Police: Crime spree spanned half the state

Robberies had occurred close to VNN studios

Rape victim's foreplay was a black eye

Dover man, 23, faces new kidnapping, other charges
Posted by the Asbury Park Press on 09/6/06
BY JAMES A. QUIRK
FREEHOLD BUREAU

New charges have been added to the considerable rap sheet of [color="Lime"]Jamell Lavare China, who was arrested last week and charged with kidnapping and raping an Ocean County woman.

Detectives in a half-dozen municipalities now believe China conducted a kidnapping and robbery spree that began in June, spanned half the state, and ended thanks to the memory of the Dover Township woman he allegedly raped after snatching her from the street.

Manalapan detectives on Friday charged China, 23, of Dover Township, with abducting a 20-year-old township resident at knifepoint June 25 and forcing her to withdraw money from various ATM machines throughout Monmouth and Ocean counties.

Manalapan police charged China with kidnapping, carjacking, robbery, criminal restraint, terroristic threats and several weapons offenses.

He also faces similar charges for nearly identical crimes — kidnapping combined with robbery, usually involving ATMs — in Marlboro, Monroe in Middlesex County, and Egg Harbor Township in Atlantic County, Dover police Detective Brian Lomer said. Charges are also pending in Mantua, Gloucester County, said Egg Harbor Township police Detective Fred Spano.

China is currently being held in the Ocean County Jail in Dover with a combined bail of $850,000.

Victim's keen observations

According to Dover Township police, about 3 a.m. Aug. 25, a 19-year-old woman was walking on Adams Avenue after an argument with her roommate. She was confronted by a tall man who dragged her into a Dodge Durango sport-utility vehicle and struck her, giving her a black eye.
[color="Red"](so much for niggas be getting alot of white pussy because every white girl can't wait to jump in the sack with one. This guy as alot of shit skins had to resort to rape to get it)

She was then raped twice, first in Ocean County in the SUV — which authorities said belonged to a friend of China's — and then in a house on Chancellor Park Drive in the Mays Landing section of Hamilton Township, Atlantic County.

The Dover Township victim is the only woman police believe China sexually assaulted in his string of kidnappings, Spano said. And it was her levelheadedness, memory and cooperation that helped police catch China.

In the other four cases in which he's been charged, China is accused of kidnapping his victims, all women, and forcing them to withdraw money at a bank or ATM machine.

"He was taking these people and driving around for several hours — so they are going to recognize him," Lomer said. "He was not wearing a mask. He probably thought he was going to get away with it. But our victim . . . gave us enough clues, names of places, street names, and then she was able to find the house (in Hamilton Township). And that enabled us to find him."

China was arrested Aug. 28 in Dover Township in a joint effort between Dover and Hamilton police. Police conducted a suspect lineup and China's final victim identified him, Lomer said.

China being identified in the lineup enabled police in other municipalities to connect the dots with similar crimes in their towns and file charges against China, Lomer said.

Awakened by an intruder

According to Egg Harbor Township police, China is believed to have started his spree June 15. That morning, Katie DeRichie and her 5-month-old infant awoke to find China in their bedroom. China forced the mother and child into his vehicle and then ordered DeRichie to withdraw money from her local bank. DeRichie was then made to drive away from the bank and was left on the side of a road with her baby in her arms. ([color="Red"]this is called in the nig community, drive by banking)

Even before the arrest in Dover, Spano said Egg Harbor detectives discovered that similar kidnapping and robbery incidents were occurring throughout New Jersey. The police in each of these towns have shared information.

Manalapan police quickly filed charges after China was arrested and details about his suspected crimes in Dover Township emerged, Capt. Christopher Marsala said. In the Manalapan case, shortly after midnight on June 25, a 20-year-old woman, whom police have not identified, was approached by a man in the parking lot of the Wawa convenience store on Route 9 North. The man pulled a knife and forced her into his vehicle, according to the police report.

The victim was then driven to various ATM machines and directed to withdraw money. She was then brought to a motel room in Dover Township, then was driven back to a parking lot of the Freehold Raceway Mall, Marsala said.

Police haven't established what prompted China's alleged kidnapping spree.

"We tried to interview him the night we arrested him, and he refused to tell us anything," Lomer said. "And when the Egg Harbor police came to talk to him, he requested an attorney. So he hasn't given us anything to confirm, deny — anything at all."

But the recent crimes would not be China's first.

China was in prison from December 2001 until August 2004, according to the state Department of Corrections Web site, for offenses that occurred in March and July of 2001.
He was sentenced to seven years for eluding and resisting arrest, four years for theft by unlawful taking, [color="Red"]and nine months for criminal sexual contact, according to information on the Web site.