South Brunswick Officer Falls 10 Feet Investigating Home Break-In

SOUTH BRUNSWICK, NJ — Four South Brunswick teens broke into a house that was under construction this past weekend, and a local police officer was injured when he went in after them and fell 10 feet through a second-story floor.

The incident happened at 3:30 a.m. Sunday: Residents who live nearby called 911 after they saw a group of teens enter an under-construction home at 14 Point of Woods Drive; the teens sneaked in through a first-floor window.

Police who arrived said they saw the teens running inside the home. Officers searched the home and took three suspects into custody quickly.

Police Officer Kent English was searching the second-floor interior 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 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 suspect was later located. All of the suspects were charged with burglary and violating the executive order to stay at home during this time.

One suspect is an adult, Firaz Osman, 18, of Kendall Park; the other three are juveniles: two 17-year-olds and one 16-year-old.

South Brunswick Police Chief Raymond Hayducka said he was "furious" with the teens.

“These are challenging times and every call presents a heightened danger for officers. Most people are following the rules, but these four seem willing to do whatever they wanted and it resulted in an officer being injured," said Chief Hayducka. "I will not have my officers’ safety put at risk by people who recklessly decided to break the governor’s order and commit crimes. None of what happened needed to take place if people were responsible. We are working too hard to stop this virus to have people recklessly create more problems."

In an unrelated incident, a Monroe woman was stopped Friday night in South Brunswick and charged with driving while intoxicated; she had two young children inside the car, said police.

At 12:15 a.m. on Friday, a police officer found her car stopped in a lane of travel on Georges Road in front of Crossroad North Middle School. Megan Murray, 28, was found intoxicated and sleeping in the vehicle with two young children inside, said police.

She was charged with two counts of second-degree endangering the welfare of a child, DWI, numerous motor vehicle violations and violating the emergency order.