NEWARK — While trying to serve a warrant today on a man for failure to pay child support, Essex County sheriff’s officers arrested his younger brother inside the apartment, after discovering an automatic rifle, a powerful handgun and drugs. When officers went to serve the warrant on Kenneth Jackson, the 49-year-old man wasn’t inside the Oxford Street home. After...

Google MapsPolice arrested a man in his Oxford Street home in Newark after entering it to serve an unrelated warrant to his brother.

NEWARK — While trying to serve a warrant today on a man for failure to pay child support, Essex County sheriff’s officers arrested his younger brother inside the apartment, after discovering an automatic rifle, a powerful handgun and drugs.

When officers went to serve the warrant on Kenneth Jackson, the 49-year-old man wasn’t inside the Oxford Street home. After officers entered, they discovered the guns and drugs in the bedroom of 22-year-old Al-Tariq Jackson, Essex County Sheriff Armando Fontoura said.

After spotting the officers and trying to flee, Al-Tariq Jackson was arrested, the sheriff said. Seized from his room were a loaded, .454 caliber Casull revolver and a fully loaded .40 caliber Kel-Tec semiautomatic rifle, along with an amount of heroin and crack cocaine, authorities said. He was charged with drugs and weapons possession.

Another roommate, Quadir McClean, was arrested on an open warrant in Newark.

Kenneth Jackson was still being sought.

More Newark coverage at NJ.com/Newark

WOODBRIDGE — Authorities arrested a New York man today and charged him with illegally disposing of the body of a Colonia man who was found near the curb on Willow Avenue in Woodbridge Wednesday morning. Middlesex County Prosecutor Bruce Kaplan said Frank Barbaccia, 43, of Congers, N.Y., was arrested at police headquarters and charged with failure to dispose of...

Google MapsA map view of Willow Avenue in Woodbridge, where a 26-year-old man was discovered lying dead in the street on Wednesday morning.

WOODBRIDGE — Authorities arrested a New York man today and charged him with illegally disposing of the body of a Colonia man who was found near the curb on Willow Avenue in Woodbridge Wednesday morning.

Middlesex County Prosecutor Bruce Kaplan said Frank Barbaccia, 43, of Congers, N.Y., was arrested at police headquarters and charged with failure to dispose of human remains as required by law.

Kaplan said Barbaccia left Nicholas Sorice, 26, on the side of the road, near Route 27, believing he had died. The two men were acquaintances, the prosecutor said.

Barbaccia is also charged with hindering his own apprehension by giving false statements to police, Kaplan said.

The investigation began Wednesday morning at 5:39 a.m. when a motorist called 911 and reported a man laying near the curb on Willow Avenue near Route 27. Sorice was pronounced dead at 6:01 a.m.

An autopsy performed by the county medical examiner's office did not immediately determine the cause of death and additional testing is underway, Kaplan said.

Bail was set for Barbaccia at $50,000, but he was still in custody as of this afternoon.

Previous coverage:

• Colonia man is found dead in Iselin section of Woodbridge

PLAINFIELD — There was peace on the city's killing streets this evening, and people hope it will last. Members of two rival gangs joined the mayor, residents, and church and community groups a day after publicly announcing a truce in a street war that has seen a rising death toll in the last two years. Chanting "Stop the violence,"...

Mitsu Yasukawa/For the Star LedgerFrancis Lockley takes part in a peace march on West Third Street in Plainfield.

PLAINFIELD — There was peace on the city's killing streets this evening, and people hope it will last.

Members of two rival gangs joined the mayor, residents, and church and community groups a day after publicly announcing a truce in a street war that has seen a rising death toll in the last two years.

Chanting "Stop the violence," "I'm fed up," and "I can't take no more," about 30 people, including several young children holding a turquoise cloth with a peace sign design, walked along West Third Street from Prescott Place to Plainfield Avenue.

As they walked past a shuttered and derelict grocery store that had been spray-painted with the words "RIP SHAP" and "R.I.P. QUANTREY," residents looked out of their Cape Cod homes. Some were indifferent, but most were clapped and cheered.

"I’m so proud," said Loretta Thomas, 55, who has lived on the street for about 20 years. "I’m just ecstatic"

Thomas, a nursing assistant who lives with her daughter and grandchildren in the home, said the violence had escalated enough that she was afraid to walk her dog in the neighborhood, day or night.

"It’s just not right when you’re scared to come out and sit on your own porch," she said.

On Thursday, after talks over lunch, representatives from both sides met with Mayor Sharon Robinson-Briggs to announce a cease-fire and attempts at reconciliation. Several members of the groups, named by members as Third Street and Liberty Street, said they once played together as children, but later divided along lines that could mean death in this city of 50,000.

Police have identified the organizations as G-Shine and Sex, Money, Murder, both subsets of the Bloods.

Regardless of what they are called, the groups — members disdain the word "gangs" — have been engaged in a collective, decades-long rivalry that, authorities say, has turned particularly vicious recently. "I think this is going to go a long way," said Tayir Pugh, a member of one of the groups privy to the truce.

Pugh, 28, said he was from "the other side" of Plainfield Avenue. "Two weeks ago, you couldn’t catch us here," he said. Born and raised in Plainfield, he said the violence threatened to consume even those who once might have advocated for it.

"I’ve been through a lot of stress," he said. "I’ve lost too many of my friends."

Steven Hatcher, who leads the Plainfield chapter of People’s Organization for Progress and has organized peace marches in the city for nearly seven years, called the announcement "a monumental achievement."

He said just the sight of former rivals hugging was "true testimony."

"I have to believe" the truce can last, he said. "The least we can do is believe in them."

LACEY — A Girl Scout leader in Lacey has been charged with stealing more than $6,000 in cookie sales from her troop, according to a report on APP.com. Christine E. Sandella, 28, allegedly altered checks the girls of Troop 258 submitted by inserting her name on them, the report said. She has been charged with theft by deception, theft...

AP fileIf you bought Girl Scout cookies from Troop 258 in Lacey, your order may be delayed -- a mother was charged with stealing more than $6,000 in cookie sales from the troop.

LACEY — A Girl Scout leader in Lacey has been charged with stealing more than $6,000 in cookie sales from her troop, according to a report on APP.com.

Christine E. Sandella, 28, allegedly altered checks the girls of Troop 258 submitted by inserting her name on them, the report said. She has been charged with theft by deception, theft of movable property, forgery and uttering a forged document. The stolen funds have all been recovered.

More Lacey news

ELIZABETH — What started with Millburn police following a suspected shoplifter from the Mall at Short Hills today ended with the man leaping off the Goethals Bridge following a fiery crash. Details were murky about 8 p.m., but authorities said Millburn police began following a man’s car from the Mall at Short Hills shortly after 6:30 p.m. after he...

Joe Epstein/The Star-LedgerFile photo of the Goethals Bridge in Elizabeth.

ELIZABETH — What started with Millburn police following a suspected shoplifter from the Mall at Short Hills today ended with the man leaping off the Goethals Bridge following a fiery crash.

Details were murky about 8 p.m., but authorities said Millburn police began following a man’s car from the Mall at Short Hills shortly after 6:30 p.m. after he was suspected of shoplifting.

Though New Jersey State Police spokesman Sgt. Stephen Jones said it didn’t appear as though the pursuit ever evolved into a high-speed chase, police followed him onto the Goethals Bridge, where a collision occurred.

Jones said the man’s car was engulfed in flames. Before police could apprehend him, the man got out of the car and leaped over the edge of the Goethals Bridge.

It’s unclear how high the bridge span is where the man leaped off of it, and while his condition is not known, Jones said he was alive when police found him.

The Goethals Bridge was closed briefly but has since been reopened, according to Port Authority.

More Elizabeth news

NEWARK — Samuel Douglas Nash finished what his son didn’t have the chance to start. Nash graduated from Essex County Community College last week, four years and a few days after his son was gunned down in Newark, shot multiple times as he sat behind the wheel of a parked car. "I’m finishing for him," the 56-year-old father said....

NEWARK — Samuel Douglas Nash finished what his son didn’t have the chance to start.

Nash graduated from Essex County Community College last week, four years and a few days after his son was gunned down in Newark, shot multiple times as he sat behind the wheel of a parked car.

"I’m finishing for him," the 56-year-old father said. "And not give violence the victory."

His son, Saud I. Goosby, 25, who was known as Prince, had been arrested multiple times and was twice convicted on weapons and drug charges. Although Goosby was on probation when he was killed, Nash said there were indications he was trying to shed the gangster’s cloak.

Goosby was engaged to be married, thinking of a career in real estate and about to start classes at the Essex County college. He had already bought some course books.

If the son’s aspirations were forever deferred by a hail of bullets, the father found — after a time — renewed inspiration. "I didn’t want to become a victim of vengeance," he said.

Soon after starting at Essex, Nash found motivation turned into responsibility.

"I didn’t come here so much for an education, but to be an inspiration, to make a contribution," Nash said in the school’s cafeteria, a day before he would receive his diploma along with 1,200 others at the Prudential Center.

"I want them to see, I want to encourage them, show them it can be done, despite the pitfalls and the traps," he said.

Nash, a large, broad-shouldered man, said he has known a few of those.

"I was out there," Nash added. "I know all the ills."

After his street career wound down — mostly by choice, Nash said, though he did serve a short stint in jail on attempted theft charges — he mastered other skills.

Nash, who also goes by the name King Sau, worked for a time as communications director for the Street Warriors, a Newark-based organization that counsels youths to shun the streets’ preoccupations, several of which — hustler, user, militant — he knows well.

He also has written and published poems, comic books, pamphlets, fragments of memoirs and, in 2002, a novel-length, semifictional account of inner-city life. Nash is a longtime resident of Newark’s Seth Boyden public housing complex.

"Every day I’m with them," he said of the projects’ more notorious inhabitants.

"I’m just as gangster as you," he tells them. "But I’m also educated."

And that’s his calling card.

"Education," Nash said he tells them, "is the great equalizer."

He brought those experiences to the classroom, adding texture to the gloss found in textbooks.

"As an older student, he brings a realistic assessment of the world out there that younger students don’t often have," said David Berry, a professor of history at the college. Those considerations frequently led to "remarkable discussions."

Nash struggled to conquer math, but flourished otherwise, and was accepted into the college’s honors program soon after taking Berry’s world-civilization class. Berry, the honors program’s director, said Nash thrived.

"He’s someone that makes his views known and is willing to be challenged," the professor said. "He’s always someone willing to listen and to learn."

Nash, whose capstone project was a 35-page essay on Oscar Micheaux, a pioneering African-American feature filmmaker, finished at Essex with a 3.71 grade-point average. He received an acceptance letter from New York University last week.

Poet, peacemaker, honors graduate.

"I am," he said, "all of the things I decided to be."

SOMERSET COUNTY — Last winter, three Branchburg police officers responded to an early morning call at a Quick Chek store expecting to deal with a shoplifter. The would-be thief, however, came armed with a high-powered weapon, ammunition, a bulletproof vest and an apparent appetite for warfare. After a search and a scuffle, patrolmen Steven Cronce and Robert Stober and now-retired...

SOMERSET COUNTY — Last winter, three Branchburg police officers responded to an early morning call at a Quick Chek store expecting to deal with a shoplifter. The would-be thief, however, came armed with a high-powered weapon, ammunition, a bulletproof vest and an apparent appetite for warfare.

After a search and a scuffle, patrolmen Steven Cronce and Robert Stober and now-retired Officer Robert Farrigan managed to take down the man in an arrest that ultimately led investigators to a weapons cache in a local motel room.

The 200 Club of Somerset County honored the trio with valor awards Wednesday for their work in apprehending Lloyd Woodson, a Virginia man indicted on weapons charges and attempted robbery.

Also honored were Franklin Township police corporals Michael Price and Daniel McNamara for their bravery in a domestic dispute call that turned deadly, and Somerville police officer George Obiedzinski, who stopped an axe-and-sledgehammer-wielding man during a traffic stop last year on Holly Glen Road.

More than 200 people attended the ceremony at the Bridgewater Manor on Route 202/206, 200 Club officials said. The group also awarded $2,500 scholarships to 13 high-school students.

For Cronce and the Branchburg officers, the greatest honor is being alive. They said Woodson told them he had the chance to kill them, but passed on the opportunity.

"He said (to Farrigan) that it wasn’t his time," said Stober, 38.

Cronce, 34, was the first officer to respond to the 3:55 a.m. call, walking through the Quick Chek store on Route 22 and making Woodson anxious.

Woodson ran out of the store and hid in the hedges in a nearby trailer park. Stober and Farrigan joined Cronce in the search, and that’s when the suspect allegedly believed he had the chance to shoot.

"I think it hit me when I got home," said Farrigan, 47. "He definitely could have changed the whole outcome."

When Woodson was spotted, he allegedly ran, fighting the officers and brushing off pepper spray as he went down.

Investigators later learned the man had a cache of weapons in a room at the Red Mill Inn, a collection that authorities said included another bulletproof vest, an assault rifle, a map of Fort Drum, N.Y., a police scanner and what appeared to be a homemade grenade launcher. Woodson, of Reston, Va., faces a federal charge of being a convicted felon in possession of weapons.

Branchburg Police Chief Brian Fitzgerald commended the actions of the three officers, admiring the way they "conducted themselves even though it meant a lot of danger."

For McNamara, the valor award is a reflection of the bond he shares with Price, his patrol partner. The two were called out to a domestic dispute in August that resulted in a man aiming a gun at them. Price shot the man, saving both officers.

"We hunt together and we fish together," McNamara said. "He’s a brother to me."

This week will mark the 20-year anniversary of the disappearance of Timothy Wiltsey, whose remains were found in a marshy area 11 months later

Vic Yepello/The Star-LedgerMichelle Lodzinski leaves the funeral home to a waiting limo in 1992.

SOUTH AMBOY — He was 5, she was 6, and they were best buddies.

They walked to school together. They dug holes in the backyard to the other side of the world together. Little Timmy Wiltsey was the brother she never had.

"When I graduated college, I thought, ‘Timmy didn’t get to graduate kindergarten,’ " said Tara Packard, now 26. "When I graduated high school, when I got my driver’s license — all these times — I’d think he didn’t get to do this because somebody murdered him."

And there’s Charles Clark. This grizzled, retired detective remembers, too, his voice choking with sorrow over the case he never cracked.

"This is one that I never forget," said the former lead investigator for the Middlesex County Prosecutor’s Office. "You have a lot of people who worked very hard on this case. But it always goes back to the child … a defenseless child."

This week will mark the 20-year anniversary of the disappearance of Timothy Wiltsey, a 5-year-old from South Amboy whose remains were found in a marshy area 11 months after he was reported missing. The case haunted the state and the nation, and it confounded authorities who quickly suspected the boy’s mother — Michelle Lodzinski — had played a role in his death.

Those suspicions have not changed, police say.

NEW LIFE, VIVID MEMORIES

Lodzinski has a new life in Port St. Lucie, Fla., with two kids who never knew their brother. She has repeatedly said she is innocent, and she has never been charged in his death. And the case still haunts New Jersey.

The gravesite for Timmy at St. Joseph’s Cemetery in Keyport shows some neglect today, with weeds sprouting from the foot of the headstone and some old angel statues looking worse for wear.

Noah K. Murray/The Star-LedgerPhoto of the monument at the grave of 5-year-old Timothy Wiltsey, who was murdered 10 years ago. The inscription reads as follows: Precious is this child that shall be loved and cherished forever. His grave is located at St.Joseph's Church Cemetery in Keyport.

The day of his disappearance is still vivid for many who knew him, even 20 years later.

It was May 25, 1991, a sweltering Saturday.

"I had just gone to McDonald’s and was showing him the toy I got in my Happy Meal," Packard said, recalling the previous day. "He asked me if I wanted to go to the carnival. I told him I couldn’t go."

Michelle Lodzinski, a single mother, then 23, and her son Timmy had been to Holmdel Park earlier in the day, she told police. They left around 6 p.m. and arrived at a carnival at John F. Kennedy Memorial Park in Sayreville.

After going on a couple of rides, Lodzinski said she became thirsty and wanted a soda. Timmy did not.

She told police she walked a few feet to a concession stand to buy a Coke. When she turned back, the boy was gone.

Before long, the park was closed, the carnival shut down and a search for Timmy began in earnest with hundreds of police, firefighters, volunteers and search dogs combing the area. There was no sign of the boy.

Within days, discrepancies in Lodzinski’s story emerged and suspicion fell upon her.

Police questioned a woman standing next to Lodzinski at the carnival concession stand that Saturday. She reported that Lodzinski didn’t say anything about her missing child and didn’t seem anxious. Police said not one person at the carnival saw a 50-pound boy with a crew cut, red tank top, red shorts and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle sneakers.

File photoCopy photo of Timothy Wiltsey on a missing persons flyer at the Sayreville police department.

On June 6, under questioning from Sayreville police, Lodzinski changed her story, according to former Sayreville police Capt. Edward Szkodny, who retired last year. Two men, one with a knife, took Timmy away, she said. The stunned detectives pressed her on her new account. But Lodzinski lowered her head and appeared to go into a trance.

"I had to get down on my hands and knees and look up at her to see if she was all right," Szkodny said. "Finally, she walked out, saying she had enough."

Lodzinski returned later in the day with her sister and a friend and said she made up that newer version. The following day, a Monday, she told a third variation — that a female and two males were involved in Timmy’s abduction.

While changing stories made Lodzinski more of a suspect, police said, there was no evidence for charges, nor any stories of past abuse. Timmy’s father, George Wiltsey, who lived in Iowa, was not a part of the boy’s life.

In October, one of Timmy’s sneakers was discovered in isolated marshlands in the Raritan Center in Edison and brought to Sayreville police headquarters.

Months later, the sneaker discovery caught the attention of Ron Butkiewicz, an FBI agent just assigned to the Wiltsey case. He visited the area where the sneaker was found and then interviewed several of Lodzinski’s friends and relatives. Lodzinski’s mother, Alice, told Butkiewicz that her daughter once worked for a company in the Raritan Center.

Star-Ledger file photoTimmy Wiltsey on his first day of school.

The now-retired Butkiewicz said he had her point to it on a map. Her finger covered where Lodzinski worked and where the shoe was found.

"I won’t forget that till the day I die," Butkiewicz said.

A search by the FBI, State Police and Sayreville police took place on April 23, 1992.

"It wasn’t 30 seconds and we found the second shoe, 20 yards away," Butkiewicz said. "I remember thinking, ‘How does a shoe wind up here?’ There was no reason for a parent to have a child in that area."

Two hours later and about 100 yards away, a skull was found. It was identified as Timmy’s through dental records. But due to decomposition, there were no clues offered of how he had died. Authorities took note of Lodzinski’s calm reaction to the findings. Lodzinski asked how she was supposed to behave.

Either way, a missing person’s case had now become a homicide.

NO COMMENT

On the corner of a Port St. Lucie road sits a sky blue home with a couple of palm trees on the front lawn. It is the smallest home on a block of middle-class houses. The dark, wooden blinds are drawn in the windows, but there are other signs of kids. A basketball hoop in the driveway. A bike sprawled by the front door. A pool in the backyard. The deep, heavy bark of a dog.

A young boy calls for his mother. Looking fit and youthful, with dark, chin-length hair with red highlights, Michelle Lodzinski, now 43, comes to the door. But she does not want to talk to a reporter. She backs her head inside, shuts the wooden door and locks it.

Her father, Edward, lives nearby. Looking somewhat defeated by the topic of the past, he also passes.

"I’m tired," he said before closing the door. "It’s been a long memory, that’s all."

Other relatives also declined interviews.

A BIZARRE TALE

Vic Yepello/The Star-LedgerMichelle Lodzinski, third from left, is escorted into Timmy’s funeral Mass at St. Mary's Church in South Amboy by, from left, mother Alice Lodzinski, father Edward Lodzinski, and an unidentified family member in 1992.

In the years after Timmy’s disappearance, Lodzinski’s behavior became even more erratic.

In January 1994, she claimed she was driven to Detroit by two threatening FBI agents. Authorities didn’t believe it.

She soon admitted she concocted the entire story.

"It was just another bizarre twist to the case," said Alan Rockoff, who was the Middlesex County prosecutor when Timmy went missing. "It confirmed to me what we already knew — she was the suspect."

Lodzinski originally pleaded not guilty to federal charges of faking her kidnapping, but later recanted. She was sentenced to six months of house arrest and ordered to seek counseling and apologize to federal authorities.

In December 1997, Lodzinski pleaded guilty to stealing a laptop computer from a former employer. She spent one day in jail for violating terms of probation from the FBI fiasco and was sentenced to another three years of probation in March 1998.

Eight months pregnant with her second child — who is now 13 — she moved to Florida and lived with her sister. That move was brief, however. She met Harold Ostrander on a trip to Minnesota and their friendship evolved into a romance. She moved to Apple Valley, a rural suburb of Minneapolis, and found work as a project manager for a local company.

The couple married in June 2001, according to Minnesota marriage records. But the marriage didn’t last.

Lodzinski returned to Florida and bought her current home in 2003.

For days last week, Lodzinski considered but then declined to answer written questions from The Star-Ledger, citing the advice of her lawyer. She has two children, 9 and 13. She was working as a paralegal for a local firm, but no longer.

Her current employment is not known.

Last August, she took part in a local mini-triathlon, running the 5K portion of the event while two other teammates took on the swimming and running duties, according to the race organizer. She was photographed by a local newspaper at a formal high tea — a fundraiser — at a women’s club holiday luncheon in December 2009.

STILL A SUSPECT

AP PhotoMichelle Lodzinski, seen in an undated photo. Today she looks fit and youthful with chin-length hair.

Sayreville cops periodically review the cold case and keep track of Lodzinski’s whereabouts. She remains a suspect, although police have not approached her in Florida or contacted police there, according to Lt. Timothy Brennan of the Sayreville Police Department.

Jim O’Neill, spokesman for the Middlesex County Prosecutor’s Office, did not respond to multiple requests for the office’s current take on the case. The Star-Ledger first requested comment in March. Ten years ago, former assistant prosecutor Thomas Kapsak said Lodzinski remained the "primary suspect."

For Robert Gluck, the county prosecutor for most of the investigatory period, the emptiness of an unsolved case is only slightly assuaged by the efforts that were put in.

"It is a shame because a lot of resources went into this," said Gluck, who is now a criminal attorney. "We all remained professional, but this was personal for a lot of people."

The authorities had help from the community also.

Theresa Packard, who is Tara Packard’s mother and was Lodzinski’s landlord, acknowledged for the first time last week that her family worked with the FBI by taking Lodzinski’s trash from the curb and dropping it off to agents at a pre-arranged spot in Sayreville.

"(Butkiewicz) said to me ‘I know you’re loyal to Michelle,’ " she recalled. "I told him ‘I’m loyal to Timmy. If she had something to do with this, I want to know.’ I think that surprised him."

Twenty years later, Tara Packard is still trying to keep Timmy’s memory alive. Whether Lodzinski has moved on, putting the death of Timmy behind her, may never be known.

Some say they will never forget and still hope for answers from his mother.

"I can’t believe someone hasn’t gotten her talking yet," said Susie Primmer, Timmy’s aunt from his father’s side in Iowa. "We’d all like to know how this is going to end and she knows something."

By Stephen Stirling and Tom Haydon/The Star-Ledger

Staff writer Bob Considine contributed to this report.

IRVINGTON — An 8-year-old girl was found dead in her Irvington home this afternoon, and her mother was charged tonight with child endangerment, authorities said. Officers responding to reports of a child not breathing found the girl, whose identity was not released, inside the Chancellor Avenue home around 4:30 p.m., said Anthony Ambrose, chief of detectives at the Essex County...

IRVINGTON — An 8-year-old girl was found dead in her Irvington home this afternoon, and her mother was charged tonight with child endangerment, authorities said.

Officers responding to reports of a child not breathing found the girl, whose identity was not released, inside the Chancellor Avenue home around 4:30 p.m., said Anthony Ambrose, chief of detectives at the Essex County Prosecutor’s Office. The girl was pronounced dead at the scene.

An autopsy will be conducted to determine how the child died, Ambrose said.

The girl’s mother, whose identity was not released, was arrested shortly after being questioned by investigators. Ambrose said it is unclear whether the woman played a role in her daughter’s death.

Two other children in the home were placed in the custody of the state Division of Youth and Family Services, Ambrose said.

A spokeswoman for DYFS said she could not comment.

PISCATAWAY — The roommate of a Rutgers University student who killed himself last year after allegedly being spied on during an encounter with another man is due in court today. Nineteen-year-old Dharun Ravi of Plainsboro is scheduled to be formally notified of the 15 charges he faces this morning in New Brunswick. The most serious is bias intimidation, which...

Star-Ledger fileDharun Ravi, left, will appear in court today to be read the charges he faces following the death of his former Rutgers roommate, Tyler Clemeni, right.

PISCATAWAY — The roommate of a Rutgers University student who killed himself last year after allegedly being spied on during an encounter with another man is due in court today.

Nineteen-year-old Dharun Ravi of Plainsboro is scheduled to be formally notified of the 15 charges he faces this morning in New Brunswick.

The most serious is bias intimidation, which alleges that he acted because his roommate, Tyler Clementi, was gay. Ravi could get up to 10 years in prison if he's convicted on that charge.

He's also been indicted on numerous other charges, including invasion of privacy.

Ravi's lawyer has said he didn't commit any crimes.

Clementi killed himself days after the alleged spying in September, sparking a national conversation about bullying endured by young gays.

Previous coverage:

• Molly Wei to testify against Tyler Clementi's roommate Dharun Ravi as part of plea deal

• Molly Wei, defendant in Tyler Clementi case, is accepted into pretrial intervention program

• Ex-Rutgers student charged with invasion of privacy after Clementi suicide applies to pretrial program

• Arraignment date set for roommate of Rutgers student Tyler Clementi

• Grand jury hands up 15-count indictment against roommate of Tyler Clementi

• Tyler Clementi's parents want roommate prosecuted, not severely punished

• Rutgers denies fault for Tyler Clementi suicide after family threatens lawsuit

• Parents of Tyler Clementi plan to sue Rutgers University

• Complete Star-Ledger coverage of Rutgers student Tyler Clementi's death

Dharun Ravi pleads not guilty to 15 charges against him

PISCATAWAY — A not guilty plea has been entered for the roommate of a Rutgers University student who killed himself after prosecutors said he was spied on during an intimate encounter with a man.

Nineteen-year-old Dharun Ravi of Plainsboro was formally notified of the 15 charges he faces today in a Middlesex County court room in New Brunswick .

Lawyer Steve Altman entered a not guilty plea for him. Ravi, dressed in a dark blue suit and a red tie, did not speak.

The most serious is bias intimidation, which alleges that Ravi acted because his roommate, Tyler Clementi, was gay. Ravi could get up to 10 years in prison if he's convicted on that charge.

He's also been indicted on numerous other charges, including invasion of privacy.

Clementi killed himself days after the webcam incident in September, sparking a national conversation about bullying endured by young gays.

Accompanied by his family, Clementi's father Joseph made a statement after the arraignment.

"Our family is grateful for all the work done by the Middlesex County Prosecutor's Office," Clementi said. "We are eager to see the criminal justice process move forward."

Related coverage:

• Dharun Ravi to appear in court to be formally notified of charges stemming from Tyler Clementi suicide

• Molly Wei to testify against Tyler Clementi's roommate Dharun Ravi as part of plea deal

• Molly Wei, defendant in Tyler Clementi case, is accepted into pretrial intervention program

• Ex-Rutgers student charged with invasion of privacy after Clementi suicide applies to pretrial program

• Arraignment date set for roommate of Rutgers student Tyler Clementi

• Grand jury hands up 15-count indictment against roommate of Tyler Clementi

• Tyler Clementi's parents want roommate prosecuted, not severely punished

• Rutgers denies fault for Tyler Clementi suicide after family threatens lawsuit

• Parents of Tyler Clementi plan to sue Rutgers University

• Complete Star-Ledger coverage of Rutgers student Tyler Clementi's death

PHILADELPHIA — Attorneys for five Muslim immigrants convicted of plotting a deadly strike at a New Jersey military base will challenge the Patriot Act as they appeal the convictions. The lawyers argue that FBI informants entrapped their clients. They say the discussions amounted to little more than a religious debate about jihad. They will also challenge the constitutionality of...

Google MapsThis map shows Fort Dix military base, the target of a plotted terrorist attack that was intercepted by intelligence officials. The five men convicted of plotting the attack are using the Patriot Act to appeal the decision.

PHILADELPHIA — Attorneys for five Muslim immigrants convicted of plotting a deadly strike at a New Jersey military base will challenge the Patriot Act as they appeal the convictions.

The lawyers argue that FBI informants entrapped their clients. They say the discussions amounted to little more than a religious debate about jihad.

They will also challenge the constitutionality of a Patriot Act provision used to seize video the defendants left at a store for reformatting.

The footage shows the defendants firing assault weapons and screaming about jihad.

Federal prosecutors acknowledge the men did not necessarily have a specific plan to attack Fort Dix.

Four of the young men are serving life terms. They lived in Philadelphia and suburban New Jersey.

The arguments are set for today in US appeals court in Philadelphia.

Previous coverage:

• Man convicted in Fort Dix terror plot sues prison for violation of civil rights

• Relatives of Fort Dix plotters maintain government got it wrong

• Central figure of Fort Dix terror plot is sentenced to life in prison

• Three convicted in Fort Dix terror plot are sentenced to life in prison

• Archives: Complete Star-Ledger coverage of Fort Dix terror plot

PHILADELPHIA —The reputed boss of the Philadelphia mob and a dozen others are facing charges following a series of arrests by federal authorities. Prosecutors charged Joseph "Uncle Joe" Ligambi and 12 others they say are connected to the mob with counts including conspiracy, extortion, illegal gambling and witness tampering. U.S. Attorney Zane Memeger said at a news conference Monday...

Amy Sancetta/Associated Press File photoJoseph Ligambi in this 1989 file photo, after he was sentenced to life in prison for a killing. He was later released in 1997 and has now been arrested again. This time he's facing charges for conspiracy, witness tampering and gambling, among others.

PHILADELPHIA —The reputed boss of the Philadelphia mob and a dozen others are facing charges following a series of arrests by federal authorities.

Prosecutors charged Joseph "Uncle Joe" Ligambi and 12 others they say are connected to the mob with counts including conspiracy, extortion, illegal gambling and witness tampering.

U.S. Attorney Zane Memeger said at a news conference Monday morning that the arrests show that federal authorities are still focusing on bringing down organized crime. Memeger was joined by the FBI and law enforcement officials from Pennsylvania and New Jersey.

Ligambi was sentenced to life in prison in 1989 for a killing four years earlier, but the conviction was overturned and he was released in 1997.

ATLANTIC CITY — Recently acquitted Atlantic City Councilman Marty Small plans to sue the state for "malicious prosecution" according to a report on PressofAC.com. Small was twice been acquitted on voter fraud charges. His lawyers filed a claim saying the state Attorney General violated his civil rights. Read the full story on PressofAC.com. Previous coverage: • Recently acquitted Atlantic...

AP Photo/Ben FoglettoAtlantic City Councilman Marty Small.

ATLANTIC CITY — Recently acquitted Atlantic City Councilman Marty Small plans to sue the state for "malicious prosecution" according to a report on PressofAC.com.

Small was twice been acquitted on voter fraud charges. His lawyers filed a claim saying the state Attorney General violated his civil rights.

Read the full story on PressofAC.com.

Previous coverage:

• Recently acquitted Atlantic City Councilman Marty Small is seeking re-election

• Jury clears Atlantic City councilman, 5 co-defendants in voter fraud trial

• Snickering brings judge's ire in Atlantic City vote fraud case

• 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

NEW BRUNSWICK — Minutes after a man robbed a New Brunswick bank this morning, police apprehended the suspected bandit as he was walking away. Saul Hernandez, 35, of New Brunswick, was arrested on Livingston Avenue, almost directly across the street from New Millennium Bank that was robbed about 9 a.m., just after it opened for the day, authorities said....

Google MapsNew Millennium Bank in New Brunswick, where a man who robbed the bank early Monday morning was apprehended outside soon after leaving.

NEW BRUNSWICK — Minutes after a man robbed a New Brunswick bank this morning, police apprehended the suspected bandit as he was walking away.

Saul Hernandez, 35, of New Brunswick, was arrested on Livingston Avenue, almost directly across the street from New Millennium Bank that was robbed about 9 a.m., just after it opened for the day, authorities said.

This was the second time the bank was robbed in less than two weeks, but police say the two crimes are unrelated.

Lt. J.T. Miller said a man entered the bank at Livingston Avenue and New Street, handed a teller a note demanding money and walked out. No weapon was shown, Miller said.

Bank employees notified police with a description of the robber, and minutes later officers stopped Hernandez walking on the opposite side of Livingston Avenue, the lieutenant said. He said officers recovered the cash stolen from the bank.

Tuesday a bandit robbed the said bank, stealing an undisclosed amount of cash.

Previous coverage:

• New Brunswick police investigate bank robbery

More New Brunswick news

IRVINGTON — False advertisements selling a discounted iPad and a Honda Civic on the popular website Craigslist have lured victims to the site of three attempted armed robberies in Irvington since March, authorities said in a press conference this afternoon. Police believe a man wielding a semi automatic handgun told potential buyers he was selling a Honda Civic. But...

Google MapsA map view of Orange Place in Irvington, where two robbery victims have been lured by a craigslist ad.

IRVINGTON — False advertisements selling a discounted iPad and a Honda Civic on the popular website Craigslist have lured victims to the site of three attempted armed robberies in Irvington since March, authorities said in a press conference this afternoon.

Police believe a man wielding a semi automatic handgun told potential buyers he was selling a Honda Civic.

But when the victims, who traveled form Bergen and Monmouth counties, arrived at Orange Place all they found was a man with a handgun who demanded the victim's car in one case and made off with a cell phone and $100 cash in the other incident.

Irvington Police Chief Michale Chase said authorities were releasing the information, which included a photo of one of the suspects, in the hopes of preventing more people form falling victim to the rouse.

"Apprehending the suspect is high on our list, but protecting the public comes first, " Chase said.

The robberies began on March 23 when two victims from Brooklyn, N.Y. responded to a Craigslist ad offering a discounted iPad and instructing them to meet the potential seller on Carolina Avenue, according Lt. Tracy Bowers.

The victims were inside a car when an unidentified suspect robbed them of a cell phone and $270 in cash at gunpoint.

Two additional incidents in May, which took place on Orange Place, were captured on a home surveillance video camera by a resident who took pictures of one of the robberies.

In both cases the victims responded to a Craigslist ad selling a Honda Civic. On May 7 the victim from Bergen County drove to Orange Place when he was approached by an armed suspect who said, "give me your keys and get out the car."

The victim fled the scene immediately and the gunman left empty handed, Chase said.

On May 19 the same suspect used a similar ad to lure two Monmouth County men to the same location. In that incident, the suspect robbed the victims of $100 cash and a cell phone at gunpoint.

The suspect was caught on camera brandishing a handgun in the May 19 robbery.

While police said the same man is suspected in the May robberies, they aren't sure if he is connected to the March robbery.

Police have not said if the incident is linked to any other cases in New Jersey where Craigslist had been used to lure potential robbery victims.

Three Irvington men were arrested in January for using a similar scheme to commit a robbery in South Orange. Chase said that case is not related to the Irvington robberies.

Chase warned residents to be careful when responding to Craigslist advertisements and said while none of the victims were injured in any of the incidents there is always potential for an armed robbery to turn deadly.

"One of these robberies is going to go south and we're going to have a tragedy." Chase said.

IRVINGTON — The 8-year-old Irvington girl who was found dead in her Chancellor Avenue home Sunday was the victim of a homicide, the Essex County Prosecutor's Office said today. In a press release, Acting Prosecutor Carolyn Murray said the child's mother, Venette Ovilde, 30, and a friend, Myriam Janvier, 23, both of Irvington, have been charged with endangering the...

Google MapsA map view of Chancellor Avenue in Irvington, where an 8-year-old girl was discovered dead Sunday. Authorities are now ruling the death a homicide.

IRVINGTON — The 8-year-old Irvington girl who was found dead in her Chancellor Avenue home Sunday was the victim of a homicide, the Essex County Prosecutor's Office said today.

In a press release, Acting Prosecutor Carolyn Murray said the child's mother, Venette Ovilde, 30, and a friend, Myriam Janvier, 23, both of Irvington, have been charged with endangering the welfare of a child. Ovilde has also been charged with aggravated manslaughter.

The child, whose name has not been released by authorities, was discovered by authorities after township police were called to the home Sunday afternoon following a report that a child was not breathing, the release said. She was pronounced dead at the scene by medics.

Two of the child's siblings, a 7-year-old girl and a 6-year-old boy, were taken to a local hospital for observation, the release said.

An autopsy performed today found the cause of the girl's death to be an unattended/untreated fracture of the femur in a severely malnourished child, the release said.

The case remains under investigation.

Previous coverage:

• 8-year-old girl found dead in Irvington

ROCKAWAY TOWNSHIP — Two high school seniors were arrested this morning after brandishing Air Soft pistols and waving them at another parent and student in the parking lot of Morris Knolls High School, police said. Zachary Antolick-Durso and Anthony Dinapoli, both 18 from Rockaway Township, were allegedly driving to school at 7:35 a.m. when they were involved in a...

Matt Rainey/The Star-LedgerMorris Knolls High School, shown here in this 2010 file photo, was placed on lockdown earlier this morning after two students allegedly brandished fake handguns.

ROCKAWAY TOWNSHIP — Two high school seniors were arrested this morning after brandishing Air Soft pistols and waving them at another parent and student in the parking lot of Morris Knolls High School, police said.

Zachary Antolick-Durso and Anthony Dinapoli, both 18 from Rockaway Township, were allegedly driving to school at 7:35 a.m. when they were involved in a “road rage” incident on Franklin Avenue with another vehicle. The two students continued to the school and waited for the second vehicle, which was driven by a student and her parent, according to Christopher Wagner, Denville chief of police. When the second vehicle arrived, Wagner said, the parent saw one of the students allegedly brandish what was thought to be a black handgun.

Police from Denville, Rockaway Borough and Rockaway Township were called and the school was placed on lockdown for about an hour while authorities conducted an investigation. Denville police located two Air Soft pistols in Antolick-Durso’s vehicle, which was parked on school property, Wagner said. Air Soft pistols fire plastic pellets but look very much like real handguns.

The two seniors were arrested and charged with possession of an imitation firearm, making terroristic threats and unlawful possession of a weapon on school property.

NEWARK — A pair of Newark residents were arrested on Sunday after officers allegedly witnessed the two conduct a drug deal, police said. David Turner, 38, who had been shot in the city’s north ward around South 12th Street and 9th Avenue last week returned to the area Sunday night, according to Newark police. Officers allegedly observed a woman...

Google MapsA map view of the corner of 12th Street and 9th Avenue in Newark.

NEWARK — A pair of Newark residents were arrested on Sunday after officers allegedly witnessed the two conduct a drug deal, police said.

David Turner, 38, who had been shot in the city’s north ward around South 12th Street and 9th Avenue last week returned to the area Sunday night, according to Newark police.

Officers allegedly observed a woman approach Turner and hand over cash, according to police spokesman Detective Hubert Henderson. Turner then nodded to Raheem Wright, 33, who handed the woman an object out of a bag he was carrying. The women left the scene before officers approached Wright and Turner, Henderson said.

The unzipped nylon bag contained several white rock-like objects, and there was also a muzzle of a weapon protruding from the bag’s opening, according to police.

Both men were charged with unlawful possession of a weapon, conspiracy, possession of a controlled dangerous substance, possession to distribute and distributing drugs on school property.

“The men and women of this agency are consistently answering the hue and cry of our citizens to rid Newark of criminals who constantly impose upon the tranquility and quality of life that citizens want and deserve,” said police Director Samuel DeMaio in a press release.

More Newark news

FAIRVIEW — A Fairview man was sentenced to 30 months in prison today for a different sort of drug-dealing crime: He was caught with three other men in a basement apartment peeling the labels off bottled prescription drugs — mostly used for treating HIV — that would be later sold on the black market in the Dominican Republic, said...

Jerry McCrea/The Star LedgerU.S. Attorney Paul J. Fishman, right, speaks at a Newark press conference earlier this month.

FAIRVIEW — A Fairview man was sentenced to 30 months in prison today for a different sort of drug-dealing crime: He was caught with three other men in a basement apartment peeling the labels off bottled prescription drugs — mostly used for treating HIV — that would be later sold on the black market in the Dominican Republic, said federal authorities and the complaint.

In March 2010, local police found Edison C. Rosario, 25, along with the three other people, in a basement Fairview apartment using lighter fluid to peel off the medical prescription labels, authorities said.

Authorities found more than 6,000 bottles of prescription medication, including HIV drugs such as Atripla, Combivir, Isentress, Kaletra, Prezista, Reyataz, and Truvada at the scene.

In all, the medication had a wholesale value of $2 million, said U.S. Attorney Paul J. Fishman.

Rosario was sentenced today before Judge Susan D. Wigenton in Newark, after previously pleading guilty to one count of conspiring to engage in the unlicensed wholesale distribution of pharmaceuticals.

Two other men, Rudy Manuel Gonzalez, 38, of Cliffside Park, and Jose Batista, 24, of New York, have also pleaded guilty, authorities said.

According to the complaint, the windows of the basement apartment in the Bergen County borough were all covered with either plastic bags or taped-down window shades.

It had no bed, couches or televisions and was mostly furnished with folding tables and chairs, the complaint said.

Prosecutors said today that the increasingly popular crime of repackaging and reselling prescription drugs has prompted two major concerns.

The first is that the re-sale of the drugs on the street or to pharmacies may be dangerous because the drugs could become contaminated during the smuggling process or while being treated with items like lighter fluid.

The second concern, prosecutors said, was that the prescription drugs were often purchased illegally from impoverished people coming out of pharmacies who needed the medicines, but chose to take cash from dealers instead.