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Police & Fire
UPDATE: Man, 31, Stabbed To Death Outside Garfield Bar UPDATE: Man, 31, Stabbed To Death Outside Garfield Bar
Update: Man, 31, Stabbed To Death Outside Garfield Bar A man was stabbed and killed overnight Sunday outside a Garfield bar, authorities said. The 31-year-old victim was taken to Hackensack University Medical Center after being stabbed in the torso outside JoJo's Bar & Grill on Monroe Street shortly after 12:30 a.m. Feb. 4, Bergen County Prosecutor Mark Musella said in a release. He died in the emergency room with multiple stab wounds, law enforcement sources told Daily Voice. Musella didn't say whether anyone had been arrested or identified. He also didn't identify the victim. Detectives from his office and Garfield police are investigat…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
Maywood House Fire Doused Maywood House Fire Doused
Maywood House Fire Doused Residents, responders and the family cats made it out OK as Maywood 's bravest doused a house fire. The blaze ignited in the rear of the 1½-story wood-frame house at the corner of Palmer and Coolidge avenues shortly before 7:30 p.m. Friday, Jan. 13. Rochelle Park's fire chief was the first on scene, immediately followed by his Maywood colleagues. Mutual aid was provided by firefighters from Hackensack, Rochelle Park and Saddle Brook at the scene and from Garfield, Lodi and Paramus in coverage. The fire was declared under control within a half hour. No injuries were reported to any respon…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
FIREBALL (UPDATE): Gas Tanker Flips From One Side Of Route 17 To Other, Dealership Destroyed FIREBALL (UPDATE): Gas Tanker Flips From One Side Of Route 17 To Other, Dealership Destroyed
Fireball (Update): Gas Tanker Flips From One Side Of Route 17 To Other, Dealership Destroyed In nothing short of a miracle, no serious injuries were reported after a gas tanker truck exploded into a huge fireball on Route 17 Monday morning. A used car dealership and many of its two dozen or so vehicles were destroyed in the five-alarm blaze after the truck and a passenger vehicle collided near the U-turn at the White Castle on the highway's southbound side in Hasbrouck Heights at 5:43 a.m. Jan. 8. The force flipped the tanker over the divider into the northbound lanes, Fire Chief Mike Greco said at the scene. (Justin Derevyanik took the photo at the top of this story. See his vide…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
Maintenance Man Poses As Complex Owner, Scams Apartment Seekers Out Of $14,000: Garfield PD Maintenance Man Poses As Complex Owner, Scams Apartment Seekers Out Of $14,000: Garfield PD
Maintenance Man Poses As Complex Owner, Scams Apartment Seekers Out Of $14,000: Garfield PD A maintenance man at a Garfield garden apartment complex scammed hopeful renters out of $14,000 by posting bogus listings on Facebook, showing them empty units he claimed he owned and then collecting deposits from them, authorities charged. John K. DelValle, a 48-year-old bodybuilder from Hackensack, made it all appear genuine by having the victims sign worthless rental agreements, police said. Then he handed them the master keys that he'd been given for work. DelValle also conned another unwitting victim out of $7,000 -- and a car -- by "selling" him a Tesla that he was renting, Garfield …

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
FASHION STATEMENT: Serial Porch Pirate Wore Same Jacket, Yellow Kicks Each Time: Garfield PD FASHION STATEMENT: Serial Porch Pirate Wore Same Jacket, Yellow Kicks Each Time: Garfield PD
Fashion Statement: Serial Porch Pirate Wore Same Jacket, Yellow Kicks Each Time: Garfield PD He wore a distinctive black jacket arrayed with NFL team patches, not to mention sneakers you couldn’t miss -- yellow. He also already had a lengthy arrest record. In the end, Jaquiece Shadeer Smith left Garfield police investigating eight different front-porch package thefts with a single suspect. To call the 35-year-old city resident “known to police” would be an understatement. Smith has a decade-long rap sheet, records show, and even was recently arrested for porch piracy in Hackensack. Garfield Detectives Sebastian Tyburski and Arkadiusz Dudek interviewed eyewitnesses and gather…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
Somewhere In The Swamps Of East Rutherford: Garfield Vehicle Thief Crashes, Bails Somewhere In The Swamps Of East Rutherford: Garfield Vehicle Thief Crashes, Bails
Somewhere In The Swamps Of East Rutherford: Garfield Vehicle Thief Crashes, Bails The driver of a vehicle stolen out of Garfield crashed the car on an East Rutherford service road, bailed out and vanished into the swamps after being chased by the owner, authorities said. No injuries were reported. East Rutherford police had help establishing a perimeter after the thief was last seen near the Hilton off the eastbound Route 3 service road around 1:30 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 3, Capt. Jeff Yannacone said. Among those responding were fellow officers from Lyndhurst, Rutherford, Secaucus and the Bergen County Sheriff's Office, as well as New Jersey State Police. A sheriff's K-9 …

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
Smoky Post-Christmas House Fire Ravages Passaic Home Smoky Post-Christmas House Fire Ravages Passaic Home
Smoky Post-Christmas House Fire Ravages Passaic Home A smoky house fire in Passaic went to four alarms the day after Christmas. No injuries were immediately reported in the blaze, which ignited in a Van Buren Street home near Central Avenue around 11 a.m., Passaic Mayor Hector Carlos Lora said. "All tenants are reported to be out and safe," the mayor said around noon. "Nobody appears to be in the building." Firefighters were quickly removed after a partial ceiling collapse, Lora said. They had two ladder trucks and multiple hand lines in operation. Damien Danis for DAILY VOICE Although smoke met them at the scene, the fire may have b…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Weather
Thousands Without Power, Roads Flooded, Schools Delayed In North Jersey After Storm Thousands Without Power, Roads Flooded, Schools Delayed In North Jersey After Storm
Thousands Without Power, Roads Flooded, Schools Delayed In North Jersey After Storm Rain from a Sunday, Dec. 17 storm closed roads and delayed school openings across New Jersey on Monday, Dec. 18. Thousands of residents were without power as of 9 a.m. According to the PSE&G outage map, the following areas did not have power: Bergen: 3,764 (Most in New Milford, Elmwood Park, Garfield) Hudson: 4,095 (Most in Bayonne, North Bergen) Passaic: 2,718 (Most in Clifton, Passaic) Union: 660 Flooding is ongoing in several areas this morning with 2 to 5 inches of rain reported so far. DO NOT drive through... Posted by US National Weather Service Philadelphia/M…

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by Cecilia Levine
Police & Fire
Tenant With 1,700 Child Porn Files Secretly Recorded Garfield Kid For Gratification: Prosecutor Tenant With 1,700 Child Porn Files Secretly Recorded Garfield Kid For Gratification: Prosecutor
Tenant With 1,700 Child Porn Files Secretly Recorded Garfield Kid For Gratification: Prosecutor A Garfield kiddie porn collector planted a camera that secretly recorded a child for his sexual gratification, authorities charged. Jorge E. Mendez, a 56-year-old married product inspector, was arrested during a raid of his second-floor apartment on Tuesday, Dec. 5, Bergen County Prosecutor Mark Musella said. Mendez was charged with production and possession of child sexual abuse material by Cyber Crimes Unit investigators who seized 1,700 images of “nude and/or sexually explicit pubescent and prepubescent children,” the prosecutor said. He remained held in the Bergen County Jail pending …

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
GOTCHA! Leonia Officer Quickly Finds Familiar Face Who Fled Traffic Stop: Police GOTCHA! Leonia Officer Quickly Finds Familiar Face Who Fled Traffic Stop: Police
Gotcha! Leonia Officer Quickly Finds Familiar Face Who Fled Traffic Stop: Police A repeat offender who might’ve thought he’d given a Leonia police sergeant the slip would've been wrong. It began when Leonia Police Sgt. Ray Forsdahl tried to stop a BMW with New York plates for a violation in the area of Broad and Lakeview avenues, Capt. Chris Garris said. The driver kept going, though, getting onto southbound Route 95, the captain said on Friday, Dec. 1. Forsdahl pursued him for a ways, then dropped back out of safety reasons, he said. Besides, he knew who the driver was.  Didn’t take long to figure out where he laid his head, either. To call Brandon Warren, 28,…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Obituaries
Arson Investigator, Expert Fire Photographer Richard Wolfson Leaves Lasting Impact In NJ Arson Investigator, Expert Fire Photographer Richard Wolfson Leaves Lasting Impact In NJ
Arson Investigator, Expert Fire Photographer Richard Wolfson Leaves Lasting Impact In NJ Whether he was capturing it through his lens, fighting it or investigating it, Richard Wolfson was likely at the fire. Wolfson volunteered 40 of the 50 years he lived in Garfield as one of his city's bravest. He was also a regional arson investigator, often serving as an expert witness in criminal cases.  And he single-handedly founded the NJ Metro Fire Photographers Association in 1985, serving as its first-ever president. Rich Wolfson's impact was felt throughout North Jersey's firefighting, fire photography and fire investigating communities, which is why his death last week leaves suc…

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by Jerry DeMarco and Cecilia Levine
Police & Fire
Firefighters Douse Intense Attic Blaze In Garfield Firefighters Douse Intense Attic Blaze In Garfield
Firefighters Douse Intense Attic Blaze In Garfield Firefighters in Garfield contained an intense attic blaze that severely damaged a single-family home. They got there quickly after smoke was reported coming out an attic window of the two-story, wood-frame home on Bergen Street shortly before 5:30 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 1. It took barely a half-hour for the firefighters to knock it down. No injuries were reported. GARFIELD FD Wallington firefighters assisted. The Garfield Fire Prevention Bureau is investigating the cause. GARFIELD FD Damien Danis for DAILY VOICE (both photos) GARFIELD FD GARFIELD FD

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by Jerry DeMarco