Severe erosion leaves Shore vulnerable to next storm—NJ Top News
Here's the stories you'll be talking about on the New Jersey 101.5 Morning Show.
🔗 Weekend Nor'Easter was devastating to Jersey Shore
New Jersey is cleaning up after a slow-moving nor’easter brought days of coastal flooding, pounding surf and severe beach erosion. Shore communities took the biggest hit, with Ocean County reporting dramatic sand loss and cliffs at beach entrances in Bay Head, Beach Haven and parts of Long Beach Island.
In Monmouth County, beaches in Long Branch and Sea Bright were stripped of sand, exposing old jetties and pilings.
Farther south, water levels in Atlantic City and Cape May rose more than three feet above normal high tide, with repeated flooding cycles battering coastal communities.
Now the focus shifts to cleanup, damage assessments and repairing beaches, dunes and other coastal infrastructure.
Congressman Frank Pallone has asked state and federal agencies to quickly document the destruction in anticipation of a possible federal disaster declaration, while FEMA and DEP teams are surveying damage in South Jersey.
The concern now is what happens next: the storm struck unusually early in the coastal storm season, and experts warn badly eroded beaches could be more vulnerable if another nor’easter arrives before enough sand naturally returns to shore.
🔗 That loud bang at your door might not be what you think
🚪 A Morris Plains homeowner heard a loud bang before video revealed a boy had kicked the front door.
📹 Police say the incident appears connected to a viral social media door-kicking prank.
⚠️ The police chief warns homeowners may mistake a prank for a violent home invasion.
MORRIS PLAINS — A loud bang at a local family's front door sounded like someone was trying to break into their home.
Instead, police say, a boy had kicked the door as part of what they believe is a viral social media prank.
At around 10:30 p.m. Friday, residents at a home on Mountain Way were startled by an "extremely loud banging" at their front door, according to police Chief Michael Koroski.
Video showed a boy kick the door and then run away with a group of juveniles, police said. Fortunately, the home was not damaged.
Morris Plains police believe it's the latest example of the viral social media "door kick challenge" that has led to multiple arrests nationwide over the past few years.
The prank is essentially a more chaotic version of the classic ding-dong ditch. Instead of simply ringing a doorbell and running away, participants forcefully kick a home's front door before fleeing.
In Phoenix, Arizona, police said they arrested a 14-year-old boy last week after his door kick caused an estimated $10,000 in damages. The homeowner said a loud bang at 6:30 a.m. woke her up, and she saw the doors wide open, ABC15 Arizona reported. They have since upgraded the doorway with new, stronger steel doors.
The Morris Plains police issued a chilling warning on Saturday and told parents to have a serious conversation with their children.
Koroski says door-kicking victims can't immediately tell the difference between the prank and what sounds like a violent home invasion. He warns it could lead to a catastrophe.
🔗 NJ house cleaner accused of six-figure theft from Westfield homes
⚠️ A Union County house cleaner is accused of stealing valuables from clients' homes.
💰 Police say the stolen cash, jewelry and other valuables total more than $100,000.
🔎 Detectives say they found photographic proof of Kucharczyk selling stolen jewelry.
WESTFIELD — A Union County house cleaner is accused of stealing cash, jewelry and other valuables from a number of clients’ homes in Westfield, worth a six-figure total.
The case sounds like an episode from the Apple Plus series "Your Friends and Neighbors," without a Jon Hamm stand-in as an real-life accomplice.
Beata B. Kucharczyk, of Linden was arrested on Wednesday afternoon by detectives staking out her home, Westfield Police Chief Christopher Battiloro said.
The 50-year-old Kucharczyk has been charged with second-degree theft.
Starting late last month, separate thefts were reported to Westfield Police between Aug. 29 and Sept. 11, by unrelated victims.
Some of the cash, jewelry, personal documents and other missing valuables had been stolen months earlier, before being discovered, police said.
Investigators with the Westfield Police Department’s Detective Bureau quickly identified Kucharczyk as the common thread — she was hired and granted repeat, unrestricted access to all of the targeted Westfield homes while cleaning the homes.
🔗 After terrifying Ocean County firebombing, NYC men face charges
⚠️ Two New York City men face charges in a March SUV firebombing in South Toms River.
➡️ Police say a Molotov cocktail was thrown through the front windshield of a parked SUV.
🔴 One suspect was arrested in Tennessee, while the other remains at Rikers Island on an unrelated matter.
Two New York City men are accused of firebombing a woman’s parked SUV in Ocean County, earlier this year.
In March after the scary incident in South Toms River, 42-year-old Tashaun Normand, of Bronx, was taken into custody a week later and more than 700 miles away in Tennessee.
On Wednesday, Normand and 28-year-old Tahkem Boynton, of Fresh Meadows in Queens were indicted by an Ocean County Grand Jury on two counts each of aggravated arson and unlawful possession of a prohibited weapon, plus conspiracy to commit aggravated arson.
South Toms River Police responded to a vehicle fire at a local home on March 23 at 3:15 p.m.
Officers were joined by the Manitou Park Fire Company and found flames inside a parked 2010 GMC Terrain, in addition to a separate fire on a nearby grassy area.
Both fires were extinguished. Police recovered a broken bottle and a second glass bottle that had been modified into a Molotov cocktail with an unknown liquid and a torn rag inside.
Investigators found that the fire had started along the front windshield of the GMC, after the bottle was thrown by Normand.
Normand was apprehended by Tennessee Highway Patrol on March 30, somewhere within Monroe County, Tennessee.
He was extradited to New Jersey in July and has remained in Ocean County Jail since then.
🔗 Edison Elks lodge destroyed by fire during nor'easter
🔥Fire destroyed the Edison Elks Lodge early Saturday morning during a nor'easter
🔥Nearby Elks lodges are offering support and space for Edison members to meet
🔥Members are already working on a recovery after losing their longtime home
EDISON —An Elks club whose lodge was destroyed by fire before daybreak on Saturday is already making plans for a comeback.
A fire was reported at the Edison Elks Lodge 2487 on Old Post Road around 5:45 a.m., with firefighters responding within four minutes, according to Edison Police Chief Thomas Bryan. Video shows flames shooting through the roof and engulfing the building, which appears to be a complete loss.
The cause of the fire remains under investigation.
Winds gusted to 35 mph at the time as the nor'easter impacted the entire state, according to Chief Meteorologist Dan Zarrow.
"Our lodge is more than a building. It is a place where friendships were made, families gathered, memories were created, and countless charitable and community efforts took place. Seeing it destroyed is heartbreaking for all of us," the lodge wrote on its Facebook page.
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Gallery Credit: Erin Vogt
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