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Joseph Rella

Police & Fire
Girl Critical After Being Shot By Boy At Ridgefield Park Apartment Complex: Prosecutor (UPDATE) Girl Critical After Being Shot By Boy At Ridgefield Park Apartment Complex: Prosecutor (UPDATE)
Girl Critical After Being Shot By Boy At Ridgefield Park Apartment Complex: Prosecutor (Update) A 16-year-old boy has been charged in connection with a shooting that left a 15-year-old in critical condition Wednesday night, Nov. 5 in Ridgefield Park, authorities said. Police called to the garden apartments along Teaneck Road around 7:25 p.m. and found the girl with a gunshot wound to her back, Bergen County Prosecutor Mark Musella said. The girl was hospitalized where she remains in critical condition. The 16-year-old boy at the scene was arrested and charged following an investigation that found he had fired the gun. While initial reports said the shooting had been accidental, M…

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by Cecilia Levine
News
Repeat Offender Grabs, Gropes Elderly Woman In Broad Daylight: Ridgefield Park PD Repeat Offender Grabs, Gropes Elderly Woman In Broad Daylight: Ridgefield Park PD
Repeat Offender Grabs, Gropes Elderly Woman In Broad Daylight: Ridgefield Park PD An elderly woman became the latest target of a repeat offender who was previously arrested – and quickly released – for groping strangers, Ridgefield Park police said. Michael Hernandez, 23, rushed the victim from behind in broad daylight as she walked on Roosevelt Avenue between Hazelton Street and Highland Place around 3 p.m. Dec. 29, Police Lt. Art Jensen said. Hernandez, who lives in the village, then “put his arm over her shoulder and across her chest while thrusting his body into her [and] making sexually-motivated comments” before fleeing, the lieutenant said. The description gave p…

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by Jerry DeMarco
News
Back-To-Back Route 46 Gas Station Robberies Net Band Of Bandits $5,000 Back-To-Back Route 46 Gas Station Robberies Net Band Of Bandits $5,000
Back-To-Back Route 46 Gas Station Robberies Net Band Of Bandits $5,000 SEE ANYTHING? A pair of Route 46 gas station holdups less than a mile and barely five minutes apart netted a group of masked robbers a combined $5,000, authorities said. Five of them pulled into the Exxon station on the eastbound highway in Ridgefield Park in a silver sedan shortly before 4:30 a.m. Sunday, Police Chief Joseph Rella said. All wore hoodies, face coverings and gloves. Although no weapon was shown, one of the robbers held his hand over his jacket pocket, suggesting he had a gun, the chief said. The quintet fled with $3,000 in cash. ANYONE who might have seen something or…

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by Jerry DeMarco
News
Just-Released Ex-Con Jailed After Bergen Woman Finds Secret Sex Cam Just-Released Ex-Con Jailed After Bergen Woman Finds Secret Sex Cam
Just-Released Ex-Con Jailed After Bergen Woman Finds Secret Sex Cam A recently released ex-con from Jersey City hid a camera in a Ridgefield Park woman's home in an attempt to secretly record her having sex, authorities charged. Johnny Nunez, 46, was taken into custody by village police this week after the woman found the camera, Police Chief Joseph Rella said Friday. Nunez has conducted a campaign of "persistent and ongoing harassment" of the 42-year-old victim, the chief said. Village police arrested him this past Tuesday on charges of invasion of privacy, harassment "in a manner to cause alarm" and stalking, records show. He remained held Friday in the…

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by Jerry DeMarco
News
Man Tied To Instagram-Related Kidnapping Busted With 1,100 Heroin Folds: Ridgefield Park PD Man Tied To Instagram-Related Kidnapping Busted With 1,100 Heroin Folds: Ridgefield Park PD
Man Tied To Instagram-Related Kidnapping Busted With 1,100 Heroin Folds: Ridgefield Park PD A Newark man charged last year with helping an Instagram influencer kidnap and terrorize a detractor was busted with 1,100 heroin folds in Ridgefield Park, authorities said. Alaziz Dalmida, 23, and village resident Osman Hoti, 41, were sitting in a car in Fellowship Park when village officers approached them, Police Chief Joseph Rella said. Dalmida (above left) tried hiding something with his feet below the front passenger seat, so they ordered him out of the vehicle, the chief said. Dalmida tried to run after getting out but was quickly captured, Rella said, adding that the officers foun…

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by Jerry DeMarco
News
BODYCAM: Video Shows Ridgefield Park Police Heroes Rescuing Trapped Driver From Burning Sedan BODYCAM: Video Shows Ridgefield Park Police Heroes Rescuing Trapped Driver From Burning Sedan
Bodycam: Video Shows Ridgefield Park Police Heroes Rescuing Trapped Driver From Burning Sedan Dramatic bodycam video shows Ridgefield Park police pulling a trapped Fort Lee driver from his burning sedan. An electrical malfunction ignited the front of 55-year-old Christopher Vagnone’s Honda Accord outside Mavis Discount Tire on Route 46 (Winant Avenue) shortly before 2 a.m. Saturday, Police Chief Joseph Rella said. Unable to open the car doors, Sgt. Nicholas Triano retrieved a Halligan bar and smashed the driver’s side window, the chief said. Officers Anthony D'Elia and Nicholas D'Alto joined him in trying to remove Vagnone through the window, but the intense flames and heat pushed…

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by Jerry DeMarco
News
HEROES: Ridgefield Park Officers Rescue Trapped Driver In Burning Car HEROES: Ridgefield Park Officers Rescue Trapped Driver In Burning Car
Heroes: Ridgefield Park Officers Rescue Trapped Driver In Burning Car Flames are rapidly spreading as Ridgefield Park police officers furiously try to pull a trapped Fort Lee driver from his burning sedan, dramatic bodycam video shows. An electrical malfunction ignited the front of 55-year-old Christopher Vagnone’s Honda Accord outside Mavis Discount Tire on Route 46 (Winant Avenue) shortly before 2 a.m. Saturday, Police Chief Joseph Rella said. Unable to open the car doors, Sgt. Nicholas Triano retrieved a Halligan bar and smashed the driver’s side window, the chief said. Bodycam footage shows Ridgefield Park police officers pulling a Fort Lee driver f…

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by Jerry DeMarco
News
HEROES: Ridgefield Park Officers Talk Suicidal Teaneck Man Off Bridge HEROES: Ridgefield Park Officers Talk Suicidal Teaneck Man Off Bridge
Heroes: Ridgefield Park Officers Talk Suicidal Teaneck Man Off Bridge Ridgefield Park police talked a distraught Teaneck man off a bridge over the Hackensack River on Saturday. A concerned passerby called police, who found the 33-year-old man "acting irrationally and apparently having a mental health episode" on the Ridgefield Park side of the Winant Avenue (Route 46) bridge shortly after 9 a.m., Police Chief Joseph Rella said. Officer Camryn Garcia was joined by Officers Corey Buljeta and Joseph Avila and Sgt. Will Morton, the chief said. The man told them that they'd "ruined his plan of jumping off the bridge," Rella said. However, he "was calm and coopera…

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by Jerry DeMarco
News
NJ BAIL REFORM: Released Twice In Two Weeks, Ridgefield Park Man Gropes Woman, Police Charge NJ BAIL REFORM: Released Twice In Two Weeks, Ridgefield Park Man Gropes Woman, Police Charge
NJ Bail Reform: Released Twice In Two Weeks, Ridgefield Park Man Gropes Woman, Police Charge A repeat offender wanted for groping a local woman may have been ready to strike again when a Ridgefield Park police officer grabbed him, authorities said. It became the third time that Michael Hernandez, 22, had been arrested in Bergen County in a little over a month -- as well as the third time that police ended up seeing him released. The first time, they were required to release Hernandez under New Jersey's bail reform law after they said they caught him breaking into cars on May 16. SEE: Detective Work Produces Ridgefield Park Vehicle Burglary Arrest Ten days later (May 26), Hernande…

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by Jerry DeMarco
News
HEROES: Ridgefield Park Police Revive Driver In Route 46 Crash HEROES: Ridgefield Park Police Revive Driver In Route 46 Crash
Heroes: Ridgefield Park Police Revive Driver In Route 46 Crash Ridgefield Park police revived a driver who crashed on Route 46 after apparently suffering a medical episode Saturday afternoon, authorities said. The 59-year-old Queens driver apparently had a low blood sugar-related incident before his car struck the concrete divider on the eastbound highway shortly after 2 p.m., village Police Chief Joseph Rella said. Officers forced their way into the car and immediately began CPR, Rella said. After two shocks from a defibrillator, the driver came to, he said. He was taken to Holy Name Medical Center in Teaneck, the chief confirmed.

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by Jerry DeMarco
Neighbors
Left Penniless By Embezzler, Ridgefield Park Boy Scouts Get Surprise Gift From Police Left Penniless By Embezzler, Ridgefield Park Boy Scouts Get Surprise Gift From Police
Left Penniless By Embezzler, Ridgefield Park Boy Scouts Get Surprise Gift From Police A Bergen County Boy Scouts chapter that authorities said had its bank account drained by a thieving Scout master got an unexpected boost from local police. Ridgefield Park detectives charged Christopher Infantino, 58, of New Milford with embezzling more than $11,000 from the Boy Scouts of America Troop 3 last July. The troop was left penniless while the charges against Infantino moved through the court system. Enter Ridgefield Park Police Chief Joseph Rella. In a rare move, Rella agreed to let the village PBA Local 86 extend its annual “No Shave November” fundraising campaign through Febr…

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by Jerry DeMarco