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Cops say Newark man was DWI when he rear-ended police car

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A Newark Police cruiser was stopped at a red light at 2 a.m. Sunday, when it was rear-ended by a Dodge van

Newark DWI suspect.jpgRashad C. Mathis, Jr. 

NEWARK -- A Newark man was charged with DWI on Sunday morning, after he rear-ended a police car with his van, authorities said. 

At approximately 2 a.m. on Sunday, a Newark police cruiser was stopped at a red light on Clinton Avenue at Irvine Turner Boulevard when it was rear-ended by a 2001 Dodge Ram Wagon, Newark Public Safety Director Anthony Ambrose said.

The driver of the Dodge Ram Wagon was identified as Rashad C. Mathis Jr., 32, of Newark, Ambrose said.

Police determined that Mathis was drunk and charged him with driving while intoxicated, Ambrose said.

No injuries were reported.

Steve Strunsky may be reached at sstrunsky@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @SteveStrunsky. Find NJ.com on Facebook.


Don't jail defendants without disclosing evidence, N.J. senator says

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New Jersey's Supreme Court could soon rule in a fight over discovery under New Jersey's new bail system.

TRENTON -- A state lawmaker and critic of New Jersey's bail overhaul says prosecutors should have to release more evidence up-front when asking a judge to lock up people accused of crimes.

Sen. Ronald Rice (D-Essex) weighed in on a fight before New Jersey's Supreme Court on the hearings where judges will decide whether to order defendants locked up while awaiting trial. 

New Jersey's criminal justice system saw sweeping changes this year after voters approved a new system that effectively did away with cash bail. Under the new system, judges can order a defendant held without bail if they pose a flight risk or danger to the community. 

The changes were meant to allow judges to order violent offenders held until trial while keeping poor, low-level defendants from languishing in jail because they couldn't afford bail.

But because the new system involved changing New Jersey's constitution to allow accused criminals to be ordered held without bail before their conviction, the reforms required judges to hold a pretrial detention hearing to weigh the evidence against a person when prosecutors were requesting they be thrown in jail. 

Bail reform sparks Supreme Court fight

The Supreme Court heard arguments last week in a fight over the rules of evidence in such hearings.

Defense attorneys said prosecutors were asking judges to order defendants jailed based on affidavits and preliminary reports without releasing the underlying documents or photo and video evidence. Prosecutors argued that because the detention hearings have to be held on short order, they didn't have time to review the material to make sure none of it could jeopardize the safety of witnesses or was otherwise privileged. 

In a statement to NJ Advance Media, Rice sided with defense attorneys. 

"The prosecution should not be able to pick and choose which evidence it presents, or to withhold evidence from the defendant or the court, when seeking to keep someone behind bars with no opportunity for release before trial," Rice said. "This 'half-loaf' approach is unacceptable."

Rice, who heads the state Legislative Black Caucus, was a skeptic of the bail overhaul because of concerns about the speedy trial provision, which gives those ordered jailed the right to a prompt trial. 

"Clearly, there are mixed reviews on how bail reform is working, but this issue goes to the fundamental rights of the accused," he said. "Defendants, their attorneys and judges deserve to have full disclosure of the evidence available in circumstances where prosecutors are recommending holding someone without bail, who has been arrested and charged, but not found guilty of a crime."

The case marks the first time New Jersey's highest court has had to weigh in on a dispute over the ground rules of the state's new criminal justice system. 

Under the old system, defendants often didn't receive any discovery until after they were indicted, often months after their arrest. 

During oral argument last week, Elie Honig, the director of the state Division of Criminal Justice, said prosecutors weren't simply playing a game of "keepaway" with discovery. 

Honig said in most cases, prosecutors were refusing to release discovery to protect witnesses from intimidation and retaliation, or because prosecutors did not have enough time to review reams of paper or hours of video footage to make sure they weren't disclosing other privileged information.

If forced to give up discovery at detention hearings, he argued, prosecutors could be handing over their case files before they had a chance to learn the contours of the case themselves. 

Rice called the matter "a vitally important case" and said he hopes "the court does the right thing and rules in favor of all evidence being made available to a defendant if, in fact, the prosecutor is requesting that someone be detained without bail."

The court is expected to issue a ruling on the matter in the coming weeks. 

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

Man dumped body in vacant lot, stole dead man's car, cops say

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Michael Rzucidlo was charged with possession of a stolen vehicle and unlawful disposal of human remains.

PATERSON - A Clifton man was arrested after he dumped a man's body in a vacant lot, then drove off in the dead man's vehicle, authorities said Monday.

Michael Rzucidlo, 40 of Clifton, faces charges of possession of a stolen vehicle and unlawful disposal of human remains, according to Paterson Police Director Jerry Speziale.

Police were called about 6 a.m. Friday for a report of a sick or injured person lying on the ground in an empty lot in the 300 block of Chamberlain Avenue. When officers and EMS arrived, they found a man on the ground who was not breathing,  Speziale said.

"Medical personnel proceeded to examine the individual and he was pronounced dead at the scene," Speziale said.

Investigators determined the man had died elsewhere and that his body had been dumped in the lot, Speziale said. An autopsy later showed the man died of natural causes, Speziale said.

Paterson man wounded in shooting

Later Friday, police identified the deceased as Ali Achmetov, 65, of Newark. They notified Achmetov's family and learned he had been driving a gray Pontiac wagon, Speziale said.

"Detectives had information (the Pontiac) may have been used to transport the deceased," Speziale said. "Detectives put out the full description of the stolen vehicle, to all police officers in the state."

Paterson Police Officer Edgar Taylor saw the vehicle in the area of Broadway and Straight Street on Sunday and stopped the wagon, Speziale said.

Two people in the car were taken to police headquarters for questioning.

"They identified one of the individuals as the person who had transported and disposed of the deceased," Speziale said.

Rzucidlo was charged with dumping Achmetov's body, Speziale said.

Paterson police ask anyone with information about the incident contact Detectives Ralph Fermin, Ed DelValle or Kelvin Matos at the Paterson Police Detective Bureau 973-321-1120.

Anthony G. Attrino may be reached at tattrino@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @TonyAttrino. Find NJ.com on Facebook.

 
 

N.J. pets in need: April 3, 2017

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Homeless animals throughout New Jersey are looking for a home and love.

Here is this week's collection of some of the dogs and cats in need of adoption all over the state of New Jersey.

We are now accepting dogs and cats to appear in the gallery from nonprofit shelters and rescues throughout New Jersey. If a group wishes to participate in this weekly gallery on nj.com, please contact Greg Hatala at ghatala@starledger.com or call 973-836-4922.

More pets in need of adoption can be seen by clicking here and here.

Greg Hatala may be reached at ghatala@starledger.com. Follow him on Twitter @GregHatala. Find Greg Hatala on Facebook.

Pingry victim speaks publicly about abuse allegations, report says

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A North Carolina man who attended The Pingry School tells of an incident when the teacher now accused of molesting students had a close call with police.

A Gastonia, North Carolina man has become the first to publicly identify himself as one of the alleged victims of the Pingry School teacher accused of molesting boys decades ago, according to a published report.

Raymond Dackerman gave an interview to The Charlotte Observer before he said he planned to tell his son about the abuse he suffered as a 12-year-old student of Thad "Ted" Alton, a teacher who the school now says molested at least 27 students in the Seventies.

He recalled he participated in the first camping trip Alton arranged as a Scout leader. When he returned from the outing, he told The Observer, he retreated to his bedroom and burst into sobs.

"All I wanted to do was go camping," he said. The effect of the abuse was profound: "The clock stopped for all of us," he said.

He also recounted a missed opportunity for law enforcement to have discovered Alton's crimes decades earlier than they did. Dackerman said in the interview that he recalled camping in a tent in Alton's back yard.

At one point the Millburn police came by and asked if everything was all right. Alton said it was, and they left. Dackerman said he recalls having a brief spring of hope that Alton would be found out.

During the six years Alton taught at the Short Hills Country Day School, later acquired by Pingry, he lived first in Millburn, then in Chatham. The incident happened at the Millburn house, which was owned by Pingry and was adjacent to the school's baseball field, Dackerman said.

Eventually authorities learned of a episode in which he played strip poker with his Boy Scout troop, and he was charged in 1979 in Essex County with six counts of private lewdness and impairing the morals of a minor.

But he avoided any prison time and was able to relocate to upstate New York, where he got into trouble a decade later for sodomizing a young teen in a kayaking youth group he founded. He now works in New York and is on the state's sex offender registry.

A group of 18 men, calling themselves the Pingry Survivors, had engaged an Oregon law firm the specializes in suing institutions such as schools and churches for long-time patterns of abuse.

Pingry earlier this week released a long-awaited outside investigation that concluded Alton had molested at least 27 students, and that two other teachers had molested students or acted in highly inappropriate ways.

 

Kathleen O'Brien may be reached at kobrien@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @OBrienLedger. Find NJ.com on Facebook.  

N.J. police departments to face new rules for military surplus requests

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The revision comes weeks after an NJ Advance Media report highlighting federal 1033 program Watch video

The state Attorney General's Office will overhaul its rules for how local police departments can obtain military equipment such as heavily armored vehicles in response to concerns that such purchases were being made without the public's knowledge, NJ Advance Media has learned. 

The office said in a letter to state Sen. Nia Gill (D-Essex) and Assemblyman Gordon Johnson (D-Bergen) that Attorney General Christopher Porrino supports their call for requiring local governments to approve a public resolution before acquiring any military hand-me-downs.

"Attorney General Porrino has directed that the state Plan of Operation be revised to reflect this requirement," according to the letter, obtained by NJ Advance Media.

A spokesman for the attorney general declined comment on the letter and the proposed changes.

Lawmakers first raised concern about the 1033 Law Enforcement Support Office program in 2014 after a report by NJ Advance Media detailed the state's growing local arsenal of military equipment, which included automatic rifles, armored trucks and, in one case, a grenade launcher.

In response, Gov. Chris Christie signed legislation in 2015 requiring local police departments to pass resolutions to inform the public of their activities: one to enroll in the federal program, and another each time a department made a request to acquire gear.

But a subsequent NJ Advance Media report published in February found that local departments had acquired nearly $40 million in additional heavy equipment in the past two years, including 13 heavily-armored vehicles, and most of the approvals happened behind closed doors.

Many resolutions for municipalities to enroll in the program contained language that allowed them to obtain smaller-ticket items like mop heads and sand bags by consent of local officials but without public disclosure, according to the State Police, which distributes the equipment.

Only high-profile items - such as mine-resistant ambush protected vehicles, or MRAPs - were required to be approved in separate, public resolutions, and only within 30 days after the agency received the gear. That meant many municipalities acquired them before any public notice or approval.

See what your local law enforcement has received from the military surplus program. Look through our searchable database.  

Of the 12 municipalities that received one of those vehicles in the past two years, only one passed a resolution before placing an order, according to a review of the municipal agendas. 

"The taxpayers have a right to know the type of surplus military equipment their local police force is receiving and to have a voice in the process," Gill said. "I was very concerned to learn about violations of the law that I sponsored setting forth specific requirements for participating."

N.J. cops' 2-year military surplus haul: $40M in gear, 13 MRAPs

Howell Police Chief Andrew Kudrick, whose department received the most valuable MRAP in the state last year worth $865,000, says he thinks the program has been a boon for local departments, allowing the agencies to acquire gear at nearly no cost to the taxpayer.

The town only had to pay for shipping and any future maintenance, Kudrick said, adding that it would be "irresponsible" for him as chief to turn down such a deal. 

But Kudrick said transparency is important to maintaining the trust between the local community and police, especially in light of the 2014 demonstrations in Ferguson, Mo. after the shooting death of Michael Brown by police. 

The acquisition of MRAPs became controversial in New Jersey shortly after those demonstrations. The Bergen County Sheriff's Office that year withdrew its request for the 13-ton truck, which would have been the third in the state, saying "it was no longer worth the effort." 

Three years later, 16 local law enforcement agencies have an MRAP parked at their headquarters.

Craig McCarthy may be reached at CMcCarthy@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @createcraig and on Facebook here. Find NJ.com on Facebook

NJ.com boys lacrosse Top 20, April 3: Ranked showdowns highlight opening week

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See how a number of major games impacted the boys lacrosse Top 20 this week

On verge of local control, meet Newark's 15 school board candidates

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As the Newark school district prepares for local control, 16 residents are vying for a spot o the School Board.


Minor NJ Transit derailment halts trains into New York Penn Station

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Service is suspended into and out of Penn Station as of 9:40 a.m.

NEW YORK -- One person hurt in a minor NJ Transit train derailment that has halted NJ Transit service into and out of New York Penn Station on Monday morning, officials said.

Northeast Corridor, North Jersey Coast, Raritan Valley and Midtown Direct service is effected, NJ Transit said. Midtown Direct trains are going to Hoboken instead.

Crossing honoring on PATH, NY Waterway and both private and NJ Transit buses is in effect until further notice

Train 3926 from Trenton derailed at about 9 a.m. on Track 9 while traveling at a slow speed, according to an NJ Transit spokeswoman. About 1200 people were on board. Passengers in the last four cars were escorted through the train to exit. 

On March 24, a New Jersey Transit train was sideswiped after a minor Amtrak derailment. Several people were treated for minor injuries. 

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

 

 

1 killed in early morning crash in Newark

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The Essex County Prosecutor's Office is investigating the crash.

NEWARK -- One person was killed in a car crash early Monday, authorities said.

The person was killed in the crash at the intersection of Clinton Avenue and Irvine Turner Blvd. before 5 a.m., Essex County Chief Assistant Prosecutor Thomas Fennelly said. The prosecutor's office is investigating the crash.

The identity of the person killed was not released.

"At this time, I can confirm that we are investigating the incident," Fennelly said Monday. "It's early in the investigation."

Fennelly did not confirm details about anyone else involved in the crash, their conditions, or what caused the accident. No other information was immediately available.

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

 

Supreme Court justice to judge Rutgers law contest

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The winners will have their names engraved on a plaque hung at both the Newark and Camden law school campuses.

NEWARK -- Rutgers School of Law students will argue a hypothetical First Amendment case before Supreme Justice Samuel Alito in a contest later this month. 

Alito, a New Jersey native, will lead a panel of federal judges who oversee the new competition between law students at Rutgers-Camden and Rutgers-Newark. 

The event, named the Judge Leonard I. Garth Competition, will be held April 11 at Rutgers-Newark. 

A team of two law students from the Camden campus will argue against a team two law students from the Newark campus in a hypothetical case. The winners will have their names engraved on a plaque hung at both the Newark and Camden law school campuses.

Garth, who died in September, was a United States Court of Appeals judge for the Third Circuit for more than 40 years. He served as an adjunct professor of appellate advocacy for 20 years at Rutgers Law school and, before his death, came up with the idea for a competition between the two campuses. 

"He was a role model for what every judge, lawyer and indeed, person should strive to be: principled, courageous, industrious, and compassionate," said Ronald Chen, Rutgers Law School Co-dean.

Alito clerked for Garth during the 1976-1977 court term

Adam Clark may be reached at adam_clark@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on twitter at @realAdamClarkFind NJ.com on Facebook.

 

Newark man charged with shooting outside Secaucus hotel

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A 30-year-old Newark man has been arrested in connection with the shooting outside a Secaucus hotel on Sunday, police said.

SECAUCUS -- A 30-year-old Newark man has been arrested in connection with the shooting outside a Secaucus hotel on Sunday, police said. 

Michael C. Stapleton is charged with attempted murder, aggravated assault, and weapons offenses for the early morning shooting outside the La Quinta Inn and Suites in Harmon Meadow, Secaucus police Capt. Dennis Miller said.

The victim, a 27-year-old Orange resident, was shot multiple times and was seriously injured in the incident. He was brought to Hackensack University Medical Center and is currently in stable condition after undergoing surgery, Miller said.

Stapleton was arrested at his home without incident at about 2:40 p.m. on Sunday. Det. Lt. Thomas O'keeffe led the investigation. Authorities say a semi-automatic handgun was used in the shooting but has not yet been recovered. 

A woman who was staying in the hotel at the time of the shooting said she heard between eight and 10 gunshots just before 3 a.m. When she looked out the window she saw a woman, uninjured, lying on the ground next to the victim. 

"The shots fired very quickly and there was no pause between shots," she said. 

[enhanced link]

Several guests at the hotel said the staff the the Lighting Way building did not give them any information about what happened, even hours after the shooting. 

Teresa Ferguson, a spokeswoman for the hotel's corporate office, said the they are cooperating with police throughout the investigation and directed further comment to authorities. 

"La Quinta Inns & Suites is deeply saddened by the tragic incident that took place at our franchise location in Secaucus, NJ location early Sunday morning," she said. "The location's owners and management are working with the police department as they conduct their investigation."

Secaucus Police Chief Kevin Flaherty credited the Hudson County Prosecutor's Office and the North Bergen and Newark police departments for helping with the investigation. 

Stapleton is being held in jail pending a detention hearing, Miller said. 

Caitlin Mota may be reached at cmota@jjournal.com. Follow her on Twitter @caitlin_mota. Find The Jersey Journal on Facebook.

 

Softball: 15 can't-miss games for the week of April 3

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What are the best games of the week?

19th century crypt catches fire at cemetery

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The fire was already out when firefighters responded to St. Vincent Martyr Cemetery

MADISON -- A malfunctioning electronic memorial inside a cemetery crypt is being blamed for a minor fire that charred a crucifix and melted some plastic, Madison Fire Chief Louie E. DeRosa said.

No remains inside the crypt, which dates to the late 1800s and is built into the side of a hill, were damaged, he said.

The fire was already out when the smoky aftermath was discovered Sunday afternoon at St. Vincent Martyr Cemetery.

DeRosa said it was reported by a man whose wife's ashes are interred inside one of two dozen or so urns in the crypt, which is approximately 12 feet by 7 feet.

The memorial display contained five rows of four to five LED light bulbs individually encased in plastic covering, DeRosa said.

One of the bulbs malfunctioned, possibly several days earlier, igniting the plastic, he said.

A lack of oxygen in the crypt kept the fire from spreading.

"It burnt itself out," DeRosa said.

A crucifix on the wall was burned on one side, he added.

St. Vincent Martyr Cemetery is located at Shunpike Road and Noe Avenue.

Rob Jennings may be reached at rjennings@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @RobJenningsNJ. Find NJ.com on Facebook. 

 

5 ways auto checkpoints will make Newark airport screenings faster

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The TSA and United Airlines held a ribbon cutting on Monday for a new automated security checkpoint at Terminal C


Father burned 9-year-old to discipline him, cops say

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Newark man was arrested in connection with the alleged incident.

NEWARK -- A city father was arrested Monday after police said he burned his 9-year-old son as a way to discipline him.

Ngom.jpg
 

According to police, Moustapha Ngom, 40, was arrested in connection with an alleged March 6 incident. The alleged burning was reported to police on March 8, city Public Safety Director Anthony Ambrose announced in a release.

Ngom was arrested Monday on aggravated assault, endangering the welfare of a child, and weapons charges, police said.

The extent of the boy's injuries are unknown. Police declined to say what the man allegedly used to burn his son.   

Few additional details about the incident were immediately available.

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

N.J. woman enraged by 'fancy white people' attacks man, Porsche with hammer: cops

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Angela M. Jones allegedly attacked a man with a hammer after damaging his car and boat

A Newark woman enraged by "fancy white people" is being sought for allegedly attacking a man with a hammer and smashing his Porsche and boat at a gas station in what Virginia police described as a racially-motivated attack Saturday.

Angela M. Jones, 26, faces potential hate crime charges after allegedly beating the man at an Exxon Station off Interstate 95 in Caroline County, Va., according to WTVR.com.

Jones has not been located or arrested as of 10:45 a.m. Tuesday, according to a spokesman for the New Jersey State Police.

The incident began when Jones approached the Massachusetts man as he fueled his Porsche and began yelling at him, authorities told the television station.

When the man tried to ignore her, she began bashing his boat and Porsche with a hammer, the report said. He was then struck in the face with the hammer several times when he approached her, authorities told the television station.

Some of her comments referred to him being rich and white, the report said. Jones, who is black, also said she was "sick of fancy white people," the man told the television station in an interview.

The hammer broke during the attack and the man managed to fend off Jones, the man told the television station.

When the victim's wife returned from the bathroom, Jones allegedly made other disparaging remarks about race and class before spitting in the woman's face, the report said.

Her husband was left bloodied following the attack.

Authorities in Virginia contacted New Jersey State Police, who were able to identify Jones after a witness took a photo of her vehicle.

She is wanted in Virginia on charges of malicious wounding, assault, and destruction of property.

The man and his wife, who gave their names only as Bob and Kathy were on their way home to Uxbridge, Mass. from Florida, according to Fox25Boston.com

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

 
 

New Newark officers headed to walking patrols after swearing in (PHOTOS)

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Police, firefighters promoted at ceremony.

NEWARK -- Twenty-three newly-minted Newark police officers will be deployed to foot patrols around the city after the recent academy graduates were sworn in at a ceremony Monday, officials said.

The latest group of graduates, combined with a class of more than 200 cadets slated to begin training in August, will bring the police division's ranks to 1,263 officers by the end of the year, according to city officials.

Newark Mayor Ras Baraka and Public Safety Director Anthony Ambrose have pledged to replenish the ranks after the force lost about 400 officers to layoffs, retirements and other reasons dating back to 2010. The new officers add to the division's 1,040 sworn members.

Newark welcomes largest police class in at least a decade

New officers conduct walking patrols around the city before being assigned to serve in a precinct. Recruits undergo 26-weeks of training to become state certified police officers and an additional five weeks of field training in Newark.

A police captain, 21 police sergeants, eight fire captains and two fire battalion chiefs were also sworn in at Monday's ceremony.

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

 

This Mets fan's epic NJ Transit rant is one for the ages

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Belleville's Frank Fleming was furious about a trip to Citi Field that ended up taking five hours

What should have been a smooth trip to Citi Field for the Mets' home opener turned into a debacle for a Belleville man and thousands of others on Monday after a train derailed in New York Penn Station.

Frank Fleming had a chance to voice his frustrations for NBC New York cameras as he hustled from Secaucus Junction to catch an Uber to Hoboken on Monday morning. 

"New Jersey Transit is the absolute worst!," Fleming shouted as he flailed his arms in anger. "I'm not going to get to my game now because they are absolutely incompetent!"

Fleming eventually made it to Flushing, N.Y. but not before he missed the "pomp and circumstance" of the Opening Day ceremonies, which left him steamed.

Fleming has missed just one Mets' opening day since 1998, he told the television station.

He said it took him five hours to reach Citi Field and about as long to get home but the Mets' 6-0 win over the Atlanta Braves made the tortuous trip more palatable.

Gallery preview 

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

 

 

Princeton U. alum endows memorial fund in honor of slain mother

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Deborah Burton, 62, of Maplewood, was shot and killed in Newark March 13.

MAPLEWOOD -- As authorities are continuing to search for answers in the fatal shooting of a Maplewood grandmother in Newark last month, the woman's daughter is working to ensure her memory, and love for education, lives on.

Aiyanna Burton Anderson, a Texas obstetrician and graduate of Princeton University, has created a memorial fund at the school named for her late mother, Deborah Burton.

Just weeks after her mother's March 13 death, Anderson has officially formed the "Deborah Burton Memorial Fund" at Princeton.

Burton, 62, was killed in an early afternoon shooting on 3rd Street. Family members said the woman was in Newark after dropping her son off at work, but never returned to pick him up. Authorities say she was shot at about 1:15 p.m. They have not identified a suspect in the killing, or a motive. 

Anderson, one of four children Burton leaves behind, called her mother a "math whiz," who graduated from Weequahic High School with honors. She studied electrical engineering at Union College before leaving to start a family. Anderson said Burton moved her children to Maplewood so they could focus on school.

"She came from a long line of strong women," Anderson said of her mother. "Education was so important to her. She wanted us to get good educations."

Family searches for answers after grandmother's slaying

To remember that passion, Anderson said, she is working to donate $50,000 to her alma mater to start the fund, which is now collecting donations. Anderson said she hopes it can raise enough money, at least $250,000, to endow a scholarship.

"I will want it to be for need-based minorities, like my mother and I were, (who are) interested in STEM, also like my mother and I were," Anderson said.

The fund is accepting donations online, according to Erika Knudson, the director of development marketing and communications at Princeton University.

"We are very honored to work with Aiyanna and so sorry for the tragic loss of her mother," Knudson told NJ Advance Media.

Anyone wishing to make a donation can do so online by entering an amount, and writing "For the Deborah Burton Memorial Fund" in the comment section. Donations can also be mailed in, with a cover letter noting they are for the Deborah Burton Memorial Fund. Checks should be mailed to Princeton University, Alumni and Donor Records, Helen Hardy, P.O. Box 5357 Princeton, NJ 08543.

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