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Justice System

Police & Fire
Former NJ Corrections Officer Confesses To Beating Resident Who Died From Stroke, AG Says Former NJ Corrections Officer Confesses To Beating Resident Who Died From Stroke, AG Says
Former NJ Corrections Officer Confesses To Beating Resident Who Died From Stroke, AG Says A former New Jersey corrections officer admitted to assaulting a resident who died several days after the attack, authorities said. Giuseppe Mandara of Brick Township pleaded guilty on Tuesday, Dec. 3 to third-degree aggravated assault, Attorney General Matthew Platkin and the state's Office of Public Integrity and Accountability said in a news release on Wednesday, Dec. 4. Mandara confessed to attacking Darrell "Malik" Smith on Friday, Aug. 23, 2019. Smith served more than 23 years in state prison on convictions for kidnapping and aggravated assault on a police officer. Man…

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by Chris Spiker
News
Teen Seriously Injured By Hit-Run Driver Who Had Sedan Repaired, Bergen County Prosecutor Says Teen Seriously Injured By Hit-Run Driver Who Had Sedan Repaired, Bergen County Prosecutor Says
Teen Seriously Injured By Hit-Run Driver Who Had Sedan Repaired, Bergen County Prosecutor Says A 28-year-old Fort Lee man is facing multiple charges following a hit-and-run accident that left a teenager seriously injured last month, authorities said. Hugo R. Paz-Lajuj was identified as the driver who struck the 17-year-old boy on Oct. 14 around 6:40 a.m., at Brinkerhoff Avenue near 14th Street in Palisades Park, Bergen County Prosecutor Mark Musella said. The boy was hospitalized with serious injuries and Paz-Lajuj fled, Musella said. After a month-long investigation, detectives identified Paz-Lajuj as the driver and found his 2004 Honda Civic, which had reportedly be…

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by Cecilia Levine
Police & Fire
Man Sexually Assaulted Victim Since Age 5 For Years In Bergen County: Prosecutor Man Sexually Assaulted Victim Since Age 5 For Years In Bergen County: Prosecutor
Man Sexually Assaulted Victim Since Age 5 For Years In Bergen County: Prosecutor A 46-year-old Bergen County man has been arrested on accusations he sexually assaulted a child, authorities said. Pedro Osorio-Estrada assaulted the child multiple times when they were between ages 5 and 15 in Palisades Park, Bergen County Prosecutor Mark Musella said. He was charged on Oct. 21, following an investigation with various counts of first-degree aggravated sexual assault, second-degree sexual assault, second-degree endangering the welfare of a child, and third-degree aggravated criminal sexual contact, Musella announced. Osorio-Estrada remains lodged in the Bergen County Jail p…

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by Cecilia Levine
Police & Fire
NABBED: Second Teen Wanted For Paterson Murder From Last Fall Captured In Pennsy NABBED: Second Teen Wanted For Paterson Murder From Last Fall Captured In Pennsy
Nabbed: Second Teen Wanted For Paterson Murder From Last Fall Captured In Pennsy 𝗨𝗣𝗗𝗔𝗧𝗘: A 19-year-old fugitive wanted for killing a 23-year-old Morris County man and wounding two others in a hail of gunfire in Paterson last fall was captured in Pennsylvania, authorities announced on Thursday. The arrest of Brayan Caraballo follows the seizure of a 16-year-old boy three weeks after the Oct. 3 broad-daylight ambush at the corner of Broadway and Rosa Parks Boulevard. Jerrell Wright was pronounced dead at St. Joseph’s University Medical Center shortly after the 3:47 p.m. shooting, Passaic County Prosecutor Camelia M. Valdes and Paterson Police Department Officer-In-Charge…

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by Jerry DeMarco
News
GOTCHA: Ex-BF Accused Of Swindling $71K From Local Realtor Lodged In Bergen County Jail GOTCHA: Ex-BF Accused Of Swindling $71K From Local Realtor Lodged In Bergen County Jail
Gotcha: Ex-BF Accused Of Swindling $71K From Local Realtor Lodged In Bergen County Jail Christina LaBarbiera says four months is way too long — but it's something. Last November, she filed a lawsuit accusing Robert D. Harris of swindling more than $71,000 from her in the months after they matched on the dating app Hinge. On Monday, March 18, LaBarbiera says she got the call from police she has been waiting for: Harris surrendered, she said. Records show 30-year-old Harris was lodged in the Bergen County Jail on March 18, and is facing two counts of credit card theft and one count of theft by unlawful taking/disposition moveable property. "I'm just looking forward to the just…

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by Cecilia Levine
Police & Fire
Detective Found Justified In Shooting NJ Man Now Paralyzed For Life Detective Found Justified In Shooting NJ Man Now Paralyzed For Life
Detective Found Justified In Shooting NJ Man Now Paralyzed For Life A Mercer County Grand Jury found that police use of force was justified in the February 2022 shooting of a 29-year-old Trenton man that left him paralyzed, authorities announced. Jajuan Henderson had been accused of ramming a police car and other vehicles in an alleged attempt to flee from police on Saturday, Feb. 12, 2022, before Trenton Det. Michael Gettler opened fire, according to a release from the Union County Prosecutor's Office. The UCPO handled the investigation due to a conflict between Trenton police and the Mercer County Prosecutor’s Office. The incident unfolded on Centre Str…

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by Valerie Musson & Cecilia Levine
News
Bergenfield Man Seized In Overdose Death Of Hackensack Drug User Bergenfield Man Seized In Overdose Death Of Hackensack Drug User
Bergenfield Man Seized In Overdose Death Of Hackensack Drug User A Bergenfield man was seized at his home on Friday and charged with supplying the drugs that killed a 34-year-old Hackensack user nearly five weeks ago. Stevie J. Killins, 59, was sent to the Bergen County Jail to await a first appearance in Central Judicial Processing Court in Hackensack following his March 3 arrest, city Police Capt. Michael Antista said. Killins -- also known as Steven Bease -- is charged with the strict liability death of the overdose victim on Jan. 28, the captain said. He's also charged with various drug possession counts for heroin and illegal prescription pills tha…

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by Jerry DeMarco
News
Carlstadt PD Rescues Kidnapped Woman Forced Into Prostitution At Meadowlands-Area Motel Carlstadt PD Rescues Kidnapped Woman Forced Into Prostitution At Meadowlands-Area Motel
Carlstadt PD Rescues Kidnapped Woman Forced Into Prostitution At Meadowlands-Area Motel A missing woman who’d been held against her will and forced into prostitution at a local motel was rescued by Carlstadt police who arrested her combative captor, authorities said. Officer Matthew Bartlett responded to the Super 8 on Washington Avenue just north of Route 120 after the woman’s cell phone was traced there, Acting Police Chief Thomas Cox said on Monday, Feb. 13. Bartlett spoke with employees, then was joined at the motel by backup Officers James Winand and Anthony Rivezzi, the acting chief said. They found the woman with Kevin Williams, 32, of Newark, he said. Williams initia…

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by Jerry DeMarco
News
First Convict Sentenced Federally In Trenton Protest Firebombings First Convict Sentenced Federally In Trenton Protest Firebombings
First Convict Sentenced Federally In Trenton Protest Firebombings UPDATE: A South Jersey man was sentenced today to 28 months in federal prison for trying to set fire to a police cruiser during a video-recorded riot that broke out following a peaceful protest last year in Trenton. Killian F. Melecio, 20, of Columbus must serve just all of the sentence because there's no parole in the federal prison system. Melecio admitted via video conference in U.S. District Cout in Trenton earlier this year that he stuffed a shirt he’d gotten from another man into the gas tank of the vehicle and tried to ignite it on May 31, 2020. The protest earlier that day in respo…

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by Jerry DeMarco
News
9/11 Hero's Widow Awarded $5M From Killer Convicted In Brutal Murder At LBI Home 9/11 Hero's Widow Awarded $5M From Killer Convicted In Brutal Murder At LBI Home
9/11 Hero's Widow Awarded $5M From Killer Convicted In Brutal Murder At LBI Home The widow of a 9/11 hero was awarded $5 million in a judgment against the man convicted of brutally killing her husband at their Long Beach Island vacation home. Superior Court Judge Mark Troncone, sitting in Toms River, ruled against Conrad Sipa, who was convicted of murder in the death of New York City fire lieutenant Richard Doody Jr., the New Jersey Law Journal reported. Police discovered Doody’s body wrapped in a blanket at the couple’s Barnegat Light home after Murray called them from the couple’s Staten Island home to check on him. Sipa, an occupational therapist from Colts Nec…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
Newark Gunman Who Left Victim Paralyzed Sentenced To 23 Years In Prison Newark Gunman Who Left Victim Paralyzed Sentenced To 23 Years In Prison
Newark Gunman Who Left Victim Paralyzed Sentenced To 23 Years In Prison A Newark man was sentenced to 23 years in prison for shooting another man off a ladder while he was doing repair work on a church, the Essex County Prosecutor’s Office said. Al Rashid, 46, shot the victim four times Aug. 8, 2016, as he was helping fix the roof of a church at South 14th Street near 8th Avenue. He fell 20 feet and is permanently paralyzed. One of the bullets remains lodged in his spine. Authorities say Rashid blamed the victim for his eviction from the multifamily home where they both lived. “While the victim must live forever with the life-altering injuries, we are satis…

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by Paul Milo
Police & Fire
New NJ Clergy Abuse Task Force Makes First Arrest New NJ Clergy Abuse Task Force Makes First Arrest
New NJ Clergy Abuse Task Force Makes First Arrest A massive investigation by New Jersey authorities into the sexual abuse of young boys by priests has produced its first arrest. Fr. Thomas P. Ganley, 63, of Phillipsburg remained held in Middlesex County Adult Corrections Center in North Brunswick pending a detention hearing Friday on various sex assault counts. Ganley was a priest at St. Cecelia Church in the Iselin section of Woodbridge when he abused the youngster from 1990 through 1994, from when the boy was 14 until he was 17, authorities said. The charges are the first brought by the New Jersey Clergy Abuse Task Force, which Grewal c…

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by Jerry DeMarco