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UPDATE: Car Carrier Of Hybrids Catches Fire, Closes Route 17 (PHOTOS) UPDATE: Car Carrier Of Hybrids Catches Fire, Closes Route 17 (PHOTOS)
Update: Car Carrier Of Hybrids Catches Fire, Closes Route 17 (Photos) A car carrier loaded with hybrids caught fire, causing some major morning headaches on northbound Route 17. Special foam was needed to help extinguish the blaze, which apparently broke out in the brake system and spread early Wednesday, Sept. 28, Saddle River Police Chief Jason Cosgriff said. No one was injured, but many were inconvenienced when the northbound highway had to be shut down around 7:30 a.m. A special foam was needed.SADDLE RIVER FD "Rush-hour traffic was terrible," Cosgriff said. "The trailer had to be unloaded of all vehicles before they could all be towed."  Big Tows I…

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by Jerry DeMarco
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TEAMWORK: Paramus PD Nabs Trio After SUV Stolen Out Of Ramsey Crashes At Garden State Plaza TEAMWORK: Paramus PD Nabs Trio After SUV Stolen Out Of Ramsey Crashes At Garden State Plaza
Teamwork: Paramus PD Nabs Trio After SUV Stolen Out Of Ramsey Crashes At Garden State Plaza Paramus police captured three thieves who crashed at the Garden State Plaza during a predawn pursuit of two stolen vehicles down Route 17. The chase began on Main Street in Ramsey shortly after an 2021 Audi Q7 was stolen from a home on Deer Trail North near Darlington County Park around 12:45 a.m., Ramsey Police Chief Bryan Lyman said. Officer Christopher Finn pursued the black SUV onto southbound Route 17, where a white Mercedes that had been reported stolen out of Ridgewood joined it, the chief said. Moments later, Paramus Police Officer Michael Cleary got behind the Audi in the area of…

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by Jerry DeMarco
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GOTCHA! Thieves Captured After Crashing Stolen Car Into Stopped Traffic At Routes 17 And 4 GOTCHA! Thieves Captured After Crashing Stolen Car Into Stopped Traffic At Routes 17 And 4
Gotcha! Thieves Captured After Crashing Stolen Car Into Stopped Traffic At Routes 17 And 4 Two out-of-state teens were captured after crashing a stolen car into two vehicles -- sending a driver to the hospital -- while trying to cross from one busy Paramus highway to another, authorities said. Parris Lamont Dennis, 18, of Jamaica, Queens, and Shahiem X. McCrimmon, 19, of the Bronx bailed out but were caught after bystanders advised police of their movements shortly after 4 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 15, They were taken into custody without incident, Paramus Deputy Police Chief Robert M. Guidetti said. A Saddle River police officer began chasing the 2019 Honda Civic with Vermont licens…

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by Jerry DeMarco
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Loaded Glock, Drugs Seized, Ex-Con Nabbed By Saddle River PD In Route 17 Stop Loaded Glock, Drugs Seized, Ex-Con Nabbed By Saddle River PD In Route 17 Stop
Loaded Glock, Drugs Seized, Ex-Con Nabbed By Saddle River PD In Route 17 Stop Saddle River police found a loaded gun and a host of drugs for sale after an officer stopped an ex-con from New York State for tailgating on Route 17. Ryan Larkin, 35, of Tuxedo Park, NY, told Officer Ryan Holdsworth that he needed the .40-caliber Glock 35 -- with a high-capacity magazine -- “for the purpose of protecting himself and his girlfriend from others,” Saddle River Police Chief Jason Cosgriff said following the noontime arrest on Friday, Sept. 9. Larkin apparently was taking his girlfriend to The Valley Hospital following an undetermined injury when he was stopped. The Waldwick V…

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by Jerry DeMarco
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Fire Ravages Mahwah Home Fire Ravages Mahwah Home
Fire Ravages Mahwah Home A raging fire ravaged a Mahwah home. The fire ignited in the attached three-car garage and raced through the nearly $1.5 million home set back off a long driveway near Young World Day School on Wyckoff Avenue shortly before 2:30 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 1. The owner quickly got out and watched in anguish as firefighters battled the three-alarm blaze. They went to an exterior operation, heavily dousing the flames with a trio of aerials in front and back before moving inside of the 4,200-square-foot home after the second-floor ceiling collapsed.  The fire was declared under control shortly aft…

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by Jerry DeMarco
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GOTCHA! Saddle River Officers Nab Trio Of Teens Who Fled Burglary Attempt In Stolen SUV GOTCHA! Saddle River Officers Nab Trio Of Teens Who Fled Burglary Attempt In Stolen SUV
Gotcha! Saddle River Officers Nab Trio Of Teens Who Fled Burglary Attempt In Stolen SUV Police in Saddle River nabbed a trio of car thieves -- one of them 18, the others 15 -- moments after they tried breaking into a million-dollar-home, authorities said. Officers responding to a burglary-in-progress call on Bayberry Drive this past Tuesday morning spotted a parked Cadillac Escalade that had been reported stolen a short time earlier from a burglarized home in Mountain Lakes, Police Chief Jason Cosgriff said. Seeing them, the driver hit the gas. The officers pursued the SUV into Allendale and Waldwick before breaking off the pursuit at Route 17 out of concerns for civilian saf…

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by Jerry DeMarco
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Suspect Tussles With Police On Cliff Overlooking Route 95 Suspect Tussles With Police On Cliff Overlooking Route 95
Suspect Tussles With Police On Cliff Overlooking Route 95 A car burglary suspect grappled with Fort Lee police on a cliff overlooking Route 95 before he joined two accomplices in handcuffs, authorities said. Patrick Jordan, 21, of Newark, had been released by a judge in Hackensack in June, a week after police said he and three other ski-masked thieves nearly struck a Saddle River homeowner as they fled after trying to steal his $200,000 Mercedes SUV. Paramus police captured that quartet on southbound Route 17 and handed them over to their Saddle River colleagues. SEE: Fleeing Vehicle Thieves Nearly Run Down Owner, Nabbed On Ro…

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by Jerry DeMarco
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UPDATE: 'Popping Sounds' Heard During Washington Township Fire Not Ammo, Authorities Say UPDATE: 'Popping Sounds' Heard During Washington Township Fire Not Ammo, Authorities Say
Update: 'Popping Sounds' Heard During Washington Township Fire Not Ammo, Authorities Say Popping sounds heard during a fire involving two structures and multiple vehicles in Washington Township weren't from ammunition, as some neighbors and witnesses surmised, local authorities said. The Pascack Road homeowner was out when paint cans apparently combusted in what became an intense, three-alarm fire across the street from Memorial Field late Friday afternoon, they said. A shed and a vehicle apparently went up first, then an SUV that could be seen from the street, witnesses said. The fire then began burning up the house, they said. The shed was destroyed, the vehicles totaled an…

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by Jerry DeMarco
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Overnight House Fire Knocked In Upper Saddle River Overnight House Fire Knocked In Upper Saddle River
Overnight House Fire Knocked In Upper Saddle River Firefighters doused a pre-dawn house blaze Thursday in Upper Saddle River. The fire broke out on Fawnhill Road shortly before 4 a.m. and was quickly brought under control, responders said. Mutual aid responders included borough police and firefighters from Mahwah and Saddle River. Two ambulances and a Valley Health System paramedic unit also responded, although no serious injuries were reported. The Upper Saddle River Fire Prevention Bureau was investigating the cause, which the department said doesn't appear suspicious. ****** ALSO SEE: Firefighters battled heat exhaustion along with …

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by Jerry DeMarco
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Flashy Bishop Robbed During Service Put Stolen Savings Toward $4.4M NJ Mansion, Lawsuit Says Flashy Bishop Robbed During Service Put Stolen Savings Toward $4.4M NJ Mansion, Lawsuit Says
Flashy Bishop Robbed During Service Put Stolen Savings Toward $4.4M NJ Mansion, Lawsuit Says A flashy Brooklyn bishop robbed during a live-streamed service stole funds from a congregant and put some of them toward a payment on his $4.4 million New Jersey mansion, according to a lawsuit filed last year. Pauline Anderson accuses bishop Lamor Whitehead of convincing her to invest nearly her entire life savings in one of his firms under the promise he could help her improve her credit score and buy a home, according to the suit. Anderson, 56, wrote the bishop of Leaders of Tomorrow International Churches a $90,000 check, as he promised to give her $100 monthly allowances for living exp…

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by Cecilia Levine
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Notorious NJ Serial Killer Charged With Murder Of Dance Teacher At Popular Long Island Mall Notorious NJ Serial Killer Charged With Murder Of Dance Teacher At Popular Long Island Mall
Notorious NJ Serial Killer Charged With Murder Of Dance Teacher At Popular Long Island Mall Another female victim has been added to the list of imprisoned 75-year-old New Jersey serial killer Richard Cottingham, thanks to advances in DNA technology. Cottingham was arraigned on Long Island via videoconference Wednesday from South Woods State Prison in Bridgeton for the 1968 slaying of a New Hyde Park woman in the parking lot of the popular Green Acres Mall in Valley Stream. He entered a not-guilty plea to murder charges in the death of Diane Cusick, a 23-year-old divorced single mom who worked as a dance instructor. Cottingham, a married father of three who’d lived in Lodi and wor…

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by Jerry DeMarco
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Tipped Load Of Frozen Food Closes Flyover At NJ/NY Border For Hours, Second Crash Of Morning Tipped Load Of Frozen Food Closes Flyover At NJ/NY Border For Hours, Second Crash Of Morning
Tipped Load Of Frozen Food Closes Flyover At NJ/NY Border For Hours, Second Crash Of Morning UPDATE: An early-morning tractor-trailer crash kept a notorious stretch of highway at the New Jersey/New York border closed well into the afternoon on Tuesday. The driver told police that his load of frozen food shifted and the rig tipped on the flyover where Routes 17 and 287 meet in Mahwah around 7:30 a.m. He was uninjured. The flyover connection has been a constant nightmare and headache for motorists as well as emergency responders for years. This time, the road remained closed at that point into the late afternoon as boxes of tater tots, mozzarella sticks and stuffed jalapenos were o…

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by Jerry DeMarco