South Brunswick police officer injured after investigating break-in involving four teens

A police officer in South Brunswick was injured when he investigated a break-in at a construction site in the middle of the night.

Police received a report from a resident at about 3:30 a.m. that people were seen entering the first-floor window of a new home that is being built on Point of Woods Drive.

Officers arrived at the hose and saw people running inside. Police began to search the house and found three teens. Officer Kent English was searching the second floor of the house when he fell through the floor and landed 10 feet below on the first floor. He suffered injuries to his abdomen and was transported by the Kendall Park First Aid Squad to Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital in New Brunswick. He was released from the hospital and is recovering at home.

A fourth teen was later found in the home. All four teens were charged with burglary and violating the governor’s stay-at-home order. One teen was 16, two were 17, and one was 18.

“These are challenging times and every call presents a heightened danger for officers,” said South Brunswick Police Chief Raymond Hayducka. “Most people are following the rules, but these four seem willing to do whatever they wanted and it resulted in an officer being injured. I will not have my officers’ safety put at risk by people who recklessly decided to break the Governor’s order and commit crimes.”

Hayducka said the police department, like others across the state, has a zero-tolerance policy when it comes to violating the exective order.

“None of what happened this morning needed to take place if people were responsible,” Hayducka said. “We are working too hard to stop this virus to have people recklessly create more problems.”

A Monroe woman was arrested Friday in South Brunswick for DWI and violating the governor’s stay-at-home order. 

At 12:15 a.m., an officer pulled over a driver who was stopped in a travel lane on Georges Road in front of Crossroad North Middle School. The officer said the 28-year-old woman was intoxicated and was sleeping in the vehicle with two young children inside. The woman was charged with two counts of second-degree endangering the welfare of a child, DWI, numerous motor vehicle violations, and violating the emergency orders.