JC man killed after being hit by at least three shots
In the 14th homicide in Jersey City this year, a 21-year-old city man was killed last Sunday morning in the Greenville section.
Hudson County Prosecutor Edward DeFazio said Bryle Brooks of Dales Avenue was found dead around 1:30 a.m. in front of 30 Martin Luther King Drive. DeFazio said Brooks was shot at least three times in his head, arm, and neck.
DeFazio said no motive has been “definitively determined.” He said information received so far indicates that it “may or may not be gang-related.”
DeFazio said numerous witnesses have been interviewed in the ongoing investigation. Anyone with information on the shooting should call the Hudson County Prosecutor’s Office Homicide Unit at (201) 915-1345.
Although 14 homicides have occurred this year, murders in the city are down compared to this time last year.
Jersey City policewoman was a suicide, says prosecutor
Hudson County Prosecutor Edward DeFazio said a Jersey City police officer found dead in her Bayonne home last Sunday morning was determined by the state’s Regional Medical Examiner’s Office to have died by suicide.
DeFazio said Jane Louf, 32, a nine-year veteran of the Police Department, was found in her home by her boyfriend after he tried to contact her and she could not be reached.
DeFazio said that the investigation has concluded, and he called the death a “tragic situation.”
Louf, who worked in the Department’s East District, received an Excellent Police Service award in June for her work in the field.
Louf was involved in a tragic incident on Christmas Day in 2005. Police Officers Shawn Carson and Robert Nguyen were killed while riding in a police vehicle that plunged off the Lincoln Highway Bridge (now renamed after the two officers) into the Hackensack River because the drawbridge had been raised during the foggy night.
Louf was one of the officers on the bridge who tried to warn Carson and Nguyen that the bridge was raised, but to no avail.
Beldini can stay out of jail pending appeal of conviction
Former Jersey City Deputy Mayor Leona Beldini was scheduled to start a three-year sentence in a Texas federal prison this month. Instead, according to an Associated Press report, U.S. District Judge Jose Linares ruled last Friday that Beldini can remain free on $100,000 bail while she appeals her conviction on corruption charges.
Beldini was convicted in February of bribery for accepting $20,000 in illegal campaign contributions from government informant Solomon Dwek for Mayor Jerramiah Healy’s 2009 reelection campaign.
Beldini was one of 44 people arrested in July 2009 in a federal corruption and money laundering sting that brought down public officials and religious leaders across New Jersey.
Indian Independence Day parade in JC
The 64th Indian Independence Day will be commemorated with a parade in Jersey City on Saturday, Aug. 14.
The parade begins at 11 a.m. at 3359 Kennedy Blvd. (near Manhattan Avenue) and ends at Newark Avenue in the city’s Little India section. For more information, call (201) 659-0300.
Program to explore waters around Liberty State Park
The Liberty State Park Interpretative Center is holding the program, “Explore the Estuary,” on Saturday, Aug. 14 from 10 a.m. to noon. It is free but requires pre-registration.
The public will have the opportunity to explore the waters of the Hudson River that surround the park.
It is recommended that participants dress for the weather and wear old shoes.
The program starts at the Interpretative Center, and people will drive from there to the study site.
For more information and registration, call (201) 915-3409.