Secaucus Police Lt. Thomas 'TJ' Malanka Jr. Dies 2 Months After Retirement
A longtime North Jersey police lieutenant who retired just two months ago has died, the department announced.
Lt. Thomas “TJ” Malanka Jr., Secaucus PD badge No. 125, died around 1:50 a.m. on Monday, Aug. 24, the department said.
Malanka served with the Secaucus Police Department from 2002 until June 2026. His assignments included patrol supervisor, platoon commander, and extra duty coordinator. Malanka also spent more than a decade as a member of the Hudson County Rapid Deployment Force, police said.
Malanka is survived by his wife, children, mother, and father, retired Secaucus…
Man Shot, Killed In Trenton: Police
A 29-year-old man was shot and killed in Trenton Sunday, Aug. 23, authorities said.
At 11:35 p.m., officers responded to 629 Whittaker Ave. and found the man with a gunshot wound, Trenton police said. The man, who was not identified by police, was transported to Capital Health Regional Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead, police said.
The Mercer County Prosecutor's Office Homicide Task Force is investigating the incident, police said.
$9.8K In Cocaine, Pills, Guns Seized From Reading Home: DA
Nearly $10,000 worth of cocaine and other suspected drugs, along with two guns — one of them stolen — were seized during a raid of a Reading home, authorities announced on Friday, Aug. 21.
Diamonte Peair Sims, 24, of Reading, was taken into custody after Berks County Drug Task Force detectives served a search warrant at 617 Brookline Plaza around 9 a.m. Friday as part of an ongoing narcotics investigation, according to the Berks County District Attorney's Office.
Investigators had identified Sims as a suspect in the trafficking of controlled substances from the residence, the DA's office sa…
NJ Man Posed As Religious Solicitor To Meet ‘13-Year-Old’ In Bensalem: Prosecutors
A New Jersey man who drove to Pennsylvania dressed as a religious solicitor to meet someone he believed was a 13-year-old girl for sex has been sentenced, authorities announced on Wednesday, Aug. 19.
The case began when Oscar Castillo-Peralta, 54, of Pleasantville, NJ, started chatting on a social media app with someone he believed was a 13-year-old girl on Jan. 30, 2025, authorities said. Bensalem police previously identified the app as KIK.
The pair exchanged phone numbers and continued communicating by text, with the conversations becoming sexual over the following weeks, investigators s…
Willimantic Man Charged In 14-Year-Old Cold Case Killing In Chaplin: State
A Connecticut man has been charged in a fatal stabbing that remained unsolved for more than 14 years.
Matthew Vining, 43, of Willimantic, was arrested and charged in the death of Michael Mitchell, 42, also of Willimantic, authorities announced Wednesday, Aug. 19.
Mitchell was fatally stabbed inside a Chaplin home on or around Feb. 22, 2012.
Chief State’s Attorney Patrick J. Griffin said investigators used DNA analysis, surveillance video, cell site information, and eyewitness accounts to identify Vining as a suspect.
The arrest followed a joint investigation involving state and…
