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Trucker Charged With Tossing Molotov Cocktails On Roof Of NJ Strip Club Trucker Charged With Tossing Molotov Cocktails On Roof Of NJ Strip Club
Trucker Charged With Tossing Molotov Cocktails On Roof Of NJ Strip Club A truck driver who apparently had a beef with a strip club in Lodi tossed Molotov cocktails onto the roof of the business, authorities said. Andy Pena, 41, who lives in town was arrested Thursday and charged with aggravated arson, attempting to cause widespread injury or damage and weapons possession, Bergen County Prosecutor Mark Musella announced. He was sent to the Bergen County Jail to await a first appearance in Central Judicial Processing Court in Hackensack. The incident occurred in the early morning hours of July 8 at the Harem Cabaret on southbound Route 17 beneath the Route 80 ov…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
ARSON INVESTIGATION: Suspect Car Seen Near Phillipsburg Alley Moments Before Fire, Police Say ARSON INVESTIGATION: Suspect Car Seen Near Phillipsburg Alley Moments Before Fire, Police Say
Arson Investigation: Suspect Car Seen Near Phillipsburg Alley Moments Before Fire, Police Say Recognize this car? Police investigating an arson fire are seeking information on a vehicle that was seen near a Phillipsburg alley just moments before the blaze broke out. The vehicle pictured above was seen near Lewis Street and Pear Alley in Phillipsburg just before the arson fire at 4 Lewis St. on Friday, July 15, Phillipsburg Police said in a release on Wednesday, July 27. According to police, the car — thought to be a dark red Hyundai Sonata — was seen in Pear Alley between 8:25 p.m. and 8:34 p.m. just before the fire was reported. Scroll down to view additional photos. Posted b…

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by Valerie Musson
News
SEEN THEM? Police Seek Help Finding Arsonists Who Set Fire At Clifton Gynecologist's Office SEEN THEM? Police Seek Help Finding Arsonists Who Set Fire At Clifton Gynecologist's Office
Seen Them? Police Seek Help Finding Arsonists Who Set Fire At Clifton Gynecologist's Office One of them wore a Spiderman mask, the other a mask of another character, Clifton police said. Both are believed responsible for an arson fire that severely damaged a medical office building. The blaze was started on the second floor of the building on Clifton Avenue near Paulison Avenue around 12:30 a.m. June 30. The site houses an OB-GYN and infertility clinic. Clifton firefighters doused the flames, after which evidence of arson was found, Detective Lt. Robert Bracken said. Police released an image of two people arriving just prior to the fire. ANYONE who might know who they are or w…

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by Jerry DeMarco
News
Ridgefield Adult, Juvenile Charged With Arson In Multi-Alarm Palisades Park Warehouse Fire Ridgefield Adult, Juvenile Charged With Arson In Multi-Alarm Palisades Park Warehouse Fire
Ridgefield Adult, Juvenile Charged With Arson In Multi-Alarm Palisades Park Warehouse Fire UPDATE: A vacant warehouse blaze that injured a firefighter in Palisades Park was deliberately set by two Ridgefield residents, authorities charged. Alexander Regalado, 18, was arrested and a juvenile was detained after they were identified as responsible for the multi-alarm Fourth of July weekend fire on Fairview Street off Grand Avenue, Bergen County Prosecutor Mark Musella said. The fire, which ravaged the warehouse and damaged a neighboring building, wasn’t fully extinguished for nearly six hours. Route 46 was closed in both directions at one point because of the thick smoke and a fi…

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by Jerry DeMarco
News
SERIAL CALLER: Midwest Woman Jailed For Threatening To Blow Up Ramsey Police HQ SERIAL CALLER: Midwest Woman Jailed For Threatening To Blow Up Ramsey Police HQ
Serial Caller: Midwest Woman Jailed For Threatening To Blow Up Ramsey Police HQ A Midwest woman who once set fire to garbage bins outside a middle school -- and then contacted authorities to confess -- was charged this week with threatening to blow up Ramsey police headquarters. The threat by Amber Schadewald, 24, "led to a search of the building, parking lot and departmental and personal vehicles by Bergen County sheriff's bomb dogs" back in January, Ramsey Police Chief Brian Lyman said. The subsequent investigation led to Schandewald, who "was believed to be in a group home in Minnesota at the time she made the threat," Lyman said Thursday. Schadewald has a history…

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by Jerry DeMarco
News
Fugitive Dubbed 'Real-Life Tony Soprano' Couldn't Hide From The Law, Even In Death Fugitive Dubbed 'Real-Life Tony Soprano' Couldn't Hide From The Law, Even In Death
Fugitive Dubbed 'Real-Life Tony Soprano' Couldn't Hide From The Law, Even In Death He was considered one of the last of the old-time mobsters, a "real-life Tony Soprano" listed as one of New Jersey's most wanted fugitives. Even six feet under, though, Tony Mota couldn't evade his pursuers. After eluding capture for nearly 25 years for a gruesome murder committed in Hudson County, Anthony Mota was found buried in the country where he was born, the Dominican Republic. Mota had been collecting debts for high-level Colombian drug dealers in New York City when he and a group of accomplices abducted a Queens man on Dec. 13, 1997, authorities said. The victim, 38-year-old …

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
One Of NJ's 'Most Wanted' Fugitives In Torture Execution Found Dead In Dominican Republic One Of NJ's 'Most Wanted' Fugitives In Torture Execution Found Dead In Dominican Republic
One Of NJ's 'Most Wanted' Fugitives In Torture Execution Found Dead In Dominican Republic One of New Jersey's most wanted fugitives in a kidnapping and execution of a Queens, NY man was found dead in the Dominican Republic, authorities announced. Anthony Mota kidnapped the victim on Dec. 12, 1997, then bound and tortured him with others for days until they got a ransom amount of $23,000 from the victim's family, United States Marshal for the District of New Jersey Juan Mattos, Jr., and NJSP Superintendent Col. Patrick J. Callahan said. Soon after, Mota took the victim to an area along Interstate 280 in Harrison, and shot him in the head and neck, ki…

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by Cecilia Levine
News
GUILTY: Kidnapping Rapist Who Cancelled Plea Deal Convicted In Rampage Through PA, NJ, NY GUILTY: Kidnapping Rapist Who Cancelled Plea Deal Convicted In Rampage Through PA, NJ, NY
Guilty: Kidnapping Rapist Who Cancelled Plea Deal Convicted In Rampage Through PA, NJ, NY An ex-con who kidnapped and raped his ex-girlfriend in Pennsylvania, torched a used car dealership in Paterson and crashed a stolen SUV into police cars on either side of the George Washington Bridge rolled the dice and lost. After originally pleading guilty to several charges, Luis Figueroa, 41, withdrew his plea and took his chances with federal jurors in Newark. They ended up convicting him following a two-week trial. So now, instead of the 26-year deal that he originally accepted from the government, Figueroa could be sentenced to nearly 50 years in federal prison. The rampage had an “…

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by Jerry DeMarco
News
UPDATE: Suspicious Fire Near NJ Turnpike In Ridgefield Engulfs Box Trucks, Tire Stacks UPDATE: Suspicious Fire Near NJ Turnpike In Ridgefield Engulfs Box Trucks, Tire Stacks
Update: Suspicious Fire Near NJ Turnpike In Ridgefield Engulfs Box Trucks, Tire Stacks A suspected arson fire consumed the cabs of four box trucks and multiple stacks of large tires in an industrial area along Overpeck Creek in Ridgefield, responders said. Billowy black smoke could be seen from the nearby New Jersey Turnpike to the west and Route 46 to the north after the fire broke out on Bell Drive -- off Edgewater Avenue and Bergen Turnpike -- shortly after 6 p.m. Saturday, May 21. Temperatures that broke 90 degrees required additional manpower supplied by firefighters from Fort Lee, Palisades Park and Ridgefield Park. Their colleagues from Cliffside Park and Fairview prov…

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by Jerry DeMarco
News
Authorities: Convicted Pyro Calls In Lyndhurst Car Fire, Waits For Responders, Lands In Jail Authorities: Convicted Pyro Calls In Lyndhurst Car Fire, Waits For Responders, Lands In Jail
Authorities: Convicted Pyro Calls In Lyndhurst Car Fire, Waits For Responders, Lands In Jail A paroled arsonist was waiting when firefighters in Lyndhurst responded to his call of an SUV fire. It didn’t take long for investigators to charge him with setting it. Christopher Baulch, 43, has an extensive criminal history that includes prison time served for torching two occupied Lyndhurst apartment buildings in 2000 – one on Christmas Eve, the other on New Year’s Eve – and then trying to play hero, records show. “In both cases, he went to help the people,” the sentencing judge in Hackensack said at the time. Baulch -- formerly of Lyndhurst and currently of Wayne – also has a chi…

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by Jerry DeMarco
News
SEE ANYTHING? Deliberately Set Elmwood Park Brush Fire Draws Investigators SEE ANYTHING? Deliberately Set Elmwood Park Brush Fire Draws Investigators
SEE Anything? Deliberately Set Elmwood Park Brush Fire Draws Investigators UPDATE: Someone apparently ignited a brush fire in Elmwood Park at a particularly dangerous time. Fortunately, borough firefighters made quick work of the blaze, which broke out in a wooded area off Gilbert Avenue and Mola Boulevard between 6:30-7 p.m. Friday, April 29. The Bergen County Prosecutor's Arson Squad was alerted after a gas can was found in the area, responders said. The pattern of the fire was also a dead giveaway. One area resident said it wasn't the first time, either. "I'm extremely concerned," he said. "This is a disturbed person that is doing this."  Low humidity and p…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
2 Hurt, Dozens More Relocated As Massive 3-Alarm Fire Ravages Newark Home 2 Hurt, Dozens More Relocated As Massive 3-Alarm Fire Ravages Newark Home
2 Hurt, Dozens More Relocated As Massive 3-Alarm Fire Ravages Newark Home Two people were hurt and dozens more relocated as a massive three-alarm fire ravaged a Newark home Thursday morning, authorities said. More than 100 firefighters responded to 390 Lincoln Ave. as the blaze was reported just after 11:15 a.m., Newark Public Safety Director Brian A. O’Hara said. A third alarm was called about 10 minutes later as the fire started spreading from the two-and-a-half-story wooden-framed home to two neighboring homes, O’Hara said. A Newark firefighter was taken to St. Barnabas Medical Center for treatment of facial burns, authorities said. Meanwhile, a woman at one…

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by Valerie Musson