The Trenton Times published the following articles on May 30-31, 2013. To read the full articles, click the titles.
Trenton man, 34, is gunned down on city street
By Alex Zdan/The Times
on May 30, 2013 at 8:30 AMTRENTON — Violence in the capital city that left eight people wounded in six shootings over Memorial Day weekend continued yesterday, as a 34-year-old city man was gunned down in the Wilbur section shortly after midnight.
Police found Hamidullah Hardy fatally wounded on the front porch of a home on the first block of Cleveland Avenue, Lt. Steve Varn said. Hardy died minutes later and was pronounced dead at the scene.
Though the exact location where Hardy was shot and the number of assailants remained unclear late yesterday, police do not think he was ambushed on the porch.
“We believe the shots being fired happened down the street,” Varn said.
Hardy did not live at the residence where he died, and the people living there were unhurt, Varn said. Their relationship to Hardy was unclear.
Neighbors, who indicated several women live inside the home, said that a fusillade of shots — ten or more — shattered the foggy night air around midnight.
Details among the neighbors were sketchy, as many did not want to know what was happening on their street.
Police are still investigating, including the case of a 23-year-old shot in the buttocks on Walnut Avenue around 8:15 p.m. Sunday. Walnut Avenue was also the scene where a man was shot multiple times near the intersection with Monmouth Street on Monday afternoon, and four juveniles and two adults arrested for allegedly shooting at a man in a car hours later. No injuries were reported in that incident.
Anyone with information on the crimes 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.
Man shot in arm in Trenton
By Alex Zdan/The Times
on May 30, 2013 at 6:43 PM, updated May 30, 2013 at 6:53 PMTRENTON — A 21-year-old city man was shot in the arm in the Wilbur section Wednesday night, police said.
The man was on the 600 block of Monmouth Street shortly after 10:15 p.m. when he was shot, Lt. Mark Kieffer said. Officers were sent out to the scene after a 911 call reporting a shooting, and found the 21-year-old lying in the street.
Police found one spent .380-caliber shell casing on the side of 612 Monmouth St., but said the victim was uncooperative and refused to say who shot him.
He was taken to Capital Health Regional Medical Center to be treated for a gunshot wound to his right forearm.
Anyone with information is asked to call police at (609) 989-4170, or the Confidential Tip Line at (609) 989-3663.
Trenton man arrested after gun falls out of his pants
By Alyssa Mease/The Times of Trenton
on May 30, 2013 at 10:00 PM, updated May 30, 2013 at 10:14 PMTRENTON – A city man was arrested and a gun was recovered after a brief foot chase tonight, police said.
Walter Livingston, 29, was on the 100 block of Perry Street at about 6:30 p.m.
when he saw two city police officers and started running, Lt. Anthony Pasqua said.While he was running from the officers, Livingston’s pants began to fall down and he reached for a gun that was falling out of them, Pasqua said.
“It’s like it started to fall out of his waistband and he grabbed hold of it,” Pasqua said.
Livingston threw the gun, but it was recovered by police.
Livingston, who had outstanding warrants, was arrested and charged with weapons offenses and disorderly persons offenses, Pasqua said.
Four arrested, $21,000 in cocaine seized from two Trenton homes, police say
By Alyssa Mease/The Times of Trenton
on May 31, 2013 at 7:22 PM, updated May 31, 2013 at 7:23 PMTRENTON — Four city residents were arrested and $21,000 in crack cocaine was seized in law enforcement raids on two homes this week, the Mercer County Prosecutor’s Office said today.
Dee Thomas, 28, was charged with multiple drug offenses after police found 28 grams of crack cocaine in the center console of his BMW, which was parked across the street from a home on the 200 block of Walnut Avenue, the prosecutor’s office said in a news release.
Thomas allegedly had over $1,800 on him at the time of the arrest on Wednesday.
The home’s front door was outfitted so it could be fortified with steel bars, the prosecutor’s office said. Inside, officers found two digital scales and drug packaging materials, the release said.
Three others who were in the home were charged with having a fortified facility and possession of drug paraphernalia, the release said. Betty Clark, 51, Willie Owens, 53, and Willie Sanders, 60, were given court dates and released.
As part of the investigation police searched a home on the 300 block of Cleveland Avenue and found a bag in a bedroom closet containing 188 grams of crack cocaine, .44-caliber bullets and $620 cash, the release said.
They also found plastic baggies, baking soda, a digital scale and a small amount of crack cocaine in a kitchen cabinet, the release said.
Thomas’s car was seized as drug proceeds and he was taken to the Mercer County Correctional Facility, where he is being held on $250,000 cash bail.