New Jersey School Fires Teacher Amanda Crafts After $1,250 Atlantic City Robbery Arrest
Updated
Updated · Fox News · Oct 27
New Jersey School Fires Teacher Amanda Crafts After $1,250 Atlantic City Robbery Arrest
3 articles · Updated · Fox News · Oct 27
Summary
Middle Township Public Schools said it fired computer teacher Amanda Crafts after her Oct. 9 arrest in an alleged Atlantic City casino-hotel robbery tied to a prostitution scheme.
Police say a man who met Crafts and Veda Engel at a hotel bar was restrained on a bed, then had four Apple Pay transfers totaling $1,250 sent to Engel using his phone's facial recognition.
Crafts, 35, told a judge she was "in the wrong place at the wrong time" and had never been arrested before; Engel, 23, had prior prostitution-related charges, including a 2025 Borgata case.
Both women were released Oct. 15 after nearly a week in custody, with the state consenting to pretrial release that requires court check-ins every other week.
The district said the firing was meant to protect students and uphold standards for school employees, making the criminal case an immediate employment issue as well.
How did a New Jersey middle school teacher end up fired after an alleged Atlantic City hotel scheme involving restraint and $1,250 in Apple Pay transfers?
What does this Atlantic City case reveal about how easily facial recognition and Apple Pay can be exploited under coercion?
What evidence will decide whether Amanda Crafts was an active participant or, as she claimed, simply in the wrong place at the wrong time?