Middletown Mayor Perry Joins Calls For Tougher Teen Crime Penalties

MIDDLETOWN, NJ — Middletown Mayor Tony Perry joins a growing chorus of New Jersey mayors, both Democrat and Republican, calling for tougher criminal penalties for juveniles convicted of serious crimes such as home invasion, robbery and car theft.

This comes after three teenagers, ages 16 and 17, tried to steal a Bentley SUV outside Patel Brothers grocery store on Oak Tree Road in Edison on March 15.

At 5 p.m. on that date, the three teens tried to steal an orange Bentley SUV that belongs to a son of the grocery store owner. The owner's son was assaulted by the teens after he got into a scuffle with them in the parking lot as they tried to steal his key fob; the teens ended up running off with the key fob to his Bentley.

After the incident, the mayors of Edison and Marlboro, both Democrats, held a press conference to demand New Jersey enact stronger laws against juveniles who are charged with car theft, or convicted of it, especially if they are repeat offenders.

This was "an appalling robbery and attempted carjacking in broad daylight," said Edison Mayor Sam Joshi on March 18. "Current New Jersey laws are too sympathetic to perpetrators at the expense of victims. I will not rest until additional reforms that we need on a state level are in place to deter these crimes from occurring."

Joshi said he is "breaking ranks with his Democratic peers by demanding stricter criminal penalties and more accountability for juveniles who are convicted of serious crimes, including home invasion, robbery and auto theft."

Middletown's Mayor Perry, a Republican, told NJ 101.5 this week that he's long been calling for tougher jail sentences for teenagers convicted of serious crimes such as home invasion and car theft.

"I've been screaming at the top of my lungs for the state to provide the resources necessary for municipalities to deal with this," said Perry on Monday. "This is an epidemic that is occurring statewide. This is not unique to any certain sections of our state. And unfortunately, those calls have gone on deaf ears ... Unfortunately it seems like the only thing that is going to get their attention is when someone dies because of one of these home invasions or someone gets injured."

Edison Mayor Joshi said he is specifically asking Gov. Murphy and the state Legislature to reform state laws to the following:

• Hold repeat offenders in jail pending trial — so if a teenager has been repeatedly arrested and charged with car theft, he or she will be held in juvenile detention until trial, even if they are under 18 years old.
• Give judges more discretion for bail sentencing.
• Change the classification to increase the severity of these crimes: Home invasion and burglary are serious crimes, said Joshi. Many times in the NJ court system they are classified as theft or trespassing, especially if the offender is a teenage juvenile.
• Address the backlog in the NJ criminal courts to allow prosecutors to impose longer criminal sentences for juveniles.

Joshi said he met last week with NJ Attorney General Matt Platkin to ask him to make some of those reforms.

Marlboro Mayor Hornik, also a Democrat, said Monday:

"Now three years into New Jersey’s statewide auto theft crisis, towns are still largely fending for themselves without any meaningful leadership from Trenton. State law must impose real consequences for bad actors, and this includes minors ... The people in Monmouth County and throughout the state of New Jersey are not safe in their homes. And there is a solution out there. The solution is to hold minors who are a part of organized crime, who are being organized to break into homes to steal cars and do other things, should be held responsible as adults."

"Juveniles get let off the hook," Joshi said this week, according to MyCentralJersey. "In nearly every single scenario except for murder or homicide, juveniles will end up in Family Court and they will get right back out on the street. The overwhelming amount of the crimes that occur here in Edison, Marlboro or most of Middlesex County and most of New Jersey have been committed by juveniles and our laws need to be stricter ... The unfortunate reality is that juveniles from New Jersey as well as out-of-state are perpetrating crimes without facing proper consequences. Treat individuals who commit serious offenses such as home invasions, burglaries or carjackings as adults in our justice system."

All three teens have now been apprehended in the attempted Edison carjacking on March 15. The teens were charged with carjacking resulting in injury, aggravated assault, burglary, conspiracy, hindering their own apprehension and resisting arrest by flight.

The three teens are currently being held in the Middlesex County Juvenile Detention Center.