NEW BRUNSWICK, NJ—Shortly before 7:30pm tonight, residents reported an armed home invasion in the city’s Fifth Ward.
According to police radio transmissions, victims told police that three men, including one brandishing a handgun, entered their home at 24 Louis Street.
Police arrested three individuals a short time later in the vicinity and transported them in separate cars to headquarters for interrogation.
Shortly thereafter, a tow truck was seen preparing to remove a vehicle near the intersection of Somerset and Louis Streets.
There, an officer driving a police cruiser marked “Neighborhod Police Team” barked at the author of this article, who was taking pictures with a cellular phone.
Without giving a greeting or introducing himself, the officer insisted the area had to be cleared.
“This is a crime scene,” yelled one of two officers visible at the scene. Â “Get out of here or you are getting locked up!”
Police Director Anthony Caputo has not yet responded to a request for information about the crime and the arrests.
UPDATE (1/6): New Brunswick Police Capt. JT Miller invited us to file an internal affairs complaint against the officer who yelled and released the following statement about the crime and the arrests.
On Saturday, January 4, 2014 city police officers arrested three (3) individuals as they fled from a home invasion/robbery on Louis Street. At approximately 7:45 pm officers stopped a vehicle less than one block from the scene and identified the three suspects involved in the robbery. Items related to the robbery were recovered including two handguns. Two female victims (ages 50 and 22) were home during the robbery; they were not injured. Arrested and charged are:
- Juan K. Dunlap (31 years of age from Somerset, NJ) charged with: Robbery, Conspiracy to Commit Robbery, Possession of a Weapon for an Unlawful Purpose, and Certain Persons Not to Possess a Weapon.
- Rick L. Barley (54 years of age from Somerset, NJ) charged with: Robbery, Conspiracy to Commit Robbery, Possession of a Weapon for an Unlawful Purpose, and Receiving Stolen Property.
- Donte R. Crumidy (36 years of age from New Brunswick, NJ) charged with: Robbery and Conspiracy to Commit Robbery.
Charlie is the founder and editor of New Brunswick Today, and the winner of the Awbrey Award for Community-Oriented Local Journalism. He is a proud Rutgers University journalism graduate, a community organizer, and a former independent candidate for mayor of New Brunswick.
