Cop saves suicidal mother of five: This week in Central Jersey history, July 10-16
Anthony Antonucci, a Port Authority of New York and New Jersey police officer from North Plainfield, saved a mother of five who tried to jump off the Bayonne Bridge on Monday, July 13, 1998.
"I jumped over the first railing and grabbed her as she was going over the second," Antonucci said. "I pulled her back over and just held her until some help arrived."
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
July 10, 2018: Hunterdon County Prosecutor Anthony P. Kearns III announced the Thursday, June 28, 2018, indictment of Walter N. Wilson, 63, of the Annandale section of Clinton Township, for allegedly misusing client funds.
July 11: It was reported Jamil S. Hubbard, 25, of Sayreville, was indicted by a Monmouth County grand jury in what prosecutors alleged was a racially motivated attack that eventually left Jerry Wolkowitz, 55, a freelance photographer for the Asbury Park Press, dead.
July 11: The former Toys R Us mascot, Geoffrey the Giraffe, was welcomed to his new home in the lobby of Bristol-Myers Squibb Children's Hospital at Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital in New Brunswick.
July 11: Demolition began on the site of the former Peterpank Diner, a former community landmark in Sayreville,
July 13: A two-out, walk-off RBI single in the bottom of the ninth inning by Alfredo Rodriguez of the Somerset Patriots gave the Liberty Division a 4-3 win over the Freedom Division at Bethpage Ballpark in Central Islip, New York, it was reported.
July 14: The Warped Tour, featuring Taking Back Sunday, Sum 41, the Used, and more, was held at the PNC Bank Arts Center in Holmdel.
July 16: Former Gov. Christie Whitman called on President Donald Trump to resign after he appeared to accept Russian President Vladimir Putin's denial that Russia interfered with the 2016 presidential election.
10 years ago
July 11, 2013: Fewer than 50 students and some faculty supporters gathered on the historic Old Queens campus of Rutgers University in New Brunswick to protest a planned 3.5% tuition increase.
July 12: Rep. Frank J. Pallone Jr., D-N.J., expressed concern about the elimination of the Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program from the latest version of the five-year farm bill the House of Representatives passed on Thursday, July 11, 2013.
July 13: Taylor Swift, along with Ed Sheeran, Austin Mahone and Joel Crouse, performed at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford.
July 15: Seventy-five football players and cheerleaders from the Union County All-Star team visited Children's Specialized Hospital in Mountainside for a Snapple Bowl XX pep rally.
July 16: It was reported Janet Moeller, 79, of the Martinsville section of Bridgewater, won five swimming medals at the Pan American Masters Championships in Sarasota, Fla.
July 16: New Brunswick-based Johnson & Johnson said its net income increased 172 percent during the second quarter because it generated more revenue from its pharmaceutical drugs and medical devices and spent less money on litigation and acquisition costs.
1998
July 11, 1998: Eighty-seven passengers were evacuated from a plane that landed at Trenton Mercer Airport in Ewing. after a bomb threat was called in to Eastwind Airlines.
July 12: The Canterbury Action Group began picketing the Canterbury at Piscataway's sales office the previous month in an attempt to discourage potential residents from buying some 50 homes remaining in the 408-unit complex, demanding repairs of leaky basements, sinking sidewalks, cracked foundations and faulty plumbing, it was reported.
July 14: The state Labor Department said New Jersey's jobless rate dropped to its lowest point in more than eight years.
July 14: Several people were injured after a five-car accident that tied up traffic for nine miles on Interstate 287 in Piscataway during rush hour.
July 16: It was reported "Godspell" would be presented Friday, July 17, through Sunday, July 19, 1998, at The Villagers Theater in the Somerset section of Franklin.
July 16: At Snapple Bowl V, Middlesex County beat Union County, 33-7, at Cooke Field in Union.
1973
July 11, 1973: Federal officials announced approval of a $2,270,000 grant to develop a beach, park and camping area at the Round Valley Reservoir in Clinton Township.
July 11: By a vote of 78 to 77, members of Local 329, International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers voted to reject a third settlement offer and to continue their strike against the Midland-Ross Corp. in Franklin, which was in its sixth week.
July 11: Two men jumped from third-floor windows and 11 fellow boarders scrambled for their lives after a suspicious pre-dawn blaze struck the Little White House at 111-113 Bayard St. in New Brunswick.
July 12: The longest strike in the history of Johnson & Johnson ended when Local 630, Textile Workers of America, voted overwhelmingly to accept the company's latest contract proposal.
July 14: Bill Wigginton backed up his national record of 6.03 in the Candies and Hughes Top Fuel Dragster, during the third day in the $300,000 Summernationals at Raceway Park in Englishtown.
July 16: Cleveland Jones, 42, of New Brunswick, was sentenced to four to eight years in state prison for the slaying of Robert A. Jordan, 41, of New Brunswick, a fellow pool player, and the wounding of James Moody, 25, also of New Brunswick, the previous fall.
July 16: The Carpenters performed at the Garden State Arts Center in Holmdel.
1923
July 10, 1923: David Welsh, 28, of Brooklyn, who was employed in Bound Brook, died from injuries he sustained when he fell off an eastbound passenger train about 200 feet west of the Rock Avenue crossing.
July 10: The Scotch Plains Juniors beat the Whirlwinds, 14-10, in the High School Field Baseball League.
July 11: George House, 22, employed at the Sayre & Fisher brickyards and whose home was said to have been in Baltimore, accidentally drowned in the South River, near Sayreville.
July 11-12: "Fog Bound," starring Dorothy Dalton, and "Money, Money, Money," starring Katherine MacDonald, were the double feature attractions at Reade's Strand Theatre in Perth Amboy.
July 15: Lightning struck a large barn owned by Samuel Hetfield in Scotch Plains, and the resulting fire totally destroyed the building and contents, with the loss estimated at $5,000.
July 16: Fire destroyed the clay grinding building of the M.B. Valentine & Bros. Company fire brick plant in Woodbridge, at a loss of $10,000. The fire started in the roof from an unknown cause.
Brad Wadlow is a staff writer for MyCentralJersey.com
This article originally appeared on MyCentralJersey.com: This week in NJ history, July 10-16
