Crime & Safety

Police Blotter: Brain Found in Grass by Landscaper

Here's a roundup of notable police activity in Lawrence Township from Nov. 29 through Dec. 6.

Investigation

Anyone lose his or her mind recently?

No, seriously – have you misplaced your brain?

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If so, you can relax. It has been found. However, authorities would like an explanation as to how the lump of gray matter came to be sitting in the grass outside a Lawrence Township convenience store last week.

The unusual – if not gruesome – discovery of a brain, resting all by itself amid the grass, was made last Tuesday afternoon, Dec. 4, by a landscaper working outside the Quick Chek off Brunswick Circle Extension, according to Detective Sgt. Joseph Amodio, a township police spokesman.

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A Trenton police detective, who happened to be at the convenience store at the time, was flagged down by the landscaper. The city officer, upon taking a look at the brain, quickly notified the homicide unit of the Mercer County Prosecutor’s Office which, in turn, alerted Lawrence Township police at 4:08 p.m., Amodio related.

Investigators from the prosecutor’s office and township police searched the area for a body or other evidence, while the brain was collected by a representative of the Mercer County Medical Examiner’s Office, Amodio said.

Testing on the brain soon determined that it was not human; what type of animal it was from, however, was unclear, he said, noting that no carcass was ever found in the area.

How the brain came to be at the Quick Chek remains under investigation and township police ask anyone with information to call them at (609) 896-1111.

*   *   *

Burglary

Detective William Chester and Officer Lauren Laux are investigating a burglary that took place between 2:30 p.m. and 8 p.m. on Wednesday, Nov. 28, at an apartment on Town Court North. Stolen was an iPad valued at $329, Amodio said, noting that no evidence of forced entry was found. The crime was not reported to police until 4:24 p.m. on Nov. 29.

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Burglary

The theft of a flat-screen television from one of the rooms at Mount’s Motel in the 2900 block of Brunswick Pike (Route 1) is under investigation by Detective Robert Potter and Officer Adam Kowalczyk, Amodio said. The crime, which occurred while the room was undergoing renovations and unoccupied, was reported to police at 9:52 a.m. on Wednesday, Dec. 5.

*   *   *

Drug Offense

Police were called to Lawrence High School at 8:12 a.m. on Tuesday, Dec. 4, after school staff allegedly caught a 16-year-old male student with marijuana on school grounds, Amodio said. He said the teenager was arrested, charged with possession of under 50 grams of marijuana and then released to the custody of his parents. Officer Robert Wagner and Detective Scott Caloiaro are continuing the investigation.

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Driving Under the Influence

Elzbieta Kurpiewska, 53, of President Avenue, Lawrence Township, was arrested just after 1 p.m. on Friday, Nov. 30, and charged with driving under the influence and reckless driving after her vehicle was stopped by Officers Steve Simon and Ryan Dunn, Amodio said. He said the officers initiated the traffic stop in response to a anonymous complaint about a vehicle being driving in an “erratic manner” along Lawrenceville-Pennington Road. Kurpiewska was taken into custody after she performed poorly on field sobriety tests, he said.     

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Theft

At 9:54 a.m. on Friday, Nov. 30, police were notified of the theft of a catalytic converter from a van parked outside the Ideal Tile store in the 2900 block of Brunswick Pike (Route 1), according to Amodio, who said the part was cut from the vehicle sometime during the overnight hours. Officer Shawn Sudol is investigating.

*   *   *

Theft

A Trenton resident called police at 6:50 p.m. on Thursday, June 29, to report that $400 in cash was stolen from her wallet after she left the wallet behind in a bathroom at Burlington Coat Factory at Lawrence Shopping Center. The woman returned to the bathroom after she realized her wallet was missing. An employee had found the wallet, but the cash had already been removed from it, Amodio said. Officer Thomas Everist is investigating the crime.

*   *   *

Theft     

An iPhone 5, valued at $300, was stolen from the laser tag area of the Colonial Bowling and Entertainment Center its owner, an employee of the facility in the 2400 block of Brunswick Pike (Business Route 1), left it unattended on a table, Amodio said. The crime, reported to police at 9:58 p.m. on Friday, Nov. 30, is under investigation by Officer Chris DiMeglio.

 

Anyone with information about any of the above crimes is asked to call Lawrence Township police at (609) 896-1111.

A copy of Lawrence Township's police dispatch log for Thursday, Nov. 29, through Thursday, Dec. 6, 2012, can be viewed from the PDF box above. This log lists all significant calls for service and incidents for which officers filed a written report. Routine administrative assignments are omitted. Some data has been redacted to protect the identity of crime victims.

 

See Also:

  • Dec. 7: “Police Chase Started in Lawrence Ends in Man’s Arrest”
  • Dec. 6: “Man Accused of Trying to Rob Bank in Lawrence Twp.”
  • Dec. 5: “Video/Photos: Woman Freed From Overturned Vehicle”
  • Dec. 4: “Fire Damages Home on Arcadia Avenue in Lawrence”
  • Nov. 30: “Fire at Lawrence Shopping Center Quickly Doused”
  • Nov. 30: “Burglary Suspects Arrested by Lawrence Detectives”
  • Nov. 29: “”
  • Nov. 28: “”

 


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