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Bail Reform

Police & Fire
Ex-Con Charged By FBI With Igniting Explosive Outside Passaic County ATM Ex-Con Charged By FBI With Igniting Explosive Outside Passaic County ATM
Ex-Con Charged By FBI With Igniting Explosive Outside Passaic County ATM A career criminal from Passaic County who's been busted dozens of times in North Jersey in just the past few years used an explosive device to damage an ATM, federal authorities charged. Nicolas Torres, 41, of Passaic, has amassed a lengthy rap sheet over much of his adult life, mostly involving business break-ins that local police and county prosecutors have dealt with. This time, though, the FBI's got him. Torres was captured on surveillance video igniting the device in front of the Chase Bank ATM on North 6th Street in Prospect Park in the early morning hours of July 5, 2022, U.S. Attor…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
THIS IS BAIL REFORM? Judge Releases Accused Big-Time Paterson Dealer Busted In $1M Drug Raid THIS IS BAIL REFORM? Judge Releases Accused Big-Time Paterson Dealer Busted In $1M Drug Raid
This IS Bail Reform? Judge Releases Accused Big-Time Paterson Dealer Busted In $1M Drug Raid One of the biggest arguments for bail reform in New Jersey was that poor defendants regularly languished in jail, waiting for their cases to be heard, while drug dealers routinely paid their way out. Examples of offenders who are repeatedly caught and immediately released have dominated the debate over bail reform. New Jersey got a different example, however, with the arrest of a Dominican national described by authorities as a big-time Paterson drug dealer. Roughly 3½ pounds of fentanyl powder and 1,300 fentanyl pills were among nearly $1 million worth of narcotics seized from Pedro Rodr…

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by Jerry DeMarco
News
Arrests Made In Fentanyl-Related Death Of Mom At Hackensack Mall, Co-Workers Rally For Daughter Arrests Made In Fentanyl-Related Death Of Mom At Hackensack Mall, Co-Workers Rally For Daughter
Arrests Made In Fentanyl-Related Death Of Mom At Hackensack Mall, Co-Workers Rally For Daughter UPDATE: Authorities vowed to find whoever sold the fentanyl-laced cocaine that killed one of five women who overdosed on it at the Shops At Riverside mall in Hackensack.  They believe they have. Bergen County Prosecutor Mark Musella announced on Friday, March 24, that two arrests were made in an ongoing investigation into what killed 29-year-old Michelle Edoo of Bergenfield, a nursing student and single mom who worked with three of the other victims at the Cheesecake Factory in the mall off westbound Route 4. Paterson residents Garfield Jones, a 48-year-old Jamaican national who works…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
Woman Was High On Marijuana In Crash That Killed 2 On Jersey Shore: Prosecutor Woman Was High On Marijuana In Crash That Killed 2 On Jersey Shore: Prosecutor
Woman Was High On Marijuana In Crash That Killed 2 On Jersey Shore: Prosecutor A 30-year-old woman from Toms River has been indicted for vehicular homicide in the deaths of two men in a Jersey Shore crash, authorities said. Danielle Bowker also was charged with assault by auto in the fatal crash that occurred in Manchester Township on March 29, 2022, resulting in the deaths of Michael Sadis, 48, of Toms River, and Paul Lamberti, 58, also of Toms River, they said. Lab tests later determined that Bowker had been actively using marijuana near the time of the fatal crash, Ocean County Prosecutor Bradley D. Billhimer said. The four-car crash occurred at 7:15 a.m., ne…

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by Jon Craig
News
Home Burglarized, Range Rover Stolen In NJ Teen Crime Spree, Police Charge Home Burglarized, Range Rover Stolen In NJ Teen Crime Spree, Police Charge
Home Burglarized, Range Rover Stolen In NJ Teen Crime Spree, Police Charge Another beneficiary of New Jersey’s bail reform law broke into a million-dollar Franklin Lakes home and drove off in the owner’s car during a months-long crime spree from one end of the state to the other, authorities charged. Records show Tamir Pitts, 18, has been arrested numerous times over the past several months only to be released almost immediately from county jails or station houses in New Jersey under the state’s 2017 Bail Reform and Speedy Trial Act.  Then he’s arrested again. It was mid-July, authorities said, when Pitts was charged with stealing and then abandoning a BMW a…

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by Jerry DeMarco
News
CHILLING: Children In Separate NJ Homes Come Face-To-Face With Brazen Car Thieves CHILLING: Children In Separate NJ Homes Come Face-To-Face With Brazen Car Thieves
Chilling: Children In Separate NJ Homes Come Face-To-Face With Brazen Car Thieves It can give you chills: Children from two separate homes in Old Tappan came into contact with brazen thieves trying to steal their parents’ cars, authorities said. A bandit tried taking a Range Rover from the driveway of one home while two young girls played in front of it, Police Chief Joseph Tracy said. Hours later, a thief in a black ski mask and hoodie entered an open garage door to steal a Mercedes Benz but bolted after he was confronted by the residents’ 12-year-old son. Although both attempts failed, a third succeeded when a 2022 BMW that had been left unlocked with the key fob insi…

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by Jerry DeMarco
News
'We Were All Home': Brazen Bandits Steal Distinctive SUV From NJ Family's Locked Garage 'We Were All Home': Brazen Bandits Steal Distinctive SUV From NJ Family's Locked Garage
'We Were All Home': Brazen Bandits Steal Distinctive SUV From NJ Family's Locked Garage An Old Tappan resident was in his backyard with one of their dogs and his wife and two daughters were inside with the other when thieves broke into their garage and stole their distinctive orange SUV. “The garage was closed and the side door was locked,” the wife said after the 7:30 p.m. theft Saturday. “Not only was it broad daylight -- we were all home,” she said. “They literally had to pick a lock to get into the garage, then had to do a five-point turn to get the car out.” A thief dressed all in black with a “1977” logo on his clothing emerged from an all-black BMW that pulled up to th…

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by Jerry DeMarco
News
Pursuits Are Back, And Paramus Police Are Already In The Plus Column Pursuits Are Back, And Paramus Police Are Already In The Plus Column
Pursuits Are Back, And Paramus Police Are Already In The Plus Column Paramus police -- no longer hamstrung by limits on pursuits -- captured a trio of teenage car thieves who crashed into a tree off Route 17 after they were caught prowling local neighborhoods, authorities said. Officer Kevin Grady was on patrol when he spotted the ski-masked bandits from Kearny scoping out vehicles around Polly Ann Terrace and Ivanhoe Drive in a Honda CRV shortly before 2 a.m. Wednesday, May 4, Police Chief Kenneth Ehrenberg said. Grady tried to stop the SUV, which had been reported stolen out of Livingston, the chief said. The driver, 19-year-old Jason Cathcart, hit the ga…

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by Jerry DeMarco
News
NJ Police Can Now Pursue Stolen Vehicles, AG Says NJ Police Can Now Pursue Stolen Vehicles, AG Says
NJ Police Can Now Pursue Stolen Vehicles, AG Says Police in New Jersey can now pursue stolen vehicle thieves, state Acting Attorney General Matthew J. Platkin announced on Friday, April 29. Officers and officials at all levels of law enforcement in New Jersey welcomed the news -- with one caveat: A repeal or readjustment of bail reform must be next. Platkin's move, which is effective immediately, reverses a policy update made by his predecessor, Gurbir S. Grewal, in December 2020. "Based upon recommendations from Law enforcement executives, county prosecutors and OPIA (Office of Public Integrity and Accountability) staff, I have dete…

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by Jerry DeMarco
News
NJ Dad Who Ran After Stolen Car With Son Inside Recounts The Horror, Hopes Others Take Note NJ Dad Who Ran After Stolen Car With Son Inside Recounts The Horror, Hopes Others Take Note
NJ Dad Who Ran After Stolen Car With Son Inside Recounts The Horror, Hopes Others Take Note A Bergen County dad whose car was stolen with his 11-year-old son still in the back seat said he desperately chased the speeding vehicle on foot terrified by the thought that he'd never see his boy again. Then came a moment of what he suspects was divine intervention. Now Daniel Reiser hopes others can learn from his ordeal. The youngster was "wet and frozen" from a morning soccer game when they pulled into the parking lot of the Chase Bank on County Road near Central Avenue in Tenafly around 11:30 a.m. Saturday, April 2, Reiser said. "I went into the ATM vestibule just a few feet in…

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by Jerry DeMarco
News
ICE Puts Hold On MS-13 Member Captured After Escaping NJ Police Station In Handcuffs ICE Puts Hold On MS-13 Member Captured After Escaping NJ Police Station In Handcuffs
ICE Puts Hold On MS-13 Member Captured After Escaping NJ Police Station In Handcuffs Many figured New Jersey's bail reform law would free a purported MS-13 gang member who escaped from a local police station before being captured in Rhode Island. Before that could happen, however, federal immigration authorities issued a detainer on Adilson Estrada-Garcia, a 24-year-old Guatemalan national living in Cliffside Park. Estrada-Garcia was brought to the Bergen County Jail in Hackensack on Thursday. Before he even saw a judge, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement issued the detainer. Bergen County Sheriff Anthony Cureton has honored detainer requests for defendants who've be…

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by Jerry DeMarco
News
ICE Puts Hold On NJ Contractor Charged With Sexually Assaulting Pre-Teens ICE Puts Hold On NJ Contractor Charged With Sexually Assaulting Pre-Teens
ICE Puts Hold On NJ Contractor Charged With Sexually Assaulting Pre-Teens A married contractor was charged with sexually assaulting two pre-teens in Hackensack and Westwood nearly five years ago. Francisco Barrera-Capistran, 36, who now lives in Homasassa, FL, was arrested in Westwood on Monday, Feb. 14, Bergen County Prosecutor Mark Musella said. He remained held in the Bergen County Jail after ICE placed a detainer on him Tuesday amid questions about his immigration status. Jail records list him as a Mexican national. If a local judge orders his release for some reason -- say, bail reform -- U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has requested 48-hour …

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by Jerry DeMarco
News
NJ Resumes COVID Early Inmate Release Program NJ Resumes COVID Early Inmate Release Program
NJ Resumes COVID Early Inmate Release Program As many as 1,200 New Jersey prison inmates and at least 10 sex offenders could be freed during another round of early pandemic releases, state corrections sources say. No public notice was given by Gov. Phil Murphy’s office of the latest releases, which corrections officials said resumed Thursday with 260 inmates freed. These come at a time when “violent crime me in some of our cities has gotten so bad” that “many urban mayors who supported bail reform are demanding a new law that would keep dangerous criminals in jail until trial,” state Sen. Anthony M. Bucco (R-25) said. An estimated 40%…

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by Jerry DeMarco
News
NYPD Getting Help Fighting Rising Gun Violence From NY State Troopers, Governor Promises NYPD Getting Help Fighting Rising Gun Violence From NY State Troopers, Governor Promises
Nypd Getting Help Fighting Rising Gun Violence From NY State Troopers, Governor Promises New York Gov. Kathy Hochul said she's sending state troopers into New York City to fight the spike in gun violence that city police say has been fueled by bail reform. ****** NEWSBREAK: A 22-year-old rookie New York City police officer was killed and another officer critically wounded Friday night during what has become one of the most violent periods in the city's recent history. READ MORE.... ****** Mayor Eric Adams begged the governor for help after surveillance video was shared of an 11-month-old who was hospitalized after being shot in the face during a gun battle in the Bronx. Cri…

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by Jerry DeMarco
News
Bail Reform Fuels Deal For Bergen County Jail To House Passaic County Inmates Bail Reform Fuels Deal For Bergen County Jail To House Passaic County Inmates
Bail Reform Fuels Deal For Bergen County Jail To House Passaic County Inmates UPDATE: Bail reform is one of the key reasons why the half-empty Passaic County Jail will close its doors for good and send all of its current and future inmates to Bergen County's lockup, officials said. Bergen County officials say they’ll receive a minimum $18.9 million the first year and somewhere in the neighborhood of $195.5 million over the course of the 10-year deal. Their counterparts in Passaic County say they won’t have to spend millions of taxpayer dollars on a new jail to replace the decrepit 164-year-old lockup on Marshall Street, which has remained half empty for some time now…

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by Jerry DeMarco
News
Hackensack Man, 18, Charged With Paterson Murder Hackensack Man, 18, Charged With Paterson Murder
Hackensack Man, 18, Charged With Paterson Murder An 18-year-old Hackensack man became the second defendant charged in the cold-blooded killing of a 20-year-old Paterson resident on a Silk City street corner. Jaheem Glaze was captured without incident in East Orange early Friday by a strike team composed of Paterson police, Passaic County prosecutor’s detectives and members of the U.S. Marshals Fugitive Task Force, authorities said. Glaze was sent to the Passaic County Jail, where Rasheed Thomas, 19, has also been held in connection with the killing following his arrest last month. Both are charged with murder and weapons offenses, Pass…

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by Jerry DeMarco
News
Relentless Offender Caught Snorting Heroin At North Jersey Police HQ Relentless Offender Caught Snorting Heroin At North Jersey Police HQ
Relentless Offender Caught Snorting Heroin At North Jersey Police HQ A relentless repeat offender who's been caught and released a half-dozen or so times in Bergen and Passaic counties this fall pulled out a hidden fold of heroin and began snorting it while in custody at Fair Lawn police headquarters, authorities said. Judges and police alike in Bergen and Passaic counties have been forced to release Michael Benedek, 26, of Paterson under bail reform multiple times following recent arrests for burglary, theft, receiving stolen property and shoplifting, records show. Benedek dropped a power buffer he'd just stolen from an auto body shop when Hawthorne police …

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by Jerry DeMarco
News
Dealer Caught With More Than 28 Pounds Of Coke Worth $720,500 In Passaic, Authorities Charge Dealer Caught With More Than 28 Pounds Of Coke Worth $720,500 In Passaic, Authorities Charge
Dealer Caught With More Than 28 Pounds Of Coke Worth $720,500 In Passaic, Authorities Charge A Paterson man was busted with more than 28 pounds of cocaine with a street value of $720,500 during a fugitive roundup, authorities announced Thursday. Tydel Clark, 31, was arrested following a warranted search of a Passaic city residence and his vehicle, Passaic County Prosecutor Camelia M. Valdes and U.S. Marshal for the District of New Jersey Juan Mattos Jr. said. The news came amid a joint announcement by both of an operation that they said produced 133 arrests and the seizure of guns and drugs. Authorities targeted active warrants and fugitive cases, most of them in Paterson, Valdes …

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
‘HELP ME!’ Clifton PD Rescues Couple Kidnapped By Violent Sex Offender Posing As Police Officer ‘HELP ME!’ Clifton PD Rescues Couple Kidnapped By Violent Sex Offender Posing As Police Officer
‘Help ME!’ Clifton PD Rescues Couple Kidnapped By Violent Sex Offender Posing As Police Officer “HELP ME!” a Morris County woman mouthed to a stranger in the parking lot of a Clifton bank after she and a companion were kidnapped by a violent registered sex offender. That brought Clifton police, who captured both the abductor and an accomplice, authorities said. The 28-year-old woman and her companion, a 32-year-old West Milford man, told police that they were parked near the corner of Main and Vreeland avenues around 10:45 p.m. Friday when there was a tap on the driver’s side window. Travis Mann, 39, of Hewitt identified himself as a police officer and said they were breaking the law…

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by Jerry DeMarco
News
Man Who Continued Stalking Terrified Bergen Woman After Arrests Gets Probation Man Who Continued Stalking Terrified Bergen Woman After Arrests Gets Probation
Man Who Continued Stalking Terrified Bergen Woman After Arrests Gets Probation A man who continued to stalk the same Bergen County woman despite repeated arrests took a plea deal and walked away with probation. Superior Court Judge Keith Bachmann also repeated previous orders that Timothy Conti, 44, not have any contact with the victim, who was forced to move from her Rutherford apartment. The woman told police she’d never been with or talked with Conti, who allegedly told police that he “really really” liked her and hoped to marry her someday, claiming they had a “special bond.” This, of course, terrified her. Neighbors told the woman that Conti initially got into…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
Thieves Steal Brand-New SUV From Family, Crash In Newark During Pursuit Thieves Steal Brand-New SUV From Family, Crash In Newark During Pursuit
Thieves Steal Brand-New SUV From Family, Crash In Newark During Pursuit Members of a Clifton family were unloading groceries from their brand-new sedan Wednesday night when a group of brazen thieves pulled up, stole the car and led police on a chase into Newark that ended in a crash, authorities said. A Clifton police cruiser and an SUV involved in the theft crashed on Avon Avenue in Newark during the pursuit, Clifton Police Detective Lt. Robert Bracken said. The officer was OK, but the thieves evaded capture, he said. It all happened in an instant. The family was unloading groceries from their 2020 Hyundai Sonata at the corner of Grove Street and Robin Hood …

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
Authorities: Ex-Con Who Fought Police Over Officer's Gun Injures Six In NJ Turnpike DUI Crash Authorities: Ex-Con Who Fought Police Over Officer's Gun Injures Six In NJ Turnpike DUI Crash
Authorities: Ex-Con Who Fought Police Over Officer's Gun Injures Six In NJ Turnpike DUI Crash A Jersey City ex-con who was freed after a fierce struggle with Hoboken police three months ago was ordered released by another judge barely 24 hours after authorities said he caused a pre-dawn DUI crash that injured six people on the New Jersey Turnpike in Bergen County. Lonnie Clark had served state prison time for a 2015 lewdness conviction involving children and, before that, for a 2007 conviction for selling drugs, NJ Department of Corrections records show. A judge released him last September pending trial following a sexual contact and weapons arrest, records show. He was arrested ag…

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by Jerry DeMarco