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Police & Fire
Fire That Destroyed, Damaged Vehicles On Route 46 Lot Deliberately Set By PA Man: Prosecutor Fire That Destroyed, Damaged Vehicles On Route 46 Lot Deliberately Set By PA Man: Prosecutor
Fire That Destroyed, Damaged Vehicles On Route 46 Lot Deliberately Set By PA Man: Prosecutor UPDATE: A pre-dawn fire that destroyed some vehicles and damaged others at a used car dealership on Route 46 in Lodi last month was intentionally set by a Pennsylvania man, authorities said. Jonathan Czyzewski, 37, of Levittown, PA remained held in the Bucks County Correctional Facility in Doylestown pending extradition to Bergen County. Czyzewski set fire to a 2011 Dodge Ram 1500 pickup truck at MFT Auction off Money Street at 4:40 a.m. July 30, Bergen County Prosecutor Mark Musella said. Flames engulfed the pickup and quickly spread to other vehicles on the lot, the prosecutor said. …

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
Multiple Vehicles Destroyed, Damaged In Suspicious Fire At Route 46 Used Car Lot Multiple Vehicles Destroyed, Damaged In Suspicious Fire At Route 46 Used Car Lot
Multiple Vehicles Destroyed, Damaged In Suspicious Fire At Route 46 Used Car Lot Three vehicles were destroyed and three others damaged in a suspicious predawn fire Sunday at a used car dealership on Route 46 in Lodi. Lodi police arrived at 4:42 a.m. July 30 to find multiple vehicles in flames and the MTF Auction building off Money Street damaged. Firefighters had the blaze doused in under an hour. There was no extension into the building, they said afterward. No injuries were reported. Responders arrived at the MTF Auction used car dealership on Route 46 in Lodi to find a trio of vehicles aflame.Damien Danis for DAILY VOICE The Lodi Fire Prevention Bureau began a…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
Love Triangle: NYC Man Again Convicted Of Murdering Popular Teaneck Software Engineer Love Triangle: NYC Man Again Convicted Of Murdering Popular Teaneck Software Engineer
Love Triangle: NYC Man Again Convicted Of Murdering Popular Teaneck Software Engineer Jurors in Hackensack convicted a Manhattan man for a second time of brutally murdering a popular software engineer in his Teaneck home. Sui Kam "Tony" Tung was found guilty of all counts in the horrific killing of Robert Cantor, who authorities said was his estranged wife's lover, over a decade ago. Superior Court Judge Christopher Kazlau scheduled sentencing for Sept. 8. Tung faces a minimum of 30 years and a maximum of life, Bergen County Prosecutor Mark Musella said. Tung was found guilty of the same crimes in 2016, but a state appeals court overturned the convictions and sent the case…

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by Jerry DeMarco
News
High School Sweethearts' Dream Home Destroyed In NJ Arsonist's Violent Rampage High School Sweethearts' Dream Home Destroyed In NJ Arsonist's Violent Rampage
High School Sweethearts' Dream Home Destroyed In NJ Arsonist's Violent Rampage A family who lost their dream home to an arsonist's violent rampage through a Central Jersey neighborhood last month is hoping to rebuild. Angel and Brenda Rivas, who are high school sweethearts and share two daughters together, spent their life savings on a lot in Manchester Township's Pine Lake Park in October 2017. They broke ground in October 2022 and were planning on moving in come Fall 2023, according to a GoFundMe page for the family. Fate cared little for their future, though, as on June 7, 2023, the family fell victim to a hate crime at the hands of Ron Carr, prosecutors in Ocean…

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by Cecilia Levine
Police & Fire
Arsonist Targeted Jewish Residents In Fiery Anti-Semitic Rampage Across Jersey Shore Town: AG Arsonist Targeted Jewish Residents In Fiery Anti-Semitic Rampage Across Jersey Shore Town: AG
Arsonist Targeted Jewish Residents In Fiery Anti-Semitic Rampage Across Jersey Shore Town: AG A 34-year-old Jersey Shore man accused of spray-painting swastikas on several structures and causing a fire that gutted a house earlier this week was being held in a medical facility, authorities said. Ron Carr, 34, of Manchester, scrawled Nazi symbolism on more than a dozen homes, residential fences and elsewhere, targeting Jewish residents in the early hours of Wednesday, June 7, according to Attorney General Matthew J. Platkin and Ocean County Prosecutor Bradley D. Billhimer. Carr damaged more than a dozen homes, and used an accelerant to set a fire that destroyed a house in the township…

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by Jon Craig
Police & Fire
MURDER: Englewood Man Convicted Again Of Shooting, Burning Rapper, Dumping Body In Paramus MURDER: Englewood Man Convicted Again Of Shooting, Burning Rapper, Dumping Body In Paramus
Murder: Englewood Man Convicted Again Of Shooting, Burning Rapper, Dumping Body In Paramus An Englewood man faces 30 years to life in prison after jurors in Hackensack convicted him of murder for a second time for shooting an aspiring rapper and then setting his body on fire. Randy Manning was originally found guilty and sentenced to life in 2014 for killing Rhian “Kampane” Stoute in Englewood three years earlier. Manning got the state Supreme Court to support a lower court ruling overturning the conviction and granting him a new trial in 2020. The verdicts this time were pretty much the same: Jurors found Manning guilty of murder, desecration and unlawful moving of human remai…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
Roof Collapses In Clifton House Fire Roof Collapses In Clifton House Fire
Roof Collapses In Clifton House Fire UPDATE: The roof of a Clifton home collapsed during a fire on Saturday that brought arson investigators. The two-alarm blaze -- three bells for coverage -- ignited shortly before noon May 27 and quickly spread through the home on dead-ended Lynn Drive. Firefighters went defensive once the roof began collapsing, then returned to an offensive attack soon after. No injuries were reported. The two-alarm blaze -- three bells for coverage -- ignited shortly before noon May 27 and quickly spread through the Lynn Drive home.Victor Scrivens for DAILY VOICE A preliminary cause wasn't given. A …

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
Ex-Con Kidnapper Gets 43 Years, No Parole, For Rape, Arson, Assault Rampage Through NJ, NY, PA Ex-Con Kidnapper Gets 43 Years, No Parole, For Rape, Arson, Assault Rampage Through NJ, NY, PA
Ex-Con Kidnapper Gets 43 Years, No Parole, For Rape, Arson, Assault Rampage Through NJ, NY, PA UPDATE: An ex-con who kidnapped and raped his ex-girlfriend in Pennsylvania, then torched a used car dealership in Paterson and rammed a stolen SUV into police cars at both ends of the George Washington Bridge was sentenced to 43 years in federal prison. Luis Figueroa, 42, first took a plea deal from the government that called for him to serve 26 years in a federal penitentiary. Then he abruptly withdrew his plea, took his chances with a trial – and lost. Federal jurors in Newark convicted Figueroa in May 2022 of kidnapping, criminal sexual abuse, illegal gun possession and assaulting…

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by Jerry DeMarco
News
UPDATE: Mahwah Woman Burned Herself In Condo Bedroom Arson, Police Say UPDATE: Mahwah Woman Burned Herself In Condo Bedroom Arson, Police Say
Update: Mahwah Woman Burned Herself In Condo Bedroom Arson, Police Say A Mahwah woman who was charged with setting fire to her bedroom had to be treated for a flash burn that authorities said she sustained in the blaze. Amel Mersali, 32, used a common lighter to ignite a flammable liquid in her Hawthorne Lane unit at the Ridge Gardens condo development – injuring herself in the process -- around 4 p.m. Tuesday, April 4, township police reported. Sprinklers knocked down the flames, which were extinguished by firefighters who contained the blaze to the bedroom. Detectives from the Bergen County Prosecutor’s Arson Investigations Unit were called to the scene alo…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
Arsonist Torches Bergen Condo: Prosecutor Arsonist Torches Bergen Condo: Prosecutor
Arsonist Torches Bergen Condo: Prosecutor A Bergen County woman was arrested after officials say she started a fire in her bedroom at a condominium. Amel Mersali, 32, is facing an aggravated arson charge following an investigation into the fire at at 2102 Hawthorne Lane in Mahwah on Tuesday, April 4, Bergen County Prosecutor Mark Musella said. Following the fire, Mersali was transported to Bergen New Bridge Medical Center in Paramus for treatment and evaluation, Musella said.  She will appear in Central Judicial Processing Court in Hackensack when she is released from the hospital, Musella said. 

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by Sam Barron
News
Disgruntled Employee Admits Torching Jersey Shore Business After Being Fired: Police Disgruntled Employee Admits Torching Jersey Shore Business After Being Fired: Police
Disgruntled Employee Admits Torching Jersey Shore Business After Being Fired: Police A 26-year-old Toms River man admitted to setting a Lakewood business on fire after being terminated, authorities aid. Jorge Euxaque-Ballesteros pleaded guilty on Friday, March 31, according to Ocean County Prosecutor Bradley D. Billhimer. On Jan. 19, 2022, at approximately 2 a.m., Lakewood Township police and firefighters were dispatched to a business on Cross Street in reference to a sprinkler system alarm. Firefighters were able to extinguish a fire in the basement of the business.  Investigators determined that the cause of the fire was incendiary by an unknown …

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by Jon Craig
News
Homeowner Charged With Arson, Aggravated Assault In Destructive Fire Overlooking Greenwood Lake Homeowner Charged With Arson, Aggravated Assault In Destructive Fire Overlooking Greenwood Lake
Homeowner Charged With Arson, Aggravated Assault In Destructive Fire Overlooking Greenwood Lake UPDATE: A West Milford man was charged with conducting an illegal backyard burn that ignited a rapidly-spreading weekend blaze that sent two firefighters to the hospital while destroying one home and damaging two others on a hill overlooking Greenwood Lake. Keith Scherer, 45, of Hewitt, was burning wood and debris in a fire pit behind his Lakeside Road home when the brush caught fire and flames spread up the hill in the Hewitt section of West Milford, a little over a half-mile from the New York State border, shortly before 12:30 p.m., March 18, responders had told Daily Voice. Scherer was …

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by Jerry DeMarco