May 13, 2024
EAST WINDSOR, NJ (MERCER)–Mayor Janice S. Mironov proclaimed National Library Week April 7 to 13, with the theme “There’s More to the Story” and recognized the important role of the two East Windsor library branches, Hickory Corner and Twin Rivers, of the Mercer County Library System. Mayor Mironov presented the Proclamation, along with Barnes and Noble gift certificates donated by Shiseido America, to Sharon Galbraith Ryer, Branch Manager of the Hickory Corner Library and Jeanne Murray, Branch Manager of the Twin Rivers Library branch, President of the Friends of the Library for Hickory Corner Library Debbie Scherholz and Vice President of the Friends of the Library for Twin Rivers Library Terry Goldstein.
Mayor Mironov stated, “Our libraries are an incredibly important focus and resource center here in East Windsor Township where groups can meet, residents have free access to books, newspapers and magazines, movies, music, digital materials, as well as use of computers. I am always excited to see how many people, young and old,
embrace and utilize East Windsor’s two public libraries, the Hickory Corner Branch and the Twin Rivers Branch. Our libraries open doors to information, programs and opportunities, and are key building blocks of our democracy. I am proud to continue to support their efforts to serve the people of our community.”
The Mayoral Proclamation issued by Mayor Mironov states, “our public libraries provide all people with books, information, computers, videos, audio cassettes and other resources to enrich their lives.” The Proclamation continues, “Librarians provide the essential guidance and support needed by children, teenagers and adults alike in their search for knowledge and information, as well as their pursuit of avocational and leisure interests.”
East Windsor Township Mayor Janice S. Mironov proclaimed National Library Week April 7 to 13, and presented the Proclamation and Barnes and Noble gift certificates donated by Shiseido, to local library representatives. Pictured (from left to right) are: Debbie Scherholz, President of the Friends of the Library for Hickory Corner Library; Sharon Galbraith Ryer, Hickory Corner Library Branch Manager; Mayor Janice S. Mironov; Jeanne Murray, Twin Rivers Library Branch Manager, and Terry Goldstein, Vice President of the Friends of the Library for Twin Rivers Library.
May 13, 2024
TRENTON — Attorney General Matthew J. Platkin and the Office of Public Integrity and Accountability (OPIA) announced today that a retired Howell Township police chief has admitted to providing false statements in a township investigation and otherwise trying to conceal a sexual affair with a subordinate.
Andrew Kudrick, 50, of Farmingdale, New Jersey, pled guilty to an accusation charging him with one count of obstructing the administration of law or other governmental function (4th degree). Kudrick entered the plea during a hearing before Judge Paul X. Escandon on May 13, 2024, in state Superior Court for Monmouth County, in Freehold, New Jersey.
Under the plea agreement with OPIA, Kudrick has agreed to a lifetime ban on public employment and prosecutors will recommend that Kudrick be sentenced to a term of non-custodial probation, the length of which will be determined by the court. Sentencing is tentatively scheduled for July 19, 2024.
According to documents and statements in the public record, after an incident that transpired at a work-related event, Howell Township opened a formal investigation into the potential existence of a hostile work environment and sexual harassment within the Howell Township Police Department. During the plea colloquy, Kudrick admitted to falsely denying, during an official interview, the existence of a sexual affair he was involved in with a subordinate employee.
As alleged in the case, in late March 2022, Kudrick threatened to launch an illegitimate internal affairs investigation into a member of the police department, who had knowledge and evidence of the affair, in an effort to intimidate the witness from truthfully cooperating during a scheduled interview in the township’s investigation.
The case is being prosecuted by Deputy Attorney General Sherrod Smith and OPIA Corruption Deputy Bureau Chief Andrew Wellbrock, under the supervision of Corruption Bureau Chief Jeff Manis and OPIA Executive Director Drew Skinner.
Defense counsel:
Robert Honecker, Esq., Ocean, New Jersey
Photo by EKATERINA BOLOVTSOVA on Pexels.com
May 13, 2024
TRENTON, NJ (MERCER)– A Mercer County, New Jersey, man was arrested Friday night for transmitting via the internet a post containing threats to kill white people, U.S. Attorney Philip R. Sellinger announced today.
Joshua Cobb, 23, of Trenton, New Jersey, was arrested and charged by complaint with one count of transmitting a threat in interstate and foreign commerce. He is scheduled to appear this afternoon before U.S. Magistrate Judge Rukhsanah Singh in Trenton federal court.
According to documents filed in this case and statements made in court:
On Dec. 17, 2022, Cobb used a social media application to post a message, stating:
• I want to cause mayhem on the white community. The reason i specifically want to target white people is because as a black male, they will NEVER understand my struggles. Same way I will never understand their struggles, but I don’t care to. I want to erase them. All of them really, but in this case as many as I possibly can. As of today I have officially began planning my attack. It is going to take place in 2023 in the state of New Jersey, I have not chosen a exact date but I am going to be sure it is close to an important holiday to their race. I have a location in mind already which I have frequented for the past year and I am certain nobody there is armed to be able to stop me from spraying them to the ground. I have already acquired 2 of the 4 firearms I plan to use for my attack, and I also know my entry and exit points already after the mayhem.
Following this post, in April and May 2023, Cobb made several additional posts on another social media application, in which he discussed his hopes of progressing into a serial killer, stating:
• Imagine the rush you’d feel while shooting some sh*t up. Probably could get literally high off the adrenaline alone. I’d probably OD on my own adrenaline after the 10th body goes down.
• 100% someday. Just not yet thought. I want to continue training and buying more ammunition.
• Tbh I hope I do progress into a serial killer because I f*cking hate life man… But one day everyone will suffer. I promise I will make everyone feel my f*ucking pain. My deep, sincere, raw, & sharp pain.
• There is no way out for me. The only way out is bloodshed.
• Just wait man. Remember [my username]. [I] will leave clues when im done.
• I’m just leaving evidence for whoever investigates my case.
Cobb joined the U.S. Marine Corps in 2023 and began basic training in June 2023. Cobb was stationed in California until his recent discharge.
In statements to law enforcement, Cobb admitted to writing the above-described posts and provided detailed information on locations he had considered as possible targets for his attack, including a Jersey Strong gym and an Aldi grocery store in Robbinsville, New Jersey. Cobb also discussed his access to guns and idolized other mass shooters.
A lawful search of Cobb’s cell phone revealed additional notes from April and May 2023 expressing Cobb’s homicidal ideations, stating:
• It’s all a f*cking game and you all are going to die. I currently lack the means necessary to kill as many as I intend to but one day I will have the available resources (finance) to purchase the appropriate weaponry for my killing(s).
• All my life I have been doubyed… Ive been taken as the joke… ive been f*cked around with… well now its my turn. I am going to kill one of you mother*ckers I f*cking hate humanity. All of you f*cking duck and I don’t give a single f*ck about any of you though I may appear I do.
• Im ready to grt to the good part of my story where I start taking you mother f*ckers out and killing you all… My rampage will soon happen… I plan to now continue accumulating the necessary equipment needed to execute. Once all equipment is in, time will then tell. You will all die.
• I hate all of this sh*t and I feel like my only way out of the pain and suffering is by exploding. So I await… I await that moment so I can make those moments final. For whomever… myself or a victim.
Cobb’s phone also contained notes on how to bring guns into New Jersey.
The charge of transmitting a threat in interstate and foreign commerce is punishable by a maximum penalty of five years in prison and a $250,000 fine.
U.S. Attorney Sellinger credited special agents and task force officers of the FBI Newark Joint Terrorism Task Force, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge James E. Dennehy, with the investigation leading to the arrest. He also thanked the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Central District of California, under the direction of U.S. Attorney E. Martin Estrada, agents of the FBI Field Office in Los Angeles, California, under the direction of Acting Assistant Director in Charge Mehtab Syed; the Hamilton Police Division, under the direction of Chief Kenneth R. DeBoskey; the Robbinsville Police Department, under the direction of Chief Michael K. Polaski; and the Mercer County Prosecutor’s Office, under the direction of Prosecutor Angelo J. Onofri.
The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Vera Varshavsky of the U.S. Attorney’s Office’s National Security Unit, with assistance from the U.S. Department of Justice’s Counterterrorism Section of the National Security Division.
The charges and allegations contained in the complaint are merely accusations, and the defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.
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Defense counsel: Saverio A. Viggiano Esq. and Tatiana S. L. Nnaji Esq., Assistant Federal Public Defenders
Photo by Sora Shimazaki on Pexels.com
May 13, 2024
TRENTON, NJ (MERCER)–Three firefighters, among a group who had to “bail out” of the structures to avoid being caught in a violent eruption of flame known as a flashover, suffered burns and were rushed to hospital by ambulance. The blaze in the row of three homes numbered 118, 120 and 122 South Cook Avenue was reported about 4:30 a.m.
Trenton Mayor Reed Gusciora stated this morning, I visited them at St. Barnabas Hospital. All three firefighters were released with treatment for 2nd degree burns: one with burns on both hands; two with burns on back as result of fire flashover.
Yesterday’s MidJersey.news story:
Three Firefighters Injured Battling Three Alarm Blaze in Trenton, NJ
TRENTON, NJ (MERCER)–Not that there were many people awake and on hand to witness it, but the bravery of Trenton firefighters was once again on full display early this Mother’s Day Sunday morning (May 12, 2024) as they battled a three-alarm blaze that burned three rowhouses in the Wilbur section of the city. Three firefighters, among a group who had to “bail out” of the structures to avoid being caught in a violent eruption of flame known as a flashover, suffered burns and were rushed to hospital by ambulance.
The blaze in the row of three homes numbered 118, 120 and 122 South Cook Avenue was reported about 4:30 a.m.
Initially, firefighters were dispatched for a report of a fire on the first floor of the supposedly vacant, abandoned house at 118 South Cook Avenue. Dispatched at that time were Engines 6, 7 and 10, Ladder 4, and Rescue 1. Heavy fire and smoke was showing from both floors of the two-story structure, with flames starting to spread into the other two occupied homes in the row, when Engine 7 arrived on the scene. The “All Hands” signal for a working fire was immediately transmitted, which sent the remainder of the first alarm – Engine 3, Ladder 2 and Special Services 1 – to the scene. A second alarm, which brought Engine 1 to the scene, was quickly ordered by Battalion Chief Dave Smolka.
Firefighters quickly put a water cannon known as a “deck gun” in service in an effort to halt additional spread of fire from 118 South Cook Avenue. Simultaneously, they also stretched hoselines into the adjacent structures to extinguish the flames that had already extended into the interiors of those homes.
Despite their best efforts, interior conditions rapidly worsened to where firefighters had to back out for safety reasons. As they were making their way toward the exits, a flashover reportedly occurred and some firefighters narrowly avoided getting caught in the blowtorch of heat and flame generated by the sudden explosion of fire. As it was, two firefighters were burned and were rushed via ambulance to Capital Health Regional Medical Center. While their burns were reportedly of a serious nature they were not believed to be life threatening, according to emergency personnel at the scene.
The third alarm – which brought all remaining on-duty Trenton fire companies (Engines 8 and 9 and Ladder 1) to the scene – was ordered at 4:51 a.m. As a steady rain fell, firefighters fought the blaze with multiple hoselines. Much of the roof of the vacant house at 118 South Cook Avenue where the fire had originated soon collapsed. Once the bulk of the fire was knocked down and it was safe to resume interior operations, firefighters went back inside both 120 and 122 South Cook Avenue to expose and extinguish concealed pockets of fire burning in the attic spaces and walls.
The fire was officially declared under control at 6:47 a.m. by Trenton Fire Department Deputy Chief Gus Tackacs.
Trenton Emergency Medical Service crews, Capital Health paramedics, and a mutual aid ambulance crew from Lawrence Township, along with the city’s volunteer fire and police canteen unit, Signal 22, were on hand to support firefighters. The Red Cross was called out to assist displaced residents of 120 and 122 South Cook Avenue.
The cause of the blaze is under investigation by investigators from the Trenton fire and police departments, the Mercer County Prosecutor’s Office and the state Division of Fire Safety.
