Easter week church
services and events
p. 19
Special section on
cancer awareness
p. 25-32
Sensational weekend
to be in the Wildwoods
p. 39
TD BANK ROBBER NABBED
Wednesday, April 16, 2014
Volume 18 • Issue 16
by Gabe Donio
GAZETTE STAFF WRITER
HAMMONTON—Lt.
Mark
Fiorentino and Officer Donald
Kunen were able to pull over a
bank robber minutes after he stole
thousands of dollars from TD Bank
on the White Horse Pike (Route 30)
at 4:40 p.m. on April 11, Hammon-
www.hammontongazette.com
Local man arrested by HPD minutes after 11. felt this person fit the profile of
leaving the bank
vatore said.
bank Hetzel entered on April
ton Police Captain Nick Salvatore
said. Michael Hetzel, 41, of Hammonton was arrested and charged
with robbery, theft and possession
of a weapon for an unlawful purpose, Salvatore said. He was placed
in Atlantic County Jail in lieu of
$100,000 bail set by Hammonton
Municipal Judge Frank Raso, Sal-
Several thousand dollars was
stolen, all of which was recovered,
Salvatore said.
Quick communication throughout the town was the key to the
swift capture and arrest of Hetzel,
Salvatore said. According to Salvatore, TD Bank was not the first
“Prior to the bank robbery call, at
4:07 p.m. on April 11, we received
a call from Sun Bank asking us to
send an officer right away about a
suspicious person.
At 4:30,
Susquehanna Bank made a similar
call. They called us and started
calling the other banks. Both banks
someone who wasn’t right, and
Susquehanna Bank called TD Bank
at 4:40 p.m. Ironically the robber
was robbing the bank when the call
came in from Susquehanna Bank
about the suspicious person to another woman working in the bank.
Town budget has Marie Fucetola honored by Lions
2.94-cent increase
by Lauren Bucci
GAZETTE STAFF WRITER
HAMMONTON—Council introduced and passed first reading
of its 2014 General and Utility
Budget at this month’s regular
meeting of town council on April
14.
According to town CFO Rob
See BANK, Page 14
Scharle, the proposed budget
would increase $175,000 from last
year, resulting in a 2.94-cent increase for the taxpayers of the
town.
“The current fund right now is
basically $175,000 more than it
was last year…This budget, as
proposed, has a 2.94-cent tax in-
BOE hears from town
about police officers
by Lauren Bucci
GAZETTE STAFF WRITER
HAMMONTON—At the April
10 Hammonton Board of Education meeting, Mayor Stephen DiDonato came before the board to
discuss the importance of retaining
See COUNCIL, Page 10
the Special Resource Officers
(SROs) employed by the district.
“I want to speak to you about the
SR officers at the school… We
were one of the first schools in the
state to do such [employ SROs], a
couple of years later we moved to
the middle school realizing that
Civic Club Easter Egg Hunt held
See BOARD, Page 10
THG/Paul J. Macrie IV. To purchase photos in The Gazette, call (609) 704-1940.
Anthony ‘Boopie’
Mortellite passes at 81
The Hammonton Lions Club presented Marie Fucetola (center) with their Citizen of the Year award on April 11 at a
dinner at Tomasello Winery. Fucetola is pictured with Art Orsi and Mary Gillespie. See related story, Page 3.
by Gabe Donio
GAZETTE STAFF WRITER
HAMMONTON—Anthony M.
“Boopie” Mortellite, the owner
and operator of Buffalo Farms in
Hammonton who was known
throughout his hometown and the
region for his engaging personality, passed away on April 8 at
Shore Memorial Hospital in
Somers Point. Mortellite was 81.
Born and raised in Hammonton,
he was a 1950 graduate of Hammonton High School. After graduation he served in the U.S. Navy
during the Korean War. Mortellite
owned and operated Buffalo Farms
in Hammonton and was a member
of the South Jersey Farm Bureau.
His sons, who are both blueberry
farmers, spoke about their father
Mayor discusses
road projects
by Paul J. Macrie IV
GAZETTE STAFF WRITER
THG/Lauren Crescenzo. To purchase photos in The Gazette, call (609) 704-1940.
Lorenza & Giacomo Furgione met the Easter Bunny on April 12 at the Woman’s Civic Club’s Easter Egg Hunt held on the
grounds of the Hammonton Middle School. For more pictures, see page 19.
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HAMMONTON—The road reconstruction process on Pratt,
Packard, Grape and Second
Streets has begun. Phase one has
started with the trimming of trees
below the electric line on Packard
The Gazette! ONLY $20 FOR 52 WEEKS! CALL: (609) 704-1940
See MORTELLITE, Page 4
Street, according to Mayor
Stephen DiDonato. That process
will continue during the next few
weeks on Pratt, Second and
Grape Streets.
“The contractor has his street
crew going behind them [Asplundh] after they get the trees
through the splitter at their own
See REPAIR, Page 2