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Police & Fire
Edison Middle School Teacher Had Sexual Relationship With Student: Prosecutor Edison Middle School Teacher Had Sexual Relationship With Student: Prosecutor
Edison Middle School Teacher Had Sexual Relationship With Student: Prosecutor A 55-year-old Edison Township Middle School teacher who was found with child porn over the summer has been arrested again, after it was learned he had a sexual relationship with a student, authorities said. Julius Coaccioli is facing new charges of kidnapping and child endangerment, Middlesex County Prosecutor Yolanda Ciccone and Woodbridge Police Director Robert Hubner announced on Thursday, Dec. 7. On Aug. 30, the Middlesex County Prosecutor’s Office Internet Crimes Against Children Unit (ICAC) executed a search warrant at Coaccioli's home, seizing electronic devi…

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by Jon Craig
Police & Fire
Heartbreaking Video Of Iraqi Shiite Hostage, Princeton Student Elizabeth Tsurkov Surfaces Heartbreaking Video Of Iraqi Shiite Hostage, Princeton Student Elizabeth Tsurkov Surfaces
Heartbreaking Video Of Iraqi Shiite Hostage, Princeton Student Elizabeth Tsurkov Surfaces A newly posted video suggests that a Princeton University doctoral student kidnapped in Iraq last March is alive. Elizabeth Tsurkov, a citizen of both Russia and Israel, was abducted while doing work for the Ivy League school, according to a July statement from Benjamin Netanyahu's office. The Iran Observer posted the unauthenticated video clip on X on Monday, Nov. 13 claiming Tsurkov is an operative with Mossad — the national intelligence agency of Israel. "I worked for the Mossad and CIA," a translation of the video reads. Israeli Elizabeth Tsurkov, kidnapped in Iraq 7 months ago, …

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by Jon Craig
Police & Fire
Kidnappers Owed Drug Money Kept Victim Tied In U-Haul For Hours In NJ: Police Kidnappers Owed Drug Money Kept Victim Tied In U-Haul For Hours In NJ: Police
Kidnappers Owed Drug Money Kept Victim Tied In U-Haul For Hours In NJ: Police A woman was arrested for kidnapping and two suspects remain at-large as Secaucus police continue their investigation into the sale of narcotics at motels in the town, authorities said.  Police found one member of an illicit drug distribution ring was kidnapped at knifepoint in Jersey City in June 2023, since he owed Erica Festino, another member of the drug ring, money, police said. The victim was bound and driven around Hudson County in the back of a U-Haul truck for hours and robbed of cash and personal items, police said. He was eventually released, police said.  Festino was ar…

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by Sam Barron
News
'Lost A Good One:' Man Dies 2 Years After Harrowing Attack That Killed His Mom At NJ Home 'Lost A Good One:' Man Dies 2 Years After Harrowing Attack That Killed His Mom At NJ Home
'Lost A Good One:' Man Dies 2 Years After Harrowing Attack That Killed His Mom At NJ Home William "Bart" Trachin has died two years after an attack that left him seriously injured and his mother dead, according to his community. The Washington Borough man was 53 years old when he and his mother, 84-year-old Elaine Trachin, were attacked at their home in Washington Borough (Warren County), in 2021, as Daily Voice reported. Kyle Kaspereen, 24, of Easton, PA, is accused of carrying out the Nov. 30 attack. He has been charged with first-degree charges for murder, attempted murder, kidnapping, robbery, and burglary, Warren County Prosecutor James L. Pfeiffer stated in a release foll…

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by Cecilia Levine
Police & Fire
Victim Escapes Cinderblock Cell Made By NJ Abductor Posing As Police Officer: FBI (PHOTOS) Victim Escapes Cinderblock Cell Made By NJ Abductor Posing As Police Officer: FBI (PHOTOS)
Victim Escapes Cinderblock Cell Made By NJ Abductor Posing As Police Officer: FBI (Photos) A 29-year-old former New Jersey man named Negasi Zuberi is in custody after police say he kidnapped and sexually assaulted a woman he kept locked in a cinderblock room. Zuberi was posing as a police officer when he kidnapped his victim, a sex worker, then drove her 450 miles to his home in Klamath Falls, Oregon, the FBI's Portland Field Office said. CINDER BLOCK CELL KIDNAPPING The @FBI says 29-year-old Negasi Zuberi kidnapped a prostitute off Aurora Ave in Seattle and held her captive in a cinder-block cell at his home in Oregon. FBI believes there may be more victims. INFO: https://t…

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by Cecilia Levine
Police & Fire
Hackensack Man Kidnaps Ex-GF In Lodi, Crashes On Route 46, Captured At American Dream: Police Hackensack Man Kidnaps Ex-GF In Lodi, Crashes On Route 46, Captured At American Dream: Police
Hackensack Man Kidnaps Ex-GF In Lodi, Crashes On Route 46, Captured At American Dream: Police A Hackensack man was captured by State Police at the American Dream Mall after he kidnapped his ex-girlfriend at knifepoint in Lodi and then crashed his car on Route 46, authorities said. The woman ran off after Devin D. Nickens, 30, crashed a 2007 Ford Focus on eastbound Route 46 at the border of Hasbrouck Heights and Teterboro shortly after 9 a.m. Sunday, July 30. Officers who responded to the victim's Pasadena Avenue home were talking with her father moments later when she called to tell him what had happened, Lodi Police Chief Donald Scorzetti said. Nickens had chased her onto Route 17…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
Judge Rejects Release Of Morris Man Charged With Abducting, Raping Bergen 13-Year-Old Judge Rejects Release Of Morris Man Charged With Abducting, Raping Bergen 13-Year-Old
Judge Rejects Release Of Morris Man Charged With Abducting, Raping Bergen 13-Year-Old A 25-year-old Morris County man raped a 13-year-old Elmwood Park child he held captive in his vehicle in Paterson, authorities charged. A judge in Paterson denied Luis Campos of Lincoln Park release, ordering that he remain held pending trial on two charges of first-degree aggravated assault and one of first-degree kidnapping, among other counts, Passaic County Prosecutor Camelia M. Valdes said on Thursday, July 6. Elmwood Park police referred the complaint to members of the prosecutor’s Special Victims Unit on Jan. 7, the same day of the alleged incident, Valdes said. Her detectives inter…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
Man Posing As Taxi Driver Kidnaps, Sexually Assaults Woman Across Central Jersey: Cops Man Posing As Taxi Driver Kidnaps, Sexually Assaults Woman Across Central Jersey: Cops
Man Posing As Taxi Driver Kidnaps, Sexually Assaults Woman Across Central Jersey: Cops A 69-year-old man who posed as a taxi driver has been arrested for kidnapping and sexually assaulting a woman as he drove her to various locations across Central Jersey, authorities said. Andrew S. Giannetto, of Sayreville, was charged with first-degree kidnapping and aggravated criminal sexual contact, according to Middlesex County Prosecutor Yolanda Ciccone. On Saturday, July 1, the Perth Amboy Police Department received a report that a woman was approached by a man she didn't know, who was operating a 2016 silver Kia Soul.  He told the victim that he was a …

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by Jon Craig
Police & Fire
AT LONG LAST: Fort Lee Bar Owner’s Killer Returned To NJ After 30 Years AT LONG LAST: Fort Lee Bar Owner’s Killer Returned To NJ After 30 Years
AT Long Last: Fort Lee Bar Owner’s Killer Returned To NJ After 30 Years Justice may have been delayed, but it isn't being denied to loved ones of a Bergen County businessman who was tortured, robbed and savagely slain in his Hudson River apartment three decades ago. Jimmy Polites began the night of Aug. 4, 1994 with friends at the tavern he co-owned in Fort Lee. Hours later he was bound to a chair and hanged with an electrical cord in his Edgewater townhouse. It has taken nearly 30 years for his killer to finally pay. Thomas Christopher James was released from a New York State prison late this week after serving 28 years for murdering a reputed Long Island mo…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
Onetime Kid Guitarist From Paramus Charged With Kidnapping Woman In East Rutherford Onetime Kid Guitarist From Paramus Charged With Kidnapping Woman In East Rutherford
Onetime Kid Guitarist From Paramus Charged With Kidnapping Woman In East Rutherford A Paramus man was charged with first-degree kidnapping after authorities in East Rutherford said he abducted his ex-girlfriend. Adam Sarkisian, 26, was arguing with the woman when he suddenly grabbed her by the sweatshirt, yanked her into his 2008 Dodge Charger and sped off on Oak Street around 2:15 a.m. Sunday, June 25, Police Capt. Jeff Yannacone said. An alert went out to area law enforcement agencies after the woman's mother dialed 911. Hasbrouck Heights police checked behind the Hilton Hotel, just off Routes 17 and 80, because Sarkisian had been known to sleep in an old fire truck in …

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
HOME INVASION: Accused NYPD Impersonators Jailed In Gunpoint Bergen Robbery HOME INVASION: Accused NYPD Impersonators Jailed In Gunpoint Bergen Robbery
Home Invasion: Accused Nypd Impersonators Jailed In Gunpoint Bergen Robbery UPDATE: Two men accused of posing as New York City detectives to rob a Fair Lawn resident at gunpoint during a home invasion last fall have been brought to Bergen County after being arrested out of state. Whether local or federal authorities will be prosecuting them and four alleged accomplices -- three of whom have already been released -- remains an open question, at least publicly. All seven were arrested in New York State last month and charged in a Nov. 17, 2022 home invasion in which residents were zip-tied and an undisclosed amount of cash and jewelry was stolen. The two main defen…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
NJ Cyber Attorney Linked To Rapes, Kidnappings In Boston: FBI NJ Cyber Attorney Linked To Rapes, Kidnappings In Boston: FBI
NJ Cyber Attorney Linked To Rapes, Kidnappings In Boston: FBI A New Jersey attorney is believed to be behind a string of rapes and kidnappings in Boston more than 15 years ago, according to federal officials.  Matthew Nilo, 35, of Weehawken, was linked to the rapes through investigative forensic genealogy, which combines uses traditional DNA analysis on publicly available genealogy research and historical records, said Joe Bonavolonta, the special agent in charge of the Boston office of the FBI.  This technique was not available when the attacks were happening. The alleged attacks happened in August and November 2007 and August and December 2008 in …

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by Josh Lanier