A Pennsylvania man who worked as a tax preparer in Newark collected a fat stimulus check weeks before a federal grand jury indicted him for filing 44 bogus returns, authorities said.Rather than go to trial, Sylvain Dienhoue, 53, of Tobyhanna pleaded guilty Wednesday to three counts of aiding and assisting in the preparation of false and fraudulent tax returns during a video-conferenced ...

PHOTOS: Responders were relieved when a report of a resident trapped during a fire Wednesday in Paterson proved unfounded.Flames raced through the upper two floors of apartments in the three-story, mixed-use building on Main Street near Route 80 after breaking out around 3 p.m.City firefighters had the blaze knocked down in under a half hour. It was declared under control soon after.No ...

A Hudson County ex-con with a lengthy rap sheet who broke into a Cliffside Park woman's garage and stole some of her valuables got a surprise when he tried to extort her, authorities said.Rashon Drone, 36, of West New York took $200 in cash and other items from the woman's car after breaking into the Palisade Avenue garage, Deputy Police Chief Vincent Capano said.He then texted the ...

UPDATE: A horrific crash on a rain-drenched Paramus highway prompted a local police official to urge that drivers be extra cautious in bad weather.Paramus Heavy Rescue and EMS members extricated a Sussex County driver who was trapped when her 2015 Subaru Legacy crashed after hydroplaning on westbound Route 4 right before the Route 17 exits late Friday.The 35-year-old Hamburg motorist’s ...

Federal agents captured an ex-con who they said participated in a ring that stole BMWs, Mercedes and other luxury cars from towns in New Jersey, New York and Connecticut.Bilal Cureton, 30, of Newark and his cronies often used stolen vehicles to steal more cars, Acting U.S. Attorney Rachael A. Honig said.In one instance, she said, the Essex County crew members stole a Maserati ...

Paterson detectives watched a drug deal go down before busting the seller with 840 heroin folds, authorities said.Narcotics Unit detectives watched as Nasir L. Davis, 21, of East 38th Street sold to a buyer near American Fried Chicken at the corner of Broadway and Summer Street, city Police Director Jerry Speziale said.Davis and the buyer then went their separate ways, Speziale said.The ...

A former construction executive with Bloomberg LP was sentenced to 3½ years in federal prison Tuesday in connection for masterminding a bid-rigging scheme that prosecutors said netted him an estimated $1.45 million in bribes.Anthony Guzzone of Middletown admitted last summer that he ducked taxes on the dirty money by not reporting it to the IRS.It was part of more than $6 million that ...

A wanted Long Island man who got away with buying a motorcycle with a stolen ID got caught by Rochelle Park police when he tried it again -- at the same store, authorities said.This time, Thomas Derosa, age 52, of Sayville presented identification stolen from a Texas man to finance the purchase of a $31,000 motorcycle at Bergen County Harley-Davidson this weekend, Lt. James DePreta ...

A dozen U.S. Army National Guard troops have been removed from Wednesday’s inauguration of President-elect Joe Biden, the Pentagon announced Tuesday.The services members were removed “out of an abundance of caution” after federal law enforcement authorities discovered “questionable behavior” or “inappropriate comments or texts,” a spokesman said.The behavior doesn’t necessarily have to ...

UPDATE: Following a lengthy investigation, Fair Lawn police said Tuesday that a length of string found tied to a tree that took a disturbing shape this past weekend wasn't a noose but, rather, was an item used by contractors."The rope in question was closer in size to twine (thinner than a shoe lace) that is regularly used by utility companies to either tie cables together or to ...