The Alternative Press

SOUTH ORANGE, NJ -- Police arrested 10 youths on Thursday afternoon after officers caught them smoking marijuana on the grounds of the village’s Department of Public Works on Walton Road.

Arrested were Maplewood residents Gabriel Norstein and Jared Burgess, Scott Christie from Lake Hiawatha and Adan Milligan from Jersey City, all of whom are 18 years old. In addition, six juveniles were taken into custody. Police had received a call regarding the activity.

In other police news:

• A report of an individual striking the South Orange Performance Arts Center turned out to be a case of driving under the influence of alcohol on Tuesday. Branden Balkum 22, of Irvington, was arrested at 2:15 a.m. after officers responded to the accident at Trenchard Place.
   
• Three Holland Road residents’ vehicles were the targets of thieves. On Thursday, a 2006 Jeep was reported stolen on Holland Road at 1:45 a.m. Three vehicles parked in the driveway at another Holland Road residence were ransacked that same night. The locks were damaged, but no items were stolen. 
  Another resident reported a similar incident in which change was stolen from the vehicle.
   
• A burglar or burglars entered a South Kingman Road residence through a screen on a first-floor window, stealing several watches belonging to the victim. The break-in occurred between 7 a.m. and 6 p.m. on Wednesday.
   
• An investigation of stolen street sign at Centre Street and South Orange Avenue on Sept. 1 led to the arrest of two Seton Hall University students. Westfield resident John Algarin, 23, and 19-year- old Thomas Giunta from Staten Island were taken into custody on Sept. 7.
   
• Orange resident Mushane Nesbeth, 20, was charged with passing fraudulent checks at Provident Bank on South Orange Avenue on Sept. 8. The suspect was taken into custody at 1 p.m.
   
• Source: http://southorange.org/Police/blotter.asp