Press Release, Jersey Avenue incident, 7/4/18:
Just before 7pm last night, Patrol Units were dispatched to a reported robbery in progress at 1675 Jersey Avenue. This is a large warehouse type facility. Early information was that several males entered that commercial building. The males were armed with a handgun, and took over an unarmed security guard who was working there by assaulting him. The suspects then went on to attempt a significant theft of merchandise from that facility. The security guard was able to escape and run to a nearby neighborhood and call for help. Quick arriving Patrol units observed the suspects just attempting to leave the building. One of the males got into a box style truck and attempted to flee Northbound on Jersey Avenue. Officers pursued that vehicle, eventually into New Brunswick where the truck crashed and the driver then fled on foot. Units were able to capture that man after a subsequent foot pursuit. Simultaneously while that pursuit was going on, other Patrol units had set up around the facility to contain other suspects that were seen retreating back into the building upon the PD arrival. Believing that additional armed suspects were contained within, the Middlesex County Special Operations Response Team (SORT) responded to clear the building. During the search, two additional suspects were located hiding near the building and were subsequently taken into custody. A search also uncovered several items of evidence, including the weapon used. There were no injuries to report and all suspects are believed to be in custody at this time. The investigation is continuing by our Detective Bureau. Anyone with any information should call North Brunswick Detectives at 732-247-0922 x420.
Arrested during this incident were:
Axell Mendoza, 30, of North Bergen, NJ
Alex Pelerigo, 50, of Elizabeth, NJ &
Jun Jang, 31, of Iselin, NJ.
All arrestees were charged with several charges, including some combinations of:
Robbery, Burglary, Theft, Possession of a weapon, Resisting arrest, and Eluding. All were transported to the Middlesex County Department of Corrections pending Court proceedings. Jersey Avenue was closed in both directions for several hours until the incident was cleared.
This was a long and involved incident. We would like to thank all those that assisted us in a variety of different ways, including:
New Brunswick Police Department
Middlesex County Prosecutor's Office
South Brunswick Police Department
North Brunswick Volunteer Fire Department
North Brunswick First Aid & Rescue Squad, Inc.
Middlesex County Sheriff's Department
New Jersey Department of Transportation
