Apartment resident pleads for protection Police say man, 41, and daughter were assaulted by juveniles BY MICHAEL ACKER Staff Writer SAYREVILLE - Reports of an assault and criminal mischief Friday are the latest in a series of incidents at Winding Woods apartments that has one outspoken resident and borough officials concerned. Friday's alleged assault of a 41-year-old man took place at 7:41 p.m. at the basketball court located by Building 90. Police said the victim, who is a resident of the community, was attacked by a group of male teenagers. The incident took place after the teenagers struck the victim's daughter in the face with a basketball, police said. The father then approached the boys and was reportedly assaulted. The daughter's glasses were broken and the father suffered a small laceration on his nose. The juvenile suspects fled the scene before police arrived, and the incident remains under investigation by the police department's juvenile bureau. In an unrelated incident at the same apartment complex at 9:37 a.m. the same day, police reported criminal mischief to a motor vehicle. A resident of a different building found scratches and damage to the paint on the rear of his vehicle. An attached business trailer was also scratched and had profanity written on it. The victim told police that, several days earlier, he had an argument with juveniles playing football in the courtyard. Such reports were brought to the attention of local officials during Monday's Borough Council meeting. Winding Woods resident Jacqueline Butler addressed the mayor and council about getting more police coverage in the complex, located off Bordentown Avenue. "We need more protection at Winding Woods," Butler said. Butler watches the children after school at the new basketball court, which was built by the apartment complex developer, Hillside Estates. She volunteers to do this despite being partially paralyzed, and having lupus and vitiligo, a chronic skin disease that causes the loss of skin pigment. She has also had a tumor removed from her head. Monday was Butler's second time speaking before the governing body on issues at Winding Woods, which is made up of more than 130 two-story buildings. Butler made note of the difficulty in finding suspects in the large community. "In Winding Woods, anybody can hide," she said. Butler said the community is having problems related to drug distribution, assault, vandalism, littering, loitering, and consumption of alcoholic beverages and smoking by minors. She said she fears that nearby business vendors may be selling cigar packs and alcohol to children and added that she has witnessed children using these products in the park. "There are a lot of children in there that are good," Butler said. "Then you [have] got the bad apples. Those are the ones we are trying to reach." In addition, Butler said, tenants can be seen disobeying traffic laws and littering garbage on the streets. She would like to see more security in the community, which has at least 600 juvenile residents. "We need someone there to monitor the children," she said. "As soon as I leave, they all go out of control. "Now they got people scared to go to the park," Butler added, citing Friday night's alleged assault. The complex has employees who oversee the grounds, Butler said, but they are not security personnel. The Suburban was unable to get a comment from the complex management earlier this week. A woman who answered the phone at the office said they did not know about Friday's incident and quickly hung up the phone. Butler said teenagers from the apartments are looking for something to do, and she would like to see more employment opportunities for them. Borough Council President Thomas Pollando noted that the town has hired 45 children for summer jobs this year, and Councilman Stanley Drawl noted that four youths from Winding Woods were hired as part of the 20-member Sayreville Conservation Corps, which cleans up parks in the borough. Butler also told the mayor and council that vehicles are often left abandoned at the complex. While Winding Woods has removed some of the cars, there are still more, she said. Mayor Kennedy O'Brien told Butler that Borough Business Administrator Jeffry Bertrand would look into the issues she brought up. "We take this very seriously," O'Brien told Butler. "We thank you for your vigilance and your desire to make Sayreville a better place to live." Butler told the Suburban that she was grateful that the apartment complex recently replaced the chains on the basketball hoops with nets for safety reasons. She added that she would like to see more athletic fields provided for the children to play football, soccer and other activities. Butler is organizing a basketball league with cheerleaders this summer for children in the complex. Borough representatives have noted that any repairs to facilities at the apartments and any leagues there would have to be the responsibility of the property owner and not the town. "If [children] had something to do, then maybe some of this stuff wouldn't go on," Butler said.