A 17-year-old Brooklyn girl slain in the South Ward Sunday evening was not the intended target of a shooting that also wounded two other youths

View full sizeLaniya Griffin, 17

NEWARK — A 17-year-old Brooklyn girl slain in the South Ward Sunday evening was not the intended target of a shooting that also wounded two other youths, authorities said.

Laniya Griffin, 17, was visiting friends in Newark when she was shot in front of a store in the 800 block of South 14th Street around 9:30 p.m. Sunday, in the city's fourth homicide in less than a week, authorities said.

Acting Essex County Prosecutor Carolyn Murray did not comment on a motive or suspects.

Griffin had run away from her father’s residence in Brooklyn several times, including the weeks before the killing, according to two law enforcement sources with knowledge of the investigation.

A preliminary investigation has determined Griffin was not the intended target, said Katherine Carter, a spokeswoman for the Prosecutor’s Office.

Two other victims, a 16-year-old city boy and a girl, 15, from Irvington, were also shot, both suffering non-life threatening injuries, Carter said.

Three other people have died in Newark homicides since July 3:

On Monday night, an unidentified person was found shot to death near Avon and Badger avenues; early Saturday morning, Rochenel Guerrier of Irvington died after being found shot in his taxicab in Newark's Forest Hill section, and just before midnight last Tuesday, Erving Munford was shot to death in an incident on Central Avenue and South 10th Street in which another man was shot.

A witness to Sunday's shooting, Timothy Shields, who works at the House of Mercy Mission in Newark, said he was driving by the scene just seconds after the attacks.

While he didn’t hear any gunfire, Shields, 33, said he called police after he saw two boys running from the scene and a young girl limping down South 14th Street and crying out for help.

"She sounded like she was asking for help, like somebody help me … she sat down on a porch or something and I saw the boy call the police, so I called 911 as well," he said. "I saw the girl’s leg and it looked like it was wet so I thought maybe it was a shooting."

Early today, the victim’s mother posted a grieving message to her Facebook page.

"It seems God has been calling his Angels lately. But babygirl it wasn’t your time so young, precious and gifted," wrote Sarah Marie, of Troy, N.Y. "I’m fortunate that I was blessed to have been a part of your life and will always."

Related coverage:

• Newark shooting kills Brooklyn teenager, injures 2 others

Amber Wilson was walking with a friend on Hussa Street

A WABC-7 screen grab of Amber Wilson, the victim in a Linden homicide.

UPDATE: Linden teen is fatally shot in apparent robbery

LINDEN — A Linden teenager was fatally shot while walking with a friend late Monday night, according to a report on WABC-7's website.

Amber Wilson, 18, was robbed and shot while walking on Hussa Street. Wilson graduated from Linden High School last month.

Her killing is being investigated by Linden police and the Union County Prosecutor's Office.

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"What I did was place him in my hallway, but I've never brung any danger to him. You know, I didn't starve him or anything like that," Kisha Curtis said Watch video

View full sizeJennifer Brown/The Star-LedgerKisha Curtis, the Newark woman charged with throwing her pit bull down a trash chute last year, leaves Essex County Veterans Courthouse on Monday.

NEWARK — Kisha Curtis says she couldn’t handle owning a pit bull puppy, so days after getting the dog she tied it to the stairwell door of her Newark high-rise and left it in the hallway on the 19th floor.

The dog was soon discovered in a plastic bag at the bottom of the trash chute, starving and badly hurt. Curtis was arrested and charged with animal cruelty. The case immediately gained national attention when the images of the emaciated and hobbled brown and white canine, later dubbed "Patrick the pit bull," became public.

But in her first extended interview since that March 2011 arrest, Curtis on Monday denied ever abusing the dog, which has since been nursed back to good health.

"I’ve never harmed him or tortured him in any type of way," the 28-year-old said, standing outside the Veterans Courthouse in Newark where she made a brief appearance Monday before the case was adjourned to July 31. "What I did was place him in my hallway, but I’ve never brung any danger to him. You know, I didn’t starve him or anything like that."

Curtis, who has rejected a plea offer from the Essex County Prosecutor’s Office of 18 months in prison, said Patrick "was still healthy and had meat on him" when she thought a Garden Spires building security guard had taken it away.

The prosecutor’s office would not comment on any aspect of Curtis’ account.

"I’m for certain that he was going to be ok when I placed him in my hallway," she said, her tan knit hat covering dyed red hair, and with dime-sized tattoos of a red heart and star on her face. Curtis, a mother of two children, said she still receives threats on Facebook — where multiple Patrick fan pages have been created — and is harassed and accosted on the street.

Curtis said she grew up around dogs but never had owned one before. She is applying for a pretrial intervention program, which would eventually wipe the criminal charge from her record.

A separate civil suit is ongoing between the City of Newark and Associated Humane Societies, which claims custody of Patrick. Under court order, the dog is temporarily staying in the home of Patricia Smillie-Scavelli, administrator of the Tinton Falls veterinary facility where Patrick was treated. Weighing just 19 pounds when he was found in the trash chute, Patrick is now more than 50 pounds and "really comfortable with people. He’s not fearful like before," Smillie-Scavelli said Monday. "I know so many people are interested in his welfare."

Curtis said she is "happy that Patrick is fine and things are going well with him. I don’t want to be blamed and punished for something that I did not actually do. If I’m going to accept a punishment, I’d rather accept a punishment for leaving him in the hallway, but as far as torturing him and starving him, that’s totally not what I did."

Curtis, who was in the middle of moving to Albany couldn’t take the dog on the bus rides back and forth and said she left the dog in the hallway for the guard, Mark Ortman, who monitored each floor in the public housing development daily. "If I knew that would be abandonment, I would have done the correct procedure as far as calling SPCA or some type of animal people or patrol," she said.

But in a telephone interview Monday, Ortman called Curtis "a stone liar. Even if I wanted the dog, I couldn’t take control of it like that," he said. While Curtis said she owned Patrick for just two days and hadn’t even named it, Ortman claims she’d left the dog in the hallway twice before in a three-week span because it had bitten her. "I waited until she brought the dog back inside both times," he said. "I’m convinced she starved and harmed and depraved the dog and threw the dog down the chute."

Curtis said she never did, adding she was "completely destroyed" after seeing initial photos of the injured animal. "In my heart, I know I did not cause all this pain," she said. "As far as the torture, torment, that’s not what I did."

Related coverage:

• Newark woman admits abandoning Patrick the pit bull, but denies abuse charges

• Newark woman charged with abusing Patrick the pit bull makes court appearance

• Newark woman accused of abusing pit bull Patrick pleads not guilty

• Custody fight emerges over abused pit bull Patrick found in Newark trash chute

• Concern for abused Newark pit bull Patrick prompts 2 rallies, thousands of letters, phone calls

Amber Wilson, a recent graduate of the city high school, was walking from a nearby Dunkin' Donuts when she was approached by at least one individual

Amber Wilson, pictured in a Facebook photo, was fatally shot last night in Linden.

LINDEN — An 18-year-old Linden woman was shot and killed in the city late Monday night, the apparent victim of a robbery, the Union County Prosecutor’s Office said this morning.

Amber Wilson, a recent graduate of the city high school, was walking from a nearby Dunkin’ Donuts when she was approached by at least one individual on Hussa Street, according to a preliminary investigation by authorities.

Words were apparently exchanged and Wilson was shot, a spokesman for the prosecutor’s office said.

Members of the prosecutor’s homicide task force along with detectives from city police worked are still gathering evidence and speaking with possible witnesses and gathering statements, the spokesman said.

Anyone with information on what might have led to the shooting or its aftermath is asked to anonymously phone in tips to the Union County Crime Stoppers at (908) 654-TIPS, via the Internet at uctip.org, or text a message to 274637.

Information leading to the arrest and indictment of the person or persons responsible for Wilson’s death is eligible for a reward of up to $5,000, the spokesman said.

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Carmine Inteso, 46, was charged with failure to file personal income tax returns on more than $350,000 he collected over 3 years

FacebookFormer Toms River Mayor Carmine Inteso, pictured in a Facebook photo taken in Afghanistan, has been charged with evading taxes.

TOMS RIVER — A former mayor of what is now Toms River was arrested late Monday night at John F. Kennedy International Airport and was charged with tax evasion, federal authorities in Newark said this morning.

Carmine Inteso, 46, who authorities said was mayor of Dover Township in 2002, had been working as a contractor in Afghanistan and was arrested as he returned to the United States on an international flight.

He was charged with failure to file personal income tax returns on more than $350,000 he collected in the tax years 2006, 2007, and 2008, according to an indictment against him dated November 10, 2011.

The indictment alleges that the former mayor had hundreds of thousands of dollars in commission payments from a Maryland insurance broker routed into a sham company that he controlled — yet he never reported any of the money for federal tax purposes.

The insurance broker, meanwhile, received premiums, brokerage commissions and fees for services provided to Toms River and other New Jersey municipal entities, the indictment also alleges.

Inteso was also the township's deputy mayor in 2003 and a town councilman at large from 2004 to 2007, officials from the office of U.S. Attorney Paul J. Fishman added.

Inteso is slated to appear in federal court in Newark today at about 2 p.m., authorities said.

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Michael Forgione of Long Valley allegedly stole the knife he was using

Hanover police arrested an intoxicated man who was cutting cardboard in the Morris County Mall.

HANOVER — A Long Valley man was charged with disorderly conduct Friday after police found him intoxicated in the Morris County Mall, according to Hanover Police.

Michael Forgione, 37, was cutting up cardboard with his buttocks exposed, said Police Chief Steve Gallagher.

Forgione allegedly stole the knife he was using from the mall's Wal-Mart.

He was charged with disorderly conduct, shoplifting and littering before being given a ride to the Market Street Mission, a homeless shelter.

More Morris County news

Three other men are being sought after eluding police at the Governor's Pointe complex

Google MapsA map view of Goodwin Drive in North Brunswick, where a man wielding a gun was arrested Monday evening. Three other men escaped.

NORTH BRUNSWICK — North Brunswick officials today praised the work of a township police officer who apprehended a man wielding a handgun in a residential neighborhood.

Officer Robert Frangella arrested Ryshawn Hameen Cromedy, 25, after police received calls about four men, one a carrying a gun, in the Governor’s Pointe development off Commerce Boulevard at 6:41 p.m. Monday, authorities said.

Police are still seeking the three other men.

Frangella was the first officer to reach the scene on Goodwin Drive, and as he stepped from his police cruiser, the gunman and the three others started running in different directions, Capt. Roger Reinson said.

He said Frangella chased the armed man, who discarded the weapon as he fled but was arrested a short time later.

Police also recovered the gun, a fully loaded .46 cal. Ruger, Reinson said.

Cromedy, of New Brunswick, was being held today at the Middlesex County jail in North Brunswick, charged with possession of a firearm for unlawful purpose, resisting arrest and obstructing police.

Mayor Francis “Mac” Womack commended Frangella’s “professionalism and courage. He put his himself at great risk doing his job for the safety of our community.”

Police Director Kenneth McCormick said Frangella showed “great restraint.

“These are the challenges that law enforcement face every day. Making split second decisions during high stress, high risk encounters. It was a job well done,” McCormick said.

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Asked if he had eliminated the sons as suspects in their mother's death, the prosecutor said he was "not ruling anyone out" Watch video

Nyier Abdou/The Star-LedgerUnion County Prosecutor Theodore Romankow, right, and Clark Police Acting Chief Alan Scherb, left, speak to reporters Monday.

CLARK — Hours after the Union County Prosecutor said the family of murdered Clark grandmother Vera Pecoraro was not being as helpful as investigators would have liked, two of the woman's sons agreed to meet with authorities, a lawyer for the family said.

Michael and Theodore Pecoraro both met with detectives from the Union County Prosecutor's Office Monday afternoon, hoping to aid them in figuring out why someone slit their mother's throat inside her sleepy Clark cul-de-sac last Friday, according to Matthew Dorsi, an attorney for the two men and spokesman for the family.

“They were both there and fully cooperative,” Dorsi said.

Anthony Pecoraro, Vera's third son, had already spoken with police and is not being represented by Dorsi.

Dorsi's announcement came less than 24 hours after Union County Prosecutor Theodore Romankow accused the Pecoraro family of being less than cooperative. During a Monday afternoon press conference, Romankow said Theodore Pecoraro had flat-out refused to speak to Prosecutor's detectives. Asked if he had eliminated the sons as suspects in their mother's death, Romankow said he was "not ruling anyone out."

Vera Pecoraro's body was discovered by her son Anthony on Saturday night, the woman's 74th birthday. Police initially believed her death was a suicide, but an autopsy changed that determination and Romankow said Monday that the woman died after someone slit her throat with a serrated kitchen knife.

Vera was remembered by neighbors as a "wonderful woman" who cherished time with her neighbors and friends. But her family has a troubled history dating back to 2004, when her husband died in a violent car wreck that sent his truck tumbling into the Rahway River. Two of her sons, Anthony and Theodore, have also been the subject of criminal investigations.

Previous coverage:

• Questions linger in wake of Clark widow's grisly death

• Clark woman, 73, had throat slit in apparent targeted attack

• Union County prosecutor says Clark woman's death was homicide

• Investigation in Clark continues, as neighbors ponder widow's unexplained death

Louis Pepe says he doesn't know the couple and that he was in the area to buy a car

Shooting suspect Robert Dunbar, courtesy of the Monmouth County Prosecutor's Office

MANALAPAN — The man charged with shooting an off-duty New York City detective in western Monmouth County is slated to appear in court today.

Robert Dunbar surrendered to Manalapan police on Saturday night.

The 35-year-old Staten Island, N.Y., resident is held on $500,000 bail, charged with attempted murder, aggravated assault and possession of a firearm for an unlawful purpose.

Authorities say the shooting, which stemmed from a domestic situation, happened Friday night at a Manalapan home. Though authorities haven't released the NYPD officer's name or said why he was at the house, the Daily News identified him as Louis Pepe, a married 16-year veteran of the department.

Pepe was grazed in the shoulder with a bullet. Three other bullets hit the ceiling and the wall, the report said. Pepe also denied that he was romantically involved with Dunbar's wife Deborah. The cop told the Daily News he doesn't know the couple and that he was in the area to buy a car.

An NYPD spokesman confirms the officer is assigned to the Brooklyn-based 63rd Precinct detective squad.

The Star-Ledger Continuous News Desk contributed to this report.

Related coverage:

• Man surrenders in shooting of off-duty NYC cop in Manalapan

Investigators believe the woman was kept in the bedroom in Paterson for extended periods of time for the last two years and up to possibly 10 years

N.J. State Police/Sheriff Richard BerdnikMichael Mendez, pictured in the two photos above, locked his girlfriend in a bedroom over a period of at least two years, according to New Jersey State Police.

PATERSON — State Police searching the home of an alleged gang member in Paterson for drugs found something far more disturbing: a woman who may have been padlocked in a bedroom for extended periods of time over the past few years .

Michael Mendez, 41, allegedly kept his 44-year-old girlfriend captive for at least two years, said State Police acting Sgt. 1st Class Brian Polite.

The purported Latin Kings gang member was arrested after police seized about 4,200 prescription pills, worth more than $100,000, 190 grams of marijuana, worth $1,900, and more than $22,000 in cash, Polite said in a press release.

The discovery was made when detectives searching the apartment complex on Alois Place found a bedroom locked from the outside, the release stated.

On entering the room, they found the woman, who police have not identified. Polite did not say how she reacted when officers entered, nor could he say where she was from.

State Police characterized the relationship between Mendez and the woman as boyfriend-girlfriend.

Based on interviews with the woman and with Mendez, Polite said, it’s believed she had been held captive for extended periods of time during the past two years and possibly longer.

Investigators said the woman was sometimes let out of the room when Mendez was home.

There were no apparent signs of physical abuse, Polite said, but he could not say if she had family looking for her or if she matched a description of any missing persons.

"This is an active, ongoing investigation," Polite said.

The woman was taken to St. Joseph’s Medical Center for evaluation.

One neighbor in the complex of three-story brick buildings said he has known Mendez for about a dozen years, and that Mendez was a familiar face around the complex and often could be seen outside, polishing a car and listening to music.

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The neighbor said he saw the woman a few times in recent years, though it was rare. The man, who refused to give his name because of worries over his safety, said he remembered seeing the woman get into a car sometime in the last few years.

Another man, who also declined to give his name because of concerns over his safety, remembered the woman "cussing me out one time when I was doing my work."

Mendez is charged with kidnapping, false imprisonment, criminal restraint, possession of a controlled dangerous substance, possession of a controlled dangerous substance with an intent to distribute, possession with intent within 500 feet of public housing, possession with intent within 100 feet of a school and possession of prescription legend drugs.

Mendez is being held in the Passaic County Jail on $1 million bail, according to Sheriff Richard Berdnik.

The case will be prosecuted by the Division of Criminal Justice under the Office of the Attorney General.

Star-Ledger staff writer Christopher Baxter and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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Toronto police say 35-year-old Kai-Guo Huang initially give investigators another name when he was arrested last week, but fingerprints later showed he was the man wanted in the 1998 murder

Star-Ledger file photoPolice in Canada say a man wanted for a 14-year-old homicide in Philadelphia was arrested after being busted for drunk driving.

PHILADELPHIA — Police in Canada say a man wanted for a 14-year-old homicide in Philadelphia was arrested after being busted for drunk driving.

Toronto police say 35-year-old Kai-Guo Huang initially give investigators another name when he was arrested last week, but fingerprints later showed he was the man wanted in a 1998 killing in Philadelphia's Chinatown neighborhood.

Authorities say Huang killed 27-year-old Hoi Yang, then decapitated and dismembered his body and dumped it in two Pemberton Township, N.J. trash bins. The Philadelphia Daily News reports Huang was arrested Friday by Canadian and American authorities.

It wasn't immediately clear if Huang had an attorney. He is awaiting extradition.

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State Police said Monday that interviews with Nancy Rodriguez Duran led them to believe she had been held against her will for at least two years but she denied that today

N.J. State Police / Sheriff Richard BerdnikMichael Mendez, pictured in the two photos above, locked his girlfriend in a bedroom over a period of at least two years, according to New Jersey State Police.

PATERSON — Police say he is a reputed gangbanger and drug dealer who kept his girlfriend captive inside the couple's Paterson bedroom for extended periods during the last two years.

She says he is a good, caring man with serious health issues who locked her in the room for a single day and at her request because of her fear of intruders.

During his initial court hearing today, Michael Mendez, 41, a purported member of the Latin Kings, pleaded not guilty to charges of kidnapping, false imprisonment, criminal restraint and several narcotics counts borne out of a police raid of the couple’s Alois Place residence last week.

He is being held in the Passaic County jail in lieu of $1 million bail.

Nancy Rodriguez Duran, though, said Mendez padlocked her inside the couple’s bedroom before he went shopping for cat food and breakfast because she fears housing authority maintenance personnel who habitually enter the apartment without permission. That was the only time he had ever locked her in the bedroom, a tearful Rodriguez Duran, 44, said minutes before Mendez appeared in court.

"It was with my consent," she said. "Everything is a lie. I told him to do it for that day."

During their search of the couple’s apartment last week, detectives from the State Police’s street gang unit found 4,200 prescription pills, 190 grams of marijuana and $22,567 in cash.

Police put the street value of the pills at more than $100,000 and of the marijuana at $1,900.

Rodriguez Duran said the pills were medication to treat Mendez’s emphysema, bipolar disorder and other ailments. The cash, she said, was part of a settlement of a lawsuit against Mendez’s former employer, a Haledon roofing company. Rodriguez Duran said the couple kept the money inside their apartment because they mistrust banks.

State Police said on Monday that interviews with Rodriguez Duran and Mendez, as well as evidence found inside the apartment, led them to believe she had been held against her will for two years and possibly longer. Citing an ongoing investigation and now an impending criminal trial, a State Police spokesman declined to detail that evidence.

Rodriguez Duran, who said she and Mendez had lived at the Alois Place residence for 10 years, explained that neighbors only had glimpses of her because she is a homebody.

"I think a housewife should be like that," the self-described former medical office receptionist said.

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"He’s a good man," she said of Mendez, who she said was her boyfriend of 14 years. "He’s a sick man. I’m there for him until the end."

The case was referred to grand jury. Superior Court Judge Greta Gooden-Brown forbid Mendez from having contact with Rodriguez Duran and ordered him to surrender his passport.

Other than saying he will move to have his client’s bail conditions reduced later this month, Mendez’s attorney, John Somohano , declined to discuss any aspect of the case, including Rodriguez Duran’s comments.

According to public records, Mendez has one prior conviction for aggravated assault.

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Related coverage:

• Paterson man locked girlfriend in bedroom for at least 2 years, authorities say

Police say Antoinette Pelzer killed two women from Toronto with a 12-inch butcher knife during a mugging in May

Antoinette Pelzer appears in court in May in this Press of Atlantic City file photo.

ATLANTIC CITY — A woman accused of killing two Canadian tourists in Atlantic City is due in court for a bail hearing.

Antoinette Pelzer, a Philadelphia resident who has often been homeless, is currently being held on bail of $1.5 million.

Police say she killed Po Lin Wan and her daughter Alice Mei See Leung, both from the Scarborough section of Toronto, with a 12-inch butcher knife during a mugging in May.

It will be the second court appearance since Pelzer's arrest. In May, she laughed, frowned, grimaced and asked repeatedly where her lawyer was.

The stabbing took place in the heart of Atlantic City's tourism district — a place where security is emphasized.

Related coverage:

• 2 victims in fatal Atlantic City stabbing are identified as mother, daughter

• Woman laughs in court while facing charges in fatal stabbing of Canadian tourists in Atlantic City

• Woman charged in fatal stabbing of 2 Atlantic City tourists is held on $2M bail

• 2 Canadian tourists stabbed to death in botched Atlantic City robbery, police said

Raymond Roth and his conspired to get more than $50,000 in life insurance money, authorities say

Google MapsA street view of South Nassau Communities Hospital in Oceanside, N.Y. where a man who allegedly tried to fake his own drowning was arrested.

BABYLON, N.Y. — A man suspected of faking his own drowning at a New York beach in a scheme to collect on a life insurance policy was arrested todday at the hospital where he was receiving psychiatric treatment.

Raymond Roth arrived at state park police headquarters in handcuffs wearing a blue polo shirt and white pants. He didn't speak to reporters.

He was scheduled to be arraigned in a Long Island courtroom later today on charges of insurance fraud, conspiracy to commit insurance fraud and falsely reporting an incident. Roth will plead not guilty, attorney Brian Davis said.

Roth was arrested at South Nassau Communities Hospital in Oceanside, where he had spent about 10 days.

The 47-year-old was reported missing by his son on July 28 at Jones Beach. The elder Roth was later reported to be in Florida and got a speeding ticket in South Carolina.

His son was arrested last week. According to court documents, the pair conspired to get more than $50,000 in life insurance money.

But Davis said his client was not aware of an insurance scam, blaming Jonathan Roth.

"My client's intent was to disappear, not to cash in on a life insurance policy," Davis told The Associated Press on Tuesday. He said Jonathan Roth is the one who tried to cash in on the policy just days after reporting his father's disappearance. "It was never my client's intent to make a claim."

Days after his disappearance, Raymond Roth was reported to be at a resort in Orlando, Fla. On Aug. 2, he was stopped going 90 mph in Santee, S.C. Police there saw that Roth was listed in a national registry of missing people. Roth said he was returning to New York, and the officer let him continue driving north; he never showed up for a planned meeting with police, and his attorney later revealed that he instead had been admitted to a hospital for depression.

Jonathan Roth, 22, was arrested last week and is free on $10,000 bond. He has pleaded not guilty to conspiracy to commit insurance fraud, filing a false report and other charges. In court papers, Jonathan Roth admitted to investigators that the drowning never happened.

He "was fully aware that his father never walked into the water and had in fact driven off in his own personal vehicle," according to the criminal complaint. He faces up to 15 years in prison if convicted.

The younger Roth's attorney, Joey Jackson, said his client and his father had a "strained" relationship. He also claims that Jonathan Roth was abused and coerced into cooperating with the scheme; Davis has denied that allegation.

Raymond Roth's wife, Evana, has told reporters that her husband staged the disappearance without her knowledge. She also implicated her stepson in the scheme, distributing emails that she said were on a family computer in their Massapequa home.

In one dated the day before he vanished, the elder Roth instructs his son to contact him at an Orlando resort to update him on developments following his disappearance. Raymond Roth put the family's home up for sale just days before he vanished.

Evana Roth also said her husband had recently been fired from his job in New York City.

Police estimated that an air and sea search for Roth cost tens of thousands of dollars.

Antoinette Pelzer remains held on $1.5 million bail

Antoinette Pelzer appears in court in May in this Press of Atlantic City file photo.

ATLANTIC CITY — Today's bail hearing has been postponed for the woman accused of killing two Canadian tourists in Atlantic City.

Antoinette Pelzer remains held on $1.5 million bail.

Police say the Philadelphia resident, who has often been homeless, stabbed Po Lin Wan and her daughter Alice Mei See Leung, both from the Scarborough section of Toronto, with a 12-inch butcher knife during a mugging in May.

Pelzer laughed, frowned, grimaced and asked repeatedly where her lawyer was during her first court appearance.

The stabbing took place in the heart of Atlantic City's tourism district.

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Related coverage:

• Woman charged with killing two tourists in Atlantic City to appear for bail hearing

• 2 victims in fatal Atlantic City stabbing are identified as mother, daughter

• Woman laughs in court while facing charges in fatal stabbing of Canadian tourists in Atlantic City

• Woman charged in fatal stabbing of 2 Atlantic City tourists is held on $2M bail

• 2 Canadian tourists stabbed to death in botched Atlantic City robbery, police said

Companies who apply for licensure within 30 days can have their penalty reduced from $2,500 to $1,250

Marko Georgiev/For The Star LedgerTwenty-five unlicensed moving companies have been charged by state authorities. Pictured is a file photo of a moving truck parked in East Orange.

TRENTON — A recent sting operation to catch unlicensed New Jersey movers turned unusually interesting for undercover investigators and the State Police, who briefly pursued three men in a damaged truck after they were tipped off to the trap by another unlicensed mover.

Authorities with the state Division of Consumer Affairs said today that after the men were escorted back to the sting site, their truck was taken out of service by troopers for a damaged front-end suspension and were told they would have to find another way home.

"These examples illustrate the dangers consumers face when they hire unlicensed movers," the acting director of Consumer Affairs, Eric Kanefsky, said in a statement. In all, authorities issued notices of violation and fines to 25 unlicensed moving companies caught in the sting last month.

Aside from the men who fled, one company sent an uninsured vehicle and several movers were wanted on warrants, including two issued by U.S. immigration and customs officials. Authorities said 11 people were arrested during the sting, which took place from July 23 to July 26.

The two-phase operation first sent state investigators online to pose as consumers seeking to move into a new home. Those investigators booked appointments with 25 unlicensed movers through websites such as Craigslist and Angie’s List, authorities said.

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In the second phase, 22 of those moving companies sent crews to a Highland Park site, where they were met by investigators with Consumer Affairs and State Police, who checked driver and vehicles records and performed safety inspections on the trucks.

All 25 unlicensed movers who booked appointments with investigators, including the three that did not show up for their appointments, face notices of violation and civil penalties of up to $2,500. Companies who apply for licensure within 30 days can have their penalty reduced to $1,250.

Authorities recommend consumers call the Division of Consumer Affairs at 800-242-5846 to verify a mover is licensed and carries the appropriate insurance before signing an agreement.

The following moving companies were cited in the sting:

• Affordable Movers, of Oakhurst

• All Country Moving & Storage, of Union City

• Budget Minded Dependable Movers, of Somerset

• Delbridge Moving & Cleanouts, of Bayonne

• Eric Meekins, advertising as “Eric,” of Long Branch

• Father & Son Moving & Storage, of Pemberton

• General Movers, aka Hoboken Movers, aka Official Moving and Storage, of New York City

• George’s Moving, of Boonton

• Heavy & Light Moves, of Linden

• JHR Group, of Newton

• Lakeland Moving & Storage, of Ringwood

• Marcus Hall Moving & Relocation, of Jersey City

• Mary’s Moving, of Marlton

• Me & My Small Truck, of East Brunswick

• Move for Less, of Palisades Park

• Move For One Flat Rate, of Piscataway

• Movers Working Independent, aka MI JANTO 007, of Garfield

• NJ Pro Movers, aka NY Pro Movers aka Stress Less Movers, of New York City

• Ron’s Moving, of Willingboro

• Shawn the Super Mover, of Manville

• South Jersey Moving, of Blackwood

• Tuck’s Moving Service, of Hackettstown

• Umex Moving & Storage, of Plainfield

• United Direct Movers, of Bloomfield

• Woodbridge Moving, of Tinton Falls

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Related coverage:

• 2 N.J. moving companies accused of attempting to 'bait and switch' customers, then holding belongings hostage

• 25 moving companies across N.J. face fines for not being licensed

Luis J. Costa-Castillo, 18, was sitting in a blue Volkswagen Jetta near 44 Sherman St. around 2 p.m. when he was hit in the neck by a single bullet

Google MapsA map view of Sherman Street in Passaic where an 18-year-old was fatally shot Wednesday.

PASSAIC — A Passaic teenager sitting in a car was shot and killed Wednesday afternoon, according to a report on NorthJersey.com.

Luis J. Costa-Castillo, 18, was sitting in a blue Volkswagen Jetta on Sherman St. around 2 p.m. when he was hit in the side by a single bullet. The shooter fled on a bicycle, the report said.

Costa-Castillo stepped on the gas before crashing into a parked car. He was pronounced dead at St. Joesph's Regional Medical Center.

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Matos is accused of shooting his father, Nelson Matos, in the head on July 5, 2011 so he could steal money to buy drugs

Jerry McCrea/The Star-LedgerBrendon Matos enters Superior Court in Morristown in July for a hearing related to charges surrounding the robbery and shooting death of his father, Nelson Matos.

RANDOLPH — A 26-year-old Randolph man who is charged with killing his father was indicted today on charges that he and a fellow inmate conspired to attack another inmate at the Morris County jail on March 28.

The accused murderer, Brendon Matos, and his alleged accomplice, Carlos Ramos-Roque, 24, of Wharton, were both accused by a Morris County grand jury of punching fellow inmate Alex Moreta and kicking him in the face. Matos and Ramos-Roque planned the beating to get Moreta out of their unit, and fractured their fellow inmate's eye socket, authorities said.

Matos and Ramos-Roque were each indicted on charges of aggravated assault and conspiracy to commit aggravated assault.

Matos is accused of shooting his father, Nelson Matos, in the head on July 5, 2011 so he could steal money to buy drugs. He was indicted in November on 17 charges in that incident, including murder and felony murder.

After killing his father, Matos stole his car, cell phone, cash, checks and credit cards and went on a three-day spree, buying drugs and staying in hotels before he was arrested, according to Morris County Prosecutor Robert Bianchi.

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Related coverage:

• Two inmates at Morris County jail, including man charged in killing of father, assault other inmate

• Mental health expert to examine Randolph man accused of killing father

• Randolph man's arrest in father's killing leaves neighbors shocked

Thomas Litwin, 43, was held on $50,000 bail

AP Photo/CP, Kevin FrayerA 43-year-old man running for mayor in Stafford sold marijuana to an undercover police officer, authorities said.

STAFFORD — Bail is set at $50,000 for an independent candidate running for mayor in an Ocean County town.

Thomas Litwin is accused of selling marijuana to an undercover police officer in Stafford Township.

The 43-year-old was challenging Republican Mayor John Spodofora in the November election.

The mayor tells the Asbury Park Press he was appalled by the arrest.

The other independent candidate in the race is Paul Marchal.

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