Author Archives: jefhenninger
North Jersey high school teacher charged with criminal sexual conduct
Gianfranco Maucione was arrested Saturday at his Hasbrouck Heights home after an investigation by the Bergen County Prosecutor’s Office and the East Rutherford and Carlstadt police departments. An investigation revealed the 29-year-old Maucione allegedly had been exchanging sexually explicit pictures and messages with a 16-year-old student at the Henry P. Becton Regional High School in East Rutherford.
Maucione taught math there and was a former soccer coach at the school, from which he graduated in 1998. He resigned his teaching post after being charged with criminal sexual contact, child endangerment and official misconduct.
Story is here.
Bowling Alley Manager Charged with Burning Down Rival’s Bowling Alley
Who would have thought that the bowling alley business was so cut throat? Police allege that Steven Smink of Philadelphia, the manager of Pike Lanes Family Fun Center in Deerfield, hired Felix Antonio Manzano of Philadelphia and a 17-year-old from Philadelphia to set a fire at the Loyle Lanes which burned down on January 11th. The fire took off the roof and much of the back wall and melted pins, balls and just about everything else inside.
All three men face charges of aggravated arson, aggravated arson for hire and conspiracy to commit arson. As always, this is the type of case where the first one in the door with a plea will work out the best.
Story is here.
Jayson Williams pleads guilty; will go to prison
With his world crumbling down around him, Jayson Williams has entered into a plea deal in which he plead guilty to aggravated assault. As a result, the reckless manslaughter charge will be dismissed and the judge will not rule on whether or not his attorneys (Joseph Hayden Jr. and Billy Martin) should be permitted to withdraw from the case. White the attorneys cited a lack of communication with Williams, money was the real issue there, especially with his pending divorce.
Williams must serve at least 18 months in prison before becoming eligible for parole. For Williams, this ends a saga that has cost him millions in legal feels and a civil settlement with the victim’s family in addition to a divorce, an odd situation in a hotel where the police had to use a taser on him in addition to his DWI just a week ago.
Story is here.
Man who breached security at Newark Airport ID’d as Haisong Jiang of Piscataway
By now, everyone has heard about the incident at Newark Airport where a man went past security to say goodbye to his girlfriend. The airport was shut down and the video cameras were later found to be not recording. Well, police have some figured out that the man was Haisong Jiang of Piscataway, New Jersey.
He was also arrested on charges of defiant trespass which is just plain stupid. I don’t see how the State can prove that he intentionally went someone that he knew he was not permitted. Seriously, its an airport. This guy is going to break the law just to say goodbye. He clearly wasn’t paying attention. It seems that they want to crucify him because the airport screwed up. To arrest someone for charges like this when you can just mail him a ticket or hand him one is just a PR stunt.
Here is the problem. Does he spend a lot of money on an attorney or does he just eat the charge and move on? If he does fight it, his attorney should move to have the case taken out of Newark and then file a motion to dismiss. This is the type of case that I would take for much less money than I normally would just to help this guy out because I think he is getting screwed.
His facebook page is here.
Story is here.
Little Silver Police Officer charged with Official Misconduct
Little Silver police officer Steven Solari was arrested Thursday afternoon and charged with two counts of official misconduct, and one count each of aggravated assault, tampering with a witness, obstruction of justice and hindering apprehension.
The Prosecutor’s Office began an investigation after an incident was brought to their attention by Little Silver police. On Dec. 20, Solari and another officer responded to a call at a private home in Little Silver. During the course of that call, Solari arrested and engaged in a physical struggle with a man. At headquarters, while that man had his hands cuffed behind his back, Solari allegedly struck him several times.
Several days later, Solari allegedly approached a witness to the assault and tried to convince that person to withhold the truth or lie during the course of the investigation.
The misconduct and assault charges are second-degree offenses. The hindering and tampering charges are third-degree crimes, and the obstruction charge is a fourth-degree offense.
He’ll be facing some heavy time unless his attorney can explain away his conduct one way or another (I have several ideas) as well as talking about his record which seems really good.
Story is here.
Lakehurst man charged with impersonating a probation officer
Louis W. Deutsch of Lakehurst was charged with impersonating a probation officer after reports came of an unmarked cruiser pulling behind cars with emergency strobe lights on. He admitted to giving roadside assistance to several drivers between August and October of 2009. He made a big mistake when he assisted an off-duty police officer and his wife while impersonating an Ocean County probation officer. He was arrested in December after being stopped by an Manchester officer but released on $2,500 bail.
It doesn’t sound like he had a bad motive here so if thhat turns out to be the case, this should turn out OK for him.
Story is here.
Police raid leads to five arrests
Five people were arrested on various drug charges Thursday evening, following a month-long investigation by Brick Township police. Those arrested were: Peter Perea of N. Sailors Quay Drive; Daniel B. Lees of Hawaii Drive; Steven T. Reedy of Schindler Drive; Jill R. Mulligan of Emerald Drive, and Russell N. Hand of Buena Vista Drive.
All were arrested after a search warrant was executed at 57 N. Sailors Quay Drive. Marijuana, drug paraphernalia and more than $1,300 cash were seized. From my experience, I am sure that charges against several of the defendant will be dismissed especially if good lawyers are involved. In these cases, police tend to arrest everyone that is there and then sort it all out later.
Story is here.
Six charged in Brick with criminal restraint in connection with loan
Police allege that six people went a little too far in trying to collect a debt from a woman. Michael R. Raciti along with five other people allegedly held Jamie Lusby at a house to try to get her to pay an $800 debt. She was kept in the house but unhurt, for several hours before being let go.
Also arrested was his mother, Collette Raciti, 52, and Vivian Crawford, 51, of Belmar. They were both charged with conspiracy to commit criminal restraint. Charges of complicity in committing restraint were filed against Patricia Cameron of Belmar, Curtis Laboo of Irvington and Melvin Laboo of Philadelphia.
Interesting case. It”ll cost them a lot more than $800 to get good lawyers, but with the right representation, this case could easily go away.
Story is here.
English teacher at Belvidere High School charged with sexual contact with student
These cases seem to get more common each day. This case involves Christopher Goffi, of Behlehem Township, Pa., who is (was) an English teacher and cross country coach at Belvidere High School. The alleged victim was a student between 16 and 18 years old and the alleged incident took place on December 14th.
That’s about all of the details that are out at the moment, but it does sound like he will be able to stay out of prison due to the student’s age.
Story is here.
Driver can expect serious charges after fatal crash
Brent Burke of Barnegat, New Jersey was headed north on Route 9 in the area of Bayshore Drive when he crossed the center line and veered into oncoming traffic. Burke’s Dodge Dakota collided head-on with a Chevy Trailblazer driven by Stephen Len, also of Barnegat. The impact sent Len’s vehicle into northbound lanes where it struck a car driven by Steve Catranis of Waretown. Catranis and his wife, Julie Catranis, were both airlifted to hospital where Steve Catranis died. Julie Catranis is listed in critical condition.
Barnegat police reported that Burke fled the scene following the crash. He was later found and cited for driving under the influence. He can expect vehicular homide charges to be filed on Monday and, based upon a number of factors including his BAC, he will likely be charged with aggravated manslaughter. If that happens, he’ll need a good attorney to secure a good plea.
These cases are very tough to try and the the State will get a flight charge if the case goes to trial. As a result, the jury will hate him even more than they already do. We’ll have to see who he gets as an attorney.
Tonacchio Law LC 