42 Drug Arrests Announced: “Operation Justice Served”

42 of 46 people charged with illegal drug offenses were arrested on in October, including 33 buyers and 13 sellers, as the result of a 5 month long joint investigation dubbed “Operation Justice Served,” Monmouth County Prosecutor Christopher J. Gramiccioni announced on Thursday.

The Freehold Boro Police Department, Freehold Township Police Department, Marlboro Police Department, Manalapan Police Department, Howell Police Department, Brielle Police Department, Asbury Park Police Department, Monmouth County Sheriff’s Department, Eatontown Police Department, the New Jersey State Police, the Drug Enforcement Administration, US Marshals Service and the Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office participated in the operation.

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DNA evidence clears Long Branch Man of 1992 rape conviction

Dion Harrell of Long Branch spent four years in prison for a rape he did not commit.

Acting Monmouth County Prosecutor Christopher J. Gramiccioni announced this afternoon that a recent DNA test proved the Harrell was not the source of the biological evidence found in the 17 year old victim of the 1987 rape.  Gramiccioni sad that Harrell’s conviction will be vacated.

Harrell was convicted on March 26, 1993 and released from prison in 1997.  He turned 50 years old last week and is homeless, according the the New Jersey Sex Offenders Registry.

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Neptune Man In Critical Condition After Home Invasion Shooting

300 Monmouth Ave, Neptune

A Neptune Township man is in critical condition this afternoon after being shot during an invasion of his Monmouth Ave home after 3 am this morning, according to a statement by Acting Monmouth County Prosecutor Christopher J. Gramiccioni.

Neptune police responded to a 911 call at 3:35 a.m., reporting a home invasion with shots fired at 300 Monmouth Avenue, in the township. Police arrived and quickly confirmed the single family residence had been forcibly entered and that shots had been fired within the residence. Inside the residence police located a male victim who had been shot. The victim was taken to a local hospital, where he remains in critical condition.

A joint investigation was launched by the Neptune Township Police Department and the Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office. No arrests have been made, and the incident remains under investigation.

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Hospitals Join Law Enforcement In Fight Against Opiate Overdose Deaths

Every hospital in Monmouth and Ocean Counties will exchange ready-to-use new doses of the overdose antidote naloxone, free of charge, for the empty syringes used to resuscitate the overdose victims, under a partnership agreement announced today by Acting Monmouth County Prosecutor Christopher J. Gramiccioni and Ocean County Prosecutor Joseph D. Coronato.

The hospitals affiliated with Barnabas Health, Meridian Health and CentraState Medical Center are absorbing 100% of the cost of the antidotes exchanged with law enforcement officers, according to Charles Webster, spokesman for Gramiccioni’s office.

“Protecting our citizens is our most basic and fundamental function in law enforcement. We can’t do it alone, so we count on help from friends and partners who cooperate with us and who share, in some form or fashion, the same responsibility and commitment in helping to protect human life. It is these partnerships that make us even better.  Through this partnership, our local hospitals are standing with us as we fight the deadly epidemic of heroin or prescription opiates drug overdoses,” Gramiccioni said.

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Arrest made in Asbury Park Murder

Tyreek Williams. Photo via facebook

Tyreek Williams, 24, of Asbury Park, was arrested today for the stabbing death of 19 year old Prize R. Johnson, according to a statement by Acting Monmouth County Prosecutor Christopher Gramiccioni.

Williams was charged with first degree Murder, third degree Possession of a Weapon for an Unlawful Purpose and fourth degree Unlawful Possession of a Weapon.  He is being held in the Monmouth County Correctional Institution on $1,022,500 bail with no 10% option as set by Superior Court Judge  Honora O’Brien Kilgallen.

Asbury Park police responded to a 911 call around 9:58 p.m. on Monday Jan. 5, 2015, reporting a person had been stabbed on Ridge Avenue before arriving at the apartment.  Johnson was found inside Building 1, Apartment 53, at the Washington Village apartments, 1259 Washington Avenue, where he died from his injuries and was pronounced dead at 10:29 p.m.

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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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18 Year Old Long Branch Man Charged With Murder

Dante Strong, top right. photo from Strong’s facebook page

Dante Strong, 18, of Long Branch was charged with the murder of Adrian Anderson, 23, also of Long Branch,  yesterday according to a statement released by Acting Monmouth County Prosecutor Christopher J. Gramiccioni.

Officers from the Long Branch Police Department were in the area of Central Avenue and Liberty Street in Long Branch around 2:29 a.m. on September 21, 2013, when they heard gunshots.  Officers responding to the sounds of gunfire and were flagged down by several people at 135 Liberty Street, where they found the victim on the front porch, unconscious and bleeding from several gunshot wounds.  The victim was taken to Jersey Shore University Medical Center, Neptune Township, where he was pronounced dead at 5:22 a.m., despite the efforts made to save his life by medical personnel.

A joint investigation was launched by the Long Branch Police Department and the Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office.  During the course of the investigation, Strong was linked to an armed robbery the morning prior to the shooting, near the intersection of Central Avenue and Ellis Avenue in Long Branch, less than one block from where the victim was killed.

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Legal Clinic For Sandy Survivors on Thursday Afternoon

The Monmouth County Superstorm Sandy Fraud Task Force and Volunteer Lawyers for Justice will be holding a legal clinic to assist Sandy survivors on Thursday afternoon, September 19, from 2pm -4:30pm at the Bayshore Activity Center, 719 Port Monmouth Ave, Port Monmouth, according to Acting Monmouth County Prosecutor Christopher J. Gramiccioni.

Representatives of the Prosecutor’s Office, the Monmouth County Department of Consumer Affairs,  FBI, IRS, New Jersey Division of Taxation, Department of Homeland Security and other agencies will be on hand to provide information and assistance to anyone in need.

Attorneys from the Disaster Legal Response Program launched by Volunteer Lawyers for Justice will also be available to consult with people and provide free legal advice. Those requiring further assistance may be referred to volunteer outside counsel (financial eligibility requirements apply).

The hotline for the Monmouth County Superstorm Sandy Fraud Task Force is (855) SANDY-39. Volunteer Lawyers for Justice may be reached at (855) 301-2525.

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Investigators Seek Help With Middletown Shooting

Anthony Capella.
MVC photo

Investigators from the Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office and the Middletown Township Police Department are seeking the public’s help with information regarding the shooting death of a 30 year old man from the Leonardo section of the Township.

Anthony Capella, 30, was found dead from a gunshot wound in his home at 17 Roop Ave on Wednesday evening, June 19 at approximately 8:25.   The Middletown Police responded and contacted the Prosecutor’s Office for a joint investigation.

Acting Prosecutor Christopher J. Gramicconi asks that anyone with information pertaining to the shooting contact Detective Brian Weisbrot of the Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office at 1-800-533-7443 or Detective Adam Finck of the Middletown Township Police Department at 732-615-2100.

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Manalapan Music Teacher Charged With Spanking A Student For Sexual Gratification

(FREEHOLD) A Manalapan music teacher is charged with sexual assault after investigators learned he was spanking a music student for his own sexual gratification over the past few months, Acting Monmouth County Prosecutor Christopher J. Gramiccioni announced.

Frank W. Diliberto, Jr., 60, of Winthrop Drive in Manalapan, a guitar teacher at Musician’s Workshop on Route 9, was arrested Thursday evening and charged with Sexual Assault of a child under 13 and Endangering the Welfare of a Child, both second degree offenses.

Diliberto is being held in the Monmouth County Correctional Institution on $200,000 bail with no 10 percent option as set by Monmouth County Superior Court Judge David F. Bauman, P.J.C. Dilberto was also ordered to have no contact with his victim and he cannot return to the scene of the alleged crime.

Anyone with additional information is urged to contact Detectives Dominick Donatelli, Jr. or Kevin Schmidt of the Manalapan Township Police Department at 732-446-4300 or Detective Patrick O’Connell of the Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office at 1-800-533-7443 ext. 2941.

Despite these charges, every defendant is presumed innocent, unless and until found guilty beyond a reasonable doubt, following a trial at which the defendant has all of the trial rights guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution and State law.

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