New Jersey
Mick Jagger stops in at NJ diner: This week in Central Jersey history, July 29-Aug. 4
Mick Jagger, hours before he went onstage at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford on Thursday, Aug. 1, 2019, grabbed a classic NJ breakfast at the Tick Tock Diner in Clifton.
Jagger ordered Taylor ham, egg and cheese. “So we went to the Tick Tock Diner!” Jagger told the audience. “We had Taylor ham, egg and cheese! With Disco fries! And sloppy joe to go!”
Here’s a look at events that happened in Central Jersey from five, 10, 25, 50 and 100 years ago this week.
Five years ago
July 29, 2019: A state appellate court upheld the conviction of James Quackenbush, 51, of Plainfield, serving a 40-year sentence in NJ State Prison, for murdering his mother, Gail Vandewalle, 69, in February 2013 by hitting her on the head with a 12-pound dumbbell.
July 30: The Marisa Tufaro Foundation, on what would have been its namesake’s 16th birthday, commemorated its second anniversary, announcing the nonprofit had donated more than $100,000 to help pediatric patients and other children in need throughout the greater Middlesex County area.
July 30: Te’Rai Powell, a rising senior at St. Joseph Regional in Montvale, announced on Twitter that he would play football for Rutgers University. Powell helped the Green Knights capture the NJSIAA Non-Public Group 4 championship the previous season, averaging 6.4 yards per carry.
July 31: Walter Yovany-Gomez, aka “Cholo,” 35, an MS-13 member previously named one of the FBI’s 10 Most Wanted Fugitives, was sentenced in Newark to 25 years in prison for killing Julio Matute of Plainfield in 2011.
Aug. 1: It became legal for NJ doctors to prescribe lethal medication to patients with less than six months to live. NJ was one of eight states that allowed medically assisted suicide or medical aid in dying.
Aug. 2-4: The Jersey Fringe Festival, featuring live music and a beer and wine garden, was held at 12 venues across downtown Hammonton, with the Eagle Theatre serving as the central location.
10 years ago
July 30, 2014: The Somerset Patriots beat the Lancaster Barnstormers, 7-0, on “Bark In The Park Night” at TD Bank Ballpark in Bridgewater. Somerset won the nightcap 2-0. The Patriots established a new franchise record for wins in a half with 47, albeit three weeks after the half had actually ended.
July 30-31: Approximately 350 bicyclists, including some local residents, participated in a two-day Bike4Chai fundraiser, beginning in Piscataway and ending at Camp Simcha in Glen Spey, New York, raising more than $4 million for the overnight summer camp for children and teens with cancer and other serious illnesses.
July 31: It was reported Albert Thomson, 48, of Berkeley Heights, was indicted on charges he stole millions of dollars from his employers, Elizabeth-based New England Motor Freight, and two related companies, Eastern Freightways Inc. and Carrier Industries Inc., over eight years.
Aug. 1: Jeff Xie, 17, of Edison, a senior at J.P. Stevens High School, took home $75,000 on the “Jeopardy! Teen Tournament,” beating Alan Koolik of Boca Raton, Florida.
Aug. 3: The Under the Influence of Music tour, with Wiz Khalifa, Jeezy, Ty Dolla $ign, Rich Homie Quan, Mack Wilds, Iamsu! and DJ Drama, was held at the PNC Bank Arts Center in Holmdel.
Aug. 4: In Somerville, State Superior Court Judge Robert Reed ruled David Granskie Jr.’s statement to police two days after the murder of Bridgewater resident Carolyn Stone, 45, could be admitted into his trial, which was expected to begin Wednesday, Sept. 3, 2014. Stone was killed on Memorial Day weekend of 2009 at Granskie’s father’s home in the Bradley Gardens section of Bridgewater,
1999
July 30, 1999: Deborah Caggiano, 34, of South Plainfield, who embezzled more than $2.5 million from Beumer Corp., a Bridgewater manufacturing company, was sentenced to seven years in prison.
July 31: Three teenage girls pleaded guilty to fourth-degree assault for lacing the coffee cup of their teacher at Middlesex County Vocational-Technical High School in East Brunswick with rubbing alcohol, it was reported. The girls were from Spotswood, Perth Amboy and New Brunswick.
Aug. 1: It was reported the Hispanic Riverfront Festival of New Brunswick, featuring music, dance and food, would be held Thursday, Aug. 5, 1999, through Sunday, Aug. 8, 1999, at Boyd Park in New Brunswick.
Aug. 4: The Somerset Patriots regained sole possession of first place with a 4-2 win over the Bridgeport Bluefish in front of 5,384 at Somerset Ballpark in Bridgewater, erasing the sting of a 9-1 loss in the series opener on Tuesday, Aug. 3, 1999.
1974
July 29, 1974: Scott Siegrist and Rich Szumel combined for a no-hitter as Piscataway American West edged Spring Lake-Sea Girt 1-0 and advanced to the Section 3 finals of the state Little League Baseball Tournament.
July 31: N.J. Secretary of State J. Edward Crabiel, 58, was indicted along with The Franklin Contracting Co., which he once headed; George Katz of Fort Lee, a Democratic fund raiser; the Passaic Crushed Stone Co., and the Gallo Asphalt Co., on charges of bid-rigging.
Aug. 2: A fire routed the 130 tenants of the Royal Court Apartments in Perth Amboy from their beds and heavily damaged the first four floors of the five-story building. Ten apartments were destroyed and one elderly tenant was hospitalized.
Aug. 4: Patrolman Jeffrey Royte, who discovered John Burns Jr., 14, of Mount Laurel in Burlington County, sleeping peacefully in a wooded area in Clinton, unknowingly found the youth who was missing from South Jersey since the previous Monday, and was the subject of an intensive search by police and volunteers.
Aug. 4: “Show Boat,” the Jerome Kern musical classic, would be presented by Plays-in-the-Park beginning Tuesday, Aug. 6, 1974, at Roosevelt Park in Edison, it was reported.
1924
July 30, 1924: Three inmates of the NJ Reformatory at Rahway were shot when a riot broke out among the 500 inmates. Before the outbreak was stopped, the institution suffered considerable damage.
July 30: While swimming in Lake Nelson in South Plainfield, Emile Ulmric, 21, a member of the faculty of St. Joseph’s Normal College, near Metuchen, was seized with cramps and drowned before assistance could be given.
July 30-31: The movie “Her Temporary Husband,” starring Sidney Chaplin, Sylvia Breamer and Owen Moore, was shown at Reade’s Strand Theatre in Perth Amboy.
Aug. 1: An attempt was made to “blow” the safe in the Forty-fifth street, Bayonne station of the NJ Central, but the burglars were frightened away by the police who were informed as to what was going on by a woman living near the station.
Aug. 4: In baseball, the St. Peter’s Lyceum beat the Pirates of Sayreville, 2-0.
Brad Wadlow is a staff writer for MyCentralJersey.com
New Jersey
Winless Streak Stetches to 5 | GAME STORY | New Jersey Devils
BOSTON, MA – Timo Meier broke the New Jersey Devils’ shutout streak, but a single goal wasn’t going to cut it against the Boston Bruins on Saturday night.
The Bruins defeated the Devils 4-1, extending the Devils’ winless streak to five games.
“Obviously, we couldn’t put enough away, the chances were there, so it’s important for us to understand the longevity of the season and not get too low and really build off a performance like that because I think that was our best game in the last bit, for sure,” Connor Brown said.
“It’s a crappy feeling and there’s no one that wants to get out of this more than us,” Brenden Dillon said. “It just seems like the mistakes, when we make them, just feel like boom, they end up in our net and we’re not able to get a bounce the other way. We want to win so bad, and if we play like that most nights, we’re going to get the bounces going our way.
Meier tied the game at 1-1 late in the first period, before the Bruins came back and scored the game-winner just 1:12 into the second.
The second-period goal was a turnover that landed on the stick of Elias Lindholm, who fed Morgan Geekie, wide open to Jake Allen’s right. That snapshot was the difference maker, as New Jersey’s winless streak stretches to five games after a 4-1 loss in Boston.
The Bruins first two goals came off of the Devils own defensive errors, New Jersey beating themselves in those moments.
“They’re bang-bang plays that every team in this league can score and puck management,” Dillon added. “I think, on those two is just one breakdown and we’re giving up that Grade-A. We eliminate those and it’s a different game.”
“Their two goals came off breakdowns by us,” Brown said. “They really didn’t have any time and space and didn’t sustain much. We were right on top of them, we weren’t back out, playing conservative, we were attacking the game. I think that’s a recipe for success in a long season.”
The Bruins extended their lead to 3-1 late in the third with a goal by Casey Mittekstadt, before Andre Peeke scored into the empty net.
New Jersey
NJ lottery player wins $2.8 million Jersey Cash 5 jackpot. Here’s where
A New Jersey lottery player won a $2.8 million Jersey Cash 5 jackpot on Friday, Dec. 5. It’s the 60th time the lottery game has been won in 2025.
The New Jersey Lottery announced that a Monmouth County ticket matched all five numbers to win the $2,849,336 jackpot.
The winning ticket was sold at One Stop Food Store on Main Street, in the Belford section of Middletown. The retailer will receive a $2,000 bonus for selling the winning ticket.
It is the largest individual Jersey Cash 5 win in 2025. A record $3.8 million jackpot was won on Oct. 7 when two lottery players split the prize.
The Jersey Cash 5 winning numbers for Dec. 5 were: 05, 10, 17, 33, 38 and 43. The XTRA was 02 and Bullseye was 33.
The New Jersey Lottery estimates the next Jersey Cash 5 jackpot at $150,000 for the Dec. 6 drawing.
Jersey Cash 5 is a daily lottery draw game from the New Jersey Lottery. Players pick five numbers between 1 and 45 and can add the Xtra for a chance to increase non-jackpot prizes by up to five times. The Bullseye gives players another chance to win. Drawings are held seven days a week at 10:57 p.m.
$1 million won in Cash 4 Life
It was a lucky day for Monmouth County as another player in the county won $1 million in the Cash 4 Life game on Friday.
The lottery player matched five numbers, but missed just the Cash Ball. It was good enough for the million-dollar prize. The Cash 4 Life ticket was sold at the Country Farm on Route 524 in Howell Township.
The winning numbers for Dec. 5 were: 34, 44, 50, 51 and 58 with Cash Ball 01.
It is the sixth Cash 4 Life prize of at least $1 million won in New Jersey. In the May 14 drawing, Union County had a top prize $7 million winner by a lottery player who purchased the ticket at the Quick Stop Deli & Grill on Stuyvesant Avenue in Union.
Cash4Life, which is only available in Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Tennessee and Virginia, is a daily lottery game. It costs $2 to play with option of adding a doubler (for third-tier prizes or lower) for $1 more.
In the game, a player selects five numbers from one to 60, and also a Cash Ball from one to four. The top prize is $1,000 a day for life or $7 million cash value and the second prize is $1,000 a week for life or $1 million cash value.
New Jersey
Former NJ fire chief arrested after allegedly forcing firefighters into sexual situations
A man who used to be the former chief of a volunteer fire company in Ocean County, New Jersey, was arrested and is facing charges after allegedly forcing firefighters into non-consensual sexual situations, according to the New Jersey Attorney General’s Office.
Officials said that between 2022 and 2023, Robert Sinnott, Jr. is accused of getting some of the firefighters he worked with alone at his home in Toms River, at the firehouse or at other locations.
Sinnott worked in various roles at the Silverton Volunteer Fire Company in Toms River, including as chief when these incidents happened, officials said.
While alone, Sinnott would reportedly handcuff or restrain the victim while pretending it was for training purposes, officials said.
Sinnott would then force the victims into sexual contact with him, prosecutors alleged. In some cases, he would take photos of the victim while they were restrained.
Sinnott has been living in Florida and on Dec. 4, Cape Coral SWAT agents arrested him before investigators searched him, his home and vehicle, officials explained.
Sinnott is being held at the Lee County Jail in Florida until he is extradited to New Jersey where he faces charges of criminal sexual contact and official misconduct.
If you have any information on this case, please contact Detective Brandon Mastropasqua at 609-960-3768 or Detective Malikah Daniels at 856-414-8855.
You can also leave a tip by calling 1-844-OPIA-TIP.
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