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Hackensack, NJ

Best High Schools: New Jersey Well-Represented In New National Rankings Best High Schools: New Jersey Well-Represented In New National Rankings
Best High Schools: New Jersey Well-Represented In New National Rankings New Jersey is well-represented in brand-new rankings of the nation's best high schools. US News & World report released its annual list on Tuesday morning, April 23. The rankings were determined by performance on state-required tests, graduation, and how well they prepare students for college. Two New Jersey schools made the top 50 in the U.S: High Technology High School in Lincroft at No. 24, and Edison Academy Magnet School at No. 42. According to US News & World Report, The top 10 best high schools in the Garden State are: No. 10: Academy for Allied Health Sciences …
One Arrest Made During Gaza War Protest In Teaneck One Arrest Made During Gaza War Protest In Teaneck
One Arrest Made During Gaza War Protest In Teaneck FOLLOW UP: An Upper Manhattanite was the only person arrested at a large demonstration outside a Teaneck synagogue, authorities said. Pro-Palestinian protestors faced off against Jewish counter-demonstrators during a fundraiser on Monday, April 1, at Congregation Bnai Yeshurun on West Englewood Avenue. The private event featured a representative of ZAKA, a Jewish group that collects body parts and blood for burial at the scenes of accidents and terrorist attacks. After American Muslims for Palestine and Within Our Lifetime announced plans to picket the event, township authorities took the …
Ex-Con Involved In Undercover Shooting Charged With Drug-Induced Death Of NJ Man Ex-Con Involved In Undercover Shooting Charged With Drug-Induced Death Of NJ Man
Ex-Con Involved In Undercover Shooting Charged With Drug-Induced Death Of NJ Man UPDATE: An ex-con from Garfield who served time for a botched drug deal that led to the shooting of an undercover police officer was arrested on Thursday and charged with causing the overdose death of a 30-year-old user late last summer. Melvin Guzman, 29, is charged with strict liability in the drug-induced death of Ivan Santiago of Passaic last Sept. 17, Bergen County Prosecutor Mark Musella announced on March 28. Santiago and another user were hospitalized after overdosing at a home on Lincoln Place, the prosecutor said. He was pronounced dead soon after. “A six-month investigation by t…
NJ Grade School Custodian, 76, Charged With Sexually Assaulting 9-Year-Old Girl NJ Grade School Custodian, 76, Charged With Sexually Assaulting 9-Year-Old Girl
NJ Grade School Custodian, 76, Charged With Sexually Assaulting 9-Year-Old Girl A 76-year-old custodian at a grade school in Hackensack was charged with sexually assaulting a 9-year-old girl. Phillip A. Porter of Hackensack is accused of rubbing the child’s breasts and vagina and putting his penis in her mouth, according to a complaint filed in Superior Court. Special Victims Unit detectives arrested Porter on Monday, March 25, Bergen County Prosecutor Mark Musella said. He remained held Tuesday in the Bergen County Jail. Porter is charged with aggravated sexual assault, sexual assault by contact and child endangerment. The 6-foot-3-inch, 165-pound Porter, formerly …
Paterson Officers Charged With Covering For NYPD Captain Indicted For Brutally Beating Woman Paterson Officers Charged With Covering For NYPD Captain Indicted For Brutally Beating Woman
Paterson Officers Charged With Covering For Nypd Captain Indicted For Brutally Beating Woman UPDATE: The other shoe finally dropped with the arrests of three Paterson police officers in connection with what authorities said was the kidnapping and brutal beating of an off-duty female NYPD commander from New Jersey by a fellow captain she'd been dating. Giuseppe Ciarla, Juan Cruz-Fernandez and Jason Schmid let then-NYPD Capt. Hariton Marachilian leave after finding the victim with clearly visible injuries from a vicious beating outside a Paterson restaurant in December 2022, Passaic County Prosecutor Camelia M. Valdes said. Marachilian and the female captain had been out to dinner wi…
Imprisoned Sex Offender From Hackensack Gathered 42,000 Child Porn Files While Free: Prosecutor Imprisoned Sex Offender From Hackensack Gathered 42,000 Child Porn Files While Free: Prosecutor
Imprisoned Sex Offender From Hackensack Gathered 42,000 Child Porn Files While Free: Prosecutor A registered sex offender from Hackensack who was returned to prison last year is expected to spend much more time there following what authorities said was the discovery of more than 42,000 child porn images. Rahvae Richards, 32, served 3½ years of a five-year state prison sentence for trying to sexually assault a young city boy nearly a decade ago, records show. He’d also been downloading child pornography at the time, prosecutors said. Richards was paroled in October 2021, a year and a half short of what originally was supposed to be a five-year mandatory hitch. Sixteen months later, st…
GUILTY: ‘Bling Bishop’ From Bergen Convicted Of Swindling NJ Parishioner's Mom, More GUILTY: ‘Bling Bishop’ From Bergen Convicted Of Swindling NJ Parishioner's Mom, More
Guilty: ‘Bling Bishop’ From Bergen Convicted Of Swindling NJ Parishioner's Mom, More 𝗨𝗣𝗗𝗔𝗧𝗘: A flashy Brooklyn bishop who lives in Bergen County – and was infamously robbed at gunpoint during a live-streamed church service – was convicted in lower Manhattan of swindling the elderly mom of a parishioner out of her life savings, among other counts. Lamor Whitehead, 45, promised to put the $90,000 toward buying her a home, federal prosecutors told jurors in the Southern U.S. District of New York who found him guilty of all charges after only three hours of deliberations on Monday, March 11. Instead, the infamous "Bling Bishop" blew the money on BMW payments and luxury purchase…
Only Two Arrests Made At Trouble-Free Israeli Real Estate Protest In Teaneck, Police Chief Says Only Two Arrests Made At Trouble-Free Israeli Real Estate Protest In Teaneck, Police Chief Says
Only Two Arrests Made At Trouble-Free Israeli Real Estate Protest In Teaneck, Police Chief Says Two out-of-towners were arrested after they threw liquid on protestors near the end of a controversial Israeli real estate showcase at a Teaneck synagogue, authorities said. The two assaults were the only incidents after what had been several hours of orderly demonstrations on Sunday, March 10, that drew thousands of participants and onlookers. The ongoing Israel-Hamas war stoked concerns over staging such an event, which reportedly involved information on some properties in West Bank settlements that the United States has considered illegal. The protests weren't only two-sided. Boyd A…
HOME INVASION: Female 'Guest' Let Armed Pals In, NJ Authorities Charge HOME INVASION: Female 'Guest' Let Armed Pals In, NJ Authorities Charge
Home Invasion: Female 'Guest' Let Armed Pals In, NJ Authorities Charge 𝗨𝗣𝗗𝗔𝗧𝗘: A Saddle Brook home invasion in which a group of thugs from Passaic County took $12,500 in cash, $3,000 worth of jewelry and more at gunpoint was made possible by a female "guest," federal authorities revealed.  Lanasia "Lay" Smith, 24 (top left above), sent ex-con Jancarlos "M" Rodriguez, 23 (bottom right), "a picture of a safe located in the residence" hours before the June 28, 2022 robbery, U.S. Attorney Philip R. Sellinger said. Smith then left the front door unlocked for Rodriguez and two cohorts -- fellow ex-con Jahad "Hadie" Foxworth, 25, and Jamere "Rebels" Dixon, 23 --…
SHOCKER: NJ Teacher Had Sex With Student Starting At 15 In School, Car, House: Authorities SHOCKER: NJ Teacher Had Sex With Student Starting At 15 In School, Car, House: Authorities
Shocker: NJ Teacher Had Sex With Student Starting At 15 In School, Car, House: Authorities A married teacher had intercourse as part of a years-long sexual relationship with a former Garfield Middle School student beginning when the youngster was 15, including several times in a car -- and even at the school, authorities charged. Amy Impero D'Ovidio, a 46-year-old Bergen County native, had worked for the Garfield Board of Education when the alleged encounters began, they said. She was 35 at the time. Locations included “within the Garfield Middle School, at a private residence in Cedar Grove, as well as within a vehicle at unknown locations in Bergen, Essex, and Passaic counties…
GOTCHA! South American Theft Network Fugitive Pegged In $25,000 NJ Home Burglary, More GOTCHA! South American Theft Network Fugitive Pegged In $25,000 NJ Home Burglary, More
Gotcha! South American Theft Network Fugitive Pegged In $25,000 NJ Home Burglary, More A wanted member of a notorious transnational group of thieves was tied by Dumont detectives to the theft of $25,000 in cash during a home break-in two months ago. Jhan Michael Rodriguez-Fonseca, 26, lives in Jersey City and most recently worked as a food delivery driver, Dumont Police Chief Brian Joyce said. He really belongs to what’s known as the South American Theft Group network and is tied to other burglaries in the state, the chief said. He was also wanted by the NYPD and by agents with U.S. Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), he said. Primarily from Colombia, the members of the…
Student Stabbed In Hackensack High School Student Stabbed In Hackensack High School
Student Stabbed In Hackensack High School An 18-year-old student was stabbed by a younger classmate Monday morning in Hackensack High School, authorities confirmed. The injured student was taken to Hackensack University Medical Center with injuries that weren't considered life-threatening after being treated by school personnel around 8:15 a.m. Feb. 5, said Capt. Michael Antista, the officer in charge of the Hackensack Police Department. A school safety officer seized the accused stabber, who the captain said remained in custody with delinquency complaints pending the results of an investigation. Students said the stabbing occurre…
Disgraced NJ Judge’s Son Charged With Collecting Child Porn Disgraced NJ Judge’s Son Charged With Collecting Child Porn
Disgraced NJ Judge’s Son Charged With Collecting Child Porn BREAKING NEWS: The son of a former judge who was removed from the bench for misconduct was busted on child porn charges following a raid on the family home in Waldwick, authorities confirmed on Friday. George M. Silebi, 27, “used the Internet to view, download, and possess items depicting nude and/or sexually explicit prepubescent and pubescent children,” Bergen County Prosecutor Mark Musella said on Jan. 18. Detectives from Musella’s Cyber Crimes Unit raided the Sheridan Avenue home of former Superior Court Judge Liliana DeAvila-Silebi exactly a week earlier. From there they traveled to N…
HEROES: Hackensack Responders Rescue Dog Sitter Being Mauled While Protecting Child (UPDATE) HEROES: Hackensack Responders Rescue Dog Sitter Being Mauled While Protecting Child (UPDATE)
Heroes: Hackensack Responders Rescue Dog Sitter Being Mauled While Protecting Child (Update) A dog sitter who was being mauled while she tried to protect a small child was rescued by Hackensack's emergency responders, authorities said. Screams for help brought Officers Ryan Conlon and Denisse Caero to the Hudson Street home shortly before 10:30 a.m. Wednesday, Jan. 10, said Capt. Michael Antista, the officer in charge of the department. An American pit bull terrier had mauled two other dogs at the residence and had bitten the 40-year-old victim severely on both arms as she tried to intervene while holding tight to the youngster, responders said. "There was a lot of blood," one of …
Maintenance Man Poses As Complex Owner, Scams Apartment Seekers Out Of $14,000: Garfield PD Maintenance Man Poses As Complex Owner, Scams Apartment Seekers Out Of $14,000: Garfield PD
Maintenance Man Poses As Complex Owner, Scams Apartment Seekers Out Of $14,000: Garfield PD A maintenance man at a Garfield garden apartment complex scammed hopeful renters out of $14,000 by posting bogus listings on Facebook, showing them empty units he claimed he owned and then collecting deposits from them, authorities charged. John K. DelValle, a 48-year-old bodybuilder from Hackensack, made it all appear genuine by having the victims sign worthless rental agreements, police said. Then he handed them the master keys that he'd been given for work. DelValle also conned another unwitting victim out of $7,000 -- and a car -- by "selling" him a Tesla that he was renting, Garfield …
FEDS: Serial Burglar Makes Bogus Calls To Divert Police Before Multiple NJ Drug Store Break-Ins FEDS: Serial Burglar Makes Bogus Calls To Divert Police Before Multiple NJ Drug Store Break-Ins
Feds: Serial Burglar Makes Bogus Calls To Divert Police Before Multiple NJ Drug Store Break-Ins A hapless burglar tried to keep police in a half-dozen Bergen County towns busy with bogus calls of carjackings, kidnappings and other threats to try and buy himself time to break into local drug stores, federal authorities said. Michael J. Gynegrowski, 34, hit pharmacies in Cresskill, Hackensack, Oradell, River Vale and Teaneck, usually by breaking a window, they said. Six of a reported 10 attempts failed, but Gynegrowski did swipe a significant amount of Oxy, promethazine and other medications from an Englewood drug store, investigators told Daily Voice. Police in the various towns …
Armed Mortuary Worker, 71, Ditches Gun In Hackensack Church After Threatening Man On Street: PD Armed Mortuary Worker, 71, Ditches Gun In Hackensack Church After Threatening Man On Street: PD
Armed Mortuary Worker, 71, Ditches Gun In Hackensack Church After Threatening Man On Street: PD A 71-year-old mortuary worker from Saddle Brook pulled a loaded gun on a man during a dispute on a Hackensack street, then ducked into a nearby church to try and ditch the weapon, authorities said. Kerris Meadows and a 43-year-old Newark resident got into the unspecified argument outside Mount Olive Baptist Church around 10:30 a.m. last Saturday, Dec. 16, Hackensack Police Capt. Michael Antista said. The Central Avenue church was conducting a food drive at the time. The second man told officers who responded to a call of a man with a gun that Meadows pointed a revolver and threatened to sh…
Miracle On The Turnpike: Passing Bergen Fire Veterans Rescue Young Child Having Seizure Miracle On The Turnpike: Passing Bergen Fire Veterans Rescue Young Child Having Seizure
Miracle On The Turnpike: Passing Bergen Fire Veterans Rescue Young Child Having Seizure HEROES: A seizure suffered by an epileptic child on a jammed New Jersey Turnpike had her stranded mom praying for a pre-Christmas miracle. Sure enough, she got one. Vanessa Senquis of Bayonne was taking her 4-year-old daughter Leilani to Hackensack University Medical Center after she’d fallen down some steps and cut her forehead. The unconscious child was in serious peril during the medical episode as her terrified mother shouted to a 911 dispatcher: “I need help! I need help!” Seemingly out of nowhere, Hasbrouck Heights Fire Chief Michael Greco was next to her in his chief’s truck. S…
Sighting Of Gunman At FDU Not Substantiated, Search On For Pair Who Reported It: Police Sighting Of Gunman At FDU Not Substantiated, Search On For Pair Who Reported It: Police
Sighting Of Gunman At FDU Not Substantiated, Search On For Pair Who Reported It: Police UPDATE: FDU's Teaneck Campus briefly went into a shelter-in-place Monday morning following what turned out to be an unsubstantiated report of a man with a gun. Two people walking a dog claimed to have seen the gunman in the Teaneck campus's Northpointe parking lot near the pedestrian footbridge on Monday morning, Dec. 11, Teaneck Police Chief Andrew McGurr said. They told this to another civilian, then continued walking their dog across the Spirit Bridge over the Hackensack River into Hackensack, the chief said. That person then stopped a passing campus security guard, he said. "FDU secur…
UPDATE: 87-Year-Old Bergen Man Stabbed, Bludgeoned, Drowned By Son, Police Charge UPDATE: 87-Year-Old Bergen Man Stabbed, Bludgeoned, Drowned By Son, Police Charge
Update: 87-Year-Old Bergen Man Stabbed, Bludgeoned, Drowned By Son, Police Charge UPDATE: An unemployed Franklin Lakes man stabbed, bludgeoned and drowned his 87-year-old father in their home, then went to the police station to confess to the murder, according to a report outlining the horrific assault. David Allen Hagal, 60, was charged with murder and illegal weapons possession in the brutal murder of his 87-year-old father. Borough police rushed to the home, found the body of George J. Hagal and took David Allen Hagal, 60, into custody shortly after 7:30 a.m. Sunday, Dec. 10. The younger Hagal hit his father in the head with a metal pipe and stabbed him multiple…
Murder In Franklin Lakes: Son Charged With Killing 87-Year-Old Father, Multiple Weapons Seized Murder In Franklin Lakes: Son Charged With Killing 87-Year-Old Father, Multiple Weapons Seized
Murder In Franklin Lakes: Son Charged With Killing 87-Year-Old Father, Multiple Weapons Seized UPDATE: An unemployed Franklin Lakes man stabbed, bludgeoned and drowned his 87-year-old father in their home, then went to the police station to confess to the murder, according to a report outlining the horrific assault. David Allen Hagal, 60, was charged with murder and illegal weapons possession in the brutal murder of his 87-year-old father. Borough police rushed to the home, found the body of George J. Hagal and took David Allen Hagal, 60, into custody shortly after 7:30 a.m. Sunday, Dec. 10. The younger Hagal hit his father in the head with a metal pipe and stabbed him multiple…
Hackensack CEO: My Passaic Firm Sold US Army Faulty Equipment Made In China Hackensack CEO: My Passaic Firm Sold US Army Faulty Equipment Made In China
Hackensack CEO: My Passaic Firm Sold US Army Faulty Equipment Made In China A Passaic company CEO from Hackensack admitted selling knockoff forklifts made in China to the US Army, federal authorities said. James Cai, 33, secured $247,000 in government contracts to supply two FD150 diesel forklifts to the Fort Cavazos military installation in Killeen, Texas, U.S. Attorney for New Jersey Philip R. Sellinger said on Thursday, Dec. 7. The forklifts supplied by Toner Connect LLC had to be manufactured in America and required at least half of the components to also be of U.S. origin, the attorney general said. Cai ignored the requirements, Sellinger said. He bought the…
Accused Child Molester From Cliffside Park Held For ICE Accused Child Molester From Cliffside Park Held For ICE
Accused Child Molester From Cliffside Park Held For ICE A married construction worker from Cliffside Park who's accused of sexually assaulting a preteen is being held for federal authorities, jail records show. Delfino Simon-Roca, 56, was charged with sexual assault and child endangerment following a month-long investigation that began with a tip from the state Division of Child Protection and Permanency, Bergen County Prosecutor Mark Musella said. The prosecutor’s detectives arrested him last Tuesday, Nov, 21, and sent him to the Bergen County Jail, Musella said. Simon-Roca, who’s listed in jail records as a Guatemalan national, has remained t…
Theft Of Drugs From Bergen Prosecutor's Evidence Room Centers On Veteran Detective: Sources Theft Of Drugs From Bergen Prosecutor's Evidence Room Centers On Veteran Detective: Sources
Theft Of Drugs From Bergen Prosecutor's Evidence Room Centers On Veteran Detective: Sources A ranking detective with the Bergen County Prosecutor’s Office is at the center of an investigation by the New Jersey Attorney General’s Office into the sale of several kilos worth of drugs stolen from an evidence room, multiple sources said. At least one arrest was expected as part of what sources say was an undercover sting involving the New Jersey State Police that led to the theft and sale of more than a dozen kilos of narcotics that had been seized as evidence. An investigation was confirmed -- without elaboration -- by both agencies. Neither has publicly identified the department vet…
NJ Dad, Son Busted Again, This Time In $2.5M Jersey Shore ‘Fix-and-Flip’ Scheme NJ Dad, Son Busted Again, This Time In $2.5M Jersey Shore ‘Fix-and-Flip’ Scheme
NJ Dad, Son Busted Again, This Time In $2.5M Jersey Shore ‘Fix-and-Flip’ Scheme It seemed state and federal prosecutors had thrown all they could at a Bergen County father and son for a series of multi-million-dollar investment scams. But state authorities announced a new indictment against both men on Monday, Nov. 6. This time, George Bussanich, Sr., 65, of Park Ridge, and George Bussanich, Jr., 43, of Upper Saddle River, are charged with defrauding investors and mortgage lenders out of more than $2.5 million through a “fix and flip” investment scam involving Jersey Shore real estate. Victims believed they were funding the purchase, renovation, and resale of four…
NYC Man Sentenced To Life In Love-Triangle Murder Of Popular NJ Software Engineer NYC Man Sentenced To Life In Love-Triangle Murder Of Popular NJ Software Engineer
NYC Man Sentenced To Life In Love-Triangle Murder Of Popular NJ Software Engineer For more than 12 years since popular software engineer Robert Cantor was brutally murdered in his Teaneck home, his twice-convicted killer has neither admitted it nor expressed any remorse. Sui Kam “Tony” Tung, 60, now has whatever’s left of his life to spend with whatever feelings he has following his sentencing Friday in Hackensack. This past July, jurors in that same courtroom convicted Tung of murdering Cantor, with whom his wife had been having an affair, in March of 2011. Superior Court Judge Christopher Kazlau said he’d seen enough of Tung to not be surprised by his refusal to spea…
HEROES: Trapped Victim Rescued, Rushed To HUMC After Collapse At East Rutherford Site HEROES: Trapped Victim Rescued, Rushed To HUMC After Collapse At East Rutherford Site
Heroes: Trapped Victim Rescued, Rushed To Humc After Collapse At East Rutherford Site UPDATE: Firefighters rescued a trapped worker after a foundation wall collapsed at an East Rutherford construction site on Saturday. The wall gave way at a renovation project for a new restaurant on the Union Avenue site of the former Railroad Cafe -- pinning the worker from the waist down -- around 1:30 p.m. Oct. 28. Members of Hackensack Fire Department Urban Area Security Initiative (UASI) Rescue along with colleagues from several UASI departments worked together to free the trapped worker. Police in neighboring towns up the line closed intersections on northbound Route 17 as an ambula…
UPDATE: NJ Judge Imposes Requirements On Council Prez, Son Released On Child Porn Charges UPDATE: NJ Judge Imposes Requirements On Council Prez, Son Released On Child Porn Charges
Update: NJ Judge Imposes Requirements On Council Prez, Son Released On Child Porn Charges UPDATE: A judge in Hackensack released Tenafly Council President Jeffrey D. Grossman and his son from jail on Wednesday, but both must remain under house arrest at the family's home while they await trial on charges of child porn possession. Superior Court Judge David Labib didn't require electronic monitoring on Grossman and his son, Steven, during separate first appearances for both on Oct. 18. Labib (above photo, right) did impose several requirements after a prosecutor said investigators found more than 1,000 images of sexually abused boys between 10 and 13 collected by Steven Grossman …
NJ Burglar Who Raided Homeowner's Fridge, Changed Clothes Ends Up With Jail Food: Police NJ Burglar Who Raided Homeowner's Fridge, Changed Clothes Ends Up With Jail Food: Police
NJ Burglar Who Raided Homeowner's Fridge, Changed Clothes Ends Up With Jail Food: Police Chances are good an intruder who made himself comfortable while burglarizing an Englewood home – raiding the refrigerator and changing his clothes – isn’t finding the accommodations at the Bergen County Jail as cushy. Carlos Liriano, 36, of the Bronx snatched $1,000 or so in cash and $14,000 worth of jewelry from the Old Quarry Road home just off Route 4 sometime between lunch and dinner on Friday, Oct. 13, Englewood Detective Lt. Fred Pulice said. Liriano "spent a significant amount of time" in the home, the lieutenant said. Then he got cocky. Detectives who diligently worked the case id…
Propane To Blame In NJ House Explosion That Injured 5, One Critically, Fire Marshal Says Propane To Blame In NJ House Explosion That Injured 5, One Critically, Fire Marshal Says
Propane To Blame In NJ House Explosion That Injured 5, One Critically, Fire Marshal Says UPDATE: A house explosion last month in West Milford that sent five people to the hospital – one of whom remains in critical condition – apparently was due to a propane leak, the township’s fire marshal said. The other four victims injured when the home in the Upper Greenwood Lake section exploded and collapsed on Sept. 22 have since been released from the hospital, Fire Marshal Michael Moscatello said on Friday, Oct. 13. The fifth remains in the burn unit at the Cooperman Barnabas Medical Center in Livingston, he said. Everyone feared the worst at the time. The first unit at the scene, …
South Jersey Man Accused Of Sexually Assaulting Woman At Route 46 Motel South Jersey Man Accused Of Sexually Assaulting Woman At Route 46 Motel
South Jersey Man Accused Of Sexually Assaulting Woman At Route 46 Motel A parking lot attendant from South Jersey was charged with sexually assaulting a woman at a South Hackensack motel. Austin Walker, 22, of Pennsville, was taken into custody last week, Bergen County Prosecutor Mark Musella said on Monday, Oct. 9. The prosecutor’s Special Victims Unit began investigating with township police following a complaint from a woman who said that Walker sexually assaulted her at the Horizon Inn on Route 46 on Aug. 1. Walker was booked into the Bergen County Jail on three counts of sexual assault through force or coercion on Oct. 5. Records show he was ordered rele…