New Brunswick officer saves choking baby: This week in Central Jersey history, May 6-12
Officer James Mullin of the New Brunswick neighborhood police team saved the life of a choking baby, Eileen Melgar, it was reported on Friday, May 7, 1999.
The rescue of the baby, who had no pulse, took place on Tuesday, May 4, 1999. Mullin gave the baby CPR; cleared the baby's airway, which was blocked by a combination of infant formula and mucus, then continued CPR. The baby then began to breathe.
Here's a look at events that happened in Central Jersey from five, 10, 25, 50 and 100 years ago this week.
Five years ago
May 7, 2019: It was reported Ryan Keogh, 28, of Bound Brook, and his parents, Cindy Keogh, 61, and David Keogh, 58, also of Bound Brook, were indicted on charges in connection with the January 2019 shooting death of Terrence C. Coulanges, 29.
May 9: The long-awaited Real IDs, which would replace driver's licenses and identification cards used to get on domestic commercial flights, would be offered by the state Motor Vehicle Commission the following month at one of New Jersey's 39 agencies, it was reported.
May 10: A state Appellate Court ruled Lewis Hooper, 45, of Highland Park, serving a 64-year sentence in New Jersey State Prison, 44 years to be served without eligibility for parole, for the 2013 attempted murder of Mario Lombardo Jr. at his New Brunswick home, would get a fresh hearing on his request to withdraw his guilty plea.
May 10: In the Greater Middlesex Conference Tournament final, the second-seeded North Brunswick High School girls lacrosse team beat top-seeded Old Bridge, 10-6, at East Brunswick High School.
May 11: The Four Tops and the Temptations performed at Paramount Theatre in Asbury Park.
May 12: It was reported Tim Fisher and Dr. Karen Froberg-Fejko, co-owners of The Foster Corporation in Raritan Township, were honored that week by the federal Small Business Administration as New Jersey 2019 Small Business Persons of the Year.
10 years ago
May 7: Hundreds of mostly Latino children, parents and residents stormed a New Brunswick City Council meeting to demand safer streets for pedestrians a day after Robert Rawls, 56, the city's fire director, struck and injured three children with his sport-utility vehicle.
May 7: Demolition was underway at James Monroe Elementary School in Edison, a little more than a month after a six-alarm fire destroyed the building on Sharp Road.
May 9: Seven police officers involved in a standoff in Fanwood with a man wielding a gun, who was safely taken into custody nearly eight hours later, were honored with valor awards from the 200 Club of Union County at a luncheon in Mountainside.
May 10: Cyndi Lauper and Cher performed at the Izod Center in East Rutherford.
May 10: In softball, Hillsborough beat Bridgewater-Raritan, 5-4, in the Somerset County Tournament final.
1999
May 7, 1999: At North Plainfield High School, students and teachers were evacuated after a staff member discovered a message on a men's bathroom wall threatening to blow up the building.
May 7: Thomas Koskovich, 21, of Franklin, Sussex County, was sentenced to death by lethal injection for murdering two pizza deliverymen, Jeremy Giordano, 22, of Hardyston, and Giorgio Gallara, 25, of Sussex Borough, in a 1997 ambush labeled a "thrill killing." He became the 15th ― and youngest ― person on New Jersey's death row.
May 8: The Bound Brook High School baseball team's Chris Reilly struck out 16 of the 28 Somerville batters he faced, with Bound Brook beating Somerville, 2-1.
May 10: The Senate, by a razor-thin 21-18 vote margin, confirmed Attorney General Peter G. Verniero as an associate justice to the Supreme Court, making him the youngest justice ever.
May 12: Dawn Wilson, 27, of South River, was indicted by a Middlesex County grand jury on charges of murder, first-degree robbery, burglary, possession of cocaine and possession of a knife for illegal purposes, in the death of Robert McBride, 69, father of Kenny Jackson, a college football coach and former NFL football player.
May 12: Tickets went on sale for "The Phantom Menace," the anticipated Star Wars prequel, which would begin showing at Central Jersey theaters on Wednesday, May 19, 1999.
1974
May 6, 1974: Mike Gallagher was a triple winner and Mark Oranchak remained unbeaten in the 440 as Ridge High School scored a 79-52 track victory over Governor Livingston of Berkeley Heights.
May 7: It was announced Donald Martino of Boston, a former Plainfield resident, had won the Pulitzer prize in music for his "Natturno," a chamber music composition.
May 9: One thousand, one hundred and twenty-five hourly pay Union Carbide workers went on strike at the Piscataway chemicals and plastics plant after a marathon bargaining session failed to produce agreement on a new contract.
May 10: After almost nine hours of deliberation, a Middlesex County jury found George Jacques, 31, guilty of first-degree murder in the death of Edmund Kornacki, 23, of South Plainfield, whose body was found on Sunday, March 18, 1973, in the Dismal Swamp in South Plainfield.
May 12: Kris Viehe, 11, of Bridgewater, smashed his fist through an upstairs window to rescue his sleeping sister, Kirsten, 15, from a gas-fed fire that destroyed the family's home.
1924
May 7, 1924: Henry "Happy" Bahmer of New Brunswick was found guilty of highway robbery after 15 minutes of deliberation. He was charged with robbing Joseph Shirley of Lindeneau of $280 and a gold watch and chain on Saturday, March 8, 1924.
May 7: Plainfield High School's baseball team won its fifth victory of the season, beating East Orange High, 14-8.
May 7-8: The movie, "Painted People," starring Ben Lyon and Colleen Moore, was shown at Reade's Strand Theatre in Perth Amboy.
May 10: A car driven by Allen Moith of Plainfield crashed into a horse and wagon driven by Samuel Jones of Plainfield. The horse was so badly injured that it had to be shot by Motorcycle Patrolman Thomas Bray.
May 12: It was reported Annie Meszaros and her children, Irene, 10, and John, 1, of the Nixon section of Edison, were awarded compensation of $12,000 and $150 for funeral expenses as the result of the death of John Meszaros, in the explosion at the plant of the Ammonite Company, Inc., at Nixon on Saturday, March 1, 1924, where he was employed.
Brad Wadlow is a staff writer for MyCentralJersey.com
This article originally appeared on MyCentralJersey.com: NJ history for May 6-12
