The following recent criminal incidents and arrests were reported by Red Bank police. An arrest does not constitute a conviction.
Continue reading Police Report: Theft, Criminal Mischief, Marijuana
Prosecutor: Area Man Pleads Guilty to 2014 Murder of Pregnant Girlfriend
An area man pleaded guilty Friday to first-degree aggravated manslaughter in the 2014 strangulation death of his pregnant girlfriend and faces up to 28 years in prison, Monmouth County Prosecutor Christopher J. Gramiccioni announced in a released statement.
Sender Neftali Villatoro-Reyes, 27, of Freehold Borough entered his guilty plea before Monmouth County Superior Court Judge Richard W. English.
The case background …
On Friday, May 16, 2014, at 2:15 a.m., Villatoro-Reyes called 911 and reported that he killed his 30-year-old girlfriend, Lucenay Fermin Gallegos, at their 51 Hudson Street Apt. #3 home in Freehold Borough.
Police responded to the scene where they found Fermin Gallegos dead on the couch in their apartment. She was pronounced at 3:27 a.m. by Dr. Spiegel at Newark Beth Israel Medical Center. An autopsy was conducted the same day by Middlesex County Medical Examiner Diane Karluk.
The cause of death was deemed asphyxia due to manual strangulation. The victim was approximately five months pregnant at the time of her death.
The Freehold Borough Police Department and Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office Major Crimes Unit conducted a joint investigation.
Villatoro-Reyes was arrested and charged with murder the same day. The defendant was originally indicted by a grand jury on March 23, 2015, for one count of murder.
At his plea before Judge English, Villatoro-Reyes admitted that he during an argument with the victim, the defendant placed his hands around her throat, strangling her to death.
Pursuant to the plea agreement, the state is recommending a sentence of 28 years in a state prison. Subject to the No Early Release Act, Villatoro-Reyes must serve 85 percent of his sentence before he is eligible for parole; in addition, he will be under parole supervision for five years once released.
Villatoro-Reyes is scheduled for sentencing on April 21, 2017 before Judge English.
Villatoro-Reyes is being held in the Monmouth County Correctional Institution on $1 million bail with no 10 percent option.
Monmouth County Assistant Prosecutors Jennifer Lipp and Julia Alonso handled the case.
Villatoro-Reyes is represented by Allison Friedman, Esq., of Freehold.
— Edited press release from the Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office
A Retro RFH Ladies’ Club
The Rumson-Fair Haven Regional High School (RFH) Ladies of the Round Table are featured as the Retro Pic of the Day.
It’s pretty likely that RFHers from this decade have never heard of such a thing. It, actually may have been indigenous to the Class of ’78.
The mission of this unique “group of good will and cheer,” as stated in the yearbook, was to “meet weekly to imbibe and to pursue leisurely interests …”
Hmmmm. They were very cool, as this editor recalls. Somehow, however, it’s highly doubtful that RFH would ever see a club like this one again.
The graphic, very well done, shows a round table in front of a fireplace with a softball, a bat, a pitcher (of something), and a pack of cigarettes.
Remember? Know any of these ladies?
Focus: Bringing Donovan’s Reef Back
It’s been more than five years since Superstorm Sandy tossed and flattened the iconic Donovan’s Reef in Sea Bright.
In the aftermath of the storm in which the Atlantic Ocean met the Shrewsbury River over the small peninsula town, all that was left of Donovan’s was a tossed building, a shell of the main bar, restaurant equipment, torn up pavement and wood — lots of wood — in scattered piles. What remained of its sign were the letters D O … found on the ground by Mayor Dina Long.
The letters became symbolic of the can-do attitude Sea Bright residents and business owners embodied in the tough months, even years, of rebuilding ahead.
There was a year without Donovan’s. Then there were a few years of an open Tiki bar on the beach.
Now Donovan’s is coming back — bigger, higher and stronger — for its first summer as a rebuilt area legend.
Take a look at the progress so far …
— Elaine Van Develde
Focus: Black & White Rumson Riverfront Nightfall
Then came the thaw …
After a warmer winter’s day, as nightfall hit along the Navesink riverbanks in Rumson, the sand slurped up the snow, the icy river waters dissolved, and the ducks glided across their glassy path.
Reflections in shades of grey gripped the low tide. Serenity seeped into the shoreline.
See for yourself …
— Elaine Van Develde
RIP to Rumson’s Dr. Eric Scheffer, 53
Friends, family and colleagues recently mourned the sudden death of Dr. Eric Scheffer, who recently moved to Rumson and died suddenly on Jan. 4 at 53.
Focus: Sea Bright Fire & Ice Sunrise
Photo/Patrick Hughes
This morning’s sunrise over Sea Bright was a scene of fiery skies and icy waters.
Former longtime Rumsonite Patrick Hughes captured the scene, recording a 15-degree temperature and citing some “intrepid ducks” on the frigid Shrewsbury River.
Though, according to the National Weather Service, the cold snap is about to break today with temperatures reaching a high of 41 degrees.
Thanks for the view, Patrick!
Focus: RFH Alum Reunited
The snow came on Saturday and some diehard traditionalists and Rumson-Fair Haven Regional High School (RFH) alumni and friends went … to the annual New Year gathering at the Grady home.
Despite the weather, a few trudged not quite uphill, but at least from their cars down the street, in the snow, to what has become the annual gala at which all good RFHers congregate.
And though there were quite a bit fewer RFH alum partygoers this year, no enthusiasm was buried. Get the drift?
Thanks to Mike and Kathleen Grady for hosting this annual mini RFH reunion for each new year!
Take a look …
Recognize of these 1970s and early 80s RFHers?
— Elaine Van Develde
Fair Haven Police: $10K Theft; Underage Drinking, DWI, Marijuana
The following recent arrests were reported by Fair Haven police. An arrest does not constitute a conviction.
Continue reading Fair Haven Police: $10K Theft; Underage Drinking, DWI, Marijuana
A Congrats and Look Back at Rumson Fire Companies’ Reorg
As with all other fire companies, New Year’s Day was reorganization day for the Rumson Fire Department and its two fire companies.
Rumson-Fair Haven Retrospect could not make the event this year, so, via the fire companies’ Facebook pages, we offer a congratulations and a look back at the reorganization with a list of the 2017 line officers in both Oceanic Hook and Ladder and Rumson fire companies.
Oceanic Hook and Ladder Company No. 1 …
Photo/Oceanic Facebook page
Rumson Fire Department Chief Mike Trivett; Jim Anderson, lieutenant; Kevin McCarthy, captain; Bob Marass, engineer.
Rumson Fire Company …
Photo/Rumson Fire Company Facebook page
Rumson Fire Department Assistant Chief Nick Luiten; Robert Boyer, captain; John Kirkpatrick, first lieutenant; Darren Berry, second lieutenant; Robert Eyerkuss III, second lieutenant.
Congratulations to the 2017 line officers and thank you for your service!
Rumson Police: Bomb Threat at Deane Porter Being Investigated
Rumson police issued the following press release concerning the originally reported lockdown at RFH earlier this afternoon:
Shortly after 11:30 a.m., the Deane Porter School (Rumson) received a call reporting a bomb in the confines of the school.
The facility, and neighboring Forrestdale School were evacuated by administration. Multiple police agencies responded with K-9s that swept both schools without incident. All students and personnel are safe.
The matter is currently under investigation.
Alert: RFH in ‘Shelter in Place’ Mode
Monmouth County Police & EMS have just issued an alert that Rumson-Fair Haven Regional High School (RFH) is in a lockdown.
Authorities, on the entity’s Facebook page, only said that RFH is in a “shelter in place” mode for “precautionary reasons,” not citing what those reasons are.
The alert means that no community members are allowed into the building at this point, according to the Facebook post.
No further information is available at this time.
R-FH Retro will update this post when more information becomes available.
Rumson police were not available for comment.
Notice from Rumson-Fair Haven Regional High School: Please be advised RFH is in a “shelter in place” for precautionary reasons. We will not allow community members into the school building.
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