Raheem Harris faces a charge of sexual assault….Boonton Police Department

her home on April 27.

Raheem Harris is accused of second-degree sexual assault.

After an argument in the woman’s home, Harris left the residence but later returned and forced her to have sex with him, Morris County Assistant Prosecutor Brent Rafuse said.

Harris had five prior felony convictions, including a 2012 conviction for criminal sexual contact, Rafuse added.

Judge Mary Gibbons Whipple kept the bail at $100,000 with no 10 percent option and ordered Harris to have no contact with the alleged victim. Read Full Story

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BAYONNE- A 36-year-old Jersey City man who is a registered sex offender was arrested yesterday after he was caught masturbating in his car outside Midtown Community School in Bayonne, police

Christopher Arnold……NJ State Police

said today.

Christopher Arnold, 36, of Magnolia Avenue in Jersey City, was charged with lewdeness and sexual assault following the incident, police said.

An off-duty Jersey City police sergeant who was dropping off his children at the Avenue A school around 8:40 a.m. yesterday when he was approached by a local resident who said he saw a man, later identified as Arnold, masturbating inside his vehicle, police said.

The sergeant approached Arnold and confirmed the witness’ observations, police said. The sergeant then contacted Bayonne police, who placed Arnold under arrest.

After checks following his arrest, police discovered that Arnold was on the registered sex offenders list, police said. According to the New Jersey State Police Megan’s Law website, Arnold was found guilty in May 2004 of sexual assault and endangering the welfare of a child after he sexually assaulted two underage girls, 14 and 15-years-old. Read Full Story

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An appellate court denied post-conviction relief for the man, identified in the court ruling only as J.E.J. It found no merit to his arguments that his attorney in his 2006 trial had been ineffective.

The decision identifies J.E.J.’s wife as Charlotte, and her daughter as Karen, though those are not their real names. The fictitious names are used to preserve their privacy.

According to the decision, J.E.J. knew Karen since she was 2 years old, and married her mother in 1996, when Karen was 6. Karen believed until she was 10 years old that J.E.J. was her biological father, the court wrote.

“Karen testified, however, that their relationship changed when she turned 11 years of age. At that time, defendant began to touch her in inappropriate places,” the court wrote.

J.E.J. would touch Karen’s inner thigh, telling her “it was okay; that was just the way he felt for (her),” the court wrote.

“He also told her that ‘he felt like (she) was telling him, it was okay, and that he could show his feelings for (her) and that there wasn’t anything wrong with it,’” the court wrote.

J.E.J.’s hugs became tighter, and he once tried to French-kiss Karen, but she closed her mouth and gritted her teeth, the court wrote. Another time, J.E.J., while wearing only a towel and underwear, pulled Karen’s sleeping bag off, and her pants fell, the court write.

“She stated that defendant told her he was not trying to do anything, but he just wanted to touch her,” the court wrote.

Karen became scared of J.E.J., but didn’t tell her mother, fearful it would hurt her parents’ relationship, the court wrote.

J.E.J.’s contact with Karen wasn’t discovered until July of 2002, when Charlotte found a letter, written in Spanish, after it fell out of J.E.J.’s pants, according to the court decision.

The court quotes a translation by Detective Robert Meoqui: “For the first time in my life I am afraid. A lot of fear. … Because each day I need you very much this sentiment I have for your mother and now with you. But with you it is different because you are my daughter. I cannot make love to you. I can’t deceive your mother with another woman or with you.”

In the letter, J.E.J. also tells Karen, “what I feel is love and not evil. Never am I going to do something bad to you.”

“But for now accept that we need each other. Because despite that you do not like that I caress you. I know . . . In the bottom of you[r] heart you also need me,” it states.

It continues, saying “at times I ask myself why I fell in love with you, you being only a little girl and overall you being my daughter. And I find no answer. The only thing I know is that for love there are no limits, there is no age. Despite that you are hardly a little girl, you have awakened the sentiment of love.”

Charlotte brought the letter to a family pastor, and they then took the matter to police, according to the court decision. Read Full Story

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South Orange police announced an arrest of a 24-year-old Newark man Kaiyri Bennett in connection with an armed robbery of two Seton Hall students in an off-campus apartment last year….John Munson/The Star-Ledge

Kaiyri Bennett, 24, was arrested last week in connection with the May 8, 2012 armed robbery of a Seton Hall student in an apartment complex on South Orange Avenue, police said in a release.

Bennett was charged with robbery and conspiracy, bail was set at $100,000, and he was taken to the Essex County Jail, according to county corrections records.

Bennett was the second arrest in connection with the armed robbery, in which one student was shot in the arm and another was pistol-whipped in the head.

Joseph Fowler, a 20-year-old former Seton Hall student, was arrested just days after the robbery – but police said at the time two other suspects were still at large. Read Full Story

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Trenton police vehicles parked outside a crime scene in this file photo…Alex Zdan /The Times

said.

Police said yesterday their investigation was continuing, but they were certain Green and the others were hit by rounds fired by a gunman unconcerned with causing collateral damage.

“He shot into the crowd,” Lt. Mark Kieffer said.

It remained unclear whether the gunman was aiming at anybody in particular.

The shooting took place behind the Rowan Towers apartment building on the 600 block of West State Street around 11:20 p.m. Police believe the gunman was in a car that drove near the crowd, sparking a warning from somebody in the group.

“A car comes by and someone yells, ‘Gun!’ and everyone scatters,” Kieffer said.

He said the car parked on Murray Street nearby. A short time later, the crowd had reformed and the gunman came back on foot.

“A couple minutes later, someone comes with a gun and starts firing into the crowd,” Kieffer said.

Police officers were around the corner and responded to the scene quickly after hearing the gunshots, while another working inside Rowan Towers as an off-duty security officer called in a report about the shooting. The Rowan Towers lobby became a shelter for some of people including the wounded as they rushed inside.

A city woman shot in the back remained in critical condition last night, staff at Capital Health Regional Medical Center said. Another man shot in the buttocks was stable yesterday morning and may have been released from the hospital by last night.

There are no indications anyone from the crowd returned fire during the shooting, Kieffer said.

Now, Tiara’s mother Tia Green is mourning the death of her daughter.

Detective Scott Peterson from the Trenton Police Department and Detective Robert McNally from the Mercer County Prosecutor’s Office are investigating.

Anyone with information on the case should call police at (609) 989-4170, or the Confidential Tip Line at (609) 989-3663.

Contact Alex Zdan at azdan@njtimes.com or (609) 989-5705. Source: Nj.com

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Details of the high-tech investigation were withheld for weeks by authorities while detectives continued to pursue electronic leads from computer to computer in five towns, said Al Della Fave, the prosecutor office’s spokesman.

The first arrest came on May 15, and the last was made Monday, Della Fave said. Three were also arrested at a Lakewood residence for various charges, after police discovered the computer allegedly used at the home had been discarded by the primary suspect of the search warrant.

Christopher Pontrelli, 27, was arrested in Toms River on May 15, authorities said. Detectives have accused him of viewing child pornography, as well as using a file-sharing program, Della Fave said.

John Rupert Woods, 25, was arrested in Jackson on May 21. He is accused of storing over 100 movie files indicative of child pornography, according to the prosecutor’s forensic preview of Woods’s computer, authorities said.

Nicholas Hernandez Jr., 25, was arrested after a search of a home in Berkeley on May 23, Della Fave said. Authorities alleged Hernandez was knowingly searching for, and downloading, child pornography.

On June 11, and also in Berkeley, a juvenile male was arrested for allegedly possessing child pornography over Google images.

Chad Zehner, 33, was arrested Monday at a Lacey home after detectives executed a search warrant based on information indicating someone located at the residence possessing and sharing child pornography, Della Fave said.

The four adult men were each charged with second-degree distribution of child pornography and fourth-degree possession of child pornography. They were taken to the Ocean County jail in lieu of bail: Woods’ was set at $75,000 with no 10-percent option; and Pontrelli, Hernandez and Zehner’s were each set at $50,000. The juvenile was only charged with the fourth-degree possession count, and he was released into the custody of his parents after his arrest, Della Fave said.

The local police departments assisted with each arrest, Della Fave said. Read Full Story

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Anes Hadzifejzovic…Essex County Department of Corrections

trailer and onto the loading dock.

Among them was a big guy, who agents later learned was a cop.

Authorities say Anes Hadzifejzovic, 27, a Montclair patrolman, used his status as a law enforcement officer to help move thousands of kilograms of marijuana, as well as hundreds of thousands of dollars in cash, as part of a long-running operation that shuffled drugs and money between Maryland, New Jersey, California, Ohio and Pennsylvania.

Much of the case remains under seal because at least one of those charged has yet to be taken into custody. But court records in Maryland detail an elaborate scheme involving more than 18 defendants — including three from New Jersey — that used a lucrative internet sports shoe business and other legitimate companies to help launder drug proceeds.

The entire ring came crashing down in January, when a phalanx of agents from the U.S. Attorney’s Office, the Drug Enforcement Administration and the Internal Revenue Service made the first arrests in the case. However, Hadzifejzovic — who has been a member of the Montclair Police Department for four years — was not arrested until March, after a superceding indictment.

While the U.S. Attorney’s office in Maryland would not discuss the officer’s alleged involvement because the case is sealed, a plea agreement involving another of the defendants, filed two months ago in federal court in Baltimore and obtained this week by The Star-Ledger, offered some details.

According to the documents, surveillance videos showed Hadzifejzovic and two other New Jersey men at the Maryland warehouse in December when a drug shipment was dropped off. The warehouse was the location of Krush NYC, an eBay based re-seller of popular sports shoes whose principals include Kerem Dayi, who has also been charged as the ringleader in the drug and money laundering plot.

The court filing, describing the surveillance, said agents watched a truck drive up to the warehouse at about 10 p.m., where what was described as “bales of marijuana” were off loaded. About an hour later, another truck backed up to the warehouse and was loaded with at least eight large cartons which agents said contained marijuana. The second truck was then driven to New Jersey.

Behind the wheel, prosecutors say, was Gokahn Bergal, 29, of Clifton, who they say was accompanied by Hadzifejzovic. The court documents said the shipment would later be delivered to Patrick Russo, a 39-year-old Fairfield man described by investigators as one of Dayi’s top lieutenants.

Bergal and Russo have also been charged in the case. Court records note search warrants have since been executed at Russo’s Fairfield home, a Newark clothing store and two Jersey City businesses. Read Full Story

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A Clifton accountant and one of his clients made their first appearances at U.S. District Court in Newark today after being arrested on bribery charges… Image FBI

Hamed Aref, 41, and North Bergen resident Yousef Zaben, 62, are each charged with conspiracy to bribe a public official and two counts of bribery of a public official.

According to U.S. Attorney Paul Fishman, an IRS agent working out of the agency’s office in Mountainside was assigned to audit Zaben’s son, who was also a client of Aref’s. The agent met with Aref in February 2012, and informed him that the audit had revealed approximately $90,000 in outstanding tax liabilities.

As the two wrapped up their conversation, Aref allegedly attempted to convoke the agent to reduce the bill by $20,000, and offered him $2,000 to make the adjustment.

“(The agent) pretended he would think about the offer and set a date for another meeting with Aref, then immediately reported the bribe to law enforcement officers from (the Treasury’s Office of Inspector General for Tax Administration),” Fishman said.

The following month, the agent again met with Aref, although this time he was equipped with video and audio recording equipment. Aref allegedly asked for another reduction of $32,000, and the agent produced false documents indicating he had complied with the request.

Aref then asked the agent to leave the room, and allegedly left $3,000 on his chair. When the agent came back in the room, he collected the cash, which Aref told him was from Zaben, according to Fishman.

A later audit detected that Zaben owed more than $900,000 for tax years 2009 and 2010, which the same agent met with Aref to discuss. At those meetings, Aref is accused of presenting false figures that showed a significantly lower liability, and suggested that the agent meet directly with Zaben. Read Full Story

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Stephon Reeves was struck and killed crossing Nj Turnpike on a bicycle.

CARNEYS POINT TWP. — A man died Wednesday night after he was struck by a vehicle while attempting to cross the New Jersey Turnpike on his bicycle, New Jersey State Police said.

Stephon Reeves, 22, was hit at 10:07 p.m. by a blue Honda with New York registered license plates when he was on his bike crossing east over the turnpike, according to police.

Reeves was struck at mile marker .4 and was transported to the trauma unit at Christiana Hospital, in Delaware, where he was pronounced dead at 1:45 a.m. Thursday, police said.

It is unclear why Reeves was attempted to cross the busy road.

According to police, the blue Honda that hit Reeves was driven by a woman from New York, traveling south.

An age and name were not provided by police at this time. Read Full Story

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Family and friends of 17-year-old Aquilla Flood, lined the court wearing shirts emblazoned with Aquilla’s picture.

NEWARK — The man charged with gunning down his ex-girlfriend in her family’s East Orange apartment a week before she was to be crowned prom queen pleaded not guilty to murder and weapons charges Thursday.

Al-Muqqadin Means, 18, mouthed the words “I’m sorry” when he entered the Judge Peter Vazquez’s courtroom in Newark around 9:45 a.m..

It was not immediately clear if Means was apologizing to his own family or to the family of 17-year-old Aquilla Flood, his ex-girlfriend who was found dead of a single gunshot wound to the head on June 5.

Flood’s relatives and friends lined the court wearing shirts emblazoned with Aquilla’s picture.

Means, who was arrested by a federal task force in Newark earlier this week, pleaded not guilty to Flood’s murder in first appearance in Superior Court in Newark. Dressed in a wrinkled brown dress shirt, the scrawny teenager with the baby face was nearly inaudible as he responded to questions from Vazquez.

Flood’s grandfather, Michael Adams, said Means was looking at Flood’s family when he mouthed his apology. It was “decent” for him to apologize for his alleged role in the killing, Adams said.

“I found a little peace with Mr. Al-Muqqadin Means telling the family he was sorry,” Adams, 55, said.

Flood’s great-grandfather, Michael Hicks, said most of the family was relieved when they saw Means mouth the apology in the courtroom.

“We all felt a small sense of closure, by him saying those words, as well as my siblings,” Hicks said in a text message. “Unfortunately, it won’t be bring Aquilla back!” Read Full Story

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