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Thank you for helping out all over town during storm.
To the Editor, I would like to thank our Police Dept., Fire Dept., and Rescue Squad for doing such an amazing job in helping everyone during this torrential rain storm. We would be lost without you. Betty Van Riper Westfield, NJ
A look at the week in crime.
The Westfield Police Department focused on routine arrests in the last week. The warrant and drug arrests were combined with the arrest made for car break-ins in the Park Street neighborhood last Friday. March 4 March 7 March 8
According to Daily Record report, Chatham officer will face departmental hearing.
Chatham Borough Police Sgt. Roy George will face a disciplinary hearing for allegedly leaving a backpack containing a loaded handgun on a sidewalk in Westfield while intoxicated last October, according to a Daily Record report. The report said a Westfield resident who lives on Sinclair Place found the backpack with the loaded .45 caliber gun and George's police credentials in front of his house at 7:20 a.m. on Oct. 13. George had been found by Westfield police on Oct. 12 walking down Elm Street the night before while drunk, according to the report, and had been released into the care of a responsible person. According to the report, no charges have been filed against George, though borough labor counsel Jamie Plosia said George will face …
Resident found looking into vehicles before breaking into car.
Westfield Police arrested a 19-year old resident Friday for theft from vehicles on the south side. Police Captain Clifford Auchter said that Akeem Noray was arrested after police received a call of an individual looking into numerous cars parked in the area of Park Street and Summit Avenue. Upon responding to the scene, police found Noray, who met the description provided to police. Noray is accused of fleeing the scene on foot and later being found in the back yard of a home on the 600 block of Boulevard. Auchter said Noray is accused of holding property belonging to a resident on the 600 block of Boulevard at the time of his arrest. Noray has been charged with burglary, theft, receiving stolen property and resisting arrest. He was …
Central computer for parking cards out of service for several weeks.
Uncertainty over the town budget and state aid to Westfield has caused the central computer running the town's parking system to be taken offline for several weeks, prohibiting the issuance and refilling of parking smart cards. Police Detective Sergent John Rowe, the head of the parking office, said the police department has been juggling numbers to accommodate a need to replace the computer system used by the parking office. The police budget for the year is still under discussion by the Town Council, which expects to receive a preliminary budget proposal from the finance committee next month. The computer is used to issue the parking smart cards - debit cards used in parking machines - and to allow customers to put more money on their …
A look at the week in crime.
Damage to a residential fence and a purse stolen from a car parked along the South Avenue business corridor dominated crime in Westfield in the last week. Police spent much of their time handling routine warrant arrests following motor vehicle stops in the town. In several cases, the warrant arrests came after police discovered suspects with several outstanding warrants in several North Jersey municipalities. Feb. 23 Feb. 24 Feb. 25 Feb. 27 March 1
Students kept in classrooms while emergency medical personnel respond.
Westfield High School students were briefly kept in their first period classrooms this morning as an emergency medical situation unfolded at the high school. Bells were suspended at the high school and faculty were directed to not let students out of their first period classes shortly before 8:17 this morning. Police cars were seen arriving at the high school along Rahway Avenue and police officers were seen in the building. School district spokeswoman Lorre Korecky said that a student had become ill and was treated at the scene. The student was released to the custody of their parents, who responded to take the student out of the building. The condition of the student is not known. The situation was not a lockdown. The doors to the …
No one injured in Tuesday afternoon fire.
A late model Ford Bronco was destroyed in a car fire Tuesday afternoon in a Downer Street driveway. The Bronco, parked in the driveway of 407 Downer Street, caught fire around 3 p.m. on Tuesday afternoon, sending large amounts of smoke through the neighborhood. Witnesses report hearing a small explosion after the fire had already broken out, most likely from the flames hitting the car's gas tank. Deputy Fire Chief David Kelly said the car was destroyed beyond repair and vinyl siding on both homes was damaged from the heat and flames. Firefighters were seen removing siding from both homes. One tenant in the house, at the intersection with South Avenue, was home at the time and was uninjured. There are not injuries from neighboring …
No injuries reported in Monday night incident.
Trader Joes was evacuated after 9 p.m. on Monday due to a leak in the basement refrigeration unit. An employee at the Elm Street supermarket said the store filled with a strange odor which was determined to have come from the refrigeration unit. Emergency services were called and the store evacuated. Police, fire and county haz-mat units responded to the scene and aired out the supermarket. No injuries were reported in the incident, which required emergency personnel on-scene until shortly before 11 p.m. Trader Joes employees were seen working in the store around 11 p.m. last night, with closed doors.
Warrants total thousands of dollars.
Westfield police arrested two men on Feb. 17 on multiple warrants from several jurisdictions. The warrants totaled thousands of dollars. Charles Simmons, 47, of Plainfield was arrested at police headquarters on a $626.13 Cranford warrant, a $502 warrant from Middlesex Borough, a $450 Westfield warrant, a $300 North Plainfield warrant and a $208 Watchung warrant. he was processed and released. Troy Howard, 47, of Newark was arrested at headquarters on a $1,322 Westfield warrant, a $1,133 Clifton warrant, a $1,082 Linden warrant, a $882 North Plainfield warrant and a $827 Saddle Brook warrant. He was processed and released. Arrests on outstanding warrants are among the most common crimes processed by the police in town. Last year, county law…
