Admits Ducking $185,000 In Federal Taxes Jersey Shore Restaurant Owner Admits Ducking $185,000 In Federal Taxes
Jersey Shore Restaurant Owner Admits Ducking $185,000 In Federal Taxes The owner of a Jersey Shore Italian restaurant admitted stiffing the IRS out of $185,000 in personal and corporate taxes. Raimondo Schiano, 55, admitted diverting unreported income from Biagio’s Trattoria in Lacey Township to his personal account for four straight years, beginning in 2014, during a video conference with a federal judge in Trenton on Wednesday, Special IRS Agent Robert Glantz said. None of the diverted funds was reported as income on either the corporate tax returns for the Lanoka Harbor restaurant or on Schiano’s personal tax returns, Glantz said. As a result, Schiano, of…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Edison, NJ
Police & Fire
UPDATED: Firefighters Battle Wind-Whipped Blazes In South Brunswick, Lacey, Manapalan, Barnegat UPDATED: Firefighters Battle Wind-Whipped Blazes In South Brunswick, Lacey, Manapalan, Barnegat
Updated: Firefighters Battle Wind-Whipped Blazes In South Brunswick, Lacey, Manapalan, Barnegat UPDATE: A wind-whipped two-alarm fire is consuming a structure in the 600 block of Ridge Road in Middlesex County, authorities said. The New Jersey Forest Fire Service declared Tuesday a "Class 5 Day, Extreme Fire Danger" for Division B in Central New Jersey due to high winds and low relative humidity. . All South Brunswick Fire Departments as well as Plainsboro Fire Department were fighting the Ridge Road fire early Tuesday afternoon, police said. MidJersey News posted a video of the fire on its Facebook page. A separate afternoon brush fire was reported in Lacey Township (Ocean County),…

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by Jon Craig
Lakewood, NJ
Police & Fire
Prosecutor: Authorities Nab Accused Jersey Shore Child Predator Snared By YouTuber Prosecutor: Authorities Nab Accused Jersey Shore Child Predator Snared By YouTuber
Prosecutor: Authorities Nab Accused Jersey Shore Child Predator Snared By YouTuber Detectives arrested a 33-year-old Jersey Shore man on luring and attempted sexual assault charges after a YouTube creator lured him into a meeting by posing as a 14-year-old girl, authorities said. Phillip Stone, of Lacey Township, remained held in the Ocean County Jail pending a detention hearing following his arrest Monday. Ocean County Prosecutor Bradley D. Billhimer said detectives from his High Tech Crime and Special Victims units took Stone into custody while investigating the authenticity of a video made by a private citizen who claimed to be doing a research study. The man – who id…

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by Jon Craig
Newark, NJ
Police & Fire
Authorities: Police Shooting Of Knife-Wielding Jersey Shore Kidnapper Justified Authorities: Police Shooting Of Knife-Wielding Jersey Shore Kidnapper Justified
Authorities: Police Shooting Of Knife-Wielding Jersey Shore Kidnapper Justified Police were justified in shooting an Ocean County ex-con who cornered them with a knife after stabbing a K-9, authorities announced Wednesday. “Drop the knife!” the officers yelled repeatedly as Edward Walsh advanced at least 20 feet toward them, refusing to stop, during a November 2018 encounter in a Mantoloking home, Ocean County Prosecutor Bradley D. Billhimer said. “Officers found a large knife with a brown handle next to Walsh and a second knife in his waistband,” the prosecutor said. They administered first aid until EMS arrived, Billhimer said. The K-9 was treated at a local animal…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Lakewood, NJ
News
Barnegat Contractor Gets Plea-Bargained 3 Years For Ripping Off Hurricane Victims Barnegat Contractor Gets Plea-Bargained 3 Years For Ripping Off Hurricane Victims
Barnegat Contractor Gets Plea-Bargained 3 Years For Ripping Off Hurricane Victims A 50-year-old contractor from Barnegat was sentenced to a plea-bargained three years in prison Friday for overcharging 19 homeowners in repairs following Hurricane Sandy. George LaRosa was also ordered to pay $456,650 in restitution to the victims in Stafford Township, Lacey Township, Toms River Township, Long Beach Township, Ship Bottom and Little Egg Harbor, according to Ocean County Prosecutor Bradley Billhimer. LaRosa, the owner and operator of GL Construction, entered into 2014-15 contracts for agreed upon hurricane repairs.  He kept the vast majority of …

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by Jon Craig
Lakewood, NJ
Police & Fire
Man Who Sold Fentanyl, Heroin That Killed Ocean County User Gets 7 Years In Prison Man Who Sold Fentanyl, Heroin That Killed Ocean County User Gets 7 Years In Prison
Man Who Sold Fentanyl, Heroin That Killed Ocean County User Gets 7 Years In Prison A Lacey Township resident who sold a mix of heroin and fentanyl that killed a 25-year-old Berkeley man last spring must spend nearly six years in state prison before he’s eligible for parole. Charles Rice, 58, was sentenced Friday in Toms River to a plea-bargained seven years behind bars, 85 percent of which he must serve under New Jersey’s No Early Release Act, for manslaughter, Ocean County Prosecutor Bradley D. Billhimer said. Superior Court Judge Rochelle Gizinski also sentenced Rice to a concurrent six-year sentence for distributing heroin and fentanyl. Rice pleaded guilty to both cha…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Lakewood, NJ
Police & Fire
Person Injures Head In Fall In Lacey Township Person Injures Head In Fall In Lacey Township
Person Injures Head In Fall In Lacey Township Emergency crews were called to Lacey Township on a report of a fall.  A call came into police about 4:30 p.m. Police were told someone had severely injured their head in a fall. Additional details were not immediately available. EMS requested a medevac unit to fly to the scene and transport the patient. But all medevacs contacted declined due to the bad weather and poor flying conditions, according to unconfirmed reports. 

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by Jon Craig
Lakewood, NJ
Police & Fire
Child Porn Trafficking: Former Youth Corrections Officer From Ocean Gets 7 Years In Fed Pen Child Porn Trafficking: Former Youth Corrections Officer From Ocean Gets 7 Years In Fed Pen
Child Porn Trafficking: Former Youth Corrections Officer From Ocean Gets 7 Years In Fed Pen A former state youth facility corrections officer from Ocean County was sentenced to seven years in federal prison for trafficking child porn. Michael A. Ruggiero, 38, of Lacey Township, was nabbed by federal Homeland Security agents after an online contact of his was arrested in Canada, authorities said. Members of the Saskatchewan Police Service contacted them after finding online exchanges between a man they took into custody for downloading and sharing images of child sexual abuse off a mobile app and a user in the U.S. IP addresses led the agents to Ruggiero, who was living in Berkel…

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by Jerry DeMarco