Police: Man tried to lure Manalapan teen into his car

A Manalapan girl was approached by a strange man driving a red sedan vehicle yesterday and was told to get in his car, according to APP.com.

From the report:

Around 5:30 p.m. Tuesday, the 15-year-old girl was walking near the intersection of Coldsprings and Village roads when she noticed a man slowly driving toward her in older-model, red sedan.

The man leaned out of the passenger side window and yelled "hey," said Capt. Christopher Marsala.

Read the full story on APP.com | Asbury Park Press.

Manalapan Wachovia Robber Nabbed

The Manalapan Bank Bandit that last week robbed the Wachovia on Route 9 has been arrested and implicated in nine robberies throughout Monmouth, Ocean, and Burlington Counties, according to the APP.

A surveillance photo shows the suspect passing a robbery note Wednesday afternoon at the Wachovia Bank in Manalapan.

According to a criminal complaint filed by FBI Special Agent Silvana Sotillo in U.S. District Court, 47-year-old Scott MacKay admitted to robbing nine banks since February 2009 when he was taken into custody on Saturday.
Read more

Kids credited with park’s extreme makeover

Committeewoman Michelle Roth, Mayor Richard Klauber and local Scouts unveil Scout Lake's new sign. Photo by Andy Kazmierski.

Holiday Lake in Manalapan is now Scout Lake, named after about 20 area Boy, Girl and Cub Scout troops who helped breathe new life into the surrounding Holiday Park.

The 13-acre park and lake, off Pease Road, were rededicated at a ceremony Saturday.

Scouts since March have been hard at work building benches and picnic tables for the dog-friendly park. The children and other local volunteers came out a week before the rededication for a cleanup that netted some 25 bags of trash.

Read more

Update: More Details on Wanted Burglar in Manalapan

This morning's attempted burglary in a Manalapan Township home occurred while a teenage student was home sick from school, according to a report from the APP. The student called the police while locked inside the bathroom, and her mother notified a neighbor who helped scare away and then chase the suspect.

Belaire Lane in Manalapan (Google Streetview)

From the report:

He is described as an older, white, heavy-set man, who wore a red shirt and may have been wearing a red hat. He was last seen driving a white, 2003 Pontiac sedan with a Pennsylvania license plate: DXB 4345, police said.Just before 9:45 a.m., the teen, who was home sick, heard a knock at her front door, but did not answer it, police said.

Read more

Sketch Released of Manalapan Chaser

Last month, we reported on a case in Manalapan where a man chased a 9-year-old child and has dog down the street. The APP now reports the Manalapan police have released a sketch of the suspect.

From the report:

Around 8:20 p.m. on Sept. 15, the boy was walking his dog on Arbor Court, near Dogwood Court, when the man got out of a black, four-door sedan and began to walk toward the child, police said.

The frightened boy ran away and the man chased him, but then stopped after about 50 yards, returned to his vehicle, and left, police said.

Manalapan’s Secret Guard of Cheesecake

In a hidden neighborhood off of Route 33, Eric Nussenbaum  guards a secret. He’s never written it down, never even told his wife, and refuses to let reporters persuade him otherwise. Sure, you can taste his famous cheesecake, but he’ll never, ever tell you what’s in it.

The story went like this: an editor was eating out one night when he tasted a cheesecake that just had to have a story behind it, it was that good. When he asked, said editor found out that local baker Nussenbaum was the man responsible for the light, creamy slice of heaven at the restaurant, and was soon going to be featured on Rachel Ray . He was a local guy, who started his business out of his condominium kitchen, and now supplied restaurants throughout the area. His business started small, but it was beginning to take off.

Not to be scooped by that Food Network-Nancy, I begged Eric to share his recipe with Freehold.InJersey first. He shot me down, but instead invited me to come watch him make the famed cheesecake in the same small kitchen where he started three years ago.

Eric made two cheesecakes that day, and then 37 more for a few special orders for that night. I took some artistic license to taste each of the cakes, from his most famous glazed maraschino cherry to the tart, rich black cherry (my personal favorite.), and the verdict is in: the man’s got a gift.

The cheesecakes were as light and creamy as the best I’ve tasted, but the magic was in the secret ingredients of the crust: something sweet, slightly nutty, maybe a little aromatic. Oh, who am I kidding, I could never guess what was in it. But I’ll keep trying if it means I can keep eating those tasty creations from Eric’s kitchen.

Veteran, 89, Receives WWII Medal

When May Fromm watched two female veterans of the Iraqi and Gulf Wars pin a medal of honor on her husband, 89-year-old Louis Fromm, a lifetime of soldier stories and wartime memories felt honored and validated.

“That was the highest honor for him and for me,” Fromm, of Manalapan, said afterwards to her daughter, Margaret Tamarkin of Jackson, and friends and staff from the Chelsea Assisted Living Facility in Manalapan where the ceremony was held. “My husband loves this country, and it is important that we remember it.”

Mr. Fromm received the Medal for Meritorious Service last week for his years fighting in Europe and stationed in Fort Dix, NJ, during the Second World War, where he was a Field Artillery Battalion Sergeant. Though he suffers from some dementia, he saluted VFW Post Commanders Terry Ching and Barbara Kim as they pinned the medal and told Mr. Fromm that his service honored them as well.

"It is especially important to remember these soldiers today, their loyalty and service to our country during the war," Mrs. Fromm said of today's military conflicts abroad. "He would go back and fight again if he could."

Read more

“Nanny Diaries” Authors Come to Manalapan

The creative duo behind "The Nanny Diaries" will be speaking at the Monmouth County Library headquarters at Manalapan on August 31.  They're out promoting their newest collaborative effort, "The Real Real," a novel about an MTV-like reality series filmed at a Hamptons high school.

From the APP's report:

As an added incentive, students entering 6th through 12th grade who arrive on time can enter to win one of 20 free, autographed copies of "The Real Real." A limited number of books will be available for purchase and can be autographed by the authors after the program.

Read the full story and book synopsis here.

Police: Manalapan heist a hoax

Police say they have no idea why a Marlboro teen made up a story about someone stealing $250 from his car outside a Gulf gas station in Manalapan last Wednesday.

Ateer Patel, 19, claimed he saw someone enter his car and remove the cash while the vehicle, a Honda Civic, was parked at the Route 9 station. Patel called police, claiming he was in the car pursuing the suspect, Lt. Tom Barstow said. Patel claimed he was chasing the suspect off Route 9 into a townhome development off Craig Road.

But witness statements and a gas station surveillance video showed Patel simply left the store, got in his car and drove away. A vehicle for which Patel had given a license plate number and description belonged to an associate of Patel’s who had never been on the scene, police said.

Read more

Go green, save greenbacks?

A Freehold-based start-up is campaigning to lease solar panels to municipalities, businesses and quasi-governmental agencies in Western Monmouth County – free of charge.

Sun Pacific Power would purchase the panels and provide them to commercial, municipal and water treatment sites at no cost, said Sun Pacific spokesman and owner Nick Campanella. The company presented its first pitch to Manalapan Township Committee at its Aug. 12 meeting (Campanella was there. Really. He just didn’t get much attention amidst the brouhaha over the police chief ).

So how does Campanella’s company make its money? He says the company will look to Solar Renewable Energy Certificates and federal and state grants for its funding.

Read more

Library Hosts Literary Salon for Monmouth County Writers

Once every few weeks, the Manalapan branch of the Monmouth County Public Library transforms into a literary salon. Writers from all over Monmouth County come together to workshop novels, stories, screenplays, and poems.

Tomorrow night, the Monmouth Creative Writers' Group will host their monthly Thursday-night meeting at the library, where 25-30 aspiring literati will come out to discuss both the art and business of publishing writing in America.

"We work towards publishing," said organizer Arthur Frank, a mystery writer that runs the group at Manalapan and one at the Colts Neck branch of hte library. "There's been in interest in my stories, and another writer in the group is rewriting like crazy right now."

Read more

Manalapan Police Chief Suspended

The Manalapan Township Committee approved a day-long suspension of their Police Chief last night, amid a raucous crowd there to support and defend Chief Stuart Brown. The chief will appeal to the Superior Court to overturn the decision.

The Asbury Park Press's Alesha Williams Boyd reported:

Town hall was packed with emergency responders, township residents, and others from beyond the township, the bulk of whom said they were there to support Brown and implore the committee not to uphold the suspension. According to disciplinary hearing records, Roth testified that Brown referred to her as "Lady" and moved toward her in what she felt was an intimidating manner.

Residents praised Brown's service as a chief and accused committee members of forcing taxpayers to fund "political witch hunts" and "personal vendettas."

Read the whole story at APP.com

Suspense over chief’s suspension in Manalapan

Is a one-day suspension without pay in Manalapan Police Chief Stuart Brown’s future? We may find out at tonight’s Township Committee meeting.

Brown is appealing the proposed suspension for alleged insubordination and has filed an age-discrimination lawsuit against the township, Committeewoman Michelle Roth and Administrator Tara Lovrich. A Superior Court judge said the committee would have to vote on the suspension before he’ll hear the appeal.

Township Clerk Rose Ann Weeden said the committee will discuss the matter in closed session. If the committee decides to take action (as in, vote to uphold the suspension) they’ll discuss it in public, Weeden said. She said it’s possible that, if the committee doesn’t have enough votes in favor of suspending the chief, they will not discuss it at the public meeting at all.

Read more

Breaking news: Manalapan and police chief head to court

Things are heating up in Manalapan -- again. The township and Police Chief Stuart Brown may be headed toward a trial in Superior Court Thursday.

The township says Chief Stuart Brown used “disrespectful, mutinous, insolent and abusive language’’ toward then-mayor Michelle Roth in a 2008 incident,’’ among other complaints in court documents. Brown was given a one-day suspension by a third-party mediator from another town.

But Brown is appealing the decision in court. If the matter isn’t settled by Thursday, it is expected to go to trial.

Roth said the township has no plans to back down.

Drama!

Read more here. Details in Wednesday’s Asbury Park Press!

Judge rules habitual offender will remain jailed without bail

Posted via APP.com:

A habitual offender who has repeatedly made bail will not have a chance to commit more crimes against the public, after a state Superior Court judge today ordered he would remain held without bail.

Scott Bennett, 43, of Gravel Hill Road in Freehold Township, is charged with killing a man after failing to stop at a stop sign, along with various other recent offenses.
He is being held without bail after a state grand jury sitting in Monmouth County handed up an indictment on his latest charges - robbing the Raintree FoodTown in his hometown on April 15.
Store employees saw Bennett shoplifting two steaks and a sponge, by putting them into his pants, officials have said. When Bennett was arrested and charged with robbery, shoplifting, throwing bodily fluids on a police officer and resisting arrest, he was ordered held on $300,500 bail.

Defense attorney Edward C. Bertucio Jr., successfully argued for a bail reduction in June to $200,000 with no option to post 10 percent, and Bennett was freed after a bond was posted.
One of the conditions of Bennett's bail was to check in weekly with the court, and another was to avoid alcohol.
Just days after his release, Bennett showed up to check in with the court, but ended up back behind bars and his bail revoked after he was suspected of being intoxicated.
State Superior Court Judge Ira E. Kreizman today ordered Bennett will continue to be held without bail. Bennett is expected back in court on Sept. 21.

Read more