Mother, four women and one man arrested for pouring scalding water on and beating a three-year-old boy with a belt as punishment Natacha Smith, 43, of Newark, New Jersey, was arrested and charged with aggravated assault and endangering the welfare of a child Police said the boy was beaten with a belt and fists and had scalding water poured on him as punishment A mother and five other adults, who all lived together, were arrested for systematically beating and throwing scalding water on a three-year-old boy as punishment.

JERSEY CITY - The 1 percent business tax at the center of a major controversy in Jersey City is a "credit positive" for the city and school district, according to a new report from bond rating agency Moody's. The corporate-backed mission to stop the tax from being implemented , meanwhile, would have a "deleterious effect" on the district's finances by making the city less attractive to families, Moody's says in the Dec. 6 report.

Newark, N.J. - The New Jersey State Police have arrested five suspects of an alleged drug trafficking ring and seized weapons, heroin, cocaine, crack cocaine, marijuana and more than $150,000 as a result of "Operation Drive Thru." The eight-month cooperative investigation dubbed "Operation Drive Thru," began in April of 2018 and targeted a drug distribution network operating in Newark.

A senior state corrections officer has been arrested for allegedly having a sexual relationship with a inmate at Northern State Prison, officials announced Friday Avril Richardson, 45, of Elizabeth had an ongoing romantic relationship with an inmate at the minimum security prison from 2016 until her arrest Thursday, the Essex County Prosecutor's Office said.

A federal jury has convicted a former Middletown fire chief of running a Ponzi scheme that bilked investors, including some of his own family, friends and fellow first-responders, out of more than $10 million. Vincent P. Falci, 59, worked as an investment manager in Middletown and was accused of stealing funds to fuel his lifestyle, while concealing losses and faking investment returns as part of an operation that ran for several years.

FILE a sA - A In this Feb. 15, 2017, file photo, comedian Artie Lange attends a premiere for HBO's television comedy series "Crashing," in Los Angeles. A judge has spared comedian Artie Lange jail time even though he tested positive for cocaine and amphetamine.