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Police & Fire
Maplewood Teen Sasha Goin Found Safe Maplewood Teen Sasha Goin Found Safe
Maplewood Teen Sasha Goin Found Safe A Maplewood teen who went missing Tuesday was found safe. Sasha Goin, 14, was located Wednesday night, local police said.

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by Cecilia Levine
Neighbors
Family In Union Coping With Second Devastating House Fire Family In Union Coping With Second Devastating House Fire
Family In Union Coping With Second Devastating House Fire Seven years after fire heavily damaged their home, a family in Union are trying to cope with yet another fire -- one that has left them homeless.  The fire broke out on Revere Avenue near the Maplewood border Sunday night. Union and Maplewood firefighters brought the blaze under control in about 90 minutes but the home sustained heavy damage.  Union fire officials said it was the second time they had been to the house for a fire.  The family has organized a GoFundMe campaign to ask the public's help.  "With a heavy heart and a GRATEFUL spirit I am announcing for those …

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by Paul Milo
Police & Fire
Man Grabs Gun, Foils Armed Home Invasion In Maplewood: Report Man Grabs Gun, Foils Armed Home Invasion In Maplewood: Report
Man Grabs Gun, Foils Armed Home Invasion In Maplewood: Report A man who was in a Maplewood home when two armed intruders entered early Monday morning grabbed one of the robber's guns and fired it, sending them running,  one of the victims told WABC 7.  Two masked men dressed in black entered the Lombardy Place home around 3 a.m. and demanded money at gunpoint, a woman who lives there told the station.  The woman's fiance grabbed one of the guns and fired a shot and the intruders fled, she said.  Police later determined the intruders got in through a bathroom window at the rear of the house.  It is not known whether either of…

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by Paul Milo
Police & Fire
Attorney: Man Charged In West Orange Meth Bust Is Innocent Attorney: Man Charged In West Orange Meth Bust Is Innocent
Attorney: Man Charged In West Orange Meth Bust Is Innocent An attorney for one of two men charged following a raid on what authorities said was a major methamphetamine production facility said his client is not guilty of the charges brought against him.  Eduardo Martinez "has maintained from the get-go that he was not involved in the production or distribution of meth," attorney Jef Henninger of Clifton said Wednesday.  Last week Essex County Sheriff's officers spearheaded a search at a home on Lorelei Road in West Orange. Authorities say they recovered methamphetamine with a street value of about $1 million, drug-production materials and…

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by Paul Milo
Lifestyle
Fundraiser Started On Behalf Of 26-Year-Old Nanny Killed In Maplewood Fundraiser Started On Behalf Of 26-Year-Old Nanny Killed In Maplewood
Fundraiser Started On Behalf Of 26-Year-Old Nanny Killed In Maplewood Au pairs in Maplewood and South Orange have launched a fundraiser for  Karen L. Bermudez-Rodriguez, who was killed in Maplewood Saturday morning along with a member of the family she worked for.  "Karen will be remembered as a very loving person with a big heart. She was always very humble and kind, and always willing to help those in need. She enjoyed being an au pair and was grateful to have such a lovely host family. She especially cherished her time with her host family’s daughters and loved them very much. Karen had pursued the au pair program to advance her English skills and…

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by Paul Milo
Police & Fire
Suspect In Maplewood Double Killing Arrested Suspect In Maplewood Double Killing Arrested
Suspect In Maplewood Double Killing Arrested Au pairs have started a fundraiser to help with funeral expenses for Karen L. Bermudez-Rodriguez. Click here to find out more.  Authorities arrested an Elizabeth man and charged him with the murders of a Maplewood man and a live-in nanny who worked for his family, the Essex County Prosecutor's Office said.  Police responded Saturday morning to a report of an assault near Walton Road and Jefferson Avenue. Karen L. Bermudez-Rodriguez, 26, was found critically injured on the street and was pronounced dead a short time later.  David Kimowitz, 40, was found inside a home and …

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by Paul Milo
Police & Fire
UPDATE: Suspect In Maplewood Double Killing Arrested UPDATE: Suspect In Maplewood Double Killing Arrested
Update: Suspect In Maplewood Double Killing Arrested UPDATE, 12 p.m. Aug 4: A suspect in the killings has been arrested. Click here for more.  The Essex County Prosecutor's Office is investigating after two people were found dead in Maplewood Saturday morning.  Police were called to a home in the area around 6 a.m. on a report of a woman being assaulted. Arriving officers found an injured woman in the street and she as transported to Beth Israel Medical Center, where she was pronounced dead shortly after 7 a.m.  Police also found an unresponsive man inside a home in the 400 block of Walton. He was pronounced dead at the scene.…

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by Paul Milo
Police & Fire
UPDATE: Duo In Million-Dollar Meth Bust Now Facing Federal Charges UPDATE: Duo In Million-Dollar Meth Bust Now Facing Federal Charges
Update: Duo In Million-Dollar Meth Bust Now Facing Federal Charges UPDATE, Aug. 6: The two men arrested last week have been charged in federal court. Click here for more.  Another suspect believed to be involved with a large methamphetamine operation based in a West Orange home was arrested in Maplewood, Essex County Sheriff Armando Fontoura said Wednesday.  Police and sheriff's officers raided the Lorelei Road home Tuesday and seized meth with a street value of about $1 million, Fontoura said. They also arrested Brian Chedahackembruch, 23, who was at the home at the time of the raid. He's accused of running a meth production facility, among…

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by Paul Milo
News
Top-Tier Lottery Scratch-Offs Sold At These 12 North Jersey Retailers Top-Tier Lottery Scratch-Offs Sold At These 12 North Jersey Retailers
Top-Tier Lottery Scratch-Offs Sold At These 12 North Jersey Retailers Several North Jersey retailers sold top-tier New Jersey Lottery scratch-off tickets. Players claimed more than $101.9 million in prizes last month. Below is a listing of the top prizes over $10,000 won for the month, sold at a dozen retailers in Bergen, Essex, Hudson, Morris, Passaic and Essex counties. BERGEN COUNTY:  Harrington News, Harrington Park: $250,000 Crossword Quick Mart, Franklin Turnpike, Mahwah: $20,000 Crossword Xtra-Tel, Fairview: $10,000 Bonus ESSEX COUNTY: Crosstown Liquors, Newark: $100,000  Bingo Bonus Square QuickChek, Springfield Avenue, Maple…

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by Cecilia Levine
Police & Fire
Closter PD: Driver Of Unlocked Stolen Car In Chase Crash Tracked Down In Jersey City Closter PD: Driver Of Unlocked Stolen Car In Chase Crash Tracked Down In Jersey City
Closter PD: Driver Of Unlocked Stolen Car In Chase Crash Tracked Down In Jersey City Closter police tracked down a Jersey City man who they said fled during a stolen-car chase earlier this year. Justin Howard, 19, was charged with eluding, resisting arrest and receiving stolen property stemming from the Feb. 4 incident. Closter police were actually chasing two stolen vehicles around 3 a.m. that morning when the one that Howard was in crashed at the Alpine border, Detective Sgt. Vincent Aiello said. The occupants bailed out, ran through a large estate in Alpine and made their getaway in an unlocked car whose owner left the key fob inside, he said. Working with the Jersey C…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
Woman Killed In South Orange Fire Was Once Victim Of Home Invasion Woman Killed In South Orange Fire Was Once Victim Of Home Invasion
Woman Killed In South Orange Fire Was Once Victim Of Home Invasion The Essex County Prosecutor’s Office has identified the victim in a deadly fire in South Orange early Friday. The blaze broke out at 231 Ward Place around 2:40 a.m. The fire left the three-story, single-family home heavily damaged. The victim, 48-year-old Cecelia Cranko, was found on the home’s top floor and was pronounced dead at the scene.  There were no other occupants in the home when firefighters arrived and no one else was injured, the prosecutor's office said.  Two years ago Cranko told WABC 7 News she had been attacked by a man in the Ward Place home. She was on the top…

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by Paul Milo
Police & Fire
Elizabeth, Maplewood Scammers Bought Rolls Royce, Other Fancy Cars With Bad Checks Elizabeth, Maplewood Scammers Bought Rolls Royce, Other Fancy Cars With Bad Checks
Elizabeth, Maplewood Scammers Bought Rolls Royce, Other Fancy Cars With Bad Checks An Elizabeth man and a Maplewood resident were both found guilty last week of using phony checks and money orders to obtain a small fleet of luxury cars and to pay off a large mortgage balance, the U.S. Attorney for New Jersey said. Germaine Howard King, a 43-year-old Elizabeth resident, used counterfeit money orders he created on a computer with the assistance of a woman named Melissa Reynolds, who previously pleaded guilty to fraud. The two tried to pay off two Mercedes Benzes using the money orders as well as a $432,000 mortgage. The financial institution mistakenly accepted the bogus m…

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by Paul Milo