NJ Cop Murdered

[sadie]

" One moment, they were just talking, the young police officer in the patrol car who had rolled up alongside the even younger pedestrian.
It was a low-key give-and-take, question-and-answer exchange Friday afternoon, not hostile or confrontational.
That changed in an instant, when the pedestrian pulled a handgun out from his baggy clothing, stepped back and fired three shots into the officer, who never had a chance."

Patrolman Christopher Matlosz slumped behind the wheel of his police cruiser, mortally wounded, his gun still in its holster. The gunman ran away, touching off a massive manhunt by land and air that continued Saturday, with authorities vowing he would soon be caught and punished.

Scores of officers on foot, in cars and in helicopters scoured the area where the shooting occurred, a neighborhood near the Jersey shore where Ocean County Prosecutor Marlene Lynch Ford said several drive-by shootings had occurred.

She called the shooting "an execution-style killing."
The 27-year-old Matlosz had just transferred off the midnight shift a week ago. He was engaged to be married next year, and his fiancee rushed to the hospital where he died less than an hour after being shot.

The suspect was described as a black male in his early 20s or late teens, 5-foot-6 or 5-foot-7, stockily built with sunken eyes and puffy cheeks. He was wearing a black hoodie and dark jeans slung so low that gray boxer shorts were visible, according to a witness account to police.

Matlosz was conducting "a routine stop" of the suspect, chatting with him for a few minutes, Ford said, leading authorities to believe the two may have been acquainted with each other before the shooting.
While the suspect fled on foot, a neighbor called 911 just after 4 p.m. to report an officer down. Matlosz was rushed to Jersey Shore University Medical Center, where he died in the trauma unit.
The State Policeman's Benevolent Association is offering a $40,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and prosecution of the suspect, according to the group's spokesman, Jim Ryan.

Lakewood is an ethnically diverse community of 60,000 residents located 54 miles east of Philadelphia and 47 miles south of New York.
Matlosz joined the department Aug. 14, 2006, and lived in nearby Manchester Township, according to Lakewood Police Chief Robert Lawson.

"Chris was one of our most popular officers," Laweson said. "You might say he was the best of us. He was very dedicated to his job. I have a lot of accolades about him from the public."


Read more: www.foxnews.com/us/2011/01/15/massive-manhunt-man-shot-nj-cop-death/#ixzz1B7UInC9s

[iamjumbo]

being the astute chap that i am, it wasn't necessary to read the article to know the description of the trash.
the cop should have had the worthless piece of shyt in handcuffs before he started talking to it

[sadie]

These stories drive me crazy. Wasn't stopping him for anything......just kinda talking to him....sitting in his car.....and the guy just kills him. Cops make these kind of stops all the time. Or people wave them down and they pull over and talk to people like this all the time.

People just don't seem to realize that every day cops are a target.....simply for being cops.

[sadie]

LAKEWOOD, N.J. -- A frenzied manhunt for a suspected cop killer ended early Sunday morning in the bedroom of a Camden apartment, where a SWAT team arrested the 19-year-old suspect without incident.
Just over 38 hours after Lakewood Patrolman Christopher Matlosz was gunned down behind the wheel of his patrol car, a 15-member task force of State Police and U.S. Marshals officers surrounded an apartment where a tipster told police they could find the suspect, Jahmell W. Crockam.
"We were able to get consent for entry, and it was over very quickly," said State Police Major Edward Cetnar. "He was upstairs in the bedroom."
Ten of the officers raced into the apartment at about 6:30 a.m. and quickly arrested Crockam, who did not put up any resistance. He did not seem surprised that authorities had tracked him down, Cetnar said.
"He was very quiet," Cetnar said.

Ocean County Prosecutor Marlene Lynch Ford said detectives got information that Crockam had fled to Camden and was hiding in a unit of the Crestbury Apartments on South 8th Street.
"This concludes a massive effort by law enforcement to apprehend a person we feel is responsible for the death of Officer Matlosz," Ford said. "The arrest of this suspect now allows the Lakewood Police Department and the family and friends of Officer Matlosz an opportunity to grieve, to give tribute to their colleague, friend and loved one."
State Police Superintendent Col. Rick Fuentes said all law enforcement officers were affected by the killing.
"There's no joy in catching an accused cop killer, only the satisfaction of knowing that no one rested until the job was done," he said.
Crockam was charged Saturday with murder and weapons offenses.
The suspect had already been returned to Lakewood, booked in police headquarters, then transferred to the Ocean County Jail in Toms River. He is expected to be brought before a judge on Tuesday. A judge has already set bail for him at $5 million, with no opportunity to post 10 percent of that amount in cash to gain his release.
"It's a bittersweet time right now," said Lakewood Mayor Menashe P. Miller. "We are all thrilled to have removed this cold-blooded murderer off the street. But at the same time, there's a grieving fiancee, and a mother has to bury her son."
A wake for Matlosz will be held Wednesday at the Lakewood Funeral Home in neighboring Howell Township. A funeral Mass will be held Thursday at St. Mary of the Lake R.C. Church in Lakewood.
The prosecutor credited tips from the public with helping locate the suspect, calling them "the real heroes in this."
Crockam, whose street name is "Sav," -- short for "Savage" -- had fled to Camden, a poor city on the opposite side of the state, just across the Delaware River from Philadelphia. A dragnet encompassing at least three states and more than 100 officers had been searching for him since the shooting Friday at 4 p.m.
He was alone when he was arrested. Ford said the question of whether anyone might be prosecuted for helping him escape or hiding him is still being investigated.
Anthony Wieners, president of the New Jersey State Police Benevolent Association, praised the officers who investigated the crime and helped with the arrest.
"I would like to thank all the members of law enforcement who tracked this cop killer down," he said. "Your tireless hours and pursuit of this ruthless killer makes all of society a little safer today. There is no place he could hide that we would not find him, and your efforts prove that true."


Read more: www.foxnews.com/us/2011/01/16/police-nab-suspect-murder-new-jersey-police-officer/#ixzz1BJdwI8EH

[iamjumbo]

it's truly sad that the worthless piece of shyt didn't suffer innumerable abrasians and contusions on the way to the cop shop. a few broken bones would have been nice also. hopefully, there is a shiv in his near future