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Police & Fire
140 Shopping Carts Stolen From Rochelle Park ShopRite: Man, 77, Younger Pal Busted 140 Shopping Carts Stolen From Rochelle Park ShopRite: Man, 77, Younger Pal Busted
140 Shopping Carts Stolen From Rochelle Park ShopRite: Man, 77, Younger Pal Busted A 77-year-old Cuban national and a middle-aged accomplice from Newark were arrested after 140 shopping carts were stolen from the Rochelle Park ShopRite over the course of two weeks, authorities said. The carts began vanishing from the parking lot of the West Passaic Street supermarket on March 27, Rochelle Park Police Capt. James M. DePreta said.By early this week, 140 were gone, the captain said. Total value: $28,000 (or $200 per).  Reviewing surveillance video with supermarket security, Rochelle Park Detective Sgt. Jared Shatkin and Detective Nick Mercoun identified a distinctive r…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
Ex-Con Charged With Pointing Illegal Gun During Dispute In Garfield Ex-Con Charged With Pointing Illegal Gun During Dispute In Garfield
Certain Persons Convict Ex-Con Gun Garfield Illegal Weapons Garfield police investigating a report of a man pointing a gun at a victim during a dispute seized an ex-con from Paterson. Officers responding to a John Street residence found a defaced .22-caliber handgun and a magazine loaded with 10 rounds that belonged to Kelvin Merello, 37, Garfield Police Capt. Mario Pozo said. They arrested Merello and charged him with aggravated assault, making terroristic threats and multiple weapons counts -- including illegally possessing a firearm as a convicted felon. Merello -- whose online bio lists him as a personal trainer -- has remained in the Bergen Co…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
'Reprehensible': Crimefighters Unite To Pursue Rutgers' Islamic Center Attackers (UPDATE) 'Reprehensible': Crimefighters Unite To Pursue Rutgers' Islamic Center Attackers (UPDATE)
'Reprehensible': Crimefighters Unite To Pursue Rutgers' Islamic Center Attackers (Update) The overnight trashing Wednesday of the Center for Islamic Life at Rutgers University in New Brunswick -- which coincides with the end of the holy month of Ramadan -- is being treated as a bias crime, authorities said. Someone forced their way in sometimes before 4:30 a.m. April 10, broke glass and destroyed artwork and various other possessions, Rutgers Police Chief Kenneth Cop said. The attack came on Eid al-Fitr, the Islamic holiday commemorating the end of sunrise-to-dusk fasting during the holy month of Ramadan. "Today we witnessed art pieces with Quranic verses, shattered window…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
2.6 Aftershock Recorded In New Jersey 5 Days After Massive Earthquake 2.6 Aftershock Recorded In New Jersey 5 Days After Massive Earthquake
2.6 Aftershock Recorded In New Jersey 5 Days After Massive Earthquake We're not out of the earthquake woods just yet. A 2.6 aftershock was recorded in Somerset County on Wednesday, April 10, according to the United States Geological Survey. The earthquake was recorded 5 km southwest of Gladstone, with more than 430 people telling the USGS they could feel something shaking.  The aftershocks come in the wake of a 4.8 earthquake that originated in Whitehouse Station and shook up the Northeast. In the first day after the earthquake, the USGS reported 23 aftershocks. Aftershocks are smaller earthquakes that happen in the same general area during the days fol…

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by Sam Barron
Police & Fire
Jersey Shore Bizman Sentenced For IRS Tax Dodge: 2½ Years In Prison, $11.2 Million Restitution Jersey Shore Bizman Sentenced For IRS Tax Dodge: 2½ Years In Prison, $11.2 Million Restitution
Jersey Shore Bizman Sentenced For IRS Tax Dodge: 2½ Years In Prison, $11.2 Million Restitution UPDATE: An Ocean County businessman who stiffed the IRS out of more than $10 million in payroll taxes is headed to federal prison for a plea-bargained 2½ years. Josef Neuman, 37, of Lakewood, also must pay $11.2 million, including interest, that he still owes the government. Neuman was CEO of the Lakewood-based Concord Healthcare Group, which provided services to nursing homes and other healthcare operations -- including 20 or so that he also co-owned, U.S. Attorney for New Jersey Philip R. Sellinger said. Despite being responsible for collecting, accounting for and paying the payroll taxe…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
Notorious Vehicle ‘Broker’ Surrenders After Wyckoff Buyer Loses $12,000 In Scam: Police Notorious Vehicle ‘Broker’ Surrenders After Wyckoff Buyer Loses $12,000 In Scam: Police
Notorious Vehicle ‘Broker’ Surrenders After Wyckoff Buyer Loses $12,000 In Scam: Police A Wyckoff resident became the latest victim of a notorious scammer from Totowa who this time pocketed $12,000 for an Audi A5 that was never delivered, authorities said. Police in Wayne had arrested vehicle broker Anthony Antoniello, 38, early last month for keeping $27,900 toward a car he didn’t deliver, then bouncing a refund check. Daily Voice published a story about the arrest on March 5. SEE: Scammer Jailed After Collecting $27,000 For Car He Never Delivered: Wayne PD The following day, Wyckoff police were contacted by one of their residents. Detective Sgt. Michael Ragucci learned t…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
Motorcyclist Killed In Crash With New Jersey State Police Car In South Jersey: AG Motorcyclist Killed In Crash With New Jersey State Police Car In South Jersey: AG
Motorcyclist Killed In Crash With New Jersey State Police Car In South Jersey: AG A motorcyclist was killed in a collision involving an on-duty New Jersey State Police trooper in South Jersey Tuesday, April 9, state officials said. An on-duty state trooper was conducting routine patrol duties on Route 70 in Southampton, when the vehicle "was involved in a collision" with a civilian motorcycle near Burrs Mill Road  New Jersey Attorney General Matthew J. Platkin said. The motorcyclist was taken to Virtua Mount Holly Hospital, where he was pronounced dead at approximately 12:45 p.m. The state trooper involved in the collision did not sufferer significant injuries,…

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by Cecilia Levine
Police & Fire
Bergen Grade Schoolers Accused Of Sodomizing Boy With Sex Toy Bergen Grade Schoolers Accused Of Sodomizing Boy With Sex Toy
Bergen Grade Schoolers Accused Of Sodomizing Boy With Sex Toy A group of young boys from Old Tappan are accused of sodomizing another with a sex toy. According to multiple parents, the 8th graders pooled their money to buy the penis-shaped sex aid from a popular gift company. One apparently turned it on another at a local residence while at least two others helped with the horrific assault, they said. Video of the penetration and what the parents said was an equally disgusting subsequent act was apparently recorded and shared. It wasn't immediately clear what physical injuries the victim may have suffered or what medical treatment was needed.  …

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
Waldwick Man Charged With Sexually Assaulting Woman At Saddle River Home Where She Worked Waldwick Man Charged With Sexually Assaulting Woman At Saddle River Home Where She Worked
Waldwick Man Charged With Sexually Assaulting Woman At Saddle River Home Where She Worked A Pakistani national living in Waldwick was charged with sexually assaulting a woman who was working at a Saddle River home. Muhammad Yousuf, 54, was arrested late last week for a sexual assault that Bergen County Prosecutor Mark Musella alleged occurred this past Feb. 26. Yousuf was sent to the Bergen County Jail following his arrest in Saddle River on Thursday, April 4. A judge in Hackensack released him, with conditions, the next day, records show.

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
Georgia Fugitive Found Bleeding In Backyard Shooting, 4 Men In Custody: Police Georgia Fugitive Found Bleeding In Backyard Shooting, 4 Men In Custody: Police
Georgia Fugitive Found Bleeding In Backyard Shooting, 4 Men In Custody: Police Four Newark men including two with prior arrests were arrested after a man was shot in Union Township on Monday, April 8, authorities said. Quazir Robinson, 18, Dabson Fofana, 21, Yaleem Prothro, 23 and Mecca Latham, 23 have all been charged with aggravated assault and numerous weapons offenses in the shooting of a 44-year-old man in the backyard of a home at  Carnegie Place near Laurel Avenue, Union Township police said in a release. The victim was found having suffered a gunshot wound to his thigh and graze wound to his arm, and was profusely bleeding while lying on the ground …

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by Sam Barron
Police & Fire
Ridgefield Park Officer Finds Gun, Hollow-Nose Ammo, $24,500 After Stopping Out-Of-State Driver Ridgefield Park Officer Finds Gun, Hollow-Nose Ammo, $24,500 After Stopping Out-Of-State Driver
Ridgefield Park Officer Finds Gun, Hollow-Nose Ammo, $24,500 After Stopping Out-Of-State Driver A Ridgefield Park police officer turned up a handgun loaded with hollow-nose bullets, a small amount of crystal meth and $24,500 in suspicious cash during a traffic stop, authorities said. Officer Amanda Thomas stopped the Toyota Tundra for a number of violations at Main and Hobart streets shortly after 10 a.m. Monday, April 8, Police Chief Joseph Rella said. The driver, 40-year-old Mexican national Raul Villanueva Muratalla of Nashville, was taken into custody a short time later, he said. Muratalla was charged with unlawful weapons possession, possession of a firearm for an unlawful purpo…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
Route 3 Pileup: Trio Survives Wrong-Way DWI Crash, But Second Collision Injures 6 Route 3 Pileup: Trio Survives Wrong-Way DWI Crash, But Second Collision Injures 6
Route 3 Pileup: Trio Survives Wrong-Way DWI Crash, But Second Collision Injures 6 A pair of overnight chain-reaction crashes on Route 3 began when a suspended drunk driver heading west in the eastbound lanes slammed head-on into another vehicle, authorities said. It ended with a police car and a private vehicle being struck by another car moments later, sending six people to the hospital. It was shortly before 3:30 a.m. Sunday, April 7, when a 2022 Toyota Highlander being driven the wrong way collided with a 2019 Nissan Rogue on eastbound Route 3 near Route 120, East Rutherford Police Capt. Jeff Yannacone said. The driver of the Rogue, a 23-year-old Secaucus man, d…

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by Jerry DeMarco