Colts Neck Teen Indicted in 2013 stabbing and carjacking

photo via facebook

Brennan Doyle, 17 of Colts Neck, was indicted by a Monmouth County Grand Jury on 6 charges related to a July 2013 stabbing and carjacking in the Township.

Doyle will be tried as an adult on charges of first degree Carjacking; first degree Attempted Murder; third degree Possession of a Weapon for an Unlawful Purpose; fourth degree Unlawful Possession of a Weapon; third degree Hindering Apprehension of Oneself; and fourth degree Obstructing the Administration of Law according to a statement by Acting Prosecutor Christopher Gramiccioni.  His name was not previously released due to the juvenile confidentiality statute.

Doyle was released after posting $760,000 bail with no 10 percent option, as set by Monmouth County Superior Court Judge James J. McGann, J.S.C.  Judge McGann also ordered Doyle to have no victim contact and no return to scene on all charges.

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Howell Man Faces New Pedophile Charges

Gregory Rittman

A Howell man who was arrested two weeks ago for masturbating in front of a juvenile in the public bathroom at a fast food restaurant on Route 35 in Wall Township is facing a dozen new charges after additional victims were identified, announced Acting Monmouth County Prosecutor Christopher J. Gramiccioni.

Gregory S. Rittman, 49, of Howell Township, was arrested on Friday, Oct. 24, 2014, after authorities received a report from an employee at a McDonald’s that described lewd behavior witnessed by an 8-year-old juvenile, near the sink in the men’s bathroom of the restaurant. Rittman was charged with one count each of second degree Sexual Assault, third degree Endangering the Welfare of a Child, fourth degree Lewdness and a disorderly persons charge of Harassment. He was released after posting $73,000 bail with no 10-percent option, as set by Monmouth County Superior Court Judge Teresa A. Kondrup-Coyle, J.S.C.

News of Rittman’s October arrest, which included his picture, prompted three additional victims to come forward.

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Asbury Park Man Arrested In Neptune Shooting

A twenty-two year old Asbury Park man was arrested today and charged with the early Monday morning shooting of a Neptune Township woman.

According to the Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office, Diquan Speights is charged with one count each of first degree Attempted Murder, second degree Burglary, second degree Unlawful Possession of a Weapon, and second degree Possession of a Weapon for an Unlawful Purpose. Speights is currently being held in the Monmouth County Correctional Institution, Freehold Township, on $650,000 bail, as set by Monmouth County Superior Court Judge Francis J. Vernoia, P.J.Cr. Judge Vernoia also ordered Speights may not return to the scene of the crime and may not have any contact with his victim, as part of a condition of bail.

Neptune Township Police received a 911 call at approximately 4:28 am, reporting a female was shot inside 1827 Bangs Avenue, Apartment 5A.  Neptune police immediately responded to the apartment and located the 22- year-old female with a gunshot wound.  The victim was transported to a local hospital where she remains in critical but stable condition.

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Large Heroin Trafficking Ring Busted

U.S. Attorney Paul Fishman

Fourteen members of a major Jersey shore drug trafficking organization (DTO) were arrested this morning by federal, state and local law enforcement agencies. The DTO is alleged to be a large-scale supplier of heroin and cocaine in Monmouth, Ocean and Middlesex counties.

U.S. Attorney Paul Fishman joined representatives of the Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office and the DEA in announcing the arrests at the Prosecutor’s satellite office in Asbury Park.

A total of 22 defendants were charged in two complaints. 7 remain at large and one has been in custody since September on other charges.

Herve Cadet, a/k/a “Gotti,” a/k/a “Bro,” 29, of Neptune and Sayreville, New Jersey; and Eric Smith, a/k/a “EV,” a/k/a “E,” 42, of Manchester, New Jersey are the alleged leaders of the DTO. Smith is the defendant who has been incarcerated since September.

“The criminal complaints describe drug trafficking operations that have been responsible for sizable quantities of illegal narcotics on the streets of Asbury Park, Neptune Township, and the surrounding towns,” U.S. Attorney Fishman said. “We hope and expect that today’s arrests will make a real difference to the drug trafficking trade in these counties. This is not the last that you will hear from us in this fight.”
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Two Middletown Men Charged With Arson

Sean Powers photo via facebook

Sean Powers, a twenty-two year old Middletown volunteer firefighter has been charged with starting the fire that left him with critical burn injuries.  William Rohweder, 23 of Middletown was also charged with arson of an abandoned barn in a residential area.  The fire at 251 Monmouth Ave was reported to Middletown authorities on Saturday morning at 5:48 AM.  Powers’ address is 260 Monmouth Ave.

According to a statement from the Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office, both young men have been charged with one count of second degree Conspiracy to Commit Aggravated Arson, one count of second degree Aggravated Arson and one count of third degree Aggravated Assault.

Because of his status as a volunteer firefighter, Powers has also been charged with Official Misconduct, an offense that carries a maximum prison term of ten years and a minimum period of parole ineligibility of five years, upon conviction.

Powers is in critical but stable condition at The Burn Center at St. Barnabas Medical Center in Livingston.  Judge Honora O’Brien Kilgallen set Powers bail as R. O. R. (Released On Recognizance) so long as he remains in an in-patient. Upon his release from The Burn Center, his bail will be reviewed.

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Monmouth Law Enforcement Agencies Will Raise Distracted Driving Awareness In October

Monmouth County drivers who are texting or talking on their phones without a hands free device are more likely than ever to be pulled over in October—and more likely to be given a break for the infraction that carries a fine of $200-$400 for a first offense.  But the break won’t be just a friendly warning from the officer who pulls the driver over.

For the month of October, law enforcement officers across the county will be armed with distracted driver ticket books. Anyone found driving while distracted may be issued a summons warning providing them 15 days to log on the campaign website at unpluggedandalive.com where each ticketholder will be prompted to securely include their pertinent information and to watch a video detailing the horrific effects of distracted driving.

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Brick Realtor Arrested After Arranging Sex With Fourteen Year Old Girl

Girl Was Undercover Cop

Richard J. Jones Mugshot

A 66 year old real estate broker was arrested today after he set up a meeting to have sex with a 14 year old girl who was actually an undercover police officer, according to a statement by the Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office.

Richard J. Jones of Brick Township, Ocean County, was charged with second degree Attempted Sexual Assault after he was snagged this afternoon by a Joint Investigation of the Prosecutor’s Special Victims Unit and investigators from the Asbury Park, Englishton and Wall Township police departments.  He is alleged to have used a local prostitute to facilitate a meeting to have sex with a 14 year old girl who was really an undercover police officer.

Jones, the owner and broker of Century 21 Herbertsville Real Estate in Brick, is being held in the Monmouth County Correctional Institution on $125,000 bail with no 10% option as set by Judge Honora O’Brien Kilgallen.  Judge Kilgallen also order Jones to have no contact with the prostitute who facilitated the meeting.

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Monmouth County Breaks Ground on Phase II of Child Advocacy Center

Monmouth County Assistant Prosecutor Peter Boser, Sue Rekedal, Multi-Disciplinary Teams coordinator at the Monmouth County Child Advocacy Center, Assemblywoman Mary Pat Angelini, Dr. Martin Krupnick, Chairperson of the Friends of the Monmouth County Child Advocacy Center, Freeholder Director Lillian G. Burry, Freeholder Deputy Director Gary J. Rich, Sr., Freeholder Thomas A. Arnone, Freeholder John P. Curley, Freeholder Serena DiMaso and Monmouth County First Assistant Prosecutor Marc C. LeMieux.

The Monmouth County Child Advocacy Center, a partnership between the Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office, the Board of Chosen Freeholders, a local non-profit named for the facility and the National Children’s Alliance broke ground on a $1.6 million addition to the facility in Freehold this afternoon.

The brainchild of former Prosecutor John Kaye, the facility provides a physically and psychologically safe place for victims of child abuse and their families to receive treatment that is coordinated with the investigations into their abusers in such a way as to prevent and reduce the traumatic effects of the investigations into the devastating events they have already suffered.

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Beware of scammers claiming to be from the IRS

Phone scammers are targeting local residents with aggressive phone calls claiming that they are from the IRS and threatening jail if the residents don’t pay immediately, according to a statement by the the Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office.

The callers take various approaches to extort money by either demanding that funds be paid immediately or in some cases saying that there is a refund due. Whichever tactic the caller uses, the objective is to trick unsuspecting resident to give over private information.

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Bellew’s Campaign Manager Arraigned, Released Without Bail

Dwayne Horner. photo via facebook

Dwayne Horner of Little Elm Texas was arraigned in Monmouth County Superior Court on Identity Theft Charges stemming from a 4am robo call purported to be made on behalf of State Senator Joe Kyrillos, Assemblyman Declan O’Scanlon and Assemblywoman Amy Handlin in the early morning of the primary election in the 13th legislative district on June 4, 2013.

Horner was the campaign manager for Leigh-Anne Bellew, Kyrillos’s challenger in the Republican primary.

Horner, 45, was indicted on the fourth degree charge on August 11.  He plead Not Guilty before Superior Court Judge Ronald Lee Reisner.  Horner was released on his own recognizance.

A recording of the call can be heard here.  Horner’s voice can be heard on the voice mail greeting of the Bellew campaign here.

The indictment charges that Horner impersonated another person or organization for the purpose of obtaining a benefit for himself or another or for the purpose of injuring or defrauding another.

If convicted, Horner faces 18 months in prison and a $10,000 fine.  He is represented by Robert Bonney of Lomurro-Davidson.

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