Ex-cop's sex-act trial set
Former Police Officer Joseph Harvey, who was fired last year for allegedly exposing himself and performing a sex act in front of a woman, will be tried in October, a judge has ruled.
Harvey, 37, is charged with indecent exposure, false imprisonment and official oppression stemming from the alleged Oct. 9, 2009, incident in an abandoned Kensington house. His trial is to start Oct. 3, Municipal Judge James M. DeLeon ruled.
Harvey, who was on the force for seven years, was with other officers who raided the house looking for drugs. A woman testified that he ordered her to take off her clothes and masturbated in front of her.
He threw money at her before leaving the room, said the woman, an admitted drug addict.
No SLAM at Morton today
In order to complete repairs to the air-conditioning system, the Thomas G. Morton School Summer Learning and More (SLAM) site will be closed today for all teachers, staff and students. School will resume there tomorrow, as scheduled.
K9 penalty honors Schultz
Anyone who intentionally kills a police dog or a dog involved in a search-and-rescue operation will now face stiffer penalties. Gov. Chris Christie recently signed legislation that mandates minimum five-year prison terms - with no chance of parole - for such offenders, who also will face fines of up to $15,000. Previously, the maximum sentence they faced was three to five years in prison.
The legislation honors Schultz, a 3-year-old German shepherd who served with the Gloucester Township police and was well-known in that community because of appearances at many public events.
On the day he died, Schultz had helped track down a robbery suspect and sunk his teeth into the man's forearm. But the suspect then swung his arm, and the dog was thrown into the path of an oncoming car, which struck and killed him.
Scientist killed in charity ride
A noted scientist taking part in a charity bicycle ride to raise funds for troubled children was killed when he crashed his bike into a car that was stopped at an intersection in Clinton Township, Hunterdon County.
Doug McCune, 55, of Princeton Township, was pronounced dead at the scene of Saturday's crash. Authorities said he was wearing a helmet, but further details were not disclosed.
McCune was an award-winning scientist who developed sophisticated software used around the world to understand the physics of fusion experiments. He was the co-head of the Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory's computational plasma physics group.
McCune was taking part in the 33rd annual Ride for Runaways that benefits Anchor House, of Trenton, a shelter for abused and neglected children. Saturday was the final day of the 500-mile, seven-day ride between Jamestown, N.Y., and Lawrence, N.J.
Body pulled from Schuylkill
Fire rescue crews yesterday recovered a body from the Schuylkill after a search of the river in the areas of Cumru and Exeter townships, in Berks County.
Authorities said that they were called about a person who went into the river near Forest Hills Cemetery and did not surface.
- Staff and wire reports
