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Drug Induced Death

Police & Fire
Man Sold Deadly Elixir To Lodi OD Victim, Prosecutor Says Man Sold Deadly Elixir To Lodi OD Victim, Prosecutor Says
Man Sold Deadly Elixir To Lodi OD Victim, Prosecutor Says A Lodi drug dealer is facing additional charges accusing him of selling one 62-year-old man the fatal elixir that killed him last year, authorities said. Randy Lantigua, 26, of Lodi, was arrested on Thursday, Feb. 26, 2025, and charged with strict liability for drug-induced death in connection with the incident that killed James White in April 2024, Bergen County Prosecutor Mark Musella said. On April 6, 2024, Lodi Police responded to a 911 call reporting an unresponsive man inside a private residence, officials said. Responding officers found White dead in a bedroom, showing signs of …

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by Cecilia Levine
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
Westwood Man Charged With Killing High Schooler From Park Ridge With Fentanyl-Laced Pill Westwood Man Charged With Killing High Schooler From Park Ridge With Fentanyl-Laced Pill
Westwood Man Charged With Killing High Schooler From Park Ridge With Fentanyl-Laced Pill 𝗨𝗣𝗗𝗔𝗧𝗘: A 17-year-old Park Ridge boy was killed by a single imitation painkiller laced with fentanyl that was given to him by a Westwood man who's been charged with causing his death. The boy thought he was taking an Oxycontin pill before he overdosed last Sept. 14, Bergen County Prosecutor Mark Musella said. Officers who responded to the emergency call administered Narcan, among other life-saving measures, the prosecutor said. The high school senior was pronounced dead a short time later. Detectives from the prosecutor’s Narcotic Task Force determined during a six-month investigatio…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
Accused Dealer Charged With Fentanyl-Laced Crack Death Of Jersey City Man At Lyndhurst Hotel Accused Dealer Charged With Fentanyl-Laced Crack Death Of Jersey City Man At Lyndhurst Hotel
Accused Dealer Charged With Fentanyl-Laced Crack Death Of Jersey City Man At Lyndhurst Hotel An accused drug dealer from Bloomfield provided the drugs that killed a user from Jersey City at a Lyndhurst motel, authorities charged. Alberto Delgado, 43, was accused of selling the fentanyl-laced crack that killed 54-year-old Luke Revell after he smoked it at the Winslow Motor Hotel just off eastbound Route 3. Delgado had more than a pound and a half of the drugs in a storage unit when detectives from the Bergen County Prosecutor's Office searched it, according to a complaint on file in Superior Court in Hackensack. They also learned that Delgado had communicated with Revell by ce…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
Decade For Bergen County Man Whose Drugs Led To Fatal OD In Morris County: Prosecutors Decade For Bergen County Man Whose Drugs Led To Fatal OD In Morris County: Prosecutors
Decade For Bergen County Man Whose Drugs Led To Fatal OD In Morris County: Prosecutors A 35-year-old Saddle Brook resident was sentenced to 10 years in prison for his role in a fatal overdose in Pequannock Township in 2021, authorities said. David Pezak was sentenced on Friday, Jan. 12, after pleading guilty to strict lability for a drug induced death back in December, Morris County Prosecutor Robert J. Carroll, Chief of Detectives Robert McNally, and Pequannock Police Chief Daniel Comune said.  On Monday, Nov. 15, 2021 police responded to an unresponsive woman at a residence in Pequannock, authorities said. The woman, identified as A.C., was pronounced dead at…

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by Sam Barron
Police & Fire
Habitual Offender Charged With Death Of Garfield Man From Fake Oxy Pills Full Of Fentanyl Habitual Offender Charged With Death Of Garfield Man From Fake Oxy Pills Full Of Fentanyl
Habitual Offender Charged With Death Of Garfield Man From Fake Oxy Pills Full Of Fentanyl A habitual offender killed a fellow Garfield resident by giving him bogus oxycodone pills that contained fentanyl, authorities charged. Juhaan Justice Hammond, 30, is charged with strict liability for the drug-induced death this past Sunday of Ivan Santiago in Garfield, Bergen County Prosecutor Mark Musella announced on Friday, Sept. 22. Santiago and an unidentified second person were hospitalized after overdosing on Lincoln Place shortly after 6:30 p.m. Sept. 17, Musella said. Narcan was administered, the prosecutor said, adding that Santiago was pronounced dead at the hospital. Detectiv…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
Bergen County Man Charged In Fatal Morris County Overdose: Prosecutor Bergen County Man Charged In Fatal Morris County Overdose: Prosecutor
Bergen County Man Charged In Fatal Morris County Overdose: Prosecutor Police have arrested a 34-year-old Bergen County man in connection with the deadly 2021 overdose of a woman at a Pequannock Township home. David Pezak, formerly of Saddle Brook, was charged with first-degree strict liability for drug-induced death, conspiracy to distribute, distribution of a controlled substance, and other drug offenses, Morris County Prosecutor Robert J. Carroll said in a joint release on Monday, March 27. The charges stem from the fatal overdose of a woman identified as A.C. on Monday, Nov. 15, 2021. A.C. was found unresponsive at the home and pronounced dead at the scen…

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by Valerie Musson
Police & Fire
Man Charged For Providing Fentanyl In Deadly Overdose At Morris County Hotel: Prosecutor Man Charged For Providing Fentanyl In Deadly Overdose At Morris County Hotel: Prosecutor
Man Charged For Providing Fentanyl In Deadly Overdose At Morris County Hotel: Prosecutor A 30-year-old man was charged after providing Fentanyl to a man who later overdosed at a Morris County hotel and died, authorities announced. John P. Rowe, of Budd Lake, was charged with first-degree strict liability for drug-induced death, Morris County Prosecutor Robert Carroll said in a joint release alongside local officials. Officers responding to a report of an unresponsive male at the Mount Olive Days Inn hotel found the 19-year-old victim — identified only as “G.B.” — unconscious on Wednesday, Sept. 22, 2021, Carroll said. The victim was rushed to a local hospital and pronounced de…

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by Valerie Musson
News
Boy Who OD'd On Bus Had Been Cleaning Uncle's Fentanyl Paraphernalia: Prosecutor Boy Who OD'd On Bus Had Been Cleaning Uncle's Fentanyl Paraphernalia: Prosecutor
Boy Who OD'd On Bus Had Been Cleaning Uncle's Fentanyl Paraphernalia: Prosecutor A 35-year-old man from Camden County has been arrested for causing the fentanyl-overdose death of his 12-year-old nephew, authorities said. The boy had been directed by Troy Nokes, 35, of Blackwood, to clean fentanyl paraphernalia before he passed out on a school bus on Jan. 24, according to Camden County Prosecutor Grace C. MacAulay and Gloucester Twp. Police Chief David Harkins. Life-saving measures were performed by the school nurse until EMS arrived and took the child to the hospital. He died of his injuries eight days later.  The child lived at a home in Blackwood, where Nok…

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by Jon Craig
News
Toxicology Tests Will Help Determine How Woman Dumped In Barrel On Bergen Street Died Toxicology Tests Will Help Determine How Woman Dumped In Barrel On Bergen Street Died
Toxicology Tests Will Help Determine How Woman Dumped In Barrel On Bergen Street Died UPDATE: A man now jailed in Bergen County was seen entering a Manhattan building with a New York City escort a full week before her remains were found dumped on a quiet local street, court papers show. READ MORE.... ****** PREVIOUS STORY: With no signs of physical abuse to speak of, investigators need the results of toxicology tests to determine how a New York City escort from Connecticut whose naked body was found stuffed into a barrel on a quiet New Jersey street died. Bergen County Prosecutor Mark Musella hasn't said whether or not the investigation into the death of Nicole Flanagan, 4…

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by Jerry DeMarco
News
Toxicology Tests Will Help Determine How Woman Dumped In Barrel On Bergen Street Died Toxicology Tests Will Help Determine How Woman Dumped In Barrel On Bergen Street Died
Toxicology Tests Will Help Determine How Woman Dumped In Barrel On Bergen Street Died UPDATE: A man now jailed in Bergen County was seen entering a Manhattan building with a New York City escort a full week before her remains were found dumped on a quiet local street, court papers show. READ MORE.... ****** PREVIOUS STORY: A medical examiner was awaiting the results of toxicology tests to determine how a woman from Connecticut whose naked body was found stuffed into a barrel on a quiet Bergen County street a week ago died. Bergen County Prosecutor Mark Musella confirmed the victim on Friday as Nicole Flanagan, 42, who was identified earlier this week by a family member who…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
New Brunswick Man Charged With Causing OD Death Of Somerset County Woman New Brunswick Man Charged With Causing OD Death Of Somerset County Woman
New Brunswick Man Charged With Causing OD Death Of Somerset County Woman A New Brunswick man is accused of providing a woman with the cocktail of drugs including fentanyl and cocaine that killed her last January, authorities said Wednesday. Lashawn D. Boyd, 24, met up with the 37-year-old Bedminster woman for a drug deal on Jan. 19, Somerset County Prosecutor Michael H. Robertson, Somerset County Prosecutor’s Office Chief of County Detectives John W. Fodor and Bedminster Township Police Chief Karl Rock said. The next day, the woman died of a heart attack, Rock and Fodor said. An autopsy revealed the cause was adverse effects of cocaine, fentanyl and sertraline …

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by Cecilia Levine
Police & Fire
Rahway Man Gets 13 Years For Selling Deadly Crack-Fentanyl Cocktail Rahway Man Gets 13 Years For Selling Deadly Crack-Fentanyl Cocktail
Rahway Man Gets 13 Years For Selling Deadly Crack-Fentanyl Cocktail A Rahway drug dealer who sold a lethal cocktail of narcotics that killed at least three people was sentenced Tuesday to 13 years in state prison, the Union County Prosecutor’s Office said. George Rayford, 39, must serve at least 85 percent of the sentence before becoming eligible for parole. Rayford sold crack cocaine laced with fentanyl from his Whelan Place home on Dec. 22, 2017. Fentanyl is an opioid several times more potent than heroin. An investigation revealed the drugs were responsible for the deaths of Nicole Taylor, 41; Kacina Vanderburg, 53; and 67-year-old Harold Johnston. Th…

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by Paul Milo
Police & Fire
Ex-Medical Residents Charged With Mahwah Man's 'Molly'-Inducted Death Ex-Medical Residents Charged With Mahwah Man's 'Molly'-Inducted Death
Ex-Medical Residents Charged With Mahwah Man's 'Molly'-Inducted Death Two former medical residents who authorities said manufacturing and sold Molly and LSD were charged with giving a Mahwah man the homemade drugs that killed him. Anthony M. Kopiecki and Molly R. Campbell, both 29 and from Brooklyn, are charged with strict liability for a drug-induced death, among other offenses, Acting Bergen County Prosecutor Dennis Calo said Wednesday. The victim was taken to Good Samaritan Hospital in Suffern, where he was pronounced dead, after the May 7 overdose last year at a private residence in Mahwah, Calo said. “An autopsy conducted by the Rockland County Medical …

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
Wayne Man Charged With User's Fentanyl, Heroin Death Wayne Man Charged With User's Fentanyl, Heroin Death
Wayne Man Charged With User's Fentanyl, Heroin Death A Wayne man initially arrested on a minor drug charge is facing much more severe consequences for providing the heroin and fentanyl that killed a Jefferson user, authorities said. Norberto Rodriguez, Jr., 20, is charged with strict liability for a drug-induced death, they said. Police found Eric Malmberg dead last June 21 after overdosing on drugs given to him by Rodriguez, authorities said. Under state law, someone who sells illegal drugs that kills the user can be charged with his or her death. Anyone convicted of the offense can be sentenced to from 10 to 20 years in state prison. A ple…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
Woman Charged With Liability For Fentanyl, Heroin Death Of Morristown Artist Battling Addiction Woman Charged With Liability For Fentanyl, Heroin Death Of Morristown Artist Battling Addiction
Woman Charged With Liability For Fentanyl, Heroin Death Of Morristown Artist Battling Addiction A Rockaway woman initially arrested on a minor drug charge is facing much more severe consequences for providing the heroin and fentanyl that killed a user, authorities said. Natalia E. Zyga, 30, is charged with strict liability for a drug-induced death, they said.  Police found Sasha Truesdale dead Nov. 23 after overdosing on drugs given to her by Zyga, Morris County Prosecutor Fredric M. Knapp, Chief of Investigations Stephen F. Wilson, Jr. and Rockaway Borough Police Chief Conrad Pepperman said in a joint release Tuesday. Under state law, someone who sells illegal drugs that k…

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by Cecilia Levine