Fair 33°
Police & Fire
'Help Me! Help Me!': Former Marine Surrenders To SWAT In Second Bergen Hotel Standoff In Month 'Help Me! Help Me!': Former Marine Surrenders To SWAT In Second Bergen Hotel Standoff In Month
'Help Me! Help Me!': Former Marine Surrenders To SWAT In Second Bergen Hotel Standoff In Month A SWAT team standoff at a Saddle Brook motel ended Friday night with the arrest of a former Marine from Somerset County who'd been seized with a gun by the same unit at an Elmwood Park hotel last month. Ronnie Shertel, 37, of Hillsborough called 911 from the Crowne Plaza hotel off Route 80 in Saddle Brook around 10:30 p.m. Friday, saying he'd heard shots in the next room, Police Chief Robert Kugler said. "Help me! Help me!" he shouted before hanging up, Kugler said. When police arrived, Shertel shouted from inside for them to break down the door, the chief said. They established a perimet…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
Authorities: Armed Civilian Report Unfounded, Hudson County Courthouse Lockdown Lifted Authorities: Armed Civilian Report Unfounded, Hudson County Courthouse Lockdown Lifted
Authorities: Armed Civilian Report Unfounded, Hudson County Courthouse Lockdown Lifted UPDATE: Authorities lifted a lockdown at the Hudson County courthouse in Jersey City Thursday afternoon, saying that a report that a civilian was spotted with a gun was unfounded. The Hudson County Sheriff’s Office confirmed that K-9 and SWAT units responded. The lockdown at the Newark Avenue complex lasted nearly two hours after the 2:15 p.m. report.

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
UPDATE: Second Arrest Made In Million-Dollar Meth Lab Bust UPDATE: Second Arrest Made In Million-Dollar Meth Lab Bust
Update: Second Arrest Made In Million-Dollar Meth Lab Bust UPDATE, Aug. 1: A second suspect has been arrested in connection with the raid. Click here for more.  Original story is below:  A home on a quiet suburban street in West Orange served as a major drug-production facility where authorities found more than 4,000 grams of methamphetamine, Essex County Sheriff Armando Fontoura said Tuesday.  Authorities had been investigating for months prior to the raid Monday night, when neighbors saw SWAT and Essex County HazMat personnel encircling 1 Lorelei Road.  The sheriff's office spearheaded an investigation that also involved pol…

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by Paul Milo
Police & Fire
SWAT Standoff: Negotiators Talk FDNY Retiree From New Milford Home Following Threat SWAT Standoff: Negotiators Talk FDNY Retiree From New Milford Home Following Threat
SWAT Standoff: Negotiators Talk Fdny Retiree From New Milford Home Following Threat Negotiators talked a retired New York City Fire Department paramedic out of his New Milford home after a SWAT standoff of a little over an hour and a half Wednesday. The 63-year-old tenant apparently made threatening remarks during an angry call to a fire department organization in New York after he had difficulty with a particular benefit, Detective Sgt. Kevin Van Saders. "He had threatened to bring an assault rifle to their building and open fire," Van Saders said. The reference to an AK-47 prompted the FDNY division to call local police, who also summoned a Bergen County Regional SWAT …

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
UPDATE: SWAT Team Removes Barricaded Lodi Man UPDATE: SWAT Team Removes Barricaded Lodi Man
Update: SWAT Team Removes Barricaded Lodi Man UPDATE: An emotionally troubled man who barricaded himself in his Lodi apartment Wednesday was safely brought out by SWAT team members after a nearly five-hour standoff. "He's going to be transported to [Hackensack University Medical Center] for an evaluation," Lt. Robert Salerno said moments later. The middle-aged man wasn't injured, was alone in the Union Street apartment and didn't have any firearms, Salerno said. He'd told negotiators that he would come out once his son came home from work between 8-8:30 p.m.  Roughly 15 minutes after the deadline passed, the SWAT unit fired…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
UPDATE: Rapper Who Left Gun In Bag At Newark Airport Surrenders UPDATE: Rapper Who Left Gun In Bag At Newark Airport Surrenders
Update: Rapper Who Left Gun In Bag At Newark Airport Surrenders Passaic County rapper Juelz Santana turned himself in to Port Authority police before dawn Monday after fleeing Newark Airport Friday night when a gun and drugs were found in his bag. Santana, 36, of Totowa -- whose real name is LaRon James -- later entered a not-guilty plea before a state Superior Court judge in Newark who scheduled him for a detention hearing on Monday, March 19. Charged with drug and weapons offenses, he could face prison time because of a prior felony conviction out of Bergen County, which prohibits Santana from carrying a firearm. A judge in Hackensack gave Santana tw…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
Lockdown: What Happened At Dumont High School Lockdown: What Happened At Dumont High School
Lockdown: What Happened At Dumont High School DUMONT, N.J. -- (UPDATE) While one family deals with the unthinkable, other parents of Dumont High School students were grateful that what had been a terrifying ordeal ended with their children returning safely to them. Authorities said they seized a rifle from the home of a sophomore who was taken into custody Monday after allegedly threatening a mass shooting. "It was a long gun, a rifle," a ranking law enforcement official told Daily Voice. "It was not his. "His mother was extremely cooperative," the official added. "[The gun] was at the house. He didn't br…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
Prosecutor: Englewood Man Busted With $50,000 Worth Of Cocaine For Sale Prosecutor: Englewood Man Busted With $50,000 Worth Of Cocaine For Sale
Prosecutor: Englewood Man Busted With $50,000 Worth Of Cocaine For Sale ENGLEWOOD, N.J. -- Detectives arrested an Englewood dealer with nearly two pounds of cocaine following a buy and bust, authorities said Sunday. An undercover detective bought more than seven ounces of cocaine from Jhoan Tejada, 39, before investigators assisted by a SWAT team raided his Slocum Avenue apartment on Friday, Acting Bergen County Prosecutor Dennis Calo said. They found more than a pound a half more of the drug, along with packaging materials, drug paraphernalia and $1,550 in proceeds, Calo said. The total street value of the drugs is more than $50,000, the prosecutor said. Te…

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by Jerry DeMarco