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Police & Fire
UPDATE: Paramus Woman, 75, Struck, Dragged By Vehicle Driven By 94-Year-Old Motorist Dies UPDATE: Paramus Woman, 75, Struck, Dragged By Vehicle Driven By 94-Year-Old Motorist Dies
Update: Paramus Woman, 75, Struck, Dragged By Vehicle Driven By 94-Year-Old Motorist Dies A 75-year-old Paramus woman who was struck and dragged 20 feet by a sedan driven by a 94-year-old borough resident over the weekend has died, authorities confirmed. Helen Koons was in the crosswalk in the rear parking lot of the Paramus Public Library off East Century Road when the 2013 Toyota Corolla dragged her around 12:45 p.m. Saturday, March 16, Police Chief Robert M. Guidetti said. She was semi-alert when taken to Hackensack University Medical Center, the deputy chief said. Koons was pronounced dead at the hospital at 11:42 a.m. Sunday, he said. Boyd A. Loving for DAILY VOICE…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
Man Who Drove 12 Pounds Of Heroin, Fentanyl All The Way From Cali Busted In Bergen County: Feds Man Who Drove 12 Pounds Of Heroin, Fentanyl All The Way From Cali Busted In Bergen County: Feds
Man Who Drove 12 Pounds Of Heroin, Fentanyl All The Way From Cali Busted In Bergen County: Feds A California man was minutes from a dropoff after driving more than a dozen pounds of fentanyl and heroin cross country to New Jersey when he was stopped in Fort Lee for running a stop sign, authorities said. Timothy Alan Blank, 54, of Reseda, CA, made it 2,800 miles before Fort Lee police pulled his SUV over in Englewood Cliffs north of Sylvan and Myrtle avenues last Friday, March 8, according to a federal complaint. A Bergen County Sheriff's K-9 directed officers to the trunk, where it says they found the five kilos wrapped in five bricks. Blank collected the wrapped $195,000 of heroin a…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
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…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
GOTCHA! Five Charged With Rash Of Bergen Armed Wristwatch Robberies, Stabbing In PalPark GOTCHA! Five Charged With Rash Of Bergen Armed Wristwatch Robberies, Stabbing In PalPark
Gotcha! Five Charged With Rash Of Bergen Armed Wristwatch Robberies, Stabbing In PalPark Authorities have charged five men with robbing three separate victims of wristwatches – stabbing one of them – in two Bergen County towns, thanks to an arrest by Port Authority police. Two of the robberies occurred in broad daylight on River Road in Edgewater last fall, Bergen County Prosecutor Mark Musella said on Friday, March 1. The third included a stabbing in the victim’s driveway in Palisades Park, the prosecutor said. One of two robbers brandished a handgun while a colleague stood lookout when they robbed the first Edgewater victim shortly after 3 a.m. Oct. 24, Musella said. The ro…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
Man Held Sexually Abused Woman Captive At Gunpoint In Hackensack Home: Police Man Held Sexually Abused Woman Captive At Gunpoint In Hackensack Home: Police
Man Held Sexually Abused Woman Captive At Gunpoint In Hackensack Home: Police A car salesman was arrested by Hackensack police after he held a woman he’d sexually abused captive at gunpoint, authorities said. Christopher Baboolal, 29, was seized without incident at the Poplar Avenue home where the victim had been held against her will, said Hackensack Police Capt. Michael Antista, the officer in charge of the department. They recovered a gun – for which Baboolal didn’t have a permit -- and a high-capacity magazine, which is also illegal in New Jersey, the captain said. Colleagues from neighboring Ridgefield Park brought the woman to city police headquarters, Antista…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
Woman Deliberately Set Rutherford Garden Apartment Fire, Authorities Charge Woman Deliberately Set Rutherford Garden Apartment Fire, Authorities Charge
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…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
5 Hours Later: Cliffside Park Bomb Threat Turns Out To Be Bogus 5 Hours Later: Cliffside Park Bomb Threat Turns Out To Be Bogus
5 Hours Later: Cliffside Park Bomb Threat Turns Out To Be Bogus A bomb threat made in Cliffside Park turned out to be bogus after a sweep of the area revealed "no public concern," the Bergen County Prosecutor's Office said. The threat was reported on the 500 block of Anderson Avenue at approximately 12:40 p.m. Friday, Feb. 9, bringing the Bergen County Sheriff’s Office Bomb Squad and Counterterrorism Unit to the scene. After nearly five hours, residents were given the all-clear to return to the area.

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by Cecilia Levine
Police & Fire
Englewood Ex-Con Caught With Stolen Gun: Rochelle Park PD Englewood Ex-Con Caught With Stolen Gun: Rochelle Park PD
Englewood Ex-Con Caught With Stolen Gun: Rochelle Park PD An Englewood ex-con who was sentenced to probation just two months ago in connection with an assault was caught by Rochelle Park police with a stolen -- and loaded -- gun, authorities said. Officer Chris Kiszka stopped a Honda Accord on Essex Street around 12:30 a.m. Monday, Jan. 22, because passenger Zachary Anderson, 31, and two of his companions weren't wearing seatbelts, Police Capt. James M. DePreta said. Kiszka was joined by Sgt. Brian Gallina and Officers Jorge Orihuela and Anthony Ferrulli, the captain said. A perimeter sniff by a Bergen County Sheriff's K-9 led to a search that …

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
Bergen Executive Takes Control Of Beleaguered County Police Academy Bergen Executive Takes Control Of Beleaguered County Police Academy
Bergen Executive Takes Control Of Beleaguered County Police Academy Bergen County Executive Jim Tedesco announced on Thursday that he's assumed "full operational responsibility" of the county's beleaguered police academy and given full-time oversight to retired Paramus Police Chief Kenneth Ehrenberg, effective immediately. The move followed the New Jersey Police Training Commission's lifting earlier this week of a suspension of training for new recruits, Tedesco said on Jan. 18. Ehrenberg, who's currently the county's deputy administrator, has had a long and distinguished public service career. The 36-year police veteran, who was the Paramus chief for a de…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
Prosecutor: Investigation Underway Into Alleged Improprieties At Bergen Police Academy (UPDATE) Prosecutor: Investigation Underway Into Alleged Improprieties At Bergen Police Academy (UPDATE)
Prosecutor: Investigation Underway Into Alleged Improprieties At Bergen Police Academy (Update) In his first extended public comment since claims of misconduct at the local police academy were revealed by Daily Voice last month, Bergen County Prosecutor Mark Musella confirmed that an investigation by his office is underway. “We take all allegations of misconduct seriously, and we immediately began an investigation” into the allegations at the Bergen County Police Academy in Mahwah after being notified of the alleged improprieties. All of the academy’s instructors except one were relieved of their duties by the New Jersey Police Training Commission (PTC) amid the accusations, Daily Voi…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
Somewhere In The Swamps Of East Rutherford: Garfield Vehicle Thief Crashes, Bails Somewhere In The Swamps Of East Rutherford: Garfield Vehicle Thief Crashes, Bails
Somewhere In The Swamps Of East Rutherford: Garfield Vehicle Thief Crashes, Bails The driver of a vehicle stolen out of Garfield crashed the car on an East Rutherford service road, bailed out and vanished into the swamps after being chased by the owner, authorities said. No injuries were reported. East Rutherford police had help establishing a perimeter after the thief was last seen near the Hilton off the eastbound Route 3 service road around 1:30 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 3, Capt. Jeff Yannacone said. Among those responding were fellow officers from Lyndhurst, Rutherford, Secaucus and the Bergen County Sheriff's Office, as well as New Jersey State Police. A sheriff's K-9 …

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
MURDER UPDATE: Mom Shot Dead On New Year's Eve In Bergen, Gunman Surrenders In Montclair MURDER UPDATE: Mom Shot Dead On New Year's Eve In Bergen, Gunman Surrenders In Montclair
Murder Update: Mom Shot Dead On New Year's Eve In Bergen, Gunman Surrenders In Montclair UPDATE: An intense search for a man who authorities said shot and killed his girlfriend at their workplace in Ramsey on New Year's Eve ended when he surrendered to police, multiple law enforcement sources told Daily Voice. The body of 41-year-old Crystal (Camargo) Peterson was found shortly before 7:30 p.m. Sunday in a cafeteria area at Konica Minolta's headquarters just off Route 17 near the Rockland County border, sources with direct knowledge of the domestic violence homicide said. She'd been shot in the head, they said. Charged with murder and possession of a firearm for an unlawful pu…

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by Jerry DeMarco