Elmostafa Charif, of Queens, New York, was sentenced to more than four years in prison in a synthetic marijuana scheme.

NEWARK --  A New York City man who admitted in federal court to plotting with others to buy and distribute designer drugs has been sentenced to more than four years in prison.

Elmostafa Charif, 37, of Queens, was sentenced Monday, the office of acting U.S. Attorney William Fitzpatrick said in a release. Charif also was ordered to serve two years of supervised release.

Charif previously pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Kevin McNulty to conspiracy to distribute and possessing with intent to distribute two designer drugs, prosecutors said.

The designer drugs have chemical structures and hallucinogenic effects that are similar to other drugs, Fitzpatrick said.

Prosecutors said Charif admitted to his role in an April 2015 scheme to buy and distribute roughly 22 pounds of synthetic drugs. Authorities said the compounds are chemical analogues of THC, the active chemical component in marijuana.

The Drug Enforcement Administration has been probing the importation, distribution, and use of designer drugs - such as the synthetic cannabinoids "K2" and "Spice" - since February 2011, according to documents filed in the case and statements made in court.

Synthetic cannabinoids are man-made pot imitations. They're created when leaves are sprayed with controlled substance analogues and treated with synthetic flavoring. People then smoke the leaves.

Providing a never-been-done-before comparison of the state's county champions.

Police issued sketch of the suspect

BELLEVILLE -- The fedora-wearing masked bandit who broke into a Belleville home last week and grabbed a woman during the burglary has been arrested by police, authorities said Tuesday. 

Jermaine Ramirez, 25, of Newark, was charged in the early Friday burglary on Eugene Place, Belleville police said in a statement on Facebook.

Ramirez was arrested after police released a distinctive State Police sketch of the masked, fedora-wearing suspect. He was being held at the Essex County Jail Tuesday morning, according to corrections department records.

The intruder grabbed a woman and pulled her into another room in the residence around 3:45 a.m. Friday, police said. The woman's young son woke up during the ensuing struggle and alerted his grandfather before the suspect escaped.

The 39-year-old had previously been convicted or robbing banks in 2006 and 2007

NEWARK -- An felon from Newark is headed back to prison after he admitted he robbed five banks of more than $15,000 in Essex and Hudson counties during a five-week span last fall.

Jermaine Mason, 39, pleaded guilty to five counts of bank robbery in federal court Monday, the U.S. Attorney's Office for New Jersey said in a news release. He had previously been convicted of robbing several banks in 2006 and 2007. 

Mason, also known as Asim Harris, didn't show a weapon during any of the robberies. Instead, he either handed the teller a note demanding money or made a verbal threat.

Mason, who was arrested on Nov. 30, admitted holding up the following banks according to court documents: 

• Kearny Bank in Harrison on Oct. 21 ($1,549)
• PNC Bank in Jersey City on Nov. 3 ($11,890)
• Popular Community Bank in Newark on Nov. 17 ($440)
• Provident Bank in Jersey City on Nov. 18 (no amount given)
• Provident Bank in Kearny on Nov. 29 ($1,700)

He will be sentenced on Aug. 29 and faces up to 20 years for each robbery.

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

Computers, nebulizer stolen, according to police.

Police released a security camera image from a burglary at the South 17th Street school. (Photo: Dept. of Public Safety) 

NEWARK -- Police on Tuesday asked for the public's help to find the burglar who stole computers and a nebulizer from a Newark elementary school in break-ins over three days.

The burglaries occurred between May 13 and May 15 at the South 17th Street School in the city's Central Ward, according to authorities.

Police said three burglars entered the school.

It was not immediately clear how the burglars managed to get in and out of the building over three days.

Police released a security camera image of one of the burglars, who was described only as wearing a black or gray vest and black jeans.

In a statement, Public Safety Director Anthony Ambrose urged anyone with information to call the city tip line at 1-877-NWK-TIPS (1-877-695-8477) or 1-877-NWK-GUNS (1-877-695-4867).

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

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The 21-year-old defendant was one of six men to plead guilty in the Dec. 25, 2015 robbery of a bar in Hawthorne, followed by the violent carjacking and kidnapping of a cab driver, federal prosecutors announced

NEWARK -- A 21-year-old Ridgewood man pleaded guilty in federal court Tuesday to a Christmas night robbery in 2015 followed by the violent carjacking and kidnapping of a cab driver, Acting U.S. Attorney William E. Fitzpatrick announced.

Wilbur Jonathon Barahona entered a guilty plea before U.S. District Judge Jose L. Linares in Newark to charges of carjacking, kidnapping, and conspiracy to commit robbery.

Barahona faces a life sentence on the kidnapping charge, 25 years for the carjacking, and 20 years for conspiracy, Fitzpatrick's office said. Sentencing is scheduled for Aug. 16.

Barahona admitted that on the night of Dec. 25, 2015, he and others robbed a bar in Hawthorne and fled with about $200 cash, according to Fitzpatrick's office.

Later, Fitzpatrick's office said, in the early morning hours of Dec. 26, the robbers hailed a taxi in Paterson and forcibly took the cab from the driver, and Barahona admitted that he took the wheel when after the driver was forced into the back of the cab.

"Barahona also admitted that during the carjacking, other conspirators caused seriously bodily injury to the driver by hitting him in the head with a beer bottle and slicing his throat with a knife before eventually leaving him on the side of the road in New York," an announcement from Fitzpatrick's office stated. "The taxicab driver survived."

A co-defendant, Balmore Carrillo-Iraheta, 19, of Suffern, N.Y., pleaded guilty on May 15, also before Judge Linares, to one count of conspiracy to commit robbery, Fitzpatrick's office said.

Four others have also pleaded guilty and await sentencing, Fitzpatrick's office said. Prosecutors have previously identified at least four of the defendants as members of the so-called 18th Street Gang.

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

Man, 27, attacked late Wednesday.

NEWARK -- A 28-year-old Newark man was arrested Tuesday after a shooting in the city's South Ward, authorities said.

Kadeem Johnson was charged with aggravated assault and weapons offenses in the Wednesday night attack that wounded a 27-year-old man near Alpine Street and Irvine Turner Boulevard, according to Newark Public Safety Director Anthony Ambrose.

Detectives with the Newark police division's Fugitive Apprehension Team located Johnson, Ambrose said in a statement. He was arrested without incident.

The victim was treated for non life-threatening injuries at University Hospital and released, authorities said. Police did not disclose a possible motive for the shooting.

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

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A pair of police surveillance cameras went missing after their traffic signal pole was knocked down in an accident. Police said no nearby private security cameras captured the theft

Newark Police say surveillance cameras like these were stolen from a downed pole on April 19NPD 

NEWARK -- There's no video of this theft.

Newark Police are asking for the public's help in identifying who stole a pair of surveillance cameras from a traffic signal pole at 18th and Stuyvesant avenues. 

Police say the equipment went missing last month, after the pole was knocked down in a traffic accident and the two cameras disappeared, along with their enclosure box and wireless antenna.

The two missing cameras are a Panasonic PTZ Dome Camera, Model No. WV-SW598A, and the Bosch PTZ Dome Camera, Model No. VG4 Auto Dome.

The April 19 theft wasn't captured by any private surveillance cameras, which police can sometimes use in criminal investigations, said Capt. Derek Glenn, a Newark Police spokesman. 

Glenn said the cameras were not operating at the time of the accident, and even if they were, their signal would have been cut when the pole went down.

The city's public safety director, Anthony Ambrose, is urging anyone with information to call the Department's 24-hour Crime Stopper tip line at 1-877-NWK-TIPS (1-877-695-8477) or 1-877-NWK-GUNS (1-877-695-4867). It could result in a reward.

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

Andre Higgs is charged with killing his daughter's mother in front of a cop two years ago

NEWARK -- The last words Latrena May spoke before Andre Higgs fatally shot her in front of an East Orange cop were "officer, officer, officer," an assistant prosecutor told an Essex County jury Tuesday.

Latrena May. (Facebook)
 

But a defense attorney for Higgs, accused of killing the mother of his child in two years ago, implied the officer -- who shot Higgs -- escalated the situation that ultimately led her client to be charged in the woman's death.

Higgs, 45, of Watchung, is on trial on charges of murder, unlawful possession of a weapon, possession of a weapon for an unlawful purpose, endangering the welfare of a child and hindering in the May 1, 2015 killing of May, a 27-year-old teacher at Pride Academy Charter School.

The couple's 4-year-old daughter was inside May's home at the time of the shooting in East Orange, but was unharmed, authorities have said.

In openings Tuesday, Assistant Prosecutor Justin Edwab told the jury Higgs and May had been on the top steps of her Tremont Avenue home around 10:15 p.m. that evening when she flagged down a passing police officer.

That officer, Detective Kemon Lee, testified that after turning on his overhead lights and making a U-turn, he pulled up in front of the house and approached the pair, his gun unholstered.

He ordered May to come down the steps to him, he said.

"Before she could do so, (Higgs) stepped back and to the left of Ms. May, and pulled out a gun and shot her," Lee said. 

Dr. Di Wang, an assistant medical examiner, testified that May was shot three times, one of the bullets puncturing both lungs and major arteries. He ruled her death a homicide.

Lee said he fired his own department-issued .40-caliber pistol nine times at Higgs, who retreated into the home and closed the door after being shot.

Edwab told the jury that officers arrested Higgs inside the home after an approximately hour-long standoff, and that investigators later found a .45-caliber pistol hidden in a hallway.

A ballistics expert would later identify that gun as a match to bullets recovered from May's body, he said. 

But Remi Spencer, representing Higgs with co-counsel Joseph P. Rem Jr., told the jury in her opening remarks that Higgs only stands accused of the crime "because of the actions of a police officer."

Spencer argued the indictment was based solely on the one-sided grand jury testimony of Lee -- the only witness to May's death other than Higgs -- and urged jurors to give her client the benefit of the doubt he is entitled to under the law.

"Andre Higgs is innocent," she said, resting her hands on her client's shoulders.

Dashcam video from Lee's patrol car shown to the jury captured the officer firing his weapon, but does not show May's shooting.

In pre-trial proceedings Tuesday, defense attorneys unsuccessfully attempted to persuade Wigler to allow the defense to question Lee about prior shootings he had been involved in as a police officer.

Lee, who has spent nine years with the East Orange department, fired his weapon three times in three years, said Spencer, who noted in her opening remarks that the officer himself was investigated following the shooting.

The judge denied that request by the defense, saying the prior shootings -- and that of Higgs -- had been ruled justified by the state Attorney General's Office and weren't immediately relevant to the case at hand.

Wigler clarified following Tuesday's proceedings that the defense would be permitted to cross-examine Lee about his training and his department's regulations regarding firearms use.

After being hospitalized following the shooting, Higgs was released on $1 million bail in the form of two bonds, one of them covering equity in his Watchung home.

He was later returned to jail after being charged with drunk driving following a crash on the New Jersey Turnpike, which prompted Wigler to grant a request by prosecutors that Higgs' bail be posted entirely in cash.

The trial is expected to resume at 1:30 p.m. Wednesday.

Thomas Moriarty may be reached at tmoriarty@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter at @ThomasDMoriarty. Find NJ.com on Facebook.

The shooting occurred in September

MOUNT HOLLY-- A Beverly City man wanted for a shooting last year was arrested in Pennsylvania Tuesday, the Burlington County Prosecutor's Office said in a statement.

Authorities say Anthony Harris, 31, was part of a group from Beverly City that went to Florence Sept. 21 and got into a confrontation with a group of Florence residents on Zinc Street.

Anthony Harris (Burlington County Prosecutor's Office)  

Harris allegedly pulled a gun and shot Ronald Walker, 27, of Florence, who was pronounced dead at Lourdes Medical Center from a chest wound.

Harris was arrested at an apartment in Falls Township, Pa., in a sweep targeting suspects wanted for violent crimes. State Police, the Burlington County Sheriff's Office, Pemberton police, Florence police, the US Marshals Service and other agencies assisted in the arrest.

Harris has been charged with aggravated manslaughter, possession of a weapon for an unlawful purpose, unlawful possession of a weapon and certain persons not to have weapons. He was being held in the Bucks County Jail in Doylestown, Pa., on $500,000 bail pending extradition back to New Jersey.

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

A fire in the engine of a United airliner forced all ground traffic to cease

NEWARK -- Passengers had to be evacuated from a San Francisco-bound flight Tuesday night after an engine caught fire, the FAA confirmed. 

The fire occurred on the right side of the Boeing 757, the agency said.  

 

Just had to evacuate my @united flight using the slide and everything @EWRairport pic.twitter.com/0YhAAPeoFF

-- Lo Toney (@lo_toney) May 24, 2017

Flight 1579 was supposed to take off at 9:22 p.m. The passengers aboard had to be evacuated with a slide.  A ground stop was in effect at the airport. 

United Airlines released a statement confirming that the tower notified crew of a fire during taxiing. 

"The crew immediately deployed the slides and evacuated the aircraft. At this time we have a report of only one minor injury. Customers are being transported back to the terminal. We are working to get our customers to San Francisco as soon as possible," the airline said. 

This story will be updated as more information becomes available. 

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

The victim suffered non-life-threatening injuries

NEWARK-- The police department's Fugitive Apprehension Unit have arrested a city man wanted for a shooting last week, Public Safety Director Anthony Ambrose said in a statement Tuesday.

Kadeem Johnson (Newark police)  

The shooting occurred around 10 p.m. May 17 at Alpine Street and Irvine Turner Boulevard. The 27-year-old victim was treated at University Hospital and released.

Kadeem Johnson, 28, was arrested Tuesday and has been charged with two counts of aggravated assault, unlawful possession of a weapon and two counts of possession of a weapon for an unlawful purpose.  

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

Jersey City fell from 36th to 40th on a ranking of the 100 most populous cities compiled by the non-profit Trust for Public Land, while Newark slipped from 75th to 81st

NEWARK -- Jersey City and Newark both slipped in a ranking of parks among the nation's 100 largest cities conducted every year by the non-profit Trust for Public Land.

Once again, Jersey City ranked above average in the land trust's annual survey, which is based on factors including the amount of park acreage and spending per capita, average proximity to a park for residents and park amenities like basketball courts and senior centers. But the city slipped form 36th in 2016 to 40th this year, tied with Tampa, Fla.

Newark again finished below average in the survey, which takes into account municipal, county, state and even federal parkland within a city's borders. Newark fell to 81st on the list, tied with with Houston, Tex., and Witchita, Kan., from 75th last year.   

"Newark's biggest [factor] was in spending, which has always been pretty low," said Alexandra Hiple, a researcher with the Trust for Public Land. "It's not easy asking a city to spend more money on parks."

Three cities tied for the top ranking, including the twin cities of Minneapolis and St.Paul, both in Minnesota, and Washington, D.C., which enjoys an abundance of federal park and monument space. New York City ranked seventh on the list, known as ParkScore, while Loredo, Tex., was the most park-starved of the nation's 100 most populous cities.

Details of the rankings are available at the ParkScore web page.

Hiple, who grew up in the Hunterdon County borough of Stockton and now works at the trust's Center for City Park Excellence in Boston, said Jersey City's slip in the rankings was due more to improvements by other cities than to any real decline in spending, quality or quantity of parkland in Jersey City, which opened a new 17-acre park last year. 

Jersey City's relatively high marks for parks remains attributable largely to 1,212-acre Liberty State Park, which is operated by the New Jersey Division of Parks and Forestry on the city's southern waterfront, opposite Ellis Island and the Statue of Liberty.

Newark, in turn, is home to a pair of noteworthy Essex County parks, Branch Brook and Weequahic, which lay claim to the world's largest collection of cherry blossoms and one of the nation's oldest public golf courses, respectively.

Hiple stressed that the annual ranking, known as ParkScore, is not meant to criticize or praise municipalities, but rather to be used by officials on all levels of government to help decide how best to serve city residents' recreational and open space needs. 

"The trust for public land wants Park Score to be used as a tool for thinking about the way parks should serve a city," she said.

Jersey City Mayor Steven Fulop said his administration has invested $6 million in park rehabilitation in the last couple of years, in addition to last year's opening of the new 17.5-acre Berry Lane Park, and plans for a new 5-acre park at the southern end of the city.

"Our goal is to not only expand access to open space, but to create active and passive recreational areas for residents of all ages and to build community engagement around our park system by working closely with our parks conservancies and community groups," Fulup said in a statement.

Newark is also in the midst of several park projects, including a recent overhaul of Military Park, a downtown expanse surrounded by several ongoing real estate developments.

Next month Mayor Ras Baraka will break ground on a  new downtown park to be known as Mulberry Commons, intended to anchor commercial and residential development of an area near the Prudential Center arena. 

"In addition," Baraka said in a statement, "proposed initiatives such as the Open Space Trust Fund, the Cities of Service Prepared Together Project, which brings citizen volunteers together to plant trees and install green infrastructure project, and the Adopt-A-Lot program that increases access to vacant lots for use as community gardens, demonstrate our commitment to our green spaces and to ensuring healthy, livable communities for Newark residents."

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

The ineligibility came about in the lead up to a heated primary between Morris County Freeholder John Cesaro and Assemblywoman BettyLou DeCroce.

PARSIPPANY -- Two weeks before the June primary, news broke on Tuesday that Morris County Deputy Freeholder Director John Cesaro has been ineligible to practice law for the past seven months but still continued to handle cases.

Cesaro's opponent in the primary, incumbent Assemblywoman BettyLou DeCroce, released a statement and a link to the state Supreme Court order saying Cesaro had been administratively ineligible since October 2016 over his failure to register for the Interest on Lawyer Trust Accounts, also known as the IOLTA fund.

Morris County Freeholder John CesaroMorris County 

"If true, this is an outrageous breach of trust by someone being paid by property taxpayers to represent the legal interests of multiple municipalities and citizens," DeCroce said in a statement. "Freeholder Cesaro needs to come clean and explain why he is on this list and whether he disclosed his ineligible status to any of the elected officials in the towns where he has public contracts and was practicing law."

In New Jersey, attorneys are required to register annually with the IOLTA fund, which provides funding for free legal services for low-income individuals with civil legal problems, in order to practice.

Cesaro told NJ Advance Media on Tuesday he regularly registers every year but he apparently failed to do so last year. He also said he wasn't aware of his ineligibility until DeCroce's email to supporters.

"It must have been a clerical error," he said. "It was not an ethics issue, not a disciplinary issue." 

After finding out his status on Tuesday, Cesaro said he contacted the fund and filled out the appropriate paperwork. 

"I got to thank my opponent for bringing this to my attention," Cesaro said. "If I were her, I would focus on this, too. It takes the attention away from the fact that she voted with the Democrats for the 157-percent gas tax increase."

Cesaro also called DeCroce's statement "her Hail Mary attempt to try win an election." 

IOLTA Fund Executive Director Ellen Ferrise said Cesaro failed to register with the IOLTA fund but has since resolved the issue and had returned to the active attorney list on Wednesday.

Still, Cesaro may face greater legal hurdles as he actively prosecuted cases in his role as lead prosecutor in North Caldwell and Parsippany, and as assistant prosecutor in Bloomfield, while he was ineligible to do so. 

Cesaro is also a second alternate prosecutor in Rockaway Township, but Mayor Michael Dachisen said he's never handled a case in the township.

Morris County Freeholder Director Doug Cabana, also an attorney, said it's not clear what the impact will be on the criminal cases Cesaro prosecuted or on the private cases he may have handled during this ineligibility period.

The matter, he said, may have to be referred to the prosecutor's office's in Essex County and Morris County in order to be resolved. 

Cabana said he thought the situation was "unfortunate" and that he thought Cesaro was "a good guy."

Justin Zaremba may be reached at jzaremba@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @JustinZarembaNJ. Find NJ.com on Facebook.

How many athletes won more than one event at the 2017 county championship meets this year?

Highlighting the best moments and performances from the first round.

Adults have received prison terms in 2 of the 4 reported fatal shootings in the past 4 years in which children 10 and were accidentally shot

Law enforcement authorities in New Jersey have had to consider whether to charge adults whose young children accidentally shot themselves or other children several times in the last few years.

It's a question faced roughly once a week around the U.S., according to an investigation by USA TODAY Network and The Associated Press.

The investigation found that 152 children died from accidental shootings from 2014 to 2016.

About half of those deaths led to a criminal charge, usually against adults. In other cases, officials decided the parents hadn't broken laws, or perhaps had suffered enough. Punishment also differed depending on state laws.

New Jersey has had four reported fatal shootings in the last four years in which children 10 and under either accidentally shot themselves or were shot by another child.

Two have resulted in prison terms for adults. The father of an 8-year-old girl who accidentally shot herself in December faces charges, and a fourth case is under investigation.

Here is a look at those four deaths:

Anthony Senatore admitted having a loaded rifle and four shotguns unsecured in his Toms River house near ammunition in April 2013. His 4-year-old son found the .22-caliber rifle in Senatore's bedroom, took it outside and shot 6-year-old Brandon Holt once in the head, killing him.

Senatore's attorney said his client had stashed the gun under his bed a few days before the shooting after hearing a noise late at night that he thought might be a burglar. Senatore pleaded guilty to second- and third-degree child endangerment and was sentenced to three years in prison in 2015.

---

Itiyanah Spruill's 4-year-old son Christopher Lassiter was fascinated by Captain America and other superheroes and wanted to be a doctor someday. His life was cut short last June when he was accidentally shot and killed by his 5-year-old brother in their East Orange apartment.

Spruill pleaded guilty to two counts of second-degree child endangerment and was sentenced last fall to a year in jail.

The gun belonged to Spruill. Authorities didn't say how it came to be in the 5-year-old's possession in the apartment.

---

Authorities in southern New Jersey say a police officer left his personal .357-caliber revolver loaded and unsecured on a shelf before his 8-year-old daughter fatally shot herself last December.

In January, the Camden County prosecutor's office charged Stratford police officer Kenneth Righter with three counts of child endangerment as well as the disorderly persons offense of storage of firearms if minors may have access.

The girl was found unresponsive on the afternoon of New Year's Eve. Her mother took her to the hospital, where she died from her wounds.

Authorities haven't said how the shooting occurred but concluded that only family members were in the house at the time of the shooting.

---

A 10-year-old Pennsylvania boy visiting relatives in Newark died after being accidentally shot by an 11-year-old.

Josiah ColemanFile photo 

Newark Mayor Ras Baraka said the 11-year-old was holding a gun when it accidentally fired, striking Josiah Coleman inside a third-floor apartment early on the morning of March 18.

No charges have been filed in connection with the boy's death, and the Essex County prosecutor's office said it is continuing to investigate. The boy's father William Lowther allegedly threw a punch at a detective while being questioned. 

Police seek two robbers.

WEST ORANGE -- One woman was pushed to the ground and dragged in a gunpoint street robbery early Tuesday in West Orange, police said.

The holdup occurred around 5 a.m. near Lakeside and Ashland avenues, where two women told officers they were robbed at gunpoint by two assailants, according to a police report. 

The women were walking toward a bus stop on Main Street when a suspicious car passed them slowly traveling west, the report said. Two men got out of the car and appeared to be stretching on Lakeside Avenue.

One robber said "you know what time it is" and pulled a handgun, according to the police report. He snatched her pocket book before asking if she had any money.

The second robber dragged the other woman on the ground after she refused to give up her purse, the report stated. He snatched the purse from around her neck in the struggle.  

Both women refused medical treatment at police headquarters.

The robbers fled in the car east toward High Street in Orange, according to police. 

One robber was described as a black man, about 5-foot-7, between 20 and 30 years old with a short haircut, wearing a dark sweatshirt and black pants, the report said. The other attacker was about 6-feet tall, also with short hair and 20 to 30 years old.

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

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After a week of county and area tournaments, the NJ.com Baseball Top 20 has a different look

Gun was loaded with hollow point rounds, according to sheriff.

NEWARK -- A 20-year-old Newark man faces charges after Essex County Sheriff's detectives found him carrying a loaded handgun and crack cocaine in the city's Vailsburg section Tuesday, authorities said.

Tywan McClendon (Photo: Essex County jail) 

Narcotics officers were watching near West End Avenue and Howell Place in response to complaints about "open-air drug trafficking" in the area, according to Sheriff Armando Fontoura.

Officers spotted Tywan McClendon loitering at the intersection and continuously adjust an item in his waistband that police suspected was a weapon, the sheriff said in a statement. McClendon also exchanged an item for cash with a passerby.

As sheriff's officers went to investigate, McClendon immediately put up his hands and told authorities "I got a ratchet on me," using a common slang term for a gun, Fontoura added.

Officers seized a .38-caliber Taurus handgun, loaded with hollow point rounds, 18 vials of crack cocaine and $9, according to the sheriff. McClendon was charged with drug distribution and weapons-related offenses.  

Another man at the intersection with McClendon, Khyree Walker, 19, of Newark, was arrested for unspecified active Newark warrants, authorities said. Both men were sent to the Essex County jail.

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

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