ELIZABETH — Two men have been charged in the Saturday morning shooting death of a 32-year-old man outside of a city nightclub, authorities announced Wednesday. Joey Fowler, 33, and Jamil Hearns, 32, are both facing murder counts in the death of Donnell Johnson, who was shot near the corner of Third and Court streets, just up the road from...

Google MapsAn Elizabeth man was fatally shot Saturday near the corner of 3rd and Court streets in Elizabeth.

ELIZABETH — Two men have been charged in the Saturday morning shooting death of a 32-year-old man outside of a city nightclub, authorities announced Wednesday.

Joey Fowler, 33, and Jamil Hearns, 32, are both facing murder counts in the death of Donnell Johnson, who was shot near the corner of Third and Court streets, just up the road from the Allstar Nightclub, Union County Prosecutor Theodore Romankow said. All three men are from Elizabeth.

Johnson was taken to Trinitas Regional Medical Center after the 2:40 a.m. shooting, where he died not long after, Romankow said.

Elizabeth police Detective James Malone and officers Jore Hildago and Craig Edward were near the scene at the time and heard the shots, responding in time to see two men run to a car and drive off, the prosecutor said.

When officers stopped the car, they were able to recover a handgun and arrest two other men, one from Elizabeth the other from Linden, as well as Fowler and Hearns, Romankow said. All four are charged with weapons possession.

Fowler and Hearns are being held at the Union County jail on $2 million bail each. The county’s homicide task force and Elizabeth police are still investigating, and ask anyone with information to call Detective Travis Koziol at (908) 337-0832.

Previous coverage:

• Elizabeth man is fatally shot outside nightclub

PLAINFIELD — The bodies of a man and a woman found in the trunk of a car on a Brooklyn street Wednesday night have been identified as a Plainfield couple who were reported missing last month after relatives said they traveled to Virginia but did not return, authorities said. Evadne Orna, 39, and Troy Edwards, 40, were found dead...

Courtesy of the familyEvadne Oma and her friend Troy Edwards, both Plainfield residents, have been missing since Feb. 20, when they left New Jersey for Richmond, Va.

PLAINFIELD — The bodies of a man and a woman found in the trunk of a car on a Brooklyn street Wednesday night have been identified as a Plainfield couple who were reported missing last month after relatives said they traveled to Virginia but did not return, authorities said.

Evadne Orna, 39, and Troy Edwards, 40, were found dead inside of a Nissan Altima in Brooklyn Wednesday night, according to Gene Lepley, a spokesman for the Richmond, Va. Police Department.

While he would not identify the victims, a New York City Police Department spokesman said two people were discovered dead in the trunk of a Nissan Altima in the East Flatbush section of Brooklyn at 7:15 p.m. Wednesday night.

Authorities had not determined a cause of death, and New York City police said an autopsy was pending. A spokeswoman for the New York City Medical Examiner's Office did not return calls seeking comment.

Lepley said Richmond Police issued a nationwide alert Wednesday for law enforcement to be on the lookout for a silver Nissan Altima rented by Orna and Edwards last month. Police in Fairfax County, Va., apparently received a "hit" on the vehicle Wednesday night, tracing it to Brooklyn.

Hours later, New York Police made the grim discovery in the 400 block of East 52nd Street.

Orna and Edwards were both reported missing by family members in Plainfield late last month, according to city police director Martin Hellwig. Lepley said Plainfield police contacted his department ealier this month, prompting Richmond Police to launch an investigation.

Early last week, police searched a South Richmond apartment while looking for Orna and Edwards.

"The condition of the apartment and forensic evidence recovered there gave us cause for concern," said Lepley, adding that the search "led us to believe that the two people may have been in Richmond may have been in jeopardy."

Lelpey would not say what police found in the apartment, but a Richmond television station said police discovered red-stained sheets, a stun gun, duct tape and packaging materials, scales, plastic sandwich bags and carpet samples.

By James Queally and Simone Sebastian/The Star-Ledger

The New York Medical Examiner's Office is scheduled to perform an autopsy on the woman on Friday

Courtesy of the familyEvadne Oma and her friend Troy Edwards, both Plainfield residents, had been missing since Feb. 20, when they left New Jersey for Richmond, Va.

PLAINFIELD — The Nissan Altima with New Jersey tags had been parked for days on East 52nd Street in Brooklyn, largely unnoticed by pedestrians walking along the warehouse-lined block not far from the Gowanus Bay.

But inside the vehicle lay the answer to a weeks-long mystery for friends and relatives of Evadne Orna and Troy Edwards. The Plainfeld couple had been missing since Feb. 20, when they set off for Richmond, Va.

On Wednesday night, New York City police discovered the bodies of Orna and Edwards in the truck of the car, marking a gruesome end to the search for the couple, said Gene Lepley, a spokesman for the Richmond Police Department.

"From the beginning, when I heard they were missing, I had a feeling," Orna’s mother, Veronica Ramessar of East Orange, said today. "I’m hurt. I’m so confused."

New York City police would not identify the victims, saying only that officers found the bodies of a man and a woman in the trunk of a silver Nissan Altima at 7:15 p.m. Wednesday in the 400 block of East 52nd Street.

The "male victim" was killed by a gunshot wound to the head, and his death has been ruled a homicide, according to a spokeswoman for the city Medical Examiner’s Office. An autopsy on the woman is scheduled for this morning, the spokeswoman said.

News of the couple’s deaths left relatives and friends scrambling for answers. Orna’s father, Aubrey Mann, who lives in Toronto, said rumors have been swirling about how and why his daughter died.

"Whatever news I got from people who are whispering, is all speculation and innuendo, it’s nothing I know concretely," said Mann, who said he last saw his daughter in 2007 but spoke to her on the phone frequently.

Orna, 39, and Edwards, 40, had been dating on and off for about 20 years, according to Mann, and the couple’s families have been intertwined for decades. The fathers met in Guyana where Mann and Edwards’ father played in bands. Mann left for the United States sometimes in the 1970s. He said Orna was "like a daughter" to Edwards’ family.

The couple left Plainfield on Feb. 20, said Ramessar, who filed a missing persons report on Feb. 26. The next day, someone claiming to be Edwards’ "wife" reported him missing, Plainfield Police Captain Ruth Selzam said.

With few leads, Plainfield police forwarded what they knew to authorities in Richmond. On March 1, Richmond police searched an apartment where they believed the couple was staying, but what they discovered there "gave us cause for concern," Lepley said.

"The evidence that we recovered there led us to believe the two people may have been in Richmond and may have been in jeopardy," he said.

A Richmond television station reported red-stained sheets, a stun gun, packaging materials, Duct tape, scales and plastic sandwich bags were discovered when police searched the apartment. Property records show Orna as a current or past occupant of at least three Virginia residences, including one in the South Richmond apartment complex police searched last week.

After the ominous discovery inside the apartment, Richmond police issued an nationwide alert for police to be on the lookout for Orna and Edwards’ rental car. Police in Fairfax County, Va., received a "hit" on the license plate Wednesday, said Lepley, leading to the discovery in Brooklyn.

In the meantime, Mann just wants answers.

"I’m a loving father who wants my daughter buried and who wants justice," he said.

By James Queally and Simone Sebastian/The Star-Ledger

EDISON — A gas station attendant on Route 1 in Edison was wounded yesterday when a robber shot him in the leg, police said. The robbery occurred at the Fuel One gas station near Woodbridge Avenue in the early evening, said Police Chief Thomas Bryan. The attendant was wounded by a bullet from a small-caliber weapon and his injuries...

Google MapsEdison gas attendant shot in the leg in armed robbery

EDISON — A gas station attendant on Route 1 in Edison was wounded yesterday when a robber shot him in the leg, police said.

The robbery occurred at the Fuel One gas station near Woodbridge Avenue in the early evening, said Police Chief Thomas Bryan.

The attendant was wounded by a bullet from a small-caliber weapon and his injuries are not life threatening, he said.

According to preliminary information gathered at the scene, the assailant did not take a large amount of money, Bryan said.

Mayor Cory Booker, who unveiled the new crime-fighting initiative during his State of the City speech, says Operation Ceasefire will change the community's perception of law enforcement and reduce prison recidivism Watch video

NEWARK — Newark has a message for the gangbangers and drug dealers operating in the state’s largest city: We can help you. But we can also destroy you.

In a series of meetings starting later this month, law enforcement agents, community leaders and city officials will sit down with members of some of the city’s most violent groups. They’ll offer them jobs, drug treatment and help getting a high school or college degree.

But there’s a caveat: The next street gang or drug organization linked to a homicide will be dismantled, police say — swiftly and completely. The same goes for the next killing. And the next.

The strategy, called "hug-a-thug" by detractors because of the olive branch it extends to criminals, is based on a program called "Operation Ceasefire" that’s been used in Boston, Cincinnati and Chicago in an effort to reduce violent crime.

Newark Police Director Garry McCarthy calls Ceasefire the next step in the evolution of policing because it’s proactive instead of reactive and involves the entire community. The program, he said, could improve the department’s strained relationship with residents by reducing "stop and frisk" tactics that sometimes make residents feel like the police are an "occupation force."

"This is community policing that doesn’t exist on any other level, where the community and the police are standing together, telling criminals to stop what they’re doing," McCarthy said. "There’s a whole thing here for a racial reconciliation, which there is no doubt this city needs."

Mayor Cory Booker, who unveiled the new crime-fighting initiative during his State of the City address last week, called Operation Ceasefire "a powerful new policing approach" that will change the community’s perception of law enforcement and reduce prison recidivism.

"Currently, we are locking up hundreds and hundreds of people who are involved in gangs," Booker said. "Young men are going in and out of prisons and we, as a community, are not doing nearly enough to break this cycle of recidivism, which is consuming the lives of too many who are caught up in this dangerous lifestyle — and doing horrible collateral damage to Newark.

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"Our new initiative seeks to end this," he said.

David Kennedy, the program’s co-founder and director of the Center for Crime Prevention and Control at John Jay College, said Newark will be the first city in New Jersey to implement the strategy.

joining forces

Kennedy created Ceasefire in 1996, along with former Harvard criminologist Anthony Braga, who now works at Rutgers-Newark; then-Harvard professor Anne Piehl; and the Boston Police Department.

It involves meetings among criminals, police, community leaders and social service providers.

In Newark, the Essex County Prosecutor’s Office, the U.S. Attorney’s Office and several federal agencies will join forces, McCarthy said.

After identifying members of the city’s most violent groups — largely street gangs and drug syndicates — police will require some of them to attend the meetings as part of their parole or probation.

During the meetings, community leaders will implore the ex-offenders to stop their groups’ violent acts while city officials extend offers of jobs and other assistance. County and federal law enforcement agents will then try to seal the deal: Shape up or face aggressive crackdowns.

McCarthy said the crackdowns would involve dismantling the groups "by any means necessary" — mostly through narcotics enforcement and warrant sweeps.

Lamont "True V" Vaughn, 28, a member of the Bloods, said he is skeptical gang members would be receptive to community handouts if law enforcement officials are present.

"I don’t think the police need to be involved in the entire thing from the get-go. I believe there are enough service providers and clergy members … even Booker himself should be the one talking to these guys," said Vaughn, who has been a Blood since he was 17 but is also a member of the Newark Anti-Violence Coalition. "Once people see police … the only ones that will go to those meeting will be the ones mandated by parole or probation.

"Nobody from the streets or the community will be there because the people here do not trust the police," he said.

Kennedy said that in cities where drug dealers and gang members haven’t participated, residents have sometimes banded together against the criminals.

"When they have been offered a way out and offered help and they’re still killing people, the community says ‘Okay, that’s enough,’ " he said

boston’s big results

Ceasefire has been used in several cities, most notably Boston, where it was launched in 1996 and showed immediate results. The number of murders dropped by 68 percent over a five-year period, from 98 in 1995 to 31 in 1999.

The program was suspended for several years after a change in police leadership but was reinstated in 2006. Since then, Police Commissioner Edward Davis said, the program has helped reduce the city’s murder rate again

Davis said the program makes gang members more visible to the community and police and strengthens ties between police and residents.

"Gang members think they are anonymous, and they think the community isn’t cooperating with police," he said. "Once the community gets into the equation … it has an effect."

Kennedy said Ceasefire normally produces a 35 percent to 50 percent drop in violent crime once implemented, but that the results in some cities do not mirror the dramatic success in Boston.

In Stockton, Calif., police began using a modified version of the program in 2001, leading to the capture of nearly 60 high-ranking gang members, police department spokesman Peter Smith said. But at the same time, the number of homicides rose from 2001 to 2005, according to city police records, and the city’s violent crime index jumped 27 percent in the same time span.

"Maybe Ceasefire was working and we had other elements working against it. … That is the case with almost all strategies that you implement in law enforcement," Smith said. "It’s hard to say what the magic bullet is."

Cincinnati police launched the program in 2007 after riots in 2001 lead to historic increases in violent crime. The results were mixed. Homicides fell 22 percent from 2007 to 2008, according to police records, but jumped the next year, to 75. They rose again, from 60 in 2009 to 73 last year.

There are other signs the strategy worked.

Robin Engel, director of the University of Cincinnati’s Policing Institute and a former member of the city’s Ceasefire implementation team, said gang-related killings have fallen by 35 percent over the past four years.

In Newark, law enforcement officials are welcoming the new strategy, especially after a bloody 2010 that included the most violent summer since 1990. Acting Essex County Prosecutor Carolyn Murray said she supports "any initiative that will reduce violence and save lives," while state Attorney General Paula Dow said she hopes Ceasefire can be a sustained anti-crime strategy in Newark.

Yet the strategy has its critics.

Frank Clayton, a retired Trenton gang investigator who often appears as an expert on the History Channel’s "Gangland," said New Jersey gangs are far less structured than criminal organizations in other states, which could lessen the effect of Ceasefire.

While any strategy is "better than nothing," he doubts gangbangers will accept a 9-to-5 job in place of a cash machine like the urban drug trade.

"They know two things, death and jail, and neither one scares them," Clayton said. "Will this work? I hope so, but I don’t have a lot of confidence that these guys will just turn their lives around. There’s millions and millions of dollars being made out there."

Staff writer David Giambusso contributed to this report.

NEWARK — In the early morning hours of Aug. 17, 2009, 14-year-old Keith Calhoun was fatally shot in the back on a Newark street corner, struck by a bullet fired by an older teenager. Today, the gunman, Isiah Hemphill, 19, pleaded guilty in Superior Court to aggravated manslaughter in exchange for a recommended 15-year prison sentence. Hemphill had been...

NEWARK — In the early morning hours of Aug. 17, 2009, 14-year-old Keith Calhoun was fatally shot in the back on a Newark street corner, struck by a bullet fired by an older teenager.

Today, the gunman, Isiah Hemphill, 19, pleaded guilty in Superior Court to aggravated manslaughter in exchange for a recommended 15-year prison sentence.

Hemphill had been indicted on the original murder charge, which if convicted carries a sentence of 30 years to life in prison.

Led into court today wearing a white shirt, gray sweatpants and sneakers, Hemphill admitted he shot into a crowd of boys that morning, but only fired the weapon "to scare them."

He told Superior Court Judge Peter Ryan that he was called to the scene of 12th Avenue and South 8th Street around 2:30 a.m., by his aunt, whose son, Emmanuel Holliday, 18, was having a dispute with seven other boys, Keith included.

Hemphill rode up in his bicycle, gun in hand, confronted the group and pulled out the weapon. The boys scattered and Hemphill fired. His attorney, Sterling Kinsale, asked him in court, "At a later time you discovered the bullet that you fired struck Keith Calhoun?"

"Yes," Hemphill replied.

Hemphill admitted that his actions recklessly caused the death of a human being, which constitutes the aggravated manslaughter charge. He has been in jail since his arrest just after the killing. With jail time already served, Hempthill could be released in 10 years, his attorney said. He will be sentenced April 15.

Because it happened at 2 a.m. and because Keith was a juvenile, his killing prompted community advocates and Mayor Cory Booker to call for tougher enforcement of the city's curfew law.

Andrea Bryant, Keith's mother, was in court with her family and cried quietly throughout the 15-minute proceeding, as did Hemphill's mother, Rochelle Williams.

Bryant didn't comment following the plea, but after learning about the deal on Thursday, criticized what she believed to be a lenient punishment. "It's a slap in the face," she said of the aggravated manslaughter charge. "If he's willing to admit that he did it, and they offered him 15 years, he's basically saying he cold-bloodily killed my son. You should have told the truth because you're a human being and you're wrong."

But Assistant Essex County Prosecutor Ralph Amirata said because Hemphill fired the gun into a group of teenagers running away, "knowing and purposeful murder is difficult to prove under the facts." Amirata, who handled the case, called Keith's death "a tragedy," but said a jury could have been convinced that Hemphill was only trying to protect his cousin and aunt, and could have returned a less favorable verdict.

HIGHLAND PARK — The 43-year-old owner of a karate school in Highland Park has been charged with improperly touching a 16-year-old girl at the school. Joel Levy was arrested Thursday night at 7:15 p.m. at The Family Martial Arts Academy on North Fourth Avenue and charged with one count of criminal sexual contact, a fourth-degree offense. Levi is free...

Joel Levy

HIGHLAND PARK — The 43-year-old owner of a karate school in Highland Park has been charged with improperly touching a 16-year-old girl at the school.

Joel Levy was arrested Thursday night at 7:15 p.m. at The Family Martial Arts Academy on North Fourth Avenue and charged with one count of criminal sexual contact, a fourth-degree offense.

Levi is free on $10,000 bail.

A statement released today by Middlesex County First Assistant Prosecutor Julia McClure said Levy is also employed at New Brunswick High School as a teacher overseeing students serving in-school suspensions and has worked for the school district since November. He has also worked as a teacher in Edison, Highland Park, Perth Amboy, Somerset and Franklin Township.

New Brunswick school board attorney George Hendricks said the board intends to suspend Levy.

McClure said an investigation determined Levy improperly touched the girl at his karate school on Monday.

Anyone with information on this, or similar incidents, is asked to call Detective Nicole Young of the Highland Park Police Department at (732) 572-3800 or county Investigator Daniel Ruschak at (732) 745-3600.

TRENTON — Prosecutors in New Jersey have agreed to drop all sex charges against the last of six defendants charged in what police initially said was the gang rape of a 7-year-old girl pimped out by her 15-year-old stepsister. Rape charges were dropped Friday against 21-year-old Gregory Leary, who instead pleaded guilty to two counts of child endangerment. He's...

Alex Zdan/Trenton TimesExterior shot of Rowan Towers apartments on West State Street in Trenton, New Jersey, where a 7-year-old girl was sexually assaulted.

TRENTON — Prosecutors in New Jersey have agreed to drop all sex charges against the last of six defendants charged in what police initially said was the gang rape of a 7-year-old girl pimped out by her 15-year-old stepsister.

Rape charges were dropped Friday against 21-year-old Gregory Leary, who instead pleaded guilty to two counts of child endangerment. He's expected to get probation when he's sentenced next month.

Assistant Mercer County Prosecutor Jennifer Downing says the rape charges in the case were dropped because of a lack of evidence and because the 7-year-old couldn't identify any of the suspects.

The 15-year-old girl and five other men and boys have pleaded guilty to child endangerment and trespassing charges.

Previous coverage:

• Suspect denies gang rape of 7-year-old girl in Trenton

• Some not surprised about lack of evidence in Rowan Towers gang rape case

• Trenton building where girl was allegedly gang raped plans tenant evictions for arrests, convictions

• Trenton teams with Peacekeepers for anti-violence effort after alleged gang rape of 7 year old

• Trenton building managers meets with Rowan Towers residents after sexual assault

• Tenants talk with owners of Rowan Tower about security after gang rape of 7-year-old

• Trenton cops arrest 27 at apartment complex where 7-year-old was allegedly raped

• Trenton man is charged with sex assault of teen girl accused of prostituting 7-year-old sister

WOODBRIDGE — A 45-year-old Carteret man was charged today with strangling a Woodbridge woman in her home last month, then setting fire to the dwelling before fleeing, authorities said. Harpal Singh was arrested at about 4:20 p.m. today outside his home and charged with murder, aggravated arson and robbery in the Valentine’s Day killing of Baldwiner Kaur of the...

Google MapsA map of Jansen Avenue, where firefighters have responded to a fatal house fire.

WOODBRIDGE — A 45-year-old Carteret man was charged today with strangling a Woodbridge woman in her home last month, then setting fire to the dwelling before fleeing, authorities said.

Harpal Singh was arrested at about 4:20 p.m. today outside his home and charged with murder, aggravated arson and robbery in the Valentine’s Day killing of Baldwiner Kaur of the Avenel section of Woodbridge, Middlesex County Prosecutor Bruce Kaplan said in a statement.

Singh was an acquaintance of the victim, Kaplan said in the joint statement with Woodbridge police Chief William Trenery.

The fire was reported at about 4:45 p.m. Feb. 14 by a passerby who reported seeing flames coming from the Jansen Avenue home. Kaur’s body was discovered inside the home and authorities later determined she had been killed before the fire started.

Kaplan and Trenery said Singh took property from the house before fleeing, but declined to say exactly what was missing.

The flames were confined to the front living room, said fire officials. The fire was burning for less than 10 minutes before it was reported. Neighbors saw firefighters bring out Kaur's badly burned body.

Kaur and her husband had previously lived in Carteret. Neighbors in Woodbridge said the couple moved into the Avenel home less than two years ago. They lived there with a son, who is in high school, and a daughter who is in her 20s.

Singh is being held on $2 million bail at the Middlesex County jail in North Brunswick.

Authorities ask that anybody with information about the crime call Woodbridge police Detective Shayne Bodnar at (732) 634-7000, or Investigator Michael Daniewicz of the prosecutor’s office at (732) 745-4018.

ATLANTIC CITY — To Atlantic City Councilman Marty Small and one of his co-defendants in their voter fraud trial, the testimony of a prosecution witness was so false it was laughable. So when the testimony was played back for the jury, that's what they did. That "irresponsible behavior" earned them a tongue-lashing from Superior Court Judge Raymond Batten, who...

AP Photo/Ben FoglettoAtlantic City Councilman Marty Small.

ATLANTIC CITY — To Atlantic City Councilman Marty Small and one of his co-defendants in their voter fraud trial, the testimony of a prosecution witness was so false it was laughable.

So when the testimony was played back for the jury, that's what they did.

That "irresponsible behavior" earned them a tongue-lashing from Superior Court Judge Raymond Batten, who warned Small, LuQuay Zahir and several defense attorneys that such conduct would not be tolerated when the playback resumes on Monday morning.

"The jury does not deserve to be distracted by that irresponsible conduct," an agitated Batten said after the jury had been dismissed for the day. "It will not happen again."

The defendants and their attorneys did not respond to the criticism.

The judge said the men were reacting dismissively to testimony of a prosecution witness whose credibility was being challenged on the stand. Playback of that testimony was not completed when court adjourned for the day.

The jury re-started deliberations this morning with a new juror who replaced one dismissed by the judge on Thursday after she violated a court order by discussing the case with a friend. The juror said she was so distraught at how jury deliberations were going that she was prepared to break her own arm in order to get off the jury.

Batten dismissed her, but warned her she could face criminal prosecution for violating a court order.

Small and five co-defendants are accused of trying to steal the June 2009 Atlantic City mayoral primary by manipulating or tampering with absentee ballots.

The defense denies the allegations, and says the prosecution's case rests entirely on the word of a cocaine dealer looking to substantially reduce his prison sentence by secretly recording conversations with Small and others.

Small, who could get 10 to 25 years in prison if convicted, was acquitted of similar charges in 2006 stemming from a mayoral election in which he was not a candidate.

Previous coverage:

• Juror distraught over Atlantic City voter fraud trial is dismissed

• Deliberations in Atlantic City voter fraud trial enter third day

• Jurors still weighing fate of Atlantic City Councilman Marty Small in voter fraud trial

• Jury deliberations begin in voter fraud trial of Atlantic City Councilman Marty Small

• Atlantic City Councilman Marty Small forged absentee ballots, prosecutor says in closing statement

• Attorney: Atlantic City Councilman Marty Small's fraud trial based only on drug dealer's claim

RAHWAY — They sat in a van bearing the name of a Rahway deli as they hunted for deer roaming a remote section of a Rutgers University campus in Piscataway. Subsequently the two men took the deer parts to the deli, said state wildlife officials. The men, Gerard Kirk, 25, of the Colonia section of Woodbridge, and Peter Ward,...

Tony Kurdzuk/The Star-LedgerA deer stands on its hind legs, reaching up to feed from the higher branches of an evergreen tree on a farm on the East Amwell/Hopewell border in this 2009 file photo.

RAHWAY — They sat in a van bearing the name of a Rahway deli as they hunted for deer roaming a remote section of a Rutgers University campus in Piscataway.

Subsequently the two men took the deer parts to the deli, said state wildlife officials.

The men, Gerard Kirk, 25, of the Colonia section of Woodbridge, and Peter Ward, 45, of Rahway, face charges of illegal hunting the deer and improperly handling parts they brought to the Big Belly Delly in Rahway.

Both men have been charged hunting with the aid of a motor vehicle, failing to have proper hunting permits, and having an uncased firearm in a motor vehicle, said Mark Chicketano, acting chief of enforcement for the state Division of Fish and Wildlife.

Kirk and Ward are also charged with improperly marking deer parts, and Kirk is charged with improperly tagging 10 antlers, Chicketano said.

Rutgers police also charged the men with having a firearm on university property, and charged Kirk with driving while intoxicated, officials said. The Fish and Wildlife charges are summonses that can be heard in municipal court.

Chicketano said the state began an investigation Jan. 25, after Rutgers police received reports of gunshots on the Livingston campus. Police received information the shots were coming from a white van.

Police and state investigators arrested Kirk and Ward in a deli van on the campus.

The driver was "driving slow, in a manner consistent with deer poaching," Chicketano said.

Investigators also spent about six days on surveillance outside the deli and saw deer parts being brought into the business, Chicketano said.

Undercover state investigators went into the deli and purchased chili and raw ground meat. Investigators also got a search warrant for the business and confiscated 300 pounds of venison, Chicketano said.

However, authorities have not determined if the deer meat that Kirk and Ward allegedly brought into the store was sold to customers.

"The case is still under investigation," said Larry Ragonese, spokesman for the state Department of Environmental Protection, which includes Fish and Wildlife.

A woman at Kirk’s home said late today he was not there. A message left at the deli late today was not returned. Attempts to contact Ward were unsuccessful.

Related coverage:

• Essex County deer hunt killed 339 deer at county-owned recreation areas

• Deer hunt in Union County meant to prevent destruction of forest vegetation, officials say

• Disabled hunters will go gunning for deer at Hunterdon golf course

• Millville man charged in fatal hit and run allegedly used deer meat to hide crime

• DOT investigates dozens of dead deer dumped along interstates in Morris County

NEWARK — Two mothers sat weeping in the same courtroom Friday: Andrea Bryant, for her young son who was killed on a Newark street corner, and Rochelle Williams, for her teenage son who pulled the trigger. They watched as Isiah Hemphill, 19, admitted firing a single shot into a group of boys at 2:30 a.m. on Aug. 17, 2009....

NEWARK — Two mothers sat weeping in the same courtroom Friday: Andrea Bryant, for her young son who was killed on a Newark street corner, and Rochelle Williams, for her teenage son who pulled the trigger.

They watched as Isiah Hemphill, 19, admitted firing a single shot into a group of boys at 2:30 a.m. on Aug. 17, 2009. The bullet struck 14-year-old Keith Calhoun in the back. He died 30 minutes later.

Charged with murder, Hemphill accepted a plea deal to aggravated manslaughter and unlawful possession of a weapon, and likely faces a 15-year prison term when he is sentenced next month.

Dressed in a white shirt, baggy sweatpants and sneakers, Hemphill told Superior Court Judge Peter Ryan in Newark he was called to the scene by his aunt and cousin, Emmanuel Holliday, now 19, who was also charged with murder. Emmanuel and his mother, Angelie Holliday, who is also Hemphill’s aunt, had been arguing with Keith and a handful of boys, and needed help, Hemphill said.

After a confrontation, Hemphill pulled out a semiautomatic handgun and fired at the teens "to scare them," he said. He spoke without emotion, responding to questions from his attorney with one- or two-word answers.

After court, Williams said her son was upset, but said he didn’t want "to let no one see him cry," adding that she wanted to apologize for him to Keith’s family.

Prosecutors said the plea deal was the best result given that Hemphill fired just one shot into the group, making it difficult to prove he targeted Keith.

That was little consolation to Bryant.

"He should have gotten life. He murdered a child," she said. "For him to admit he knowingly fired into the crowd and didn’t care who he shot, that’s hard to swallow."

Keith’s death prompted calls for tougher enforcement of the city’s curfew law, and led police to issue more citations to juveniles who violated it. But as the spotlight dimmed, the crackdown eased. Though critics of the curfew law have called it ineffective and overly broad, Bryant said she supports it, adding that Keith had snuck out of the house that night.

Hemphill said he rode his bicycle several blocks to the corner of South 7th Street and 12th Avenue after receiving the phone calls from his cousin and aunt. There are differing accounts of what led to that initial confrontation. Bryant claims Emmanuel Holliday was fuming because Keith had beaten him up days earlier, but Essex County Assistant Prosecutor Ralph Amirata said the fight appears to have started that night.

Hemphill admitted no one else showed a weapon — his gun was never recovered — and that by firing into a crowd he knew he could have killed someone. He was arrested in Newark three days later, hiding under a bed in a relative’s home.

Holliday was a fugitive until last March, when he was apprehended in Georgia. A grand jury indicted him on a murder charge, though it may be reduced to a count of making terroristic threats, which carries a 5-year prison term, the prosecutor’s office said.

WASHINGTON (Bergen County) — A Washington Township man was shot and killed by police early this morning after a stand-off with officers, Bergen County Prosecutor John Molinelli said. The man, whose name was not immediately released, fired at police before officers returned fire, Molinelli said. Three officers were involved, Molinelli said, and none was injured. The prosecutor would not...

Google MapsA map view of the 500 block of Jackson Avenue in Washington Township, where police shot and killed a man after he shot at them during a stand-off this morning.

WASHINGTON (Bergen County) — A Washington Township man was shot and killed by police early this morning after a stand-off with officers, Bergen County Prosecutor John Molinelli said.

The man, whose name was not immediately released, fired at police before officers returned fire, Molinelli said. Three officers were involved, Molinelli said, and none was injured. The prosecutor would not say what prompted the stand-off.

Officers from Washington Township, Westwood and Hillsdale responded to the 500 block of Jackson Avenue at around 1:30 this morning. An investigation is ongoing, Molinelli said.

JERSEY CITY — One of Hudson County’s most powerful operatives, a close and feared associate of Jersey City Mayor Jerramiah Healy, was secretly on the payroll of infamous FBI informant Solomon Dwek, according to a confidential government surveillance video. Harold "Bud" Demellier — a key Democratic strategist who ran Healy’s 2009 re-election campaign — can be seen on the...

Tony Kurdzuk/The Star-LedgerFailed real estate developer Solomon Dwek is led out of the courtroom after pleading guilty to misconduct by a corporate official in October 2009 at the Monmouth County courthouse.

JERSEY CITY — One of Hudson County’s most powerful operatives, a close and feared associate of Jersey City Mayor Jerramiah Healy, was secretly on the payroll of infamous FBI informant Solomon Dwek, according to a confidential government surveillance video.

Harold "Bud" Demellier — a key Democratic strategist who ran Healy’s 2009 re-election campaign — can be seen on the video, talking with Dwek about politics and making calls on his behalf in connection with several development deals. Those projects were later revealed to be part of a massive FBI undercover sting.

Demellier, in an interview, did not deny an association with Dwek and admitted Dwek paid him $20,000 in cash for consulting work. Demellier said he did nothing wrong.

Unlike others caught up in the investigation, he was never charged, arrested or even named in any of the criminal complaints that ensnared more than 44 mayors, legislators, Orthodox rabbis and others in the summer of 2009.

The surveillance video was discovered as part of the research for a new book on the federal investigation, "The Jersey Sting: A true story of corrupt pols, money laundering rabbis, black market kidneys, and the informant who brought it all down." It is to be released Tuesday by St. Martin’s Press.

The disclosures mark the first time that Demellier has been linked to the case, and the most vivid sign yet of just how close the FBI was moving toward the mayor of the state’s second-largest city.

Demellier, a political kingmaker whose connections helped
land him a $127,800-a-year job as director of the Hudson County Department of Roads and Public Property, said he met several times with Dwek — a man he knew at the time as David Esenbach.

"This was someone I thought was involved in a syndicate that had money," he said from behind the desk in his seventh-floor corner office of the county administration building. It is the same office that can be seen in the surveillance video Dwek shot.

"The Jersey Sting: A true story of corrupt pols, money laundering rabbis, black market kidneys, and the informant who brought it all down" is scheduled to be released Tuesday by St. Martin's Press.

Healy, through a spokeswoman, declined comment.

Former acting U.S. Attorney Ralph Marra, who was running the investigation when it became public, had nothing to say about Demellier. The current U.S. attorney, Paul Fishman, said he would not discuss any pieces of the Dwek case that have not been made public through official channels, including what — if anything — investigators were pursuing in connection with Healy.

Federal prosecutors never made it a secret that they were interested in Healy. Never accused of any wrongdoing in connection with the case, the colorful Jersey City mayor nevertheless played a starring role in other stark surveillance videos captured by Dwek. At a March 2009 sit-down at the Medical Center Luncheonette, Healy met with political consultant Jack Shaw, Jersey City Housing Authority commissioner Ed Cheatam, Deputy Mayor Leona Beldini and Dwek.

The FBI informant played the role of a corrupt developer in the three-year-long corruption and money-laundering probe.

TOP OF THE PILE

At the meeting, Healy did not respond to any of Dwek’s attempts to draw him into the sting. At one point, he tells the mayor he wants his permit applications on the "top" of the pile.

Healy simply laughs.

"We like to smooth the path for people to invest in our city," was all the mayor said, referring Dwek to the city’s planning office.

In other surveillance recordings and transcripts released during Beldini’s trial, Shaw was also heard trying to set up meetings aimed at putting Dwek and Healy together.

Beldini was ultimately convicted in February 2010 of accepting $20,000 in illegal campaign contributions for Healy’s campaign. Shaw died just days after his arrest in the case.

Demellier’s introduction to Dwek came at the end of a chain of meetings with others tied to the sting operation, which the FBI called Operation Bid Rig III. According to records and transcripts, Maher Khalil, then-Jersey City’s assistant director of health and a former member of the zoning board who has already pleaded guilty in the case, put Dwek in touch with former Jersey City councilman Tom Fricchione. Then Fricchione introduced Esenbach to Demellier.

Fricchione died in December 2009. His name never surfaced in connection with the Dwek investigation, but he was a recurring character in the FBI’s surveillance recordings.

In those videos, Demellier and Dwek talk politics and poll numbers before turning their attention to how to get zoning approvals to build a luxury condo development in Jersey City. The project, located in an industrial section of the city atop a chromium waste site, was bogus and concocted by the FBI as part of the sting.

Demellier on the video tells Dwek he was moving ahead with getting the approvals in place to build the massive Garfield Avenue project. Demellier can be heard instructing him on which lawyer to hire: "I’ll call him and tell him to expect it. … Actually I’m on his payroll for various things in other places."

As the discussion shifted to another proposed project in Bayonne, where Demellier had connections as well, the county official immediately took out his BlackBerry and punched in the number of Bayonne City Hall, leaving a message for the mayor’s chief of staff.

"A friend of mine, I understand, submitted some drawings … when you get a chance give me a call, we can chat a little bit about it," he can be heard saying on the video.

NO PLANS

Demellier, when asked about the surveillance video and his meetings with Dwek, said he had an outside consulting company called DUB Inc. He had agreed to help the man he knew as Esenbach with development opportunities. "He never showed any knowledge of zoning laws," Demellier said. "He never had any building plans. I got irritated a little because he had no plans."

He did not believe the consulting business conflicted with his role as a county official. He said Dwek never gave him money for Healy’s campaign. He denied ever trying to sell influence.

At first, he said he not spoken with FBI agents about the matter. A few minutes later, he corrected himself and said he spoke to the FBI only once, when one of the agents connected to the case called after the takedown. But, he said, "they didn’t ask me anything."

Demellier said he is not cooperating with federal investigators.

"People that know me know that’s not something they should believe," he stated.

He still has the $20,000 in cash that he received from Dwek. Demellier said he has never been asked to give it back.

By Ted Sherman and Josh Margolin/For The Star-Ledger

NJ corruption trial hidden camera video of Solomon Dwek talking to Jerramiah Healy

MOUNT HOLLY — A southern New Jersey man who admitted scamming several investors who gave him money for bogus business and real estate deals has been sentenced to nearly six years in federal prison. Fifty-two-year-old Martin Gevers of Burlington also must pay nearly $1.2 million in restitution. And he will have to serve three years of supervised release once he's...

MOUNT HOLLY — A southern New Jersey man who admitted scamming several investors who gave him money for bogus business and real estate deals has been sentenced to nearly six years in federal prison.

Fifty-two-year-old Martin Gevers of Burlington also must pay nearly $1.2 million in restitution. And he will have to serve three years of supervised release once he's freed.

Gevers had pleaded guilty last November to wire fraud and money laundering charges.

Prosecutors say he used phony documents that claimed his net worth was more than $14 million to scam about $1.5 million overall from 11 investors between November 2005 and December 2008. He then used the money for personal expenses.

Gevers told investors he couldn't his own assets because they had been frozen due to divorce proceedings.

CRANFORD — The 22-year-old Warren woman found dead in a Cranford basement Sunday afternoon was the victim of a homicide, authorities said. Police found an unresponsive Pamela Schmidt inside the home on Greaves Place around noon, Union County Prosecutor Theodore Romankow said this morning. His office has a person of interest in mind, he said, but has not filed...

Google MapsA woman found dead in the basement of a Cranford home on Greaves Place was the victim of a homicide, authorities say.

CRANFORD — The 22-year-old Warren woman found dead in a Cranford basement Sunday afternoon was the victim of a homicide, authorities said.

Police found an unresponsive Pamela Schmidt inside the home on Greaves Place around noon, Union County Prosecutor Theodore Romankow said this morning. His office has a person of interest in mind, he said, but has not filed charges as of 10 a.m.

Schmidt was pronounced dead at the scene, authorities said. Following an autopsy, the county medical examiner ruled her death a homicide, saying she suffered “traumatic injuries,” Romankow said.

The prosecutor said her death appeared “to be a tragic isolated incident.”

ELIZABETH — A decidedly upbeat Roselle mayor appeared in court this morning to face charges of insurance fraud and other related counts. “Not guilty,” was the plea that Garrett Smith’s high-profile attorney, Thomas R. Ashley of Newark, entered with the court. The 49-year-old Smith, a tall and thin outspoken Democrat, said nothing during his brief appearance before Superior Court...

Ed Murray/The Star-LedgerRoselle Mayor Garrett Smith was arraigned before Superior Court Judge Stuart Peim in the Union County Courthouse in Elizabeth today. He is with his attorney Thomas R. Ashley.

ELIZABETH — A decidedly upbeat Roselle mayor appeared in court this morning to face charges of insurance fraud and other related counts.

“Not guilty,” was the plea that Garrett Smith’s high-profile attorney, Thomas R. Ashley of Newark, entered with the court.

The 49-year-old Smith, a tall and thin outspoken Democrat, said nothing during his brief appearance before Superior Court Judge Stuart Peim in Elizabeth.

Minutes later, Smith, dressed in a dark pinstripe suit, said he was still committed to his reelection campaign despite the accusations against him, which include lying to police.

"It's just made me stronger and more dedicated to what I have to do," Smith said in a courthouse lounge, where he pointed to several people who came with him today and said his support is growing.

The mayor was accused in January of leaving a bar early Christmas Day, crashing into a parked car, then driving home — leaving a trail of automotive fluid that police tracked to his garage door, according to Union County Prosecutor Theodore Romankow.

The day after the incident, authorities said, Smith moved his car into the street as a blizzard bore down on New Jersey. Smith later told police and his insurance company that someone else damaged his car — perhaps a snowplow driver, Romankow said.

He was indicted on three counts: one charging insurance fraud, and two charging filing a false police report. If convicted, he faces up to 10 years in prison and could not hold public office.

Ashley, his attorney, said after court this morning that the mayor is innocent and pointed out that none of the charges relate to his leadership of Roselle.

"There was never any intention, whatsoever, to defraud the insurance company. An accident did occur, and an insurance company was obligated to pay for the damages to the mayor’s vehicle,” Ashley said, adding that Smith also never made any intentional “misrepresentation” to law enforcement.

Smith, elected in 2003, is staunchly independent of the county Democratic organization and leader of a fiercely political borough in Union County. He announced he would a seek a third term on Jan. 25, a month after the alleged incident and a day before his indictment.

Councilman Jamel Holley, an organization Democrat, announced a day before Smith that he was running for mayor. In a January statement, he said it was a “sad day” for Roselle when Smith was indicted.

Smith will appear in court again on April 4.

TRENTON — The case against former Middlesex County sheriff Joseph Spicuzzo widened today, as state authorities arrested a sheriff's officer accused of working as his bagman. Spicuzzo, arrested March 7, is accused of accepting at least $50,000 in bribes in return for jobs and promotions. State authorities said the officer arrested today, Paul Lucarelli, accepted a $25,000 bribe from...

Patti Sapone/The Star-LedgerFormer Middlesex County Sheriff Joseph Spicuzzo surrenders at State Police Troop C barracks in Hamilton last week.

TRENTON — The case against former Middlesex County sheriff Joseph Spicuzzo widened today, as state authorities arrested a sheriff's officer accused of working as his bagman.

Spicuzzo, arrested March 7, is accused of accepting at least $50,000 in bribes in return for jobs and promotions.

State authorities said the officer arrested today, Paul Lucarelli, accepted a $25,000 bribe from a recruit and delivered it to Spicuzzo in his county office.

Lucarelli, 45, of South River, was arrested at his home this morning, authorities said.

The arrest also implicates the union responsible for representing the interests of sheriff's officers. Lucarelli is the longtime president of State Policemen's Benevolent Association Local 165.

Lucarelli is charged with conspiracy to commit official misconduct and conspiracy to commit bribery. Each charge has a mandatory minimum sentence of five years in prison without parole.

He has since been released and suspended without pay from his position in the sheriff's office. Lucarelli has worked for the sheriff's office for 23 years and earns $79,972 annually, according to county records.

Spicuzzo allegedly accepted bribes in 2007 and 2008 from at least three people, either recruits seeking to become sheriff's investigators or investigators seeking promotions. Unlike sheriff's officers, investigators are not hired through the civil service system.

Spicuzzo's arrest has shaken the Middlesex County Democratic establishment. He served as sheriff for 30 years until announcing he would not seek reelection last year. In addition, he ran the county Democratic Party for 16 years before stepping down as chairman hours after his arrest last week.

He is due in Superior Court in Monmouth County on Tuesday afternoon.

Star-Ledger staff writer Tom Haydon contributed to this report.

Previous coverage:

• Gov. Christie calls for Joseph Spicuzzo's resignation from N.J. sports authority

• Carteret mayor announces bid for Middlesex County Democratic chairman

• Former Middlesex County Sheriff Joseph Spicuzzo is accused of selling jobs, promotions

• Joseph Spicuzzo resigns as chairman of Middlesex County Democratic Organization

• Middlesex County Democratic Chairman Joseph Spicuzzo turns himself in to face corruption charges

• Mixing Middlesex politics and law enforcement

HILLSIDE — The children of the man who owns Pop’s Diner in Hillside managed to disarm a gunman who was trying to rob their restaurant Sunday morning, authorities said Robert T. Nappi, a 34-year-old East Orange man, walked into the Hillside Avenue diner wearing a ski mask around 8:30 a.m. Sunday, said Detective Lt. Vincent Ricciardi, a spokesman for...

Google Maps A map view of Hillside Avenue in Hillside, where the owner of a diner, and his sons, disarmed a gunman.

HILLSIDE — The children of the man who owns Pop’s Diner in Hillside managed to disarm a gunman who was trying to rob their restaurant Sunday morning, authorities said

Robert T. Nappi, a 34-year-old East Orange man, walked into the Hillside Avenue diner wearing a ski mask around 8:30 a.m. Sunday, said Detective Lt. Vincent Ricciardi, a spokesman for the township police. He pointed a black handgun at the diner’s owner and one of his sons and demanded cash, Ricciardi said.

But that son responded by punching the robber in the face, prompting both men to fall the floor where a struggle for the gun ensued, authorities said. Another son, asleep in a back office, was woken up by the commotion and he joined the struggle, disarming Nappi as his father and brother continued to wrestle with the man, Ricciardi said.

Eventually, they were able to hold the robber down until township police arrived, arrested Nappi and recovered a 9 mm handgun, the spokesman said.

Nappi is charged with robbery, resisting arrest and numerous weapons counts, including one for possessing a gun with a prior conviction for an indictable offense, police said. Bail had not been set by this morning.

ROXBURY — A pair of Budd Lake men have been charged with stealing $10 from a 79-year-old woman in Roxbury, police said. Stephen Ference and Brian Gurnee, both 22, allegedly pulled their car behind the victim as she was loading groceries into her trunk on March 6. Ference jumped from Gurnee’s car and took the victim’s purse from the...

Google MapsTwo Budd Lake men are accused of stealing $10 from a 79-year-old woman on Route 10 in Roxbury.

ROXBURY — A pair of Budd Lake men have been charged with stealing $10 from a 79-year-old woman in Roxbury, police said.

Stephen Ference and Brian Gurnee, both 22, allegedly pulled their car behind the victim as she was loading groceries into her trunk on March 6. Ference jumped from Gurnee’s car and took the victim’s purse from the shopping cart, according to Roxbury police Detective Sam Zarro.

As Gurnee drove away, a witness heard the victim scream and obtained Gurnee’s license plate number, Zarro said. The pair were located and arrested Thursday. Gurnee and Ference were charged with theft and released pending their court appearances.