Prosecutor: Jersey City man shot in robbery that went ‘tragically wrong’
Hudson County Prosecutor Edward DeFazio said on Tuesday that a Jersey City man was killed in his apartment earlier that morning in what is believed to be a robbery that went “tragically wrong.”
DeFazio said Ardell Blake, 30, was found dead in his Forrest Street apartment around 2:20 a.m. DeFazio said Blake was killed by a shot to the back of the head, according to an autopsy.
DeFazio said Blake, who was an aspiring rapper with the stage name of ‘Dutch Mastah,’ was allegedly shot at 12 times with one gun by the doorway of his apartment. DeFazio also said two persons may have been involved in the incident, both believed to have fled the scene by car.
DeFazio said an automatic handgun, believed to be owned by Blake, was found near his body, as was a package of marijuana.
DeFazio said the investigation continues, and anyone with information can call the Hudson County Prosecutor’s Homicide Squad at (201) 915-1345.
Residents crowd senator’s office seeking jobs
State Sen. Sandra Cunningham (D-Hudson) got a bit of surprise Thursday morning at her office on Kennedy Boulevard in Jersey City.
Cunningham was met by at least 20 residents, all of whom were responding to a flyer put out by longtime activist and construction worker Robert Allen. The flyer said they would find work by coming to the senator’s office.
The senator listened to the all-male contingent, many of whom have been out of work for at least a year and trying to find work on construction projects going on the Jersey City-Bayonne area. The common thread among their stories was they would go to construction sites to look for work and see people they believed were from out-of-town doing the work.
Cunningham said she would find out about hiring at various locations, including the Jersey City Housing Authority, the Charlotte Circle road project on Highway 1 and 9, and the Bayonne Crossings mall project on Route 440.
She also planned to set up a future meeting between the residents who came to her office and Jersey City officials who deal with job training and hiring on construction sites in the city.
But the meeting was just the beginning of a crazy morning for Cunningham.
After that meeting, several workers from the Jersey City Incinerator Authority’s street maintenance litter patrol program showed her a letter stating that the program will end next Friday, Sept. 17, due to cuts in state Urban Enterprise Zone funding.
For the JCIA workers, Cunningham said she will put in a call to the JCIA Executive Director Oren Dabney and work with him to keep the program going.
Liberty Humane Society files lawsuit against critics over Facebook page
The Liberty Humane Society, which runs Jersey City’s animal shelter, filed a lawsuit Tuesday against the principal moderators of the Facebook page “Liberty Humane Society Uncensored.”
The 30-page lawsuit, filed in State Superior Court in Jersey City, accuses the moderators of using Facebook to “defame” Liberty Humane by spreading “misinformation and lies” about them, and accusing Liberty Humane of “illegal acts and unethical conduct.”
The moderators named in the lawsuit are: Donna Lerner, referred to as the creator and moderator of the Facebook page; Lisa Coons; Joseph Paladino; Lori McRee Hoffman, and people using the aliases to post on the page, “John Wolf,” “Biff Schwartz” and “Alex Lazur”, as well as other Jane and John Does involved with the page.
Liberty Humane was already striking back at the Facebook page, which posted comments by critics of the euthanasia policy they were undertaking. Board member John Hanussak filed a police report last week after death threats against shelter workers were posted on the page.
The Liberty Humane Society issued a statement Tuesday about the lawsuit:
“Over the past few weeks, the defendants in this lawsuit have subjected the board members, their families, our staff, and other volunteers to a constant barrage of threats, slanderous insults, and blatantly false information designed to intimidate us into relinquishing control of the Liberty Humane Society. We support and defend everyone’s right to freedom of speech, but issuing death threats and smearing our reputations with vulgar lies and distortions is not speech – it is harassment. We filed this suit to protect ourselves and restore the good name and reputation of the Liberty Humane Society.”
Donna Lerner, a Randolph resident, declined to comment when reached on her cell phone for comment on the lawsuit.
Three-alarm fire in JC Heights buildings leaves 10 homeless
Residents of two buildings in Jersey City Heights are homeless after a fire Monday caused severe damage to their residences.
According to Provisional Fire Chief Darren Rivers, the three-alarm fire at 83 and 83A Bleecker St. started around 1:20 p.m. and was brought under control at 2:50 p.m. Rivers said five firemen – Fire Capts. John Ruddy, Martin Corcoran, and Mark Ciaston, and Firefighters Ronald Tredo and Jeremiah S. Healy – were taken to Jersey City Medical Center to be treated for heat exhaustion and smoke inhalation.
Rivers commended all the firefighters on the scene, saying they did “an exceptional job.”
Rivers said the buildings suffered fire and water damage that makes them unlivable. He said the fire is still under investigation.