Scam targets all Jersey drivers — NJ Top News

These are the top New Jersey news stories for Monday, April 16.

⬛ Be vigilant, NJ — 'hyperactive' hurricane season expected in 2024

It's still early, but New Jersey's vulnerable coast and flood-prone communities never want to hear this: the Atlantic hurricane season is likely to be an explosive one in 2024.

An initial outlook released in April by Colorado State University calls for a "hyperactive" season, with activity well above the 1991-2020 average.

Specifically, the forecast estimates 23 named storms. The average is around 14.

⬛ New Turnpike scam targets all of New Jersey — Don't fall for it

Scammers are trying a new ploy involving the Turnpike to separate New Jersey residents from their money.

The first reports of this most recent text message scam began popping up on Thursday, April 11, according to the New Jersey Turnpike Authority.

Similar scams have been reported in Pennsylvania. New York drivers have also recently been targeted by text scams involving E-ZPass.

⬛ Enraged NJ man who ran over woman 3 times gets max prison time

ELIZABETH — A Union County man has been sentenced to more than two decades in state prison for trying to kill a woman with his car after a minor fender bender.

A Superior Court judge in Union County sentenced Vincent Jean, 57, of Elizabeth to 25 years in state prison on Friday, according to Union County Prosecutor William Daniel.

Jean was convicted in January of first-degree attempted murder and other offenses for the April 12, 2022 road rage incident caught on camera.

⬛ Garbage truck slams into Parkway toll booth to avoid pickup

BARNEGAT — Two people suffered serious injuries Friday morning when a garbage truck slammed into a Garden State Parkway toll booth.

Chevrolet pickup was stopped on the southbound Barnegat tolls around 6:15 a.m. when the garbage truck hit the structure, sending debris onto both vehicles.

Garbage truck driver Kenneth Jamison, 44, of Toms River, and toll booth attendant Megan Russo, 43, from Little Egg Harbor, were hospitalized.

⬛ Experts detail injuries to dead 25-foot whale on NJ beach

LONG BEACH TOWNSHIP — A post-mortem examination of a whale that washed ashore on Long Beach Island found that the animal had sustained numerous blunt force injuries including a fractured skull and vertebrae.

The Marine Mammal Stranding Center on Friday released observations from a necropsy done Thursday evening on the nearly 25-foot juvenile male humpback whale that was found dead in Long Beach Township.

Sheila Dean, director of the center, said the whale was found to have bruising around the head; multiple fractures of the skull and cervical vertebrae; numerous dislocated ribs, and a dislocated shoulder bone.

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