Crime & Safety

Fake Cancer Scheme, Alleged Boxing Burglar Top Weird Crime News

Also, cops hunt for an Internet celebrity who allegedly killed a man in North Jersey.

Each week, Patch combs through the more shocking, surprising and often absurd alleged criminal acts and police-related incidents that unfold around the region. Here’s what went on last week for “OMG PD.”

Two alleged crimes for the price of one: It wasn’t enough for a Pennsauken man to burglarize a Cherry Hill home, police said—Jon D. Padula, 22, also allegedly attacked the homeowner who interrupted the situation. While he was on the run for about a week, Padula, who police said also threatened the homeowner with a screwdriver, was arrested in Lindenwold and now faces multiple charges.

That’s not what terminal means: Delran’s Lori Stilley, 41, dropped a bombshell on friends and family in the winter of 2011: She had Stage III cancer, which she claimed a few months later went to Stage IV, and things didn’t look good. Her supporters raised thousands for her, she published an e-book about her struggles and she even married her boyfriend with money raised for them. It was only when she claimed a miracle cure that red flags went up—and you can guess where this story ends.

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Pew pew pew: A Haddonfield teen landed in hot water after admitting to aiming a laser pointer at a medical helicopter passing over the borough, which ultimately involved Philadelphia and Haddonfield police. Though the teen wasn’t taken into custody, he could face charges—similar incidents in Philadelphia have netted offenders jail time and fines.

Internet infamy: Caleb Lawrence McGillvary, 24—better known as "Kai the Hatchet-Wielding Hitchhiker,” thanks to an expletive-filled interview on YouTube about his efforts to save a man pinned by a car—took on a more sinister kind of fame recently, after allegedly killing a man in Clark, NJ, then hiding out in South Jersey. Haddonfield Police were on the alert after McGillvary was spotted in town, and tracked him to Cherry Hill’s Woodcrest neighborhood—but McGillvary had already left the area and was in Philadelphia, where he was eventually arrested.

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Safety patrol: Route 130 in Burlington County is about as bad as it gets for pedestrians, getting consistently ranked as one of the state’s most dangerous roads, and the state’s trying to do something about that reputation. “Operation Safe Passage” is that solution, with police cracking down on speeders, aggressive drivers and people who don’t stop for pedestrians at crosswalks—no word on what they’ll do about the folks who opt to dash across multiple lanes of traffic and hurdle the concrete median barriers in between crossings, though.


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