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Joseph Soto

Police & Fire
UPDATE: Stolen Car Crash Into Utility Pole Closes Route 17, Fleeing Juveniles Captured UPDATE: Stolen Car Crash Into Utility Pole Closes Route 17, Fleeing Juveniles Captured
Update: Stolen Car Crash Into Utility Pole Closes Route 17, Fleeing Juveniles Captured The driver and passenger in a stolen Range Rover that hit a utility pole, rolled over and ignited a cluster of flames during a pre-dawn police chase Friday on Route 17 are both 15-year-old juveniles from Newark, authorities said. The Range Rover and a silver Porsche Panamera were both stolen from the garage of a Carlton Road residence in Wyckoff after the thieves broke into the home and found the keys shortly before 4:30 a.m. Dec. 8, Wyckoff Police Lt. Joseph Soto said. Paramus police who heard an alert from their Wyckoff colleagues spotted both vehicles minutes later heading east on Route …

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
Lithium-Ion Scooter Battery Explodes, Ignites Fire In Wyckoff, Brings Warning From Responders Lithium-Ion Scooter Battery Explodes, Ignites Fire In Wyckoff, Brings Warning From Responders
Lithium-Ion Scooter Battery Explodes, Ignites Fire In Wyckoff, Brings Warning From Responders A lithium-ion battery that was charging in an electric scooter ignited a garage fire in Wyckoff -- and brought warnings from responders. A resident at the Meadowbrook Road home dialed 911 after going to the garage to check out a loud bang and seeing smoke and flames, Police Lt. Joseph Soto said. Firefighters contained the two-alarm blaze, although the adjoining house sustained heat and smoke damage. Firefighters nationwide say they are seeing an increasing -- and alarming -- number of fires caused by devices with lithium-ion batteries. Blazes involving the batteries are rarely a slow burn…

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by Jerry DeMarco
News
Stolen SUV Owner Admits Leaving Keys As North Jersey Thefts, Burglaries, Police Pursuits Rise Stolen SUV Owner Admits Leaving Keys As North Jersey Thefts, Burglaries, Police Pursuits Rise
Stolen SUV Owner Admits Leaving Keys As North Jersey Thefts, Burglaries, Police Pursuits Rise A Wyckoff resident whose SUV was stolen from his driveway admitted leaving the keys in a jacket pocket hanging in his unlocked garage overnight, authorities said. The report comes as police in North Jersey continue to urge vehicle owners to stop making it so easy for thieves. Officers who investigated the Wyckoff theft on Timberline Drive found the jacket missing along with the owner’s 2022 Ford Expedition, Police Lt. Joseph Soto said. A 2021 BMW was also entered and $50 taken from the glove compartment, the lieutenant said. Newark police found the Expedition abandoned in the city a short…

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by Jerry DeMarco
News
FLAT LEAVERS: Quartet Caught After Abandoning Stolen Car On Route 208 FLAT LEAVERS: Quartet Caught After Abandoning Stolen Car On Route 208
Flat Leavers: Quartet Caught After Abandoning Stolen Car On Route 208 GOTCHA! The out-of-control auto theft epidemic has frustrated law enforcers throughout New Jersey, but sometimes the good guys catch a break. Just ask police in Wyckoff. It was late morning when a concerned citizen called to report four young occupants abandoning a stolen Mercedes Benz S550 sedan that blew a tire on Route 208. All four vanished into the neighborhood between Cedar Hill and Grandview avenues, the caller said. Instead of splitting up, though, they stuck together. A wave of police from Wyckoff, Midland Park and Hawthorne instantly converged on the area. Wyckoff Police Chief D…

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by Jerry DeMarco
News
Police: Gas Leak Alarm Leads To Discovery Of Underage Drinking Party In Wyckoff Police: Gas Leak Alarm Leads To Discovery Of Underage Drinking Party In Wyckoff
Police: Gas Leak Alarm Leads To Discovery Of Underage Drinking Party In Wyckoff A gas-leak alarm brought Wyckoff police to what turned out to be an underage drinking party, authorities said. Firefighters joined Sgt. Kevin Pinches and Officers James Bakelaar and Kaitlyn Maglione at the Howard Street home, where they “observed what they believed to be underaged [people] consuming alcoholic beverages in the garage,” Lt. Joseph Soto said. There were about 40 of them, he said. Police contacted the 51-year-old homeowner, who said she didn’t know why the alarm was activated, Soto said. They issued summonses, to be heard in Municipal Court, charging her with “purposely or kn…

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by Jerry DeMarco
News
Police: Fleeing Route 208 Driver Dumps Sports Car In Stranger's Driveway Police: Fleeing Route 208 Driver Dumps Sports Car In Stranger's Driveway
Police: Fleeing Route 208 Driver Dumps Sports Car In Stranger's Driveway A North Haledon driver was captured after he led Wyckoff police on a chase off Route 208, pulled into a driveway and bailed out, authorities said. Arben Alimi, 52, was with other occupants of his Mustang when police found them walking on nearby Goffle Hill Road in Hawthorne, Police Lt. Joseph Soto said. A short time earlier, Officer Kevin Oldewurtel tried to stop the speeding sports car on southbound Route 208, Soto said. Alimi kept going, however, pulling off the highway and into a driveway on nearby Robertson Road, he said. The unoccupied Mustang was found in the driveway of a home whos…

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by Jerry DeMarco
News
Caught On Camera: Wyckoff Police Charge Construction Worker, Accomplice With Thefts Caught On Camera: Wyckoff Police Charge Construction Worker, Accomplice With Thefts
Caught On Camera: Wyckoff Police Charge Construction Worker, Accomplice With Thefts Surveillance video caught a Paterson man stealing from a Wyckoff construction site where he was working, said authorities who arrested him and an accused accomplice. Jose A. Rivera, 30, had help from fellow Paterson resident Ivis C. Aguilar, 67, police Lt. Joseph Soto said. Together they took dumbbells, kitchenware and artwork from the Sicomac Avenue site during off hours, the lieutenant said. Officers William Plisich and William Christopher obtained surveillance photos that Detective Sgts. Michael Ragucci and Mark Tagliareni used to identify and arrest the suspects, he said. Rivera and A…

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by Jerry DeMarco
News
Wyckoff PD: Hidden Cam Catches School Custodian Stealing Cash From Teachers' Bags Wyckoff PD: Hidden Cam Catches School Custodian Stealing Cash From Teachers' Bags
Wyckoff PD: Hidden Cam Catches School Custodian Stealing Cash From Teachers' Bags GOTCHA! “Nanny cams” don’t only catch babysitters. A teacher at a Wyckoff school set one up after a series of thefts -- and helped police make an arrest. Police were notified of the thefts at Washington School, where teachers found a combined $620 missing from their bags, Lt. Joseph Soto said. Detective Sgt. Michael Ragucci was later told that a custodian “was observed taking money from a teacher’s bag,” thanks to a nanny cam set up by the victim, Soto said. Police arrested Gary A. Blake, 49, of Paterson, charged him with theft and released him pending a court hearing.

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
Authorities: Wyckoff Police Officer Sabotages Urban Porch Pirates Authorities: Wyckoff Police Officer Sabotages Urban Porch Pirates
Authorities: Wyckoff Police Officer Sabotages Urban Porch Pirates A pair of porch pirates managed to get themselves caught before they had a chance to strike again, thanks to a Wyckoff police officer, authorities said. Officer Robert Schlossberg paused when he spotted a Dodge Durango parked behind a UPS truck making a delivery on Godwin Avenue. As he watched, a female passenger approached the UPS driver, then hustled back to the SUV, which drove away, Lt. Joseph Soto said. The woman had asked about a package being delivered to a Meadowbrook Road address, the UPS driver told Schlossberg. The officer stopped the Durango on Crescent Avenue moments later an…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
Wyckoff Police Officers Help Rescue Motorist, 74, In Heart-Attack Crash Near Lincoln Tunnel Wyckoff Police Officers Help Rescue Motorist, 74, In Heart-Attack Crash Near Lincoln Tunnel
Wyckoff Police Officers Help Rescue Motorist, 74, In Heart-Attack Crash Near Lincoln Tunnel Two Wyckoff police officers helped save the life of a 74-year-old driver whose car crashed into two others when he suffered a heart attack Thursday on Route 495 near the Lincoln Tunnel, authorities said. Officers Michael Teegan and Michael Scalise were transporting a prisoner from Weehawken to Hackensack when they were flagged down by a motorist involved in a crash on the westbound highway near the Kennedy Boulevard interchange in Union City around 2 p.m., Wyckoff Police Lt. Joseph Soto said. The motorist "advised the officers that the other driver was still in his car a…

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by Jerry DeMarco