Stepping out during stay-at-home order could get you in trouble

TRENTON - A stay-at-home order hasn't helped some people stay out of trouble, authorities say.

The state Attorney General's Office on Friday released a list of alleged offenses by South Jersey residents who might have been better off if they'd stayed inside.

The order, intended to promote social distancing and curb transmission of the virus, took effect at 9 p.m. March 21.

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But one day later, the statement said, 34-year-old Adrienne Morris was charged in Gloucester Township after she allegedly went out drinking with a friend and crashed her car," the Attorney General's Office said.

Morris, who was initially described by the state agency as a male, was accused of driving while intoxicated and reckless driving.

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On Tuesday, Carmen J. Fasanella, 25, allegedly went to the Waterford home of a woman and assaulted her. Fasanella was charged with aggravated assault and harassment.

And a Pitman woman allegedly tossed a Molotov cocktail at a boyfriend's residence on Wednesday.

"It did not detonate," the Attorney General's Office noted in a statement.

The woman, Karley A. Rossell, 24, was charged with arson and weapons offenses.

All three suspects also were charged with a disorderly persons offense for violating the governor's order.

A disorderly persons charge also was brought against Pria Milledge, 37, who allegedly held a party in Bridgeton Friday. The get-together violated a ban on large gatherings, the statement said.

It also noted charges against Zachary Hagin, a 33-year-old man who allegedly spat on a Gloucester Township police officer and claimed to have the coronavirus.

That incident allegedly occurred March 20, one day before the stay-at-home order took effect.

Hagin, one of several people accused of spitting on police across the state, was charged with aggravated assault on a law enforcement officer, resisting arrest and endangering.

“Our police officers are going above and beyond the call of duty during this health crisis." Attorney General Gurbir Grewal said in releasing the list.

"Unfortunately, they are being called upon far too often to deal with people violating the orders put in place to protect us all— or what is more egregious, people falsely using the coronavirus to spread fear or impede officers in their vital work,” he said in the statement.

In one much-publicized incident, a Freehold man was accused of deliberately coughing on a supermarket worker during a dispute at a Wegmans on March 22.

George Falcone, 50, allegedly claimed to have the coronavirus during the incident in Manalapan, Monmouth County, the statement said.

Falcone is one of several people statewide alleged to have coughed with malicious intent in recent days.

In other incidents, state residents have claimed to have the coronavirus after being stopped in traffic by police, the Attorney General's Office said.

One woman allegedly told emergency dispatchers she had the virus in an effort to close down Essex County College.

"She did not have the virus," the statement said.

And four Piscataway residents, ages 18 to 20, were charged Friday "with disorderly persons offenses for violating the emergency orders and criminal mischief for allegedly drag racing and doing donuts in a school parking lot," the statement recounted.

It also said the operator of Rack and Roll Billiards Hall in Washington Township, Warren County, was charged with obstruction of the administration of law for allegedly operating his business in violation of the state order.

David Merring, 62, "was previously warned about opening during the emergency and closed down," the statement said.

"He re-opened and had customers inside when police arrived (Thursday)," it added.

Police also have charged four residents of Lakewood, Ocean County, with a disorderly persons offense for allegedly holding weddings in violation of the order.

Jim Walsh is a free-range reporter who’s been roaming around South Jersey for decades. His interests include crime, the courts, economic development and being first with breaking news. Reach him at jwalsh@gannettnj.com or look for him in traffic.

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