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46°
Saturday, apr 27
Tag:
Arson
Police & Fire
Man Convicted Again Of Murdering, Torching NJ Woman, 70, For Money
𝗨𝗣𝗗𝗔𝗧𝗘: Questionable DNA evidence found under the fingernails of a 70-year-old Bergen County woman bludgeoned and burned in her home may have gotten her killer a new trial, but it didn't change the outcome. For a second time, a jury in Hackensack convicted Daniel Rochat on Wednesday of all charges in the brutal September 2012 slaying of real estate agent Barbara Vernieri in her East Rutherford home. Rochat, 48, of Wood-Ridge was originally convicted in June 2017 of beating Vernieri, then pouring gasoline on her and around her home before setting it on fire to cover up the crime scene. Pros…
Police & Fire
Police Detail Suicide Note Penned By NJ Dad Before Killing 9-Year-Old Son: Affidavit
The death of a 9-year-old boy at the hands of his father in Sayreville was intended to be a murder-suicide, according to police paperwork obtained by Daily Voice. Manuel Rivera, 43, recorded an apology video following a marital dispute he’d been having with a “witness” just before leaving an Eisenhower Drive home with the 9-year-old boy Thursday, March 28, according to an affidavit for probable cause obtained by Daily Voice. “We spoke to a witness who indicated that her and Mr. Rivera were having marital issues and that he sent her a video to her phone,” Sayreville Police Det…
Police & Fire
Dad Charged With Murder In 9-Year-Old Son's Death Is Employed By Sayreville Schools: Officials
Charges have been upgraded for a New Jersey dad whose deceased 9-year-old son was found in a burning vehicle, authorities said. Manuel Rivera has been charged with second-degree aggravated arson, first-degree murder, second-degree endangering the welfare of a child, and second-degree desecration of human remains, Middlesex County Prosecutor Yolanda Ciccone said. According to Sayreville Schools Superintendent Richard Labbe, 43-year-old Rivera was employed by the district, and his son was a student at the Wilson School. The charges were filed in connection with an incident Thursday…
Police & Fire
Update
: Teaneck Woman Remains Hospitalized After Husband’s Suicide Fire Kills 2nd Victim
FOR THE RECORD: A Teaneck woman remained hospitalized weeks after her husband ignited a gasoline-fueled fire that killed himself and another woman in their basement apartment. Ranjodh Singh IV, 35, “purposely set fire to himself in the basement apartment” shortly after midnight Feb. 19, Bergen County Prosecutor Mark Musella said last week. “As a result, the fire spread rapidly through the basement and trapped the other two occupants of the apartment,” Musella said. He used an accelerant, the prosecutor said, which responders said was gasoline. Singh died before dawn. Single mom Manjin…
Police & Fire
Body Found, Another Possible Following Fierce Multi-Family Home Fire In Ridgefield
𝗨𝗣𝗗𝗔𝗧𝗘: A former bed and breakfast in Ridgefield had been leveled by fire when responders found the remains of a man wrapped around a support beam. “He must’ve been alive and trying to hold on when the floor above him collapsed,” said a firefighter who was at the predawn blaze at the former Toddle Inn on Broad Avenue on Wednesday, March 6. Bergen County Prosecutor Mark Musella identified the victim on Friday as 42-year-old Xavier Contreras. An Ecuadoran national, the homeless Contreras sometimes joined the groups of day laborers waiting for passing contractors in nearby Palisades Park, jus…
Police & Fire
Update
: Arson Investigators Probe Multi-Truck Fire In Ridgefield
𝗨𝗣𝗗𝗔𝗧𝗘: Investigators were probing the cause of a multi-truck fire in Ridgefield that sent up a column of black smoke visible for miles. No injuries were reported in the three-alarm blaze, which ignited behind the Hanjin warehouse on Railroad Avenue near Pleasantview Avenue shortly before 1 p.m. Sunday, March 3. At least four box trucks and rigs were destroyed or severely damaged. Mutual aid responders either at the scene or in coverage included firefighters from Cliffside Park, Fairview, Leonia, Palisades Park and Ridgefield Park. The County Wide Emergency Response Team also responded. …
Police & Fire
New Charges For Hunterdon County Tenant Who Started Blaze At Occupied Home: Prosecutor
A 44-year-old Ringoes woman is facing additional charges after prosecutors say she intentionally set a fire in her home last May. Onika Johnson was charged with arson on Thursday, Feb. 29 after originally being charged last August with attempted murder, aggravated arson and criminal mischief, Hunterdon County First Assistant Prosecutor Joseph Paravecchia said. On Sunday, May 21, 2023, Johnson intentionally started a fire in the garage at 8 Whitetail Way in Ringoes while the residence was occupied by several family members and tenants, authorities said. The home suffered significant str…
Police & Fire
Murder-suicide
BID? 3 Hospitalized After Arsonist With Gasoline Ignites Teaneck Basement Fire
UPDATE: Two people have died following a suspicious gasoline-fed overnight basement fire in Teaneck that sources said was an attempted murder-suicide earlier this week. Firefighters were dousing the 12:30 a.m. blaze at a multi-family home on Palisade Avenue when they discovered and rescued three people trapped in a basement apartment on Monday, Feb. 19, Bergen County Prosecutor Mark Musella said. He identified them as Manjit Kaur, 47, 35-year-old Ranjodh Singh IV and an as-yet-unidentified woman. All three were taken to Hackensack University Medical Center, but Manjit Kaur and the woman we…
Police & Fire
Woman Deliberately Set Rutherford Garden Apartment Fire, Authorities Charge
A woman remained held Tuesday after authorities charged her with deliberately igniting a fire in the kitchen of a garden apartment in the Rutherford complex where she lives. Mary Anne Hampl, 62, was arrested shortly after 7 p.m. last Thursday, Feb. 8, after borough firefighters doused the Hastings Avenue blaze, Bergen County Prosecutor Mark Musella said. Hampl, who Musella said is unemployed, is accused of intentionally creating a fire and smoke condition with items purposefully placed on a stove. The prosecutor didn't suggest a possible motive. Detectives from his Arson Squad charged Ham…
Police & Fire
Route 17 Shopping Center Fires Set By Rockland Man: Bergen Prosecutor
Back-to-back fires behind two Ramsey shopping centers were deliberately set by an unemployed Rockland man, authorities charged. Nicholas Todaro, 37, of Orangeburg ignited the first one in a wooded area behind the Spring Street shopping center just off northbound Route 17 shortly after 6:30 p.m. Jan. 5, Bergen County Prosecutor Mark Musella said. Roughly 20 minutes later, he set a second fire in a wooded area behind the Interstate Shopping Center nearly a mile down the road on the highway’s southbound side, the prosecutor said. Ramsey firefighters quickly doused both blazes, Musella said. …
Police & Fire
Blazing Out-Of-State Trespasser Ignites Trailer Fire Near Meadowlands: Carlstadt PD
An out-of-state man ignited a fire while smoking pot in a trailer off Route 120 in Carlstadt, authorities said. Detective Sgt. Mark Wong was headed north on the highway when he saw smoke coming from the roof of the trailer on the Home Improvement Team property less than a mile north of the Meadowlands shortly before 1 p.m. Friday, Dec. 22. The sergeant also saw a man tipping away wearing a backpack and holding some belongings in his hands, Police Chief Thomas Cox said. Officer Matthew Bartlett assisted Wong in detaining Joe Jacob Perez of Lowell, Massachusetts, while firefighters doused t…
Police & Fire
2 Broken Thumbs Down: Gambino Family Hothead Nearly Torches Jersey Shore Restaurant, Feds Say
Life imitated art when a reputed Gambino crime family captain threatened to burn down a Jersey Shore restaurant, then went to a service station across the street and tried to buy and fill a plastic gas can, federal authorities said. In what could’ve been a scene from any number of modern-day mob movies, Joseph Lanni of Staten Island became a walking cliché, the Justice Department said in announcing an organized-crime takedown that stretched all the way to Sicily. Lanni and fellow Staten Islander Vincent “Vinny Slick” Minsquero “became belligerent” after being asked to leave Roxy’s Bar and G…
Police & Fire
PA Man Charged With Torching NJ Home For Insurance Money
A Pennsylvania man already awaiting trial in connection with other incidents was charged with setting fire to a former home in Cherry Hill to collect on the insurance. Richard Orlandini, 62, of Wilkes Barre, collected at least $75,000 from Allstate by "recklessly placing others in danger of death or bodily injury," New Jersey Attorney General Matthew J. Platkin said. Firefighters reported finding the two-story single-family home on Chapel Avenue West well-involved shortly before 1:30 a.m. Oct. 20, 2018. No injuries were reported and the house had to be demolished. Orlandini deli…
Police & Fire
Arsonist Found Unconscious After Setting Fire To His NJ Apartment: Prosecutor
A 40-year-old arsonist was found unconscious after setting a fire that ignited a Somerset County apartment, authorities said. Dashawn Holmes, a tenant in an East Main Street building in Somerville, was found unconscious by firefighters responding to the alarm set off just before midnight on Wednesday, Oct. 25, Somerset County Prosecutor John P. McDonald said. Holmes was taken to an area hospital for treatment. The Somerville Fire Marshall responded to the scene and determined the fire to be suspicious in nature, said McDonald alongside Somerset County Prosecutor’s Office Chief of…
Police & Fire
Wyckoff Woman, 79, Who Died In House Fire Identified
UPDATE: Virginia D'Amelio Ingenito of Wyckoff was home alone Sunday afternoon when what quickly became an intense fire apparently began in her kitchen. Wyckoff police who arrived first at the Meer Avenue home where she lived with her son and two grandsons found the 79-year-old Italian immigrant unresponsive just after noon Nov. 5, Bergen County Prosecutor Mark Musella said. Ingenito was in cardiac arrest when taken to The Valley Hospital in Ridgewood, where she was pronounced dead a short time later, responders said. The rear of the house, where the kitchen was located, was fully involved…
Police & Fire
One Dead In Wyckoff House Fire
A grandmother who was pulled from a Wyckoff house fire on Sunday died at the hospital, authorities confirmed. Virginia D'Amelio Ingenito, 79, was found unresponsive by Wyckoff police officers who were the first responders at the fire on Meer Avenue just off James Way behind Route 208 just after noon Nov. 5, Bergen County Prosecutor Mark Musella said. CPR was conducted on Ingenito, who reportedly was in cardiac arrest when she was taken to The Valley Hospital in Ridgewood, where she was pronounced dead a short time later. Firefighters found the rear of the house, where the kitchen was loca…
Police & Fire
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…
Police & Fire
Fair Lawn Native Critically Burned Fighting Baltimore Fire Succumbs To His Injuries
A Fair Lawn native who was critically injured trying to rescue a brother firefighter in a blaze in Baltimore has tragically made the ultimate sacrifice. Fire Lt. Dillion Rinaldo succumbed to his injuries Tuesday night, Oct. 24, five days after a rowhouse blaze claimed the life of a fellow smoke eater whom he and his colleagues had gone back in to save. "To the Rinaldo family, we are at a loss for words," the Fair Lawn Fire Department wrote in a social media post. "Your son Dillon will never be forgotten," the post reads. "He had the biggest heart and would literally help anyone in need. Al…
Police & Fire
Amputee In Wheelchair Busted For Baseball Bat Assault In Upper Saddle River
A 62-year-old amputee previously accused of setting a fire in his luxury high-rise apartment in Fort Lee was jailed on domestic assault charges following a weekend incident at an Upper Saddle River home. Jay Freedman was taken into custody at the $1.3 million home in the south end of Upper Saddle River around 8 a.m. Sunday, Oct. 1, according to a police report. Freedman is accused of hitting the victim with a baseball bat, it says. The victim reportedly refused treatment. Meanwhile, Freedman, who has a prosthetic leg and was reportedly using a wheelchair, was taken to Bergen New Bridge Me…
Police & Fire
Attempted Murder For Arsonist Who Had Victims Yelling For Help On Roof Of NJ Home: Prosecutor
A 47-year-old woman has been arrested and charged with starting the fire that left four people on the roof yelling for help this week in Hunterdon County, authorities said. Laura Duran, of Raritan Township, was charged with attempted murder, aggravated arson, arson, and criminal mischief in the Wednesday, Sept. 27 blaze at 127 River Road, Hunterdon County Prosecutor Renée M. Robeson and Raritan Township Police Chief Alfred Payne said. Arriving officers found two people yelling on the roof of a two-family home just before 10:45 p.m., police said in a news release. "Utilizing their patr…
Police & Fire
Killer Sentenced To Life For Shooting Rapper, Then Dumping Burned Body In Paramus
UPDATE: An ex-con convicted a second time of shooting an aspiring rapper in a vacant home in Englewood, then burning the body and dumping it on a quiet Paramus cul-de-sac was sentenced to life in prison, authorities said. "There is nothing more cowardly than shooting someone in the back," Assistant Bergen County Prosecutor Gary Donatello said before Randy Manning was sentenced in Superior Court in Hackensack for killing Rhian “Kampane” Stoute in 2011. Manning was originally convicted for the same crime and sent to state prison for life in 2014, but he got the conviction overturned in 2020 …
Police & Fire
Fire That Destroyed, Damaged Vehicles On Route 46 Lot Deliberately Set By PA Man: Prosecutor
UPDATE: A pre-dawn fire that destroyed some vehicles and damaged others at a used car dealership on Route 46 in Lodi last month was intentionally set by a Pennsylvania man, authorities said. Jonathan Czyzewski, 37, of Levittown, PA remained held in the Bucks County Correctional Facility in Doylestown pending extradition to Bergen County. Czyzewski set fire to a 2011 Dodge Ram 1500 pickup truck at MFT Auction off Money Street at 4:40 a.m. July 30, Bergen County Prosecutor Mark Musella said. Flames engulfed the pickup and quickly spread to other vehicles on the lot, the prosecutor said. …
Police & Fire
Arsonist Torched Somerset County Home: Prosecutor
A 25-year-old man was arrested for intentionally starting a fire at a Somerset County home, authorities announced Tuesday, Aug. 22. Paul Basta, of June Place in Manville, was charged with two counts of second-degree aggravated arson, Somerset County Prosecutor John P. McDonald said in a joint release. Basta is accused of intentionally setting fire to a Manville home shortly before emergency crews responded around 3:40 a.m. on Monday, May 15. The fire was extinguished by the Manville Fire Department with help from the Manville Police Department and the Somerset County Prosecutor’s…
Police & Fire
Multiple Vehicles Destroyed, Damaged In Suspicious Fire At Route 46 Used Car Lot
Three vehicles were destroyed and three others damaged in a suspicious predawn fire Sunday at a used car dealership on Route 46 in Lodi. Lodi police arrived at 4:42 a.m. July 30 to find multiple vehicles in flames and the MTF Auction building off Money Street damaged. Firefighters had the blaze doused in under an hour. There was no extension into the building, they said afterward. No injuries were reported. Responders arrived at the MTF Auction used car dealership on Route 46 in Lodi to find a trio of vehicles aflame.Damien Danis for DAILY VOICE The Lodi Fire Prevention Bureau began a…
Police & Fire
Love Triangle: NYC Man Again Convicted Of Murdering Popular Teaneck Software Engineer
Jurors in Hackensack convicted a Manhattan man for a second time of brutally murdering a popular software engineer in his Teaneck home. Sui Kam "Tony" Tung was found guilty of all counts in the horrific killing of Robert Cantor, who authorities said was his estranged wife's lover, over a decade ago. Superior Court Judge Christopher Kazlau scheduled sentencing for Sept. 8. Tung faces a minimum of 30 years and a maximum of life, Bergen County Prosecutor Mark Musella said. Tung was found guilty of the same crimes in 2016, but a state appeals court overturned the convictions and sent the case…
News
High School Sweethearts' Dream Home Destroyed In NJ Arsonist's Violent Rampage
A family who lost their dream home to an arsonist's violent rampage through a Central Jersey neighborhood last month is hoping to rebuild. Angel and Brenda Rivas, who are high school sweethearts and share two daughters together, spent their life savings on a lot in Manchester Township's Pine Lake Park in October 2017. They broke ground in October 2022 and were planning on moving in come Fall 2023, according to a GoFundMe page for the family. Fate cared little for their future, though, as on June 7, 2023, the family fell victim to a hate crime at the hands of Ron Carr, prosecutors in Ocean…
Police & Fire
Arsonist Targeted Jewish Residents In Fiery Anti-Semitic Rampage Across Jersey Shore Town: AG
A 34-year-old Jersey Shore man accused of spray-painting swastikas on several structures and causing a fire that gutted a house earlier this week was being held in a medical facility, authorities said. Ron Carr, 34, of Manchester, scrawled Nazi symbolism on more than a dozen homes, residential fences and elsewhere, targeting Jewish residents in the early hours of Wednesday, June 7, according to Attorney General Matthew J. Platkin and Ocean County Prosecutor Bradley D. Billhimer. Carr damaged more than a dozen homes, and used an accelerant to set a fire that destroyed a house in the township…
Police & Fire
Murder
: Englewood Man Convicted Again Of Shooting, Burning Rapper, Dumping Body In Paramus
An Englewood man faces 30 years to life in prison after jurors in Hackensack convicted him of murder for a second time for shooting an aspiring rapper and then setting his body on fire. Randy Manning was originally found guilty and sentenced to life in 2014 for killing Rhian “Kampane” Stoute in Englewood three years earlier. Manning got the state Supreme Court to support a lower court ruling overturning the conviction and granting him a new trial in 2020. The verdicts this time were pretty much the same: Jurors found Manning guilty of murder, desecration and unlawful moving of human remai…
Police & Fire
Roof Collapses In Clifton House Fire
UPDATE: The roof of a Clifton home collapsed during a fire on Saturday that brought arson investigators. The two-alarm blaze -- three bells for coverage -- ignited shortly before noon May 27 and quickly spread through the home on dead-ended Lynn Drive. Firefighters went defensive once the roof began collapsing, then returned to an offensive attack soon after. No injuries were reported. The two-alarm blaze -- three bells for coverage -- ignited shortly before noon May 27 and quickly spread through the Lynn Drive home.Victor Scrivens for DAILY VOICE A preliminary cause wasn't given. A …
Police & Fire
Ex-Con Kidnapper Gets 43 Years, No Parole, For Rape, Arson, Assault Rampage Through NJ, NY, PA
UPDATE: An ex-con who kidnapped and raped his ex-girlfriend in Pennsylvania, then torched a used car dealership in Paterson and rammed a stolen SUV into police cars at both ends of the George Washington Bridge was sentenced to 43 years in federal prison. Luis Figueroa, 42, first took a plea deal from the government that called for him to serve 26 years in a federal penitentiary. Then he abruptly withdrew his plea, took his chances with a trial – and lost. Federal jurors in Newark convicted Figueroa in May 2022 of kidnapping, criminal sexual abuse, illegal gun possession and assaulting…
News
Update
: Mahwah Woman Burned Herself In Condo Bedroom Arson, Police Say
A Mahwah woman who was charged with setting fire to her bedroom had to be treated for a flash burn that authorities said she sustained in the blaze. Amel Mersali, 32, used a common lighter to ignite a flammable liquid in her Hawthorne Lane unit at the Ridge Gardens condo development – injuring herself in the process -- around 4 p.m. Tuesday, April 4, township police reported. Sprinklers knocked down the flames, which were extinguished by firefighters who contained the blaze to the bedroom. Detectives from the Bergen County Prosecutor’s Arson Investigations Unit were called to the scene alo…
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