Pleasantville grandmother's home hit twice by gunfire

PLEASANTVILLE, N.J. (WPVI) -- Grandmother's house has a special place in the American psyche - safe, warm and fun. Unfortunately, that hasn't been the case at one woman's home in Pleasantville, New Jersey, where at least on two separate occasions it was a target for stray bullets.

Fear in your own home is not the way anyone should have to live their life. But after bullets have flown into her home twice in a year from gun battles out on the streets that have nothing to do with her, it's becoming a way of life for 49-year-old Olga Ceron.

Ceron says she was lying down on her living room sofa at about 7:20 Tuesday night when she heard gunshots, and almost simultaneously the sound of glass breaking from one of her windows.

She knew that sound all too well.

"I went to the floor and crawled as fast as I can because this is the second time it happened," Olga said.

Ceron said her heart was racing because she had been through this nightmare before: bullets flying through her home.

Last time, about a year ago, bullets riddled her home - one of them striking her in the foot. This time, fortunately, she was not hit, and she's grateful that the two grandchildren she had been babysitting had left 15 minutes before the bullets started flying.

She has lived in the unit block of South Franklin Street for the last 25 years, where lately police say gun violence has become almost routine.

"It's unacceptable to us, it's unacceptable to anybody that anyone should have to go through it. But certainly that this particular lady who has lived in this neighborhood for so long," said Pleasantville Police Chief Sean Riggin.

Police have arrested one man, 20 year old Angel Pereira of Pleasantville, and are looking for another.

The mayor and his council pro-temp are confident they will find him because residents have been calling police with all sorts of tips.

"I mean, community is an integral part of solving these crimes, and we need them in that equation," said Pleasantville Mayor Jesse Tweedle, Sr.

"And they are the eyes and ears for the safety of our community," said Council Pro Temp member Gus Harmon.

As for Ceron, who along with her husband are ministers in a Spanish speaking congregation, she says they pray.

"Me and my husband, we pray. And we pray for the community and we forgive them, we have to forgive them," she said.

So what does she do now? Well, Ceron and her husband have been giving serious thought to selling the house and moving to a different part of Pleasantville.

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