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Police & Fire
GOTCHA! Ex-Con With 30-Year Rap Sheet Charged With Robbing Maywood Dry Cleaners (UPDATE) GOTCHA! Ex-Con With 30-Year Rap Sheet Charged With Robbing Maywood Dry Cleaners (UPDATE)
Gotcha! Ex-Con With 30-Year Rap Sheet Charged With Robbing Maywood Dry Cleaners (Update) You’d be hard-pressed to find a law enforcement officer who didn't recognize the strong-arm robber who assaulted the owner of a Maywood dry cleaners for all of $400. Didn’t take long for Maywood police to find 53-year-old ex-con Shawn Todd of Hasbrouck Heights, who authorities said accosted the owner of Timely Cleaners & Furriers on West Pleasant Avenue late Thursday afternoon. Todd has a rap sheet nearly 30 years long, with arrests and convictions for robbery, aggravated assault and assaulting police. Suffice to say it was no surprise for many who know him to see Todd on surveillance …

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
Maywood Dry Cleaners Robbed, Owner Assaulted, Suspect Nabbed Maywood Dry Cleaners Robbed, Owner Assaulted, Suspect Nabbed
Maywood Dry Cleaners Robbed, Owner Assaulted, Suspect Nabbed You’d have been hard-pressed to find a law enforcement officer who DIDN’T recognize the strong-arm robber who assaulted the owner of a Maywood dry cleaners for all of $400 late Thursday afternoon. It didn’t take long for Maywood police to find 53-year-old ex-con Shawn Todd of Hasbrouck Heights, who authorities said accosted the owner of Timely Cleaners & Furriers on West Pleasant Avenue. Todd has a rap sheet nearly 30 years long, with arrests and convictions for robbery, aggravated assault and assaulting police. Suffice to say it was no surprise for many who know him to see Todd on sur…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
MANHUNT ENDS: Pre-Dawn Paterson Stalker Abducted, Robbed And Fondled Women, Authorities Say MANHUNT ENDS: Pre-Dawn Paterson Stalker Abducted, Robbed And Fondled Women, Authorities Say
Manhunt Ends: Pre-Dawn Paterson Stalker Abducted, Robbed And Fondled Women, Authorities Say UPDATE: An intense manhunt ended with the arrest of a Paterson ex-con who authorities said abducted, robbed and groped women at gunpoint before dawn in remote areas. A 27-year-old victim had told city police she was accosted near the corner of Market and East 22nd streets around 6 a.m. April. 20 by an armed man who forced her to a remote area near train tracks, took her valuables, then fondled her before fleeing. Three days later, a 28-year-old woman reported a similar incident occurring in the same area shortly after 5 a.m. City police identified Diquan A. West, 32, as the assailant and t…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
Boy, 15, Robbed At Gunpoint Outside Ridgewood Stop & Shop Boy, 15, Robbed At Gunpoint Outside Ridgewood Stop & Shop
Boy, 15, Robbed At Gunpoint Outside Ridgewood Stop & Shop A 15-year-old Ridgewood boy was robbed at gunpoint outside the village Shop & Stop after arriving for what he thought was a sale that he'd made online, authorities said. The boy told police he brought $300 worth of clothing to the parking lot of the Franklin Avenue supermarket after cutting an online deal shortly after 9 p.m. Wednesday, April 24, Sgt. John A. Ward said. Instead, the teen said, he was accosted by four men who appeared to be 18 to 20 years old, one of them armed with a handgun. The robbers fled with the clothing and the boy, who wasn't injured, called police, Ward said. …

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
UPDATE: Quartet Flees Following Botched Maywood Jewelry Store Robbery UPDATE: Quartet Flees Following Botched Maywood Jewelry Store Robbery
Update: Quartet Flees Following Botched Maywood Jewelry Store Robbery Authorities are investigating the failed robbery of a Maywood jewelry store. The female owner and a male customer were in Diamond Fantasy on West Pleasant Avenue when two gunmen entered around 11:15 a.m. Tuesday, April 23, authorities said. Two others outside apparently acted as lookouts, they said. All left empty-handed, although at the moment it's unclear why.  No one was injured and no arrests had been made as of early Wednesday. Police recovered a moped, detained and interviewed potential suspects and collected statements and video from in and around the scene. A local resident…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
COLD CASE: Two Charged 16 Years After NJ Robbery Victim Is Beaten To Death, Thanks To New Tech COLD CASE: Two Charged 16 Years After NJ Robbery Victim Is Beaten To Death, Thanks To New Tech
Cold CASE: Two Charged 16 Years After NJ Robbery Victim Is Beaten To Death, Thanks To New Tech UPDATE: Leroy Julious had planned on whipping up a celebratory dinner after cashing a bonus check from his cook's job at The College of New Jersey when his brutally beaten body was found in a gravel lot across the street from his Ewing home. Julious's murder went unsolved for 16 years -- until authorities announced that technological advances and a shared mission among various agencies and law enforcement forensic experts cracked the cold case. Breyon Goodman, 36, of Trenton, and Jason Howard, 41, of Providence, R.I. killed Julious during a robbery near his Ewing home on May 9, 2008, t…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
SEE ANYTHING? Pre-Dawn Hackensack Carjacking Reported By NY Driver SEE ANYTHING? Pre-Dawn Hackensack Carjacking Reported By NY Driver
SEE Anything? Pre-Dawn Hackensack Carjacking Reported By NY Driver Hackensack police are investigating a New York man's report that he was carjacked at a local Wawa before dawn Monday. The 43-year-old driver told police four male robbers "forcefully took several belongings" with his 2018 Land Rover, outside the South River Street convenience store across from the ShopRite plaza around 4:30 a.m. April 22, said Capt. Michael Antista, the officer in charge of the department. No injuries were reported, the captain said. Nor were any detailed descriptions provided. City detectives were seeking clues from area surveillance video. ANYONE who might have seen som…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
RECOGNIZE THEM? Bayonne PD Turns To Public For Help In Weeks-Old Armed Robbery RECOGNIZE THEM? Bayonne PD Turns To Public For Help In Weeks-Old Armed Robbery
Recognize Them? Bayonne PD Turns To Public For Help In Weeks-Old Armed Robbery Bayonne police on Thursday shared photos of two men who they said robbed someone at gunpoint nearly three weeks ago. The holdup occurred at 42nd Street and Avenue E shortly before 1:30 a.m. March 23, they said. It was a Saturday. Police didn't say why they waited until April 11 (19 days) to seek the public's help, although in such cases it's ordinarily because investigators haven't made any progress. They also didn't describe what was taken, how many victims (nor ages or genders), nor whether anyone was injured. There were no descriptions of the robbers or in which direction they headed …

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
FACEBOOK ROBBERIES: College Freshman From Bayonne Charged After Bergen Hit-And-Run Holdup FACEBOOK ROBBERIES: College Freshman From Bayonne Charged After Bergen Hit-And-Run Holdup
Facebook Robberies: College Freshman From Bayonne Charged After Bergen Hit-And-Run Holdup Authorities believe they've cracked a series of Facebook Marketplace robberies with the arrest of a tennis-playing college freshman who they said struck and seriously injured a Bergen County victim with his car before speeding off. Yassine G. Rahi, 18, of Bayonne created bogus Facebook accounts offering PlayStation 5 consoles for sale, arranged meetings with buyers and robbed them, Bergen County Prosecutor Mark Musella said. One of the victims, a 22-year-old man, arrived at an arranged location on Avenue C in Moonachie shortly before 5 p.m. March 20, the prosecutor said. After robbing him …

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
SEE ANYTHING? Detectives Seek Leads In Pair Of Tonnelle Avenue Gas Station Holdups SEE ANYTHING? Detectives Seek Leads In Pair Of Tonnelle Avenue Gas Station Holdups
SEE Anything? Detectives Seek Leads In Pair Of Tonnelle Avenue Gas Station Holdups One Tonnelle Avenue gas station in North Bergen was robbed and another was the scene of a carjacking less than 24 hours and barely a half-mile apart, authorities said. It was shortly before 5:30 a.m. Easter Sunday when a gunman entered the Shell station on the northbound highway and pretended to be interested in a phone charger, police said. He then pulled a gun on the two middle-aged store clerks, had them get down on the floor, then took more than $2,000 in cash from the register, they said. The victims, who weren't injured, described the robber as dark-skinned, wearing a hooded jacket …

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
Ex-Con Involved In Undercover Shooting Charged With Drug-Induced Death Of Garfield Man Ex-Con Involved In Undercover Shooting Charged With Drug-Induced Death Of Garfield Man
Ex-Con Involved In Undercover Shooting Charged With Drug-Induced Death Of Garfield Man UPDATE: An ex-con from Garfield who served time for a botched drug deal that led to the shooting of an undercover police officer was arrested on Thursday and charged with causing the overdose death of a 30-year-old user late last summer. Melvin Guzman, 29, is charged with strict liability in the drug-induced death of Ivan Santiago of Passaic last Sept. 17, Bergen County Prosecutor Mark Musella announced on March 28. Santiago and another user were hospitalized after overdosing at a home on Lincoln Place, the prosecutor said. He was pronounced dead soon after. “A six-month investigation by t…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
Carjackers Jump U-Haul Driver In North Bergen, Steal Truck With Cash, Van Carjackers Jump U-Haul Driver In North Bergen, Steal Truck With Cash, Van
Carjackers Jump U-Haul Driver In North Bergen, Steal Truck With Cash, Van Three carjackers assaulted a customer who'd just returned a rental truck to a U-Haul store on Tonnelle Avenue in North Bergen, making off with what police called a "significant" amount of cash. The 38-year-old victim from Newark told police he'd rented a truck to collect cargo from a location in New York City around 1:30 p.m. Sunday, March 24. He was attacked, he said, when he brought it back a few hours later. All three assailants beat him over the head and on the back of his arms, leaving him with multiple injuries, police said.The robbers fled in the truck and U-Haul van that also had b…

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by Jerry DeMarco