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Police & Fire
Wood-Ridge Detectives Charge Habitual Hackensack Offender, 19, In Home Burglary Vehicle Theft Wood-Ridge Detectives Charge Habitual Hackensack Offender, 19, In Home Burglary Vehicle Theft
Wood-Ridge Detectives Charge Habitual Hackensack Offender, 19, In Home Burglary Vehicle Theft A 19-year-old habitual offender from Hackensack who's been arrested no fewer than four times in just the past year was back in the Bergen County Jail, although it wasn't certain for how long. Cosmo Pena was released from the Essex County Jail on Thursday, Jan. 4, to the custody of Wood-Ridge police, who'd tied him to the theft of a resident's Mercedes during a home burglary last summer. Pena -- who has racked up recent arrests for offenses including theft, conspiracy, resisting arrest and leading a police chase  -- had been held in Essex County the past few weeks. Wood-Ridge detective…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
MOMMY AND CLYDE? Getaway Driver, Son Swipe $100G Worth Of Bling From Jewelry Store: Clifton PD MOMMY AND CLYDE? Getaway Driver, Son Swipe $100G Worth Of Bling From Jewelry Store: Clifton PD
Mommy AND Clyde? Getaway Driver, Son Swipe $100G Worth Of Bling From Jewelry Store: Clifton PD A burglar broke into a Clifton jewelry store, swiped nearly $100,000 worth of bling and planned to flee in a getaway car driven by his 59-year-old mother before police arrived, authorities said. Officers responding to a burglar alarm at Morre Lyons Jewelers in the Richfield Shopping Center around 2:30 a.m. last Nov. 24 saw Iver Vera-Miranda of Clifton emerge from behind the store and then duck back inside, Detective Lt. Robert Bracken said on Friday, Jan. 5. Vera-Miranda, 30, had worked a Fuel 4 in Fair Lawn before he and another man were charged with swiping $11,000 from the station's safe…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
FEDS: Serial Burglar Makes Bogus Calls To Divert Police Before Multiple NJ Drug Store Break-Ins FEDS: Serial Burglar Makes Bogus Calls To Divert Police Before Multiple NJ Drug Store Break-Ins
Feds: Serial Burglar Makes Bogus Calls To Divert Police Before Multiple NJ Drug Store Break-Ins A hapless burglar tried to keep police in a half-dozen Bergen County towns busy with bogus calls of carjackings, kidnappings and other threats to try and buy himself time to break into local drug stores, federal authorities said. Michael J. Gynegrowski, 34, hit pharmacies in Cresskill, Hackensack, Oradell, River Vale and Teaneck, usually by breaking a window, they said. Six of a reported 10 attempts failed, but Gynegrowski did swipe a significant amount of Oxy, promethazine and other medications from an Englewood drug store, investigators told Daily Voice. Police in the various towns …

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
NJ Transit Bus Driver Attacked, Couple With Toddler Seized By Bayonne PD NJ Transit Bus Driver Attacked, Couple With Toddler Seized By Bayonne PD
NJ Transit Bus Driver Attacked, Couple With Toddler Seized By Bayonne PD A couple with a toddler in tow attacked an NJ Transit driver when he stopped them from boarding his bus with an invalid pass, Bayonne police said. The driver had his cellphone snatched by the couple, who were captured by city police moments later, Capt. Eric R. Amato said. Isaac Jaquez, 28, of Jersey City, and 24-year-old Bayonne resident Elvira L. Salas had boarded the bus with the child in a stroller near the corner of 48th Street and JFK Boulevard, the captain said. “They showed the driver a photo of a bus pass and were denied access since the photo was not acceptable as proof of a tick…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
Naked Intruder Mops Floors In Private School: Rochelle Park PD Naked Intruder Mops Floors In Private School: Rochelle Park PD
Naked Intruder Mops Floors In Private School: Rochelle Park PD A homeless man with a criminal history was recorded on video entering a private school in Rochelle Park at night, stripping and then mopping the floors naked, authorities said. Chayson Ortiz, 30, is accused of trespassing at the Sage Day School both on Christmas Eve and Christmas. Ortiz "proceeded to de-robe and began cleaning and mopping the hallway floors while naked," Rochelle Park Police Capt. James DePreta said. He also rummaged through lost and found boxes, took a break in a teacher's lounge and washed his clothes in the mop bucket, the captain said. Detectives Sgt. Jared Shatkin qu…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
Brazen Looters Ram Stolen Truck Through Window Of Route 46 Thrift Store Brazen Looters Ram Stolen Truck Through Window Of Route 46 Thrift Store
Brazen Looters Ram Stolen Truck Through Window Of Route 46 Thrift Store A group of masked burglars looted a new thrift store off Route 46 in Little Ferry by ramming a pickup they’d just stolen through the front window before dawn Wednesday. The quartet hopped out wearing gloves and hoodies and quickly snatched up mostly handbags at Ron’s Buy Sell Trade after the crash bent a metal security gate around 2 a.m. Dec. 20, Little Ferry Police Chief James Walters said. The bandits then sped off east on the highway in a black Dodge Challenger, leaving behind the pickup stolen moments earlier from outside the Ridgefield Park home of an employee for a landscaping company…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
Convicted Serial Package Thief Nabbed By East Rutherford Detectives Trying To Hop Bus Convicted Serial Package Thief Nabbed By East Rutherford Detectives Trying To Hop Bus
Convicted Serial Package Thief Nabbed By East Rutherford Detectives Trying To Hop Bus A serial package thief from East Rutherford was at it yet again, making it no fewer than four times this year alone that he’s been busted, authorities said. Anthony Mendoza, 42, has a drug-related history of porch pirating, usually from fellow borough residents, stretching back nearly five years, records show. This time, a victim directed police to a bus stop near the corner of Paterson and Johnson avenues, East Rutherford Detective Capt. Jeff Yannacone said. It was no surprise to any of them that Mendoza was their suspect. Detective Kevin Felten nabbed him with packages addressed to two …

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
Wire Theft Arrest Made After Former Longtime Paramus Boro Employee Is Caught On Camera: Police Wire Theft Arrest Made After Former Longtime Paramus Boro Employee Is Caught On Camera: Police
Wire Theft Arrest Made After Former Longtime Paramus Boro Employee Is Caught On Camera: Police GOTCHA! A former Paramus animal control officer was charged with stealing thousands of dollars worth of wire after the property owner installed a security camera, authorities said. The northbound Route 17 site had copper wire stolen twice when the new layer of security was added, Paramus Police Robert Guidetti said. Following a third break-in on Monday, Nov. 27, Detective Nicholas Luciano responded and reviewed the video. It showed a man smashing the padlock off a storage room door and removing $2,000 worth of metal-clad wire and $500 worth of Thermoplastic high-heat resistant nylon-c…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
Fearless Bergen Burglars Continue Rash Of Brazen Break-Ins Fearless Bergen Burglars Continue Rash Of Brazen Break-Ins
Fearless Bergen Burglars Continue Rash Of Brazen Break-Ins Local police departments in Bergen County have been comparing notes amid a rising wave of brazen home burglaries. A string of Thanksgiving weekend break-ins included one in which a Glen Rock resident who wasn't home called police after an app showed him two burglars entering his Dunham Place residence shortly after 6 p.m. Friday, Nov. 24. Responding officers found a door smashed in and rooms ransacked, Lt. Frank Riggio said. Police from Ridgewood and Hawthorne, along with a Bergen County Sheriff’s K-9 Unit, converged on the area but didn't find anyone, he said. Another burglary appar…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
Residents Home When Back-Door Burglars Steal Wallets, Fobs, New BMWs: Glen Rock PD Residents Home When Back-Door Burglars Steal Wallets, Fobs, New BMWs: Glen Rock PD
Residents Home When Back-Door Burglars Steal Wallets, Fobs, New BMWs: Glen Rock PD Residents were home when burglars broke in through a back window, snatched their key fobs and wallets and sped off with two new SUVs, police in Glen Rock said. The fobs were hanging on hooks near the front door and the wallets were found nearby, Police Chief Dean Ackermann said of the 6 a.m. break-in on Greenway Road. The burglars drove the 2024 BMW X5 and 2023 BMW X1 taken from the driveway towards Lincoln Avenue and were tracked on southbound Route 20 into Newark, the chief said. Moments later, they tried to use the resident’s credit card at a gas station on McCarter Boulevard, he said. …

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
GOTCHA! Lyndhurst Detectives Crash Home Burglary, Nab Local Couple GOTCHA! Lyndhurst Detectives Crash Home Burglary, Nab Local Couple
Gotcha! Lyndhurst Detectives Crash Home Burglary, Nab Local Couple A Lyndhurst couple had just broken into a local home when they were seized by a pair of township detectives. Daniel Soto, 22, and Nicolette Greco, 25, didn't see Lyndhurst Police Detective Chris Cuneo watching them case the unoccupied Kingsland Avenue home around 10 p.m. Monday, Nov. 15, Detective Lt. Vincent Auteri said. Detective Nick Abruscato had joined Cuneo when the couple slipped around to the side of the house and momentarily out of sight, the lieutenant said. The detectives followed and found a broken basement window, Auteri said. Announcing themselves, they took Soto and Greco i…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
Four Nabbed In Thefts Of $1.6M In Electronics From 55 UPS Locations Across NJ, NY, PA, Beyond Four Nabbed In Thefts Of $1.6M In Electronics From 55 UPS Locations Across NJ, NY, PA, Beyond
Four Nabbed In Thefts Of $1.6M In Electronics From 55 UPS Locations Across NJ, NY, PA, Beyond Four Philadelphia men wanted for a burglary spree through 55 UPS warehouses across New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania and beyond were captured by federal agents this week, authorities announced. The quartet and at least three accomplices who are still at large stole an estimated $1.6 million in electronics over a two-year span beginning in January 2021, they said. The four currently in federal custody are charged with conspiracy to commit cargo theft, US Attorney for New Jersey Philip R. Sellinger said on Friday, Nov. 17. All four had been arrested and released at one time or other since …

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by Jerry DeMarco