Each week, Patch combs through the more shocking, surprising and often absurd alleged criminal acts and police-related incidents that unfold throughout New Jersey. Here’s what went on last week for “OMGs from NJ PDs.” A Different Kind of Padded Bra: Many ladies look to enhance their assets, but may we suggest that they avoid narcotics to do so? Wayne Police say Cindy Lou Vandermark didn’t get the message in time. She allegedly stuffed her bra with 30 bags of heroin and assorted paraphernalia, which police found during a traffic stop. Wanted—Better Getaway Cart: Planning is usually the key to …
A lot of big things happened. This post isn't about them. Because fortunately for the OMGs from NJ PDs column writer(s), a lot of strange, surprising, stunning and sometimes silly stuff happened too, in towns throughout New Jersey. This year, OMGs started up, collecting some of the biggest head-smackers around the state into a weekly digest for your, um, weekly digestion. You're welcome. Some of the stories that caught our eye this year: (Big, big OMG-please-don't-sue-us disclaimer: The following accounts reflect incidents as reported by police and other authorities shortly after they …
Each Monday, Patch takes a peek at some of the more surprising, shocking, stunning and occasionally silly police-related incidents reported throughout New Jersey for "OMGs from NJ PDs." Here are a couple of the reports: Burned: A call to Kinnelon police by a homeowner complaining of a strange, possibly burning, odor resulted in the same woman’s arrest after authorities found a glass pipe packed with marijuana in her nightstand, police said. Firefighters even used an infrared camera to locate the possible fire — which led them to the alleged pot. Young at Heart: Never let it be said that …
Each week, Patch takes a peek at some of the more surprising, shocking, stunning and occasionally silly police-related incidents reported throughout New Jersey for "OMGs from NJ PDs." Some of this week's reports: Feeling Possessive: The right way to dispute a vehicle repossession is to take it up with the creditor, or even legal authorities if you think the creditor's out of line. But the wrong way is to make a getaway with the car and run over the repo man's foot. Toms River police say a resident chose poorly when faced with that particular set of options. Ho Ho Ho? Against a backdrop of …
Each week, Patch takes a peek at some of the more surprising, shocking, stunning and occasionally silly police-related incidents reported throughout New Jersey for "OMGs from NJ PDs." Some of this week's reports: From Carjack Victim to Action Hero: A woman got crafty and clever when her vehicle was carjacked in South Orange, and she was forced to drive into Newark. She got a sheriff’s officer’s attention—by ramming the cop's vehicle with her car, according to police. Following the crash, the carjacker ran off, but a suspect was caught a few hours later, police said. Here's Hoping the Next …
Each Monday, Patch takes a peek at some of the more surprising, shocking, stunning and occasionally silly police-related incidents reported throughout New Jersey for "OMGs from NJ PDs." Some of the reports: If Only He'd Use His Powers for Good: We've got to admire this guy's ingenuity and cunning, though certainly not the way he allegedly put them to use. NJ.com reports that a man escaped from police (he was being arrested on thousands of dollars of active warrants and after allegedly harassing a diner employee) after he palmed a handcuff key in a fight with an East Windsor officer. Which is …
Each Monday, Patch takes a peek at some of the more surprising, shocking, stunning and occasionally silly police-related incidents reported throughout New Jersey for "OMGs from NJ PDs." Some of the reports: The Idea Sounded Half-Baked, But ... The Ridgewood Fire Department got a little creative when attending to a fuel spill from a bucket loader truck. The truck's fuel tank had suffered a rip, and fuel was gushing out. But a donation from a nearby homeowner gave firefighters what they needed to get things under control. "We used a potato on the nipple of the fuel tank as a plug," captain from…
Each week, Patch takes a peek at some of the more surprising, shocking, stunning and occasionally silly police-related incidents reported throughout New Jersey for "OMGs from NJ PDs." Some of this week's reports: Over the Woods and Through the River?That's pretty close to the course charted by a Long Valley woman who was arrested after allegedly trying to steal two farm vehiclesbelonging to Ort Farms. The woman was confronted by farm staff during the attempted theft, and fled the scene by crossing the South Branch of the Raritan River, police said. Multiple police departments set up a …
Each week, Patch takes a peek at some of the more surprising, shocking, stunning and occasionally silly police-related incidents reported throughout New Jersey for "OMGs from NJ PDs." Some of this week's reports: Maybe You Can Believe Everything You Read: Ever see one of those upside-down bumper stickers that says "If You Can Read This, Flip Me Over?" Ever see one on a car that wasactually overtuned? Thanks to Toms River Patch, now you have. Just Treading Water: OK, steal a really fastsports car, and you might, just might have a chance of outrunning the cops (though we certainly don't …
It's not like you can really out-OMG a major snowstorm before Halloween. And yet, those alleged to be among New Jersey's criminal element really did try this past week. Rock Beats Scissor, Hammer Beats Knife: Bloomfield police say a man brandishing a hammer entered The Happy Ming Restaurant and told employees to open the cash register. When an employee grabbed a nearby knife, the man fled out of the restaurant empty-handed, police said. Did he not know they have knives at restaurants? Next week, he'll try to rob the gun shop with a spitball and a straw. When They Say Everything On It ... …
Who You Gonna Call? They say the problem with being a criminal is you can't call the police. But maybe no one told a Lakewood man who flagged down Manchester police. Officers say he got their attention because he wanted to talk about an incident in which someone smashed his car window at a party. But inside the same car, police say, they found an illegal weapon and an open alcoholic beverage container. Ultimately, someone was charged with smashing the window—and the driver was charged with allegedly having a dagger and the booze. Don't Drink and Lie: It's hard to tell a convincing lie when …
Each Monday, Patch takes a peek at some of the more surprising, shocking, stunning and occasionally silly police-related incidents reported throughout New Jersey for "OMGs from NJ PDs." Some of this week's reports: Cleanup, Aisle 9: If you're a frequent shoplifter, you're probably pretty cynical about loss prevention specialists and other store employees. You're a pro. Ain't no rent-a-cop gonna slow you down. But you probably aren't quite as cocky when you run into the real, badge-possessing deal, are you? Toms River police said one shoplifter had the misfortune of crossing paths with an off-…
Each Monday, Patch takes a peek at some of the more surprising, shocking, stunning and occasionally silly police-related incidents reported throughout New Jersey for "OMGs from NJ PDs." Some of the reports from this past week: That's One Way to Avoid a Parking Ticket:Just not a very good way. Belleville police say they're looking for the men who stole the change from a parking meter ... while it was still in the meter. They reportedly took the whole meter and placed it in a beige hatchback. Police weren't able to provide much of a specific description, but if you see a couple of guys lugging …
One woman got a very special birthday gift—a friend and neighbor willing to risk her safety to help. Mary Ann Zaleski of Haddonfield discovered a burglar leaving her home Tuesday, Zaleski's 53rd birthday, she said. She screamed for her neighbor, Angelica Jeffreys to help, and when the robber "took off like a rabbit," Jeffreys went after her, the two women said. Zale ski herself and police soon joined into the chase, they said. Officers eventually found the alleged robber several hours later, police said. “I laid awake last night thinking about it,” said Jeffreys, 46, a marketing advertising …
We all remember this one from science, class right? "An object in motion will stay in motion, unless another force acts upon it." Ever wonder what Mr. Smartypants Science Teacher meant by "another force?" He might have meant "that thing that happens when you try to squeeze a ginormous object, like, oh, say, a truck, through a hole too small for it." We think that's the technical definition. We'll look it up later. South Orange Police say a truck driver (or his company) apparently hadn't done their route-planning homework, as the driver tried to get his 13-foot truck under a bridge that wasn't…
Many of New Jersey's police departments do fine, thorough, painstaking work. But that can get exhausting, so they've got to appreciate when alleged criminals don't even try to fly under the radar. They probably appreciate it a little less when someone tries to fly off a bridge, however. Each Monday, Patch takes a peek at some of the more surprising, shocking, stunning and occasionally silly police-related incidents reported throughout New Jersey for "OMGs from NJ PDs." This week, we're paying particular attention to reports of people who, well, the cops would have a had a hard time missing In…
This arrest was pretty sweet. And that's pretty much the only pun or knowingly bad joke we haven't made already about a report from Collingswood Patch that police may have finally caught an infamous doughnut dumper. (Seriously ... our original article has everything from "that's crumby" to police finding their suspect's account "full of holes.") Locals had been trying to figure out for some time who was dropping off delicious debris at Newton Lake. So local cops when on a two-day stakeout to see where the doughnuts were coming from. (Yes. We know. Doughnuts and cops. We already beat you to …
Three times is sometimes a charm. In the case of one Galloway man, it was apparently the opposite. And it all happened in the aftermath of a hurricane. The 38-year-old received multiple charges after allegedly causing three separate accidents on the same night in one hour, according to police. Luckily, in each of the first two accidents none of the victims were hurt, police said. However, as the descriptions piled up from each, the third accident (only involving the alleged perpetrator) led to the man's arrest for all three—and possession of suspected heroin. Each Monday, Patch takes a peek …
Sometimes, police really have their work cut out for them at a crime scene. They've got to canvass for witnesses. They've got to collect fingerprints, fibers and hairs. They've got to look for the slightest signs of disturbance, any subtle clues that might track back to the bad guy. And sometimes, the bad guy just makes things easy for them. That's what Madison police say happened when they were investigating a robbery at an office. They found one particularly helpful piece of evidence—the alleged burglar's wallet. We know the folks at American Express like to tell people, "Don't leave home …
It's been kind of a slow week. No, really. With Patch serving nearly 100 communities throughout New Jersey, we don't usually have much trouble finding some seriously jaw-drop-worthy (if not head-smack-worthy) incidents each Monday to feature in our "OMGs from New Jersey PDs." There's a lot of things you can call New Jersey's criminal element—but "graceful" isn't one of them, which gives us plenty of fodder. Like there was that time we told you about the guy police say shoved $100 worth of razors down his pants. Or the woman who, police say, refused to pull up her own pants. We like anything …
