Regional Briefs – February 18, 2015

Four-Year-Old Crashes Car Into Building; Dad Charged

OCEAN TOWNSHIP, N.J. – A four-year-old boy took the wheel of the family car and crashed into a building after his father left him and his two-year-old sister unattended Monday, Associated Press reported. Tavaris Reevey was charged with child endangerment and his two children were turned over to their mother.

Driver Scare: Sinkhole Swallows Snow Plow

LOPATCONG TOWNSHIP, N.J. – A snow plow operator escaped serious injury when a large sinkhole nearly swallowed up his plow early Tuesday, the Express-Times reported. The driver was treated at a hospital for undisclosed minor injuries.

AAA Sets Record for Calls For Help During Storm

RICHMOND, Va. – AAA Mid-Atlantic got a record number of calls for help with storm-related problems Monday. The 12,078 calls beat the previous record of 11,023 on Jan. 8. Forty-seven percent were battery related.

Man Creates Black Ice to Mask Drunk Driving Crash

SPARTA, N.J. – A man poured five-gallon buckets of water onto a freezing road to fool officers into thinking the cause of his drunken car crash was black ice, Associated Press reported. Bryan Byers, 20, was arrested Saturday. It took a half-ton of salt to make the road passable.

Princeton Gets $300M Book Collection, Largest Ever

PRINCETON, N.J. – Princeton University on Monday received the largest donation in its history, 2,500 rare books and manuscripts valued at nearly $300 million, by 1936 graduate William Scheide, who died last November at age 100. It includes an original printing of the Declaration of Independence and Beethoven’s autographed music sketchbook.

NYC’s Record Murder-Free Streak Ends After 12 Days

NEW YORK – Eric Roman was shot in Queens on Friday and died the next day, ending an unusually long run of days without a murder in New York City, The New York Times reported. The 12-day stretch is believed by the NYPD to be the longest since the early ‘90s. Officials believe cold weather was the primary cause.

This article appeared in print on page 24 of the February 18th, 2015 edition of Hamodia.