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Butler Sergeant Involved In Attempted 'Suicide By Cop' Promoted Same Day Gunman Is Sentenced Butler Sergeant Involved In Attempted 'Suicide By Cop' Promoted Same Day Gunman Is Sentenced
Butler Sergeant Involved In Attempted 'Suicide By Cop' Promoted Same Day Gunman Is Sentenced When a suicidal man aimed a loaded gun at him, Butler Police Sgt. Jorge Reyes simply did what he was trained to do: He shot back. Calmly. Confidently. Without hesitation. Reyes says his preparedness for the March 31, 2016 incident -- in which gunman Dylan Howard said he'd hoped he be shot and killed in a "suicide by cop" -- is what allowed him to return home unharmed that night to his then-4-year-old son. Now 7, his boy was by his side Tuesday when Reyes was promoted and sworn in as sergeant -- on the very same day, coincidentally, that Howard was sentenced to 12 years in prison. Reyes f…

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by Cecilia Levine
Police & Fire
Butler Ex-Con Who Attempted 'Suicide By Cop' Gets 12 Years For Pointing Loaded Rifle At Officer Butler Ex-Con Who Attempted 'Suicide By Cop' Gets 12 Years For Pointing Loaded Rifle At Officer
Butler Ex-Con Who Attempted 'Suicide By Cop' Gets 12 Years For Pointing Loaded Rifle At Officer A 25-year-old ex-con from Butler who told a judge that he pointed a loaded rifle at police hoping that they would shoot him was sentenced to 12 years in state prison. Dylan Howard will have to serve at least six years behind bars before he will be eligible for parole in exchange for guilty pleas to several charges. ** ALSO SEE: Butler Sergeant Involved In Attempted 'Suicide By Cop' Promoted Same Day Gunman Is Sentenced **  Howard, also known as Dylan Hannah, told a judge in Morristown that he hoped police would shoot and kill him when he pointed the weapon at Butler Pol…

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by Cecilia Levine
Police & Fire
Wayne PD: Driver Nabbed Headed Homeward With 85 Bags Of Heroin Wayne PD: Driver Nabbed Headed Homeward With 85 Bags Of Heroin
Wayne PD: Driver Nabbed Headed Homeward With 85 Bags Of Heroin Two Wayne police officers on a Route 23 commercial district safety and security detail nabbed a driver from Butler with 85 bags of heroin, authorities said. Ara Kouyoumdjian, 34, had the bags -- stamped "I AM BACK" -- in fully and partially sealed bricks when Officers Adrian Sulejmani and Tomasz Cydzik stopped him on the northbound highway just before 7:30 p.m. Wednesday for a cracked windshield, Detective Capt. Laurence Martin said. The 2000 Ford Taurus also had an expired inspection sticker, the captain said. Kouyoumdjian was sent to the Passaic County Jail pending a detention hearing. …

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by Jerry DeMarco
Schools
STORM: North Jersey Schools Announce Early Dismissals Wednesday STORM: North Jersey Schools Announce Early Dismissals Wednesday
Storm: North Jersey Schools Announce Early Dismissals Wednesday North Jersey is expecting three to five inches of snow on Wednesday. Several school districts have already announced early dismissals. Check with your school district for details and more information. The districts that have already announced early dismissals are: BERGEN COUNTY Bergenfield Bogota Dumont Edgewater Little Ferry Mahwah Midland School (Rochelle Park) Oradell Palisades Park Paramus Ridgefield Park River Edge Teaneck MORRIS COUNTY Butler Craig High, Boonton Craig School, Mountain Lakes Denville Dover Madison Mendham Morris Morris Plains Mount Arlington Parsippany-Troy Hills Ra…

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by Cecilia Levine
Lifestyle
Butler Toddler Battles Aggressive Brain Tumor Butler Toddler Battles Aggressive Brain Tumor
Butler Toddler Battles Aggressive Brain Tumor The community is coming together in support of a Butler toddler battling a rare brain tumor. Theo Fredericks was rushed to the emergency room last month after persistent vomiting, headaches and imbalance was not responding to typical treatments directed by his pediatrician. An MRI and CT scan showed a mass on his brain, which was removed two days later -- and Theo was diagnosed with rare brain cancer medulloblastoma. Theo is facing chemotherapy -- several rounds of it -- along with inpatient hospital stays, outpatient clinic visits and a stem cell transplant. …

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by Cecilia Levine
Lifestyle
Butler Quadriplegic Stands Strong 18 Years After Freak Accident Butler Quadriplegic Stands Strong 18 Years After Freak Accident
Butler Quadriplegic Stands Strong 18 Years After Freak Accident Lauren LaPorta of Butler isn't even on the treadmill and she's already shaking.  The 30-year-old had just hoisted herself out of her motorized wheelchair and ever-so slowly climbed the stairs up to the second level of Retro Fitness of Hackensack. All that was left for her to do was step onto the machine. Her legs are quivering. Her back is hunched. She doesn't know if she's going to make it this time. "I don't know what's wrong with me today," said LaPorta, several minutes into her second failed attempt at stepping onto the belt. Halfway there.Cecilia Levine While such a setback woul…

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by Cecilia Levine
Police & Fire
Prosecutor: Hackensack PD Lieutenant Put GPS On Estranged Wife's Car, Charged With Stalking Prosecutor: Hackensack PD Lieutenant Put GPS On Estranged Wife's Car, Charged With Stalking
Prosecutor: Hackensack PD Lieutenant Put GPS On Estranged Wife's Car, Charged With Stalking A Hackensack police lieutenant hid a tracking device in his estranged wife's car, said authorities who charged him with stalking and burglary. Richard Levis, 48, who lives in Butler, was arrested after an investigation by Oakland police and members of Acting Bergen County Prosecutor Dennis Calo's Confidential Investigations Unit. He became a target after his estranged wife "discovered a GPS in her vehicle and that Levis had been using the device to track her whereabouts," Calo said. Levis remained free pending a Jan. 23 first appearance in Central Judicial Processing Court in Hac…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
Bitcoin Bomb Threat: Obsolete Compound 'Hidden Anywhere' Would 'Wound People If It Detonates' Bitcoin Bomb Threat: Obsolete Compound 'Hidden Anywhere' Would 'Wound People If It Detonates'
Bitcoin Bomb Threat: Obsolete Compound 'Hidden Anywhere' Would 'Wound People If It Detonates' UPDATE: Whoever emailed tens of thousands of threats to schools, hospitals, universities, media organizations, businesses and public agencies nationwide on Thursday vowed to use an outdated explosive compound that is "impossible to damage the building structure" but would leave "wounded people if it detonates," Daily Voice has learned. Buildings were evacuated and searches were conducted at hundreds of locations from coast to coast before local and federal authorities deemed the threats bogus. Although they weren't all identical, many of the emails appeared to come from Moscow and bore simi…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
City-Bound Commuter Bus Catches Fire Near 'Spaghetti Bowl' In Wayne City-Bound Commuter Bus Catches Fire Near 'Spaghetti Bowl' In Wayne
City-Bound Commuter Bus Catches Fire Near 'Spaghetti Bowl' In Wayne No injuries were reported after a Manhattan-bound commuter bus caught fire Tuesday morning near the “spaghetti bowl” in Wayne. The driver extinguished the small fire on the rear undercarriage of the 194 bus from Butler after pulling over on southbound Route 23 near where it meets Route 23 and 80 around 7 a.m., NJ Transit spokesman Jim Smith said. Other buses were dispatched to collect the 54 passengers, he said.

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by Jerry DeMarco
Neighbors
Dads Take Traditional Walk To Hasbrouck Heights HS Football Game -- 19.7 Miles Away Dads Take Traditional Walk To Hasbrouck Heights HS Football Game -- 19.7 Miles Away
Dads Take Traditional Walk To Hasbrouck Heights HS Football Game -- 19.7 Miles Away An educated guess told Ron Kistner that a quick stop lay ahead for him and buddy Bob Salerno more than halfway through a personal-record 19.7-mile walk to the Hasbrouck Heights/Butler high school football game in Butler on Friday. “Two middle-aged guys,” Kistner told Daily Voice. “Sooner or later, nature’s gonna call.” Kistner, a Hasbrouck Heights councilman and Allendale DPW director of operations, began walking to his son’s road games in 2011.  Salerno, a Lodi police lieutenant, has joined him on several jaunts -- or treks, depending on your perspective. Their boys are out of school, th…

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by Jerry DeMarco
News
Child Labor Laws Violated At These Bergen County McDonald's Child Labor Laws Violated At These Bergen County McDonald's
Child Labor Laws Violated At These Bergen County McDonald's A McDonald's franchise owner with several Bergen and Passaic County locations has been accused by the U.S. Department of Labor of violating child labor laws at 11 New Jersey locations. S&P Enterprises Inc., based in Central Valley, New York, paid $8,829 in fines after letting 14 and 15-year-olds work too many hours. The teens worked after 7 p.m. during the school-year, more than three hours on a school day, more than eight hours on a non-school day and more than 18 hours during a school week -- violating limits set by the state law. "Child labor laws protect the educational opport…

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by Cecilia Levine
Police & Fire
Fair Lawn Police Captain Cracks Months-Old Cell Tower Battery Thefts Fair Lawn Police Captain Cracks Months-Old Cell Tower Battery Thefts
Fair Lawn Police Captain Cracks Months-Old Cell Tower Battery Thefts FAIR LAWN, N.J. – Thanks to a Fair Lawn police captain, one of two CVS shoplifters caught in the act was also charged with swiping four cellphone tower batteries several months ago, authorities said. Hawthorne couple Michael Wright, 41, and Nicole Paletta, 36 -were carrying nearly $50 worth of items taken from the River Road pharmacy when police arrested them a short time later. Paletta was released pending a court hearing. Wright, however, was held, after Capt. Joseph Dawicki identified him as the burglar who took the batteries from a Saddle River Road tower last Dec. 19. Wright, who was…

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by Jerry DeMarco