A search for a man Newton police described as dangerous and possibly armed ended Friday when officers located and arrested James “Mac” Alston near Pine Street and Woodside Avenue, closing out a tense day for the small Sussex County town. The arrest capped an operation that had pulled in multiple outside law enforcement agencies after reports that Alston had threatened another person and might be carrying a weapon.
Newton Police had initially been unable to locate Alston when officers responded to the threat call, according to WRNJ. Public safety alerts issued during the active search identified Alston by name and warned residents not to approach him, urging anyone who spotted him to call 911 immediately, per the Bergen Record. Alston had last been seen near Merriam Avenue and Sparta Avenue before the search widened across town.
The response drew a large regional footprint for Newton. Police departments from Andover, Byram, and Sparta townships joined the search, along with the Sussex and Somerset County Sheriffs' Offices, New Jersey State Police, and local emergency medical units, the station's report notes. Even Thorlabs, a local optics technology company, cooperated with police during the active search.
Names Withheld as Charges Remain Pending
Once Alston was in custody, Newton Police said charges tied to the threat incident were still pending and that it would not identify the parties involved in its post-arrest release, a decision made to protect the alleged victim's privacy, according to Daily Voice. That approach marks a shift from the active search phase, when Alston's identity was broadcast publicly to help track him down.
Because no charges have been filed yet, it remains unclear exactly what Alston will face, but New Jersey law offers some guardrails on what is possible. Threatening violence intended to terrorize another person qualifies as a terroristic threat under N.J.S.A. 2C:12-3, a third-degree crime that carries three to five years in state prison and fines up to $15,000, according to Gelman Law.
If a weapon was involved, additional exposure could come from New Jersey's firearms laws. Possessing a weapon for an unlawful purpose or without a permit can carry potential sentences from 18 months to 10 years, per Hanlon Dunn Robertson. Firearms convictions in the state fall under the Graves Act, which mandates minimum prison terms before parole eligibility.
Newton Police Under Newer Leadership
The operation played out under Newton Police Chief Dan Finkle, who was sworn in this past March after previously leading the department's Detective Bureau, per the Newton Police Department. Finkle's public safety career began as a Newton volunteer firefighter in 2002. He joined the Newton Police Department as a public safety telecommunicator in 2003 and was later hired as a police officer in 2006.
Friday's search adds to a string of notable enforcement activity for the department this year. Just two weeks ago, Newton detectives closed out a multi-jurisdictional investigation that led to the arrest and extradition of a New York woman connected to a $5,000 tech-support gift-card scam targeting a local resident, a case Hoodline previously reported involved tracking gift-card redemptions across state lines for two years before an arrest warrant was executed.
Newton has leaned on stepped-up patrols in recent years to address quality-of-life concerns, with police issuing 45 summonses in June, 66 in July, and 74 by late August during one recent enforcement push, per a Town of Newton update. Incidents like Friday's search underscore that even low-crime communities can see sudden, resource-intensive emergencies.
