Steven J. Montgomery, 32, had pleaded guilty to a number of charges.

Steven Montgomery, 32, of Newark. NJOAG 

TRENTON -- A Newark man who went on a 36-hour crime spree that ended when he was shot while trying to run over a state trooper with a stolen minivan has been sentenced to 17 years in prison, authorities announced. 

Steven J. Montgomery, 32, pleaded guilty in March to carjacking, two counts of aggravated assault, possession of a weapon for an unlawful purpose, and eluding police, the state Attorney General's Office said.

Montgomery must serve 14 years in jail before being eligible for parole, under to the sentence by state Superior Court Judge Michael Raven in Essex County. 

"Montgomery's violent two-day crime spree appropriately ended with him behind bars," acting Attorney General Christopher Porrino said in a statement. "With this sentence, we have ensured that he won't be robbing innocent victims at gunpoint or threatening police for many years to come."

Montgomery's spree started in Newark in the early hours of Feb. 8, 2015. It ended the following morning when he was shot in the shoulder and wrist while driving the van erratically on an Irvington sidewalk, authorities said.

He was shot when he charged at a trooper with the stolen van, authorities said.

Among the crimes authorities said he committed between those two times: 

* Donning a ski mask, he hijacked the silver Honda Odyssey minivan just before 1 a.m., while also stealing the driver's cell phone and several hundred dollars.

* He then drove the van to a nearby Sunoco gas station and stole $170 from an attendant at gunpoint.

* The next morning, he set out again in the stolen minivan and pointed the handgun at a woman cleaning snow off her vehicle, ordering her to "come over here or I will kill you." The woman locked herself in her car and called police while Montgomery banged on the window. He eventually retreated to the van and left the scene.

* He then returned to the same Sunoco gas station and stole another $350.

* A half hour later, four troopers driving in two separate cars saw Montgomery driving the van. which was known to be stolen and associated with several robberies. The troopers attempted to block the van on either side.

One trooper exited one of the cars with his gun drawn and ordered Montgomery out of the vehicle. But Montgomery instead hopped the curb and drove toward the trooper.

When the trooper saw Montgomery reach under the dashboard, the trooped fired two shots, striking Montgomery in the shoulder and wrist. Montgomery continued to flee but only made it about a mile before he crashed into another car at a stoplight in neighboring Irvington.

Montgomery then tried to flee on foot but was arrested by two other troopers nearby.

Troopers searched the vehicle and found a Sig Sauer handgun, a .177-caliber BB gun, and a black ski mask inside.

Montgomery later admitted to his role in the string of robberies, telling police he was on his way to buy crack cocaine and PCP when they tried to stop him, authorities said.

NJ Advance Media staff writer S.P. Sullivan contributed to this report.

Brent Johnson may be reached at bjohnson@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @johnsb01. Find NJ.com Politics on Facebook.

Police helicopter used to track bikers without high-speed chases, cops say

NEWARK -- The city's police helicopter aided in the apprehension of five people illegally operating all-terrain vehicles in the city Monday afternoon, Public Safety Director Anthony Ambrose said in a statement.

The copter, "Newark 1," was deployed between 3 and 5 p.m. when it spotted three ATV riders. The helicopter crew directed members of the Special Enforcement Bureau to their location at S. 19th Street and 15th Avenue. The ATVs were seized and the three received a total of 15 traffic summonses.  

A fourth ATV rider was spotted by the airborne unit as he drove "recklessly" through the North and West wards, Ambrose said. Detectives stopped him at Roseville and 6th avenues, confiscating his ATV and issuing him 11 traffic summonses.

Another suspect, Halifax McNair, was stopped after driving his ATV in a reckless manner through the West Ward, Ambrose said, adding that McNair tried to elude police. McNair was arrested as the helicopter hovered above his location, Ambrose said.

Police were able to avoid a vehicle chase in all the incidents thanks to the assistance of "Newark 1," Ambrose also said.

"I hope the riders of the ATV's and those attempting to flee from the helicopter get the message --  they won't be successful and we will continue to deploy this this tactic to rid them from our streets, reduce crime and police chases. We will continue to use the advantage afforded by our eye in the sky to catch criminals and to target activities that have a negative impact on the quality of life for our residents," Ambrose said.

Paul Milo may be reached at pmilo@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter@PaulMilo2. Find NJ.com on Facebook. 

Jerry Sorell is 90 years old and never lost his love for the violin, not even when Germany invaded Vienna and forced his family to flee in 1938. He's still fiddling today, celebrating life through music. Watch video

Jerry Sorell rises from the dining room table at his home in North Caldwell, where this story begins over coffee and bagels.

It's the third time he's gotten up to reveal pieces of his past. The first trip was to his office, where the 90-year-old retired chemical engineer does consultant work, studying air pollution control systems for oil refineries. The second trek was to the laundry room -  to show off tennis trophies he's won from playing three times a week.

Spry doesn't begin to describe Sorell. These days, on any given weekend, Sorell could be at a Springsteen concert with his son-in-law or enjoying the opera with his wife, Susie, to whom he's been married 64 years. She's 89 and the light in eyes.

But the narrative about this Princeton University man, who graduated Phi Beta Kappa in 1950 after serving in World War II, only gets better. 

MORE: Recent Barry Carter columns  

"I want to show you something,'' Sorell said.

He disappears into the living room this time, returning with a picture of a 13-year-old boy playing the violin as his mother looks on.

"I was, sort of, on a path to become a professional musician, but the whole thing fell apart,'' Sorell said.

Sorell was 12 when Germany invaded Vienna in 1938, forcing his family to flee the country. But that never stifled Sorell's love for classical music.

Ladies and gentlemen - Jerry Sorell is "Still Fiddling at 90," just as the program for his most recent concert declared.

These concerts began 10 years ago because some tennis buddies didn't believe he could play the violin. "I said 'I'll show you guys,' '' he recalled.  

With good friend and neighbor Arnold Chait playing the piano, the gifted gentlemen take the floor under their stage name, "The Arthritic Duo.''

Don't let the title fool you. There's nothing stiff about this talented tandem. This past Sunday, they took about 70 family and friends on a musical journey from Bach to Joplin.

Eli Curi, one of those tennis pals, said Sorell is better than he was at the start of the concerts."The dexterity of his hands at this age ... I'm able to see the extraordinary skill that he still possesses,'' said Curi, a retired vascular surgeon who lives in Essex Fells.

Sorell arranges this show every five years at the Montclair home of Mark and Deborah Stehr  - his son-in-law and daughter - to celebrate his birthday, which was in April. This performance included daughter Tamara Sorell, who played the piano, and  granddaughters Jocelyn and Carly Steinfeld, who sang soprano. 

Sorell entertains, joking with the crowd between numbers, summarizing each piece he devours with intensity.He taps his foot to keep time, his eyes are fixed on the notes, his violin bow glides up, down, across and through songs that he and Chait have practiced for weeks.

When they insert the theme from "Schindler's List,'' the song becomes personal for Sorell.  It's a tribute to his two grandmothers, who died at Auschwitz.

Listen closely.

The chords he plays could easily be chapters of a memoir of the life Sorell has lived. There's so much that Mark Stehr has organized and indexed what is essentially history.

Some of the record is captured in about 400 World War II letters that Sorell wrote to his parents. Because of his fluency in German, the then-19-year-old was assigned to the Counter Intelligence Corps to interrogate prisoners of war and Nazi officials.

"Few will stand up like men to admit their guilt,'' Sorell wrote on May 31, 1945. "The rest are cringing, obsequious cowards.''

There is irony in that writing. Just a few years earlier, Sorell's family had fled the anti-Semitism flooding their homeland.

Sorell was born Gerhard Eisenstein and was 9 years old when he began playing the violin with his father, Jose Lampl. Though his father, an amateur violinist, would die within a couple of years, the youngster continued his studies at the Vienna Conservatory.

His mother, Gertrude Eisenstein, remarried in 1938 when she met Walter Sorell and that same year, they left Austria. The family landed in Luxembourg and then moved on to London. Sorell adopted Gerhard in 1939.

As Hitler's troops advanced across Europe, Sorell said the family was able to board one of the convoy passenger boats bound for the United States. A week after leaving London, the Sorell family arrived in New York City on Thanksgiving Day in 1939.

Sorell resumed playing the violin in high school, where he was among young composers interviewed by The New York Times for having written original music that was selected for an annual concert.

Stehr pulls out a copy of the story while we're talking at the dinning room table. Though Sorell tries to shoo him away, Stehr  explains that Sorell is his "personal hero'' and encourages his father-in-law to talk about his life.

"Hitler, as you know, was well on his way to eradicating the Jews, so the idea of wanting to get back and fight that son of bitch was something I wanted to do,'' Sorell said.

After he graduated high school, Sorell was drafted and shipped to Europe, where he was assigned to a heavy weapons company - 394th Regiment, 99^th Infantry Division. Between digging foxholes and battle campaigns, Sorell discovered a violin in a house in Germany.

 "I liberated it,'' he said.

MORE CARTER: Murals bring vibrant colors, culture to Newark neighborhoods 

Sorrell kept that violin and played it during down time. It stayed with him after he was discharged and while he was at college, where he became the concerto master - the lead violinist - of the Princeton University Orchestra.

After Princeton, the violin was stolen and Sorell bought another that he'd play during his chemical engineering career of nearly 30 years. He worked for M.W. Kellog Co. and Esso Research & Engineering Co, which is now Exxon.

Sorrell doesn't dwell on the past often, but that is what's so fascinating about him.

In a folder, there are report cards from elementary school in Vienna.  His thesis from Princeton graduate school is neatly typed, with some of it written in beautiful cursive penmanship. He also has an autographed picture of Albert Einstein, who signed the photograph for him when they met at Princeton.

The concert is just about over. "Schindler's List,"  just like all of the music he's played, receives stirring applause before Sorell brings the show home in true fiddler fashion.

His guests are clapping and tapping their feet to popular American-Irish fiddle tunes that Sorell plays with controlled, frenetic speed.

Not bad for a cancer survivor.That's something else you didn't know.

Keep on playing, my friend.  See you in five years.

Barry Carter: (973) 836-4925 or bcarter@starledger.com or nj.com/carter or follow him on Twitter @BarryCarterSL

Gun was reported stolen in North Carolina, officials say

Essex County Sheriff's detectives made two arrests for drug and weapons offenses, authorities said (File photo) 

Narcotic detectives were conducting surveillance at Bloomfield Avenue and North 16th Street in Bloomfield on Saturday when they spotted an illegally parked Cadillac Seville, according to Sheriff Armando Fontoura.

Detectives asked the driver, identified as 24-year-old Demetreous Lynch, to step out of the car and immediately noticed a loaded .45 caliber Millennium semi-automatic handgun on the floor of the driver's side, the sheriff said in a statement. The gun was reported stolen out of Charlotte, North Carolina in January 2009.

Authorities charged Lynch, of Irvington, with various offenses, including possession of a weapon by a convicted felon and receiving stolen property. He was also cited for illegal parking and having unsafe safety glass, the sheriff added.

Man arrested with heroin, loaded gun, sheriff says

In another undercover operation Friday outside a vacant building on North 9th Street in Newark, sheriff's detectives recognized 34-year-old Aquil Horn of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania from past drug cases, according to Fontoura.

Horn went to an alley, opened an unlocked door and exchanged items in a plastic bag for cash after speaking to a man who walked by the building, the sheriff added. He also spoke to a woman before he went to his car and retrieved items that he exchanged with her for cash, Fontoura said.

Detectives suspected they saw two drug deals and detained Horn, according to the sheriff. In a bag in the alley, the officers found 75 envelopes of heroin, stamped with 'PASSION' in black ink.

According to Fontoura, a drug-sniffing sheriff's German Shepherd named "Yuma" indicated the possibility of other narcotics in Horn's car. Authorities said a further search was pending after they obtained a warrant.

Horn was ordered held at the Essex County Correctional Facility in lieu of $50,000 bail, officials said. Bail for Lynch was set at $45,000.

Noah Cohen may be reached at ncohen@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @noahyc. Find NJ.com on Facebook.

The son of Pamela Davis, the Newark woman who was found decapitated in a neighbor's home in November, has created a GoFundMe page to help his family move off the street.

NEWARK -- Shuquan Davis, whose mother's decapitated body was found in a nearby resident's garage late last year, has created an online fundraiser to help his family move away from the block where police found her mangled remains.

Officers discovered the mutilated corpse of his 50-year-old mother, Pamela Davis, on Nov. 9 in a neighbor's garage in the 800 block of South 11th Street, just seven buildings from where her family still lives.

After the killing, Shuquan said he stopped working as a forklift and crane operator to care for his 73-year-old grandfather Arthur, who had his left leg amputated after two strokes related to diabetes. He also parents his 17-year-old sister Tatyana and his 16-year-old brother Taheed, who has autism, he said.

"I'm Mr. Mom now," the 32-year-old mournfully joked in a previous interview with NJ Advance Media. "I still have anger. I remain focused because I have to be here to make sure my family is OK. They need me now more than ever."

Decapitation may have been over $5, friend says

Shuquan said any money donated to the GoFundMe page he created last week would help him and his family move off the block that still reminds Shuquan what his mother's decapitated body smelled like.

The family lives on the second floor, which makes it difficult for Shuquan's grandfather -- who he said uses a wheelchair because he is still too weak from surgery to use his prosthetic leg -- to get in and out of the home.

Pamela Davis was reported missing on Oct. 30, 2015. (File photo)
 

"He's confined to his one bedroom, so moving to a one-story room would give him his regular livelihood back," Shuquan said of his grandfather, who was released from the hospital just two days after Pamela was reported missing Oct. 30. 

Any donations will also contribute to counseling expenses for his younger brother. Shuquan said he plans to start working again in the next month or two. 

Pamela's body was found in the garage of James Edwards, who has been in jail since November on desecration of human remains charges, authorities said. The charges against him were upgraded to murder earlier this month, after a medical examiner's report was released, officials said.

The 57-year-old pleaded not guilty to the murder during a June 14 courtroom hearing. He is being held on $500,000 bail.

Edwards is accused of killing Davis and attempting "to get rid of the body by dismembering her remains," authorities alleged. 

"We still remain strong and will move forward from this tragic situation," Shuquan said during a phone interview Monday. "And we are highly grateful for all the love and support to help us gain a peace of mind."

Luke Nozicka may be reached at lnozicka@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @lukenozicka. Find NJ.com on Facebook and Twitter.

They earned their money in different industries, from real estate to rock music, but all of them are multimillionaires, and some are billionaires.

These people don't have to try their luck at the next big Powerball or MegaMillions jackpot. They already have a net worth of hundreds of millions of dollars, according to NJBIZ.

For the second straight year, the business journal has compiled a list of the 50 wealthiest people in New Jersey, and some on the top of the list have amassed a fortune valued in the billions.

The richest Jerseyans hail from different industries, ranging from real estate and banking to horse racing and entertainment. Yes, Jersey rockers Jon Bon Jovi and Bruce Springsteen are both on the list, each worth a hefty $305 million. So is former Gov. Thomas Kean, with a net worth of $350 million.

Donald Newhouse, co-owner of Advance Publications, the parent company of NJ Advance Media, which provides content to NJ.com, The Star-Ledger and other newspapers, is the wealthiest resident of the Garden State, according to NJBIZ. Newhouse's net worth is estimated at $10.3 billion.

Meet N.J.'s billionaires

One man on the list owns a discount apparel retail chain, one heads a chemical company and one earned his fortune in a trucking and logistics business.

(The wealthiest individuals and business partners are shown in the photo gallery.)

To compile its wealth list, NJBIZ said it conducted extensive research, "combing through publicly available documents, including news reports and Securities & Exchange Commission filings, and tapping other sources."

Once it came up with the net worth of each person, the magazine reached out to each multimillionaire to confirm the numbers.

By the way, the man who reigned as New Jersey's richest person on last year's list -- David Alan Tepper of Livingston -- didn't make the cut this year. That's because he's no longer living in the Garden State. He reportedly moved down to Florida.  

Len Melisurgo may be reached at LMelisurgo@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @LensReality. Find NJ.com on Facebook.

A woman charged with child endangerment after her 5-year-old son accidentally shot his younger brother sobbed during a court hearing.

NEWARK -- A woman who was arrested after her 5-year-old son accidentally shot and killed his 4-year-old brother in their home broke down in tears Tuesday when she appeared in court.

A lawyer for the mother, Itiyanah Spruill, filed not guilty pleas to charges of child endangerment and weapons offenses when the obviously distraught mother appeared before Superior Court Judge Ronald Wigler.

The 22-year-old Spruill loudly sobbed when her attorney, Theresa Owens of the Public Defender's Office, asked the judge for an order allowing Spruill to attended funeral this coming Friday for her 4-year-old son.

Essex County Assistant Prosecutor Jamel Semper said he would oppose the defense motion.

Wigler quickly responded that it was common for a defendant to seek to attend a funeral. He directed Semper to file his brief opposing the request by Thursday.

Spruill, of East Orange, was dressed in an orange prison jump suit with her hands cuffed behind her back as she stood in court.

Relatives of Spruill sat in the courtroom during the hearing, a few of them wiping tears from their eyes and comforting one another.

The 4-year-old boy who authorities say was fatally shot by his older brother in East Orange on June 26, 2016. ( Family photo)
 

The relatives declined to comment after the hearing.

Wigler left Spruill's bail at $310,000, and Owens said she would file a motion for a bail reduction.

Authorities say that about 11 a.m. last Saturday, the older son was playing with his mother's gun in their Norman Street home when he accidentally shot his younger brother.

The wounded child was taken to University Hospital in Newark, where he died about 4:25 p.m., authorities say.

Authorities have not released any details about the gun or how the mother obtained it.

Family members have started a fundraiser to help pay for funeral expenses. Shirele Richardson, who said she was the aunt of the boys, started the GoFundMe page Sunday.

Tom Haydon may be reached at thaydon@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @Tom_HaydonSL. Find NJ.com on Facebook.

The number of homeless people in New Jersey declined by 12.4 percent this year compared to a year earlier

WASHINGTON -- The number of homeless people in New Jersey declined by 12.4 percent this year compared to 2015, according to the states's annual count.

The count, conducted on Jan. 26, found 8,941 homeless men, women and children, down from 10,211 in 2015, according to the count coordinated by Monarch Housing.

"This year's count shows a significant decrease of individuals experiencing homelessness in New Jersey," said Katelyn Cunningham, associate at Monarch Housing.

Essex County had the largest number of homeless people, 1,782, or 19.9 percent of the statewide homeless population. Next was Burlington County, with 928 people, or 10.4 percent of the count; and Hudson County, with 829 people or 9.3 percent.

N.J. homeless population declines

Monarch Housing said there still were barriers to ending homelessness, including a shortage of shelter beds, a lack of rental apartments, low-paying jobs and the failure of Congress to increase funding for vouchers that help cover the cost of housing.

One concern was the increase in the number of individuals living on the street, in cars, in train stations, in abandoned buildings. These "unsheltered" individuals are distinct from those who have temporary lodging in a shelter.

That number rose by 48 percent to 1,442 in 2016 from 974 persons in 2015.

"The increase in the unsheltered population shows us that there is still a great deal of work to be done to expand the resources needed," Cunningham said.

In March, Gov. Chris Christie proposed spending more than $5 million for 500 more vouchers for the state's Rental Assistance Program. They would go to chronically homeless or people that rely on public assistance.

The Obama administration in 2010 began an effort to eliminate homelessness, and a national count is conducted on one night in January.

The report issued Tuesday said that more than one-fifth of the homeless, 21.4 percent, were asked to leave a residence they were sharing with other people; 13.5 percent lost their jobs or had their hours reduced; and 13.4 percent either were evicted or were going to be.

Last year's count showed that the number of homeless people in New Jersey declined more than in 45 other states in the last year, according to the U.S. Housing and Urban Development's 2015 Annual Homeless Assessment Report to Congress. The number of reported homeless in the state declined by 1,573, a 13.5 percent drop.

From 2007 to 2015, the state had 7,216 fewer homeless individuals, the fourth biggest drop in the country and a 41.7 percent decline. During that same five-year period, the national homeless rate dropped by 82,550, or 11 percent.

Jonathan D. Salant may be reached at jsalant@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @JDSalant. Find NJ.com Politics on Facebook.

A discount airline will begin flying out of Newark Liberty International Airport later this year.

NEWARK -- A discount airline will begin flying out of Newark Liberty International Airport later this year.

Allegiant Airlines will begin flying to four cities out of Newark in November.Allegiant Airlines 

Allegiant will offer flights to Cincinnati and Savannah, Ga., beginning on Nov. 16; the following day it begins service to Asheville, N.C. and Knoxville, Tenn. Fares start at $39 for the first two destinations and $41 for the others.

The Las Vegas-based airline announced its entrance to the area in a news release Tuesday morning. 

It comes weeks after the federal government said it will lift the cap on the number of hourly takeoffs and landings at Newark. Newark is being re-classified from a Level 3 to a Level 2 airport, meaning it will no longer be limited to 81 slots per hour.

JetBlue was the first carrier to take advantage of the change when it said it would add six additional daily flights to Florida in the fall. 

Allegiant previously served the region only out of Lehigh Valley International Airport in Allentown, Pa. It says its base airfares are less than half the cost of the average domestic roundtrip ticket.

Jeff Goldman may be reached at jeff_goldman@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @JeffSGoldman. Find NJ.com on Facebook. 

Jamie Manning faced mandatory decades in prison for armed carjackings over a nine-day period.

NEWARK -- A Newark man's 10-day carjacking binge will cost him most of  the rest of his life in prison, following his sentencing Tuesday in federal court.

Saying that carjacking is a crime that creates fear in society as well as its victims, U.S. District Judge William Walls ordered that Jamie Manning spend 47 years in federal prison.

"The impact on society is, you're afraid to move," Walls said.

Considering the 31-year-old Newark man's history of involvement in the courts and justice system, Walls said, the thought of rehabilitation was "relatively unimportant... The main thrust of my evaluation is punishment."

Manning was found guilty last year of involvement in three armed carjackings and one attempted carjacking in Newark between Dec. 20-29, 2012. He was convicted of charges relating to conspiracy, carjacking and attempted carjacking, and multiple counts of use of a firearm during a crime of violence. 

In a deal with prosecutors, Manning agreed to waive his right to appeal the sentence in return for the dropping of sentencing on two gun-related counts that would have mandated 50 years in prison. 

Carjacker gets 20 years in prison

Walls rejected a defense request that Manning not be considered a career criminal, citing numerous offenses largely related to selling and possessing drugs, for which he was charged since he turned 18.  

But those crimes paled compared to the terror he and associates imposed on Newark in late 2012 when he threatened and attempted to seize vehicles -- one carrying a young child, another owned by a pair of social workers who work with convicts, Assistant U.S. Attorney Dara Aquila Govan said. 

"Many of them are still frightened," she said. 

Some of them have moved out of Newark, Govan said. One entire family had to go into counseling because of the trauma of their carjacking, she said.

Manning, she said, "is a person who has no regard for other people."

Defense attorney Frank Arleo said he hoped to lessen Manning's sentence by a few years, but acknowledged that some of the charges Manning faced carried mandatory prison terms.

Manning declined to address the court.

A co-conspirator, Corey Thermitus, 24, of Newark, pleaded guilty to related charges and was sentenced in December to more than 21 years in prison, according to the office of U.S. Attorney Paul J. Fishman.

Tim Darragh may be reached at tdarragh@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @timdarragh. Find NJ.com on Facebook.

These schools will get polls this summer for fans to vote for the best-ever athlete alums.

These schools will get polls this summer for fans to vote for the best-ever athlete alums.

Sheriff's officers broke up a courthouse confrontation between supporters of murder suspect and relatives of the victim.

NEWARK -- Daryl Craft entered the courtroom for an arraignment on a murder charge and he smiled, greeted by waving relatives and friends in the courtroom, including one who clapped.

However, relatives of the murder victim, 19-year-old Darnell Smith, were also in the courtroom. When the arraignment ended, Craft, 24, was led from the courtroom as his relatives shouted support.

When the two groups of people filed out of the room, they confronted each other in the hallway, igniting a shouting match that sheriff's officers rushed to break up.

"My baby got shot down in the middle of the street," said Smith's mother, Hevella Bennett. "That's my baby. He finished high school. He wanted to go to college," she said.

Officers quickly ushered Craft's family and friends into an elevator and other officers tried to calm Bennett and other members of her family.

Craft's attorney, Deidra McMahon of the Public Defender's Office, entered not guilty pleas to charges of murder and weapons offenses.

Authorities allege Craft, a Newark resident, shot Smith on Oct. 24, 2015.

Police found Smith outside a residence on South 6th Street in Newark suffering from a gunshot wound. Smith was taken to University Hospital in the city where he was pronounced dead at 1:50 a.m., authorities said.

Police obtained an arrest warrant for Craft on Nov. 22, 2015.

However, he was not apprehended until Dec. 31, when police arrested him after he and others led police on an early morning car chase through Newark's South Ward, according to police reports.

Authorities have not released details on the motive for the shooting.

Superior Court Judge Ronald Wigler on Monday ordered that bail for Craft remain at $1 million.

Tom Haydon may be reached at thaydon@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @Tom_HaydonSL. Find NJ.com on Facebook.

Braugher plays Capt. Ray Holt on Fox's 'Brooklyn Nine-Nine' Watch video

South Orange resident Andre Braugher is getting a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce announced Tuesday. Braugher receives the star in the television category.

Braugher, 53, a Chicago native, is a cast member on Fox's "Brooklyn Nine-Nine." He was nominated for an Emmy in the supporting actor category in both 2014 and 2015 for his performance as Capt. Ray Holt. He won Emmys in 2006 for outstanding actor in a miniseries or movie for "Thief" and in 1998 for lead actor, for playing Det. Frank Pembleton in "Homicide: Life on the Street." 

The other Hollywood Walk of Fame honorees from television for 2017 are Tyra Banks, Ken Corday, Lee Daniels, Hugh Laurie, Eva Longoria, Wolfgang Puck, Keri Russell, Haim Saban, George Segal, Sarah Silverman and Jeffrey Tambor. 

In the motion picture category, actors Amy Adams, Jason Bateman, Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, Goldie Hawn, Rita Wilson, Chris Pratt, Ryan Reynolds and Mark Ruffalo as well as writer/producer/director George A. Romero and producer/director Brett Ratner will get stars. 

For recording: Selena Quintanilla (posthumous), Jerry Goldsmith (posthumous), Hall & Oates, Ice Cube, John Legend, NSync, New Edition and Clarence Avant.

Z100's Elvis Duran is the only honoree to receive a star in the radio category, while live theater performance stars go to Criss Angel, Jeff Dunham and Gustavo Dudamel.

Amy Kuperinsky may be reached at akuperinsky@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @AmyKup or on Facebook.

The officers come from 19 of New Jersey's 21 counties, with the most, 37, from Cumberland County, and 27 from Essex County.

TRENTON -- The latest class of state corrections officers officially graduated Tuesday during a ceremony at Trenton's Patriot's Theater at the War Memorial.

The officers were sworn in by Department of Corrections (DOC) Commissioner Gary M. Lanigan following an address by Lt. Governor Kim Guadagno.

Class #237 by the numbers:

* The officers come from 19 of New Jersey's 21 counties, with the most, 37, from Cumberland County, and 27 from Essex County.

* The rest of the counties and number of officers: Ocean, 17; Hudson, 13; Burlington, 11; Mercer, 10; Union, 10; Bergen, 9; Camden, 8; Middlesex, 8; Cape May, 6; Monmouth, 5; Atlantic, 4; Gloucester, 4; Passaic, 4, and one each from Morris, Salem, Somerset and Warren.

* 21 of the officers have served in the U.S. military: 11 from the Army, 4 from the Marines, 3 from the Air Force and 3 from the Navy.

* 59 of the 177 officers have college degrees.

* 33 are from law enforcement families and 14 officers have other family members currently in law enforcement.

The following officers were honored with DOC training awards:

* Fred Baker Memorial Academic Award: Anthony Davanzo

* Michal R. Pofahl Memorial Firearms Award: Anthony Grasso Jr.

* Stone-Ratajczak Professionalism Award: Trent Darway

* Harry Ellifritz Award: Daniel Kemble

* Commissioner's Physical Fitness Award: Taj Lumanog, who was also named class president.

* Commissioner's Physical Fitness Award Most Improved: Paul Lewis

* Police Training Commission Merit Awards: Scott Fancher, Bryon Heinrich, Carlos Rosario and Michael Sammarone.

Kevin Shea may be reached at kshea@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter@kevintshea. Find NJ.com on Facebook.

Three explosions killed at least 28 people at Istanbul Ataturk airport

NEWARK -- The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey has heightened its security presence  at area airports Tuesday hours after a deadly terrorist bombing at Turkey's busiest airport, WABC 7 reported.  

Officers with tactical weapons and equipment were dispatched at Kennedy, LaGuardia and Newark Liberty airports following three explosions at Istanbul Ataturk Airport, the world's 11th busiest. The bombings killed at least 28 people and wounded 60 more, CNN reported early Tuesday night. No one had yet claimed responsibilty.

"The agency continues to monitor the situation in Turkey and is collaborating with federal, state and local law enforcement partners to include the FBI Joint Terrorism Task Force,the Port Authority in a statement quoted by WABC.

Three of the bombers were killed, CNN reported, including one attacker who opened fire with a machine gun before blowing himself up. 

"It was just a massive crowd of screaming people. Some were falling over themselves," a traveler, Laurence Cameron, told CNN.  

"A poor chap in a wheelchair was just left, and everyone just rushed to the back of the building, and then people ran the other way and no one really seemed to know what was going on," he said. 

Paul Milo may be reached at pmilo@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter@PaulMilo2. Find NJ.com on Facebook.  

'Getting unintentionally pregnant more than once is irresponsible, but it's still necessary to make a thoughtful decision,' Handler says. 'We all make mistakes all the time.' Watch video

Chelsea Handler had two abortions when she was 16. She's never regretted those decisions, she says, and considers her experience a demonstration of the importance of self-determination. 

Handler, 41, a Livingston native who hosts "Chelsea," a Netflix talk show, and for seven years hosted "Chelsea Lately" on E!, wrote about her encounters with abortion in an essay called "My Choice" for Playboy. She says that she was having unprotected sex with her boyfriend at the time and was in an unhealthy relationship. 

"When I got pregnant at the age of 16, getting an abortion wasn't the first idea that popped into my unripened brain," Handler writes, saying she also had a strained relationship with her parents. 

"I wasn't really playing with a full deck of cards, and when I got pregnant I just thought, Why not?" she says.

In what Handler describes as one of the first occasions "they acted like parents," her mother and father helped her make the decision to have an abortion and took her to Planned Parenthood. 

"I didn't have just one abortion; I had two in the same year, impregnated by the same guy," Handler continues. "I didn't have the money the second time. I had to scrape together the $230 to pay Planned Parenthood, but it was a safe abortion. Getting unintentionally pregnant more than once is irresponsible, but it's still necessary to make a thoughtful decision. We all make mistakes all the time."

"I'm 41 now," Handler writes. "I don't ever look back and think, God, I wish I'd had that baby."

Handler called it "infuriating" to see politicians pass laws that restrict access to abortions and close clinics. But in the essay, published on June 24, Handler didn't think the right to choose was in peril. On Monday, the Supreme Court struck down a Texas law that would have closed abortion clinics. 

"I don't buy that Roe v. Wade is in danger," Handler says. "We're too far ahead of the game. Once you go forward in history, you don't go backward."

A woman who was beaten and thrown down basement stairs by a burglar has the chance to confront her attacker at his sentencing Watch video

NEWARK -- On June 21, 2013, a man broke into a Millburn home and beat and kicked a woman, then threw her down the basement stairs, all while her daughter sat just feet away.

On Wednesday, three years after the attack, the victim will get her chance to confront the convicted attacker, Shawn Custis, when he appears before Superior Court Judge Ronald Wigler to be sentenced for the attack.

The beating of the woman was recorded on a home security camera, a so-called "nanny cam."

Earlier this month, a jury on found Custis, 45, guilty of aggravated assault, robbery, endangering the welfare of a child, burglary, criminal restraint and theft. Custis was found not guilty of the more serious charge of attempted murder.

However, prosecutors say the robbery charge carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison, and that with his prior criminal record, Custis could receive an extended term of up to life in prison.

During the trial, the victim, whose name has been withheld at the request of the prosecutor's office, testified that she endured the beating to protect her children, including who 3-year-old daughter who was on a couch and her 18-month-old son who was sleeping upstairs.

The woman said the attack left her with no feeling on the right side of her face and with injuries to her knee that continue to limit her movement.

During the trial, the prosecutors dealt with allegations that police officers were biased, because the first police detective to arrive at the house after the attack was recorded on the same nanny cam referring to the then unknown attacker with obscenities and racial slurs.

Custis' attorney, John McMahon, contended his client was arrested because of that bias.

However, Essex County Assistant Prosecutor Jamel Semper called four women to testify, including two of Custis' former girlfriends, and all four identified him as the man in the nanny cam video.

Authorities said Custis broke into the home and discovered the woman, then beat her until she fell to the floor. He then went upstairs, but quickly came down and attacked the woman again as she was trying to get up and reach for a phone.

Days after the attack, police released the video of the attack and received tips from more than 20 people.

Custis was arrested one week after the attack in an apartment in New York City.

Tom Haydon may be reached at thaydon@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @Tom_HaydonSL. Find NJ.com on Facebook.

Newark Public Schools have partnered with the College Board on a new program.

NEWARK -- More students in the state's largest city may be headed to college, thanks to an agreement between the public school district and the organization that administers the SATs and Advanced Placement tests.

Newark Public Schools announced the partnership with the College Board in a release Tuesday. According to officials, the agreement will allow more Newark high school students to take the PSAT and SAT tests, and AP classes. The goal, they said, is to increase students' ability to obtain college acceptances, credits, and scholarships.

Essex County graduation rates

"Our partnership with the College Board is critically important to the future long-term academic success of our young men and women," Newark Superintendent Christopher Cerf said in the release.

"It is time that we offer students in Newark the same opportunities that students across New Jersey have been afforded for a number of years."

According to officials, the partnership will include:

• Administration of the PSAT to all 10th and 11th grade Newark students, which can open them to scholarship opportunities they would not have been eligible for otherwise.
• An "SAT School Day" in April that would provide the test to all 11th graders.
• Free access to the College Board's online Khan Academy SAT prep and practice tools.
• A coordinated effort to increase the number of AP classes and tests offered in Newark, starting with "AP Mentoring," a teacher-to-teacher development program aimed at increasing the number of AP classes teachers are equipped to teach.
• The expansion of the College Board's "Access to Opportunity" program to more Newark students. The program provides college application fee waivers and financial aid guidance to kids.

College Board President and CEO David Coleman said in a statement that the organization is "excited" to partner with Newark.

"Assessment without opportunity is a thing of the past," he said. "We are committed to partnering with the Newark Public Schools to ensure that every student has access to tests that can deliver powerful benefits, including scholarships, college admission, and course credit."

A school district spokeswoman did not immediately answer questions Tuesday about the financial implications of the new agreement, or how many new AP classes will be offered at Newark high schools.

About 70 percent of students graduate each year from the struggling, state-controlled school district. City-wide, only about 14 percent of residents have a Bachelor's degree.  

A College Board spokeswoman said the new arrangement in Newark is similar to initiatives it has worked on in other states and cities across the country. Last school year, six states and Washington, D.C. offered school day SAT exams, and students at more than 100 districts in 17 states were able to take the test at no cost, she said.

Jessica Mazzola may be reached at jmazzola@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @JessMazzola. Find NJ.com on Facebook.

More than 10,000 convictions brought into question because of single botched marijuana case

TRENTON -- A specially appointed judge is untangling a knot of questionable convictions after a civilian technician at a New Jersey State Police drug lab was allegedly caught fabricating a test result in a lone marijuana case.

The so-called special master, Judge Edward A. Jerejian, is set to hold a hearing in Superior Court in Bergen County on Wednesday to lay out the process for handling challenges that could see some drug convictions thrown out.

Meanwhile, state and county prosecutors, public defenders and private defense attorneys are wading through the morass of cases compromised because they were built on evidence that passed under the microscope of Kamalkant Shah, the now-retired lab tech facing a criminal investigation.

"It's proved to be a very time consuming and arduous process," said Kevin Walker, an assistant state public defender, who said his office was combing through cases to see if there are grounds to vacate drug sentences. Walker said at this point he couldn't guess how many convictions the state Office of the Public Defender could challenge.

More than 10,000 drug cases in 13 counties handled by Shah over the course of a decade have come under scrutiny after he was allegedly observed in a single case recording test results without doing the proper analysis, a process known as "dry-labbing." Shah's attorney declined to comment for this story.

Judge reviewing drug lab cases

So far, there have been just nine defendants who have formally asked the court to vacate their sentences because Shah handled their drug evidence at the North Regional Laboratory in Little Falls, according to records reviewed by NJ Advance Media. Multiple people with knowledge of the issue said they expected that number to rise to the hundreds, if not thousands, after Wednesday's hearing.

Officials from the state Attorney General's Office, which oversees the drug lab, maintain that Shah's allegedly faked test result was caught in-house, prompting a systemic review initiated "in an abundance of caution."

But defense attorneys have objected to the fact that drug evidence in those cases will be re-tested by the same lab whose results were brought into question.

S. Emile Lisboa, an attorney for Raymonte Love, one of the nine drug defendants, said Tuesday that the state "is investigating themselves, so I don't know how much confidence we're supposed to have."

Lisboa said authorities were attempting to shirk responsibility by painting Shah as "a rogue chemist" when there should have been safeguards in place to check his work, noting that every lab test result was subject to peer review.

"Assuming he was a rogue guy, how come there were all these signatures on (the test results) that give it this certificate of authenticity?" Lisboa said. "Either you were negligent or you didn't pick up on it. I don't know what's worse."

E-mails and letters obtained by NJ Advance Media through an Open Public Records Act request show state officials notified county prosecutors and defense attorneys early this year that Shah's analyses had come into question in December. 

Elie Honig, the director of the state Division of Criminal Justice, said in a February letter that Shah had "failed to appropriately conduct laboratory analyses of evidence in a drug case," prompting the internal review. 

A March letter from Passaic County Prosecutor Camelia Valdes also noted that further review found "either errors in reports or that his case notes were missing key information" in 11 other cases. 

But Honig said in an April letter to the judge and public defenders that the lab had so far re-tested more than 110 "priority cases" handled by Shah and had found no errors.

"In other words, in every one of the cases that has been retested, the sample at issue was in fact the controlled dangerous substance for which the defendant was charged," Honig wrote.

Honig's office requested the appointment of a single judge to handle to potential onslaught of challenges to drug convictions. 

Defense attorneys, citing the even larger case of a Massachusetts crime lab which has seen two chemists accused of widespread faking of test results, also want a top-to-bottom review of the drug testing process.

Lisboa, whose client Love is out on parole after a conviction for possession of cocaine with intention to distribute, said the scrutiny is necessary because minor errors at a drug lab can result in more serious charges for defendants.

"There's people that lost their professional licenses, their driver's licenses (over drug convictions)," he said. "It's a problem."

S.P. Sullivan may be reached at ssullivan@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter. Find NJ.com on Facebook.  

Are there plans to repave a rough section of Route 124 between Millburn and Short Hills, a driver asks @CommutingLarry

Drivers using Route 124 in suburban Essex County say the highway has a pavement problem and want to know what the state is going to do to smooth out the rough road.

A reader writes that the pavement on a section of Route 124 between Millburn and Short Hills has deteriorated and they're looking for relief, from smoothing out numerous patches of asphalt to repaving the road.

"The section in Millburn from Hobart Avenue to the Short Hills Mall exit is in terrible condition," they wrote. "Areas which were patched over a year ago have not improved its condition."

Does the DOT have plans to smooth the rough ride on a section of Route 124?

Q: Are there any plans to repave or overlay that section of 124? If not, does the DOT plan to revisit the patched areas to see if they can be smoothed out?

A: The quick answer is that the Department of Transportation has plans for that section of Route 124. But drivers will have to wait for a resolution to the state's revenue problem with the Transportation Trust Fund to pay for it.

"This section of Route 124 is part of our Fiscal Year 2017 Resurfacing Program and should be addressed later this year, pending Transportation Trust Fund renewal," said Kevin Israel, a DOT spokesman.
Report: N.J. Interstates really, really stink
That renewal may be close, after the state assembly approved a plan early Tuesday morning that increases the state gas tax by 23 cents and decreases the state sales tax by one cent. If approved by the state senate and signed by the governor, it would help bankroll a $2 billion annual capital project plan for the DOT and NJ Transit through the trust fund.

Currently, there is nothing advertised for the Route 124 paving project on the DOT's procurement page.

Last week, we answered why the displays in New Jersey Turnpike E-Z Pass lanes can't tell you the amount of the toll you just paid and what road project is squishing traffic lanes between the Turnpike and Garden State Parkway. What can we answer for you?

Larry Higgs may be reached at lhiggs@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @commutinglarry. Find NJ.com on Facebook.