Drizzle Fog/Mist 45°
Police & Fire
Central Jersey Man Who Killed Father, Hid His Body Sentenced: Prosecutors Central Jersey Man Who Killed Father, Hid His Body Sentenced: Prosecutors
Central Jersey Man Who Killed Father, Hid His Body Sentenced: Prosecutors A Monmouth County man will spend more than 20 years in prison after admitting to killing his father and hiding his body in their home almost two years ago, authorities said. Kenneth Knapp Jr., 32, of Matawan, was sentenced on Thursday, Apr. 18 to 30 years in state prison, Monmouth County Prosecutor Raymond Santiago said in a news release. He pleaded guilty on Tuesday, Jan. 23 to first-degree aggravated manslaughter and second-degree desecration of human remains. Matawan police were called to the family's home on Matawan Avenue on Sunday, May 1, 2022, for a welfare check on 58…

SHARE

by Chris Spiker
Police & Fire
License Revoked Of NJ Cardio Doc, 77, Accused Of Fondling Female Patients 51 To 80 Years Old License Revoked Of NJ Cardio Doc, 77, Accused Of Fondling Female Patients 51 To 80 Years Old
License Revoked Of NJ Cardio Doc, 77, Accused Of Fondling Female Patients 51 To 80 Years Old UPDATE: A North Jersey cardiologist who avoided two separate attempts to convict him of fondling and groping female patients had his medical license permanently revoked by the state, authorities announced on Friday. John Strobeck, 77, who had offices in Fair Lawn and Hawthorne, was acquitted in Superior Court in Paterson in 2019 of groping a 50-year-old female patient during an exam five years earlier. Prosecutors were gearing up for a return to the courtroom with several other alleged victims when Strobeck was allowed to enter a pre-trial intervention program that will allow him to clear h…

SHARE

by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
NJ Ex-Con Featured On 'America's Most Wanted' Sentenced For Deadly Stabbing NJ Ex-Con Featured On 'America's Most Wanted' Sentenced For Deadly Stabbing
NJ Ex-Con Featured On 'America's Most Wanted' Sentenced For Deadly Stabbing An Ocean County ex-convict and parolee once featured on the TV show "America's Most Wanted" will spend more than a decade in prison after admitting to his role in the stabbing death of another man, authorities said. Angelo Grenci, 47, of Berkeley Township, was sentenced on Friday, Apr. 19 to 20 years in state prison, Ocean County Prosecutor Bradley Billhimer said in a news release. He pleaded guilty on Monday, Jan. 29 to aggravated manslaughter in the killing of 50-year-old Carlton Williams of Seaside Heights. Toms River and Berkeley Township police responded to RWJBarnabas C…

SHARE

by Chris Spiker
Police & Fire
Motorcyclist Killed In NJ Crash With State Trooper Was 'Sublimely Talented' Guitarist Motorcyclist Killed In NJ Crash With State Trooper Was 'Sublimely Talented' Guitarist
Motorcyclist Killed In NJ Crash With State Trooper Was 'Sublimely Talented' Guitarist They called him Frankie Fender. Frank Lando, that is: The 65-year-old Toms River motorcyclist, guitarist, and father killed in an April 9 crash in Southampton with a New Jersey state trooper. On Friday, April 19, New Jersey Attorney General Matthew J. Platkin released Lando's identity, as well as that of the trooper involved: Anthony Fernandes. Fernandes was conducting routine patrol duties along Route 70 around 11:35 a.m. in Southampton that day, when his marked patrol car collided with Lando's motorcycle near Burrs Mill Road, Platkin said. Lando was taken to Virtua Mount Holly …

SHARE

by Cecilia Levine
Police & Fire
Vacant Home Damaged In Two-Alarm Fire: Rahway FD Vacant Home Damaged In Two-Alarm Fire: Rahway FD
Vacant Home Damaged In Two-Alarm Fire: Rahway FD A vacant home went up in flames in a two-alarm fire in Rahway on the evening of Tuesday, April 16, authorities said. At 11 p.m., the Rahway Police Department and Rahway Fire Department responded to 1334 Pierce St. for a fire in a vacant 2-story 1-family wood frame home, Rachel Smith, the chief communications officer for the city said. Firefighters discovered the interior rear and exterior of the structure on fire, Smith said. The building was empty and no injuries were reported, Smith said. The fire was declared under control after 20 minutes and firefighters cleared the scene after a…

SHARE

by Sam Barron
Police & Fire
BREAK IN, RINSE, REPEAT: Recidivist With 30-Year Sheet Busted For Burglaries In 4 Bergen Towns BREAK IN, RINSE, REPEAT: Recidivist With 30-Year Sheet Busted For Burglaries In 4 Bergen Towns
Break IN, Rinse, Repeat: Recidivist With 30-Year Sheet Busted For Burglaries In 4 Bergen Towns It never ends with some guys. Mark C. Todd, most recently of Hasbrouck Heights, just turned 50 amid what has been a three-decade-long string of burglaries, thefts and police pursuits in nearly a dozen Bergen County towns. It got to the point that detectives from Maywood, Carlstadt and Hasbrouck Heights all went together to arrest the ex-con at his home last Friday morning, April 12. He was charged with break-ins in Maywood, Carlstadt, Elmwood Park and Fair Lawn. Tood has remained held in the Bergen County Jail this past week based on the likelihood that he’ll be returned to prison. He sp…

SHARE

by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
Newark Teen Arrested For Car Theft Ring: Police Newark Teen Arrested For Car Theft Ring: Police
Newark Teen Arrested For Car Theft Ring: Police A 17-year-old Newark teenager was hit with multiple charges after stealing a man's Porsche and then striking him with it last November, authorities said. On Sunday, Nov. 19, officers responded to The Fairway on a report of a stolen Porsche, Cedar Grove police said in a release. During the theft, the victim was hit with the vehicle and knocked to the ground, police said. Utilizing the Porsche's GPS, officers said they tracked the vehicle to the Lincoln Tunnel where Port Authority police stopped the Porsche and took suspects into custody.  Over the last five months, police conducted mul…

SHARE

by Sam Barron
Police & Fire
GOTCHA! East Orange Fugitive Caught, Charged With Shooting Prospect Park Woman On New Year's GOTCHA! East Orange Fugitive Caught, Charged With Shooting Prospect Park Woman On New Year's
Gotcha! East Orange Fugitive Caught, Charged With Shooting Prospect Park Woman On New Year's State and federal authorities captured a 23-year-old fugitive from East Orange who was wanted for shooting a woman on New Year’s Day in Paterson. It was just before 5 a.m. this past Jan. 1 that the 25-year-old victim from Prospect Park arrived at St. Joseph’s University Medical Center via private vehicle.  She’d been shot near the corner of Market Street and East 33rd Street, Passaic County Prosecutor Camelia M. Valdes and Paterson Police Department Officer-In- Charge Isa Abbassi said in a joint announcement. Eudys Santios-Toribio was subsequently identified as the shooter and a manh…

SHARE

by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
NJ Jail Officer Admits Bringing Inmate To 'Blind Spot' For Beating By Colleagues NJ Jail Officer Admits Bringing Inmate To 'Blind Spot' For Beating By Colleagues
NJ Jail Officer Admits Bringing Inmate To 'Blind Spot' For Beating By Colleagues 𝗨𝗣𝗗𝗔𝗧𝗘: A Passaic County correctional officer admitted that he brought an inmate to a "blind spot" at the county jail so two colleagues could beat him for squirting one of them with urine. Officer Lorenzo Bowden, 39, initially agreed with Sgt. Jose Gonzalez and Sgt. Donald Vinales not to talk after they'd received federal grand jury subpoenas two years ago this month, U.S. Attorney Philip Sellinger said. Bowden eventually had a change of heart. The pretrial detainee was "transported through an area of the PCJ that does not have a video surveillance camera, which correctional officers …

SHARE

by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
NJ Teacher Who Posed As Woman To Lure 70 Boys Into Sending Him Nudes Gets 17½ Years: Feds NJ Teacher Who Posed As Woman To Lure 70 Boys Into Sending Him Nudes Gets 17½ Years: Feds
NJ Teacher Who Posed As Woman To Lure 70 Boys Into Sending Him Nudes Gets 17½ Years: Feds UPDATE: It's a measure of how despicably and disgustingly a former Union County grade-school teacher and youth soccer coach from Morristown abused dozens of boys he'd met online that a plea bargain got him "only" 17½ years in federal prison. Steven Brooks, 37, must serve at least 85% of the negotiated sentence handed down in federal court in Newark on Thursday, April 18, for posing as a woman to lure at least 70 underage boys into sending him nude photos and videos. That means he'll be in his early 50s before he'll be eligible to experience freedom again. FBI agents who investigated Brooks…

SHARE

by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
North Bergen Man Charged With Collecting Child Porn: Prosecutor North Bergen Man Charged With Collecting Child Porn: Prosecutor
North Bergen Man Charged With Collecting Child Porn: Prosecutor A 25-year-old North Bergen man was caught collecting pornographic images of children, authorities said. Nicholas Sanchez, 25, was taken into custody by members of the Hudson County Prosecutor’s Office Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force following an investigation, they said. He's charged with child endangerment through the possession of sex abuse material, Hudson County Prosecutor Esther Suarez said. A tip last December led task force members to an account controlled by the defendant on an online server that Suarez said contained “child sex abuse material.” She didn't say whether …

SHARE

by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
6-Car Crash Kills 41-Year-Old On Garden State Parkway: State Police 6-Car Crash Kills 41-Year-Old On Garden State Parkway: State Police
6-Car Crash Kills 41-Year-Old On Garden State Parkway: State Police A 41-year-old North Carolina man was killed in a multi-car crash on the Garden State Parkway in Essex County early Wednesday, April 17, authorities said. Tarron Francis was heading north in a Nissan SUV when he was struck by a Dodge passenger vehicle around 12:45 a.m. in Irvington, said Jeffrey Lebron, a spokesman for the New Jersey State Police. The impact caused a chain reaction crash involving four other vehicles, two Toyota SUVs, a GMC SUV and a Kia passenger vehicle, Lebron said. Francis died as a result of the crash, and the driver of the Dodge sustained moderate injuries and was tak…

SHARE

by Sam Barron