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Leonia Police Capture Trio In Separate Overnight Car Break-Ins Leonia Police Capture Trio In Separate Overnight Car Break-Ins
Leonia Police Capture Trio In Separate Overnight Car Break-Ins Leonia police responding to separate overnight car burglaries captured a trio of suspects. Responding to a call on Summit Avenue around 12:40 a.m., Sgt. Robert Kennedy and Officer Nolan Stendor nabbed Michael A. Cokley, 30, of Ridgefield, Acting Police Chief Scott Tamagny said. A judge ordered Cokley released shortly after police sent him to the Bergen County Jail on attempted burglary and possession of drugs and paraphernalia charges. Officer Sihoon Chung nabbed a pair of suspects after a similar call came in from Longview Avenue around 6:10 a.m. Manny L. Pinagarcia, 18, of Manhattan w…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
Mailman Charged With Stealing, Cashing Checks From Hackensack, Maywood, Leonia Residents Mailman Charged With Stealing, Cashing Checks From Hackensack, Maywood, Leonia Residents
Mailman Charged With Stealing, Cashing Checks From Hackensack, Maywood, Leonia Residents A postal carrier from Hackensack stole and cashed checks sent to customers on his route in town, in Leonia and in Maywood, said federal authorities who arrested him Wednesday. Juan Torres, 27, deposited the money into a bank account he controlled, U.S. Attorney Craig Carpenito said. Torres was scheduled for a first appearance via videoconference Wednesday afternoon before U.S. Magistrate Judge Cathy L. Waldor in Newark. Special agents with the U.S. Postal Service Office of Inspector General have charged him with mail theft and bank fraud. Carpenito credited the agents and postal inspector…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
Prosecutor: Dealer Caught With 2½ Pounds Of Cocaine In Leonia Traffic Stop Prosecutor: Dealer Caught With 2½ Pounds Of Cocaine In Leonia Traffic Stop
Prosecutor: Dealer Caught With 2½ Pounds Of Cocaine In Leonia Traffic Stop Bergen County prosecutor’s detectives seized 2½ pounds of cocaine while busting an accused dealer from the Bronx during a traffic stop on Route 95 in Leonia, authorities said. Alexander Garces Brioso, 39, was “identified as a distributor of large quantities of narcotics within the New York City/North Jersey metropolitan area,” Bergen County Prosecutor Mark Musella said. Brioso, who works for Optimum Wireless, was charged with possession with the intent to distribute the cocaine, which Musella said had a street value of $50,000. He was sent to the Bergen County Jail, only to have a Central…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
Palisades Park Vehicle Owner Thrown From His Car Chases Thieves Palisades Park Vehicle Owner Thrown From His Car Chases Thieves
Palisades Park Vehicle Owner Thrown From His Car Chases Thieves A Palisades Park owner got thrown from his car as he tried to stop a trio of thieves in his driveway, authorities said. The Glen Avenue resident saw something going on in his driveway and ran out to find the thieves in his car, said Capt. Anthony Muccio, the department’s officer in charge. He hung on to the vehicle to try and stop them but fell off as they sped away, Muccio said. The resident, who’d sustained some scrapes and bruises, flagged down another motorist and together they chased the vehicle to dead-ended Fifth Street. The thieves tried pulling onto a grass median but hit a park…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Lifestyle
These Towns Were Ranked Best Places To Live In Bergen County These Towns Were Ranked Best Places To Live In Bergen County
These Towns Were Ranked Best Places To Live In Bergen County We've seen the best places to live in New Jersey, but what about Bergen County? According to a newly-released set of rankings by Niche.com, the top three spots in the area are Ridgewood, Glen Rock and Allendale. Bergen was also ranked as the healthiest county, third best county for young professionals and third best county for public schools in the Garden State. Here are the other top places to live in Bergen County, according to Niche.com. Crime, quality of schools, things to do, and cost of living were among the factors used in determining the rankings. 4. Ho-Ho-Kus 5. Fort Lee 6. Hawo…

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by Valerie Musson
Police & Fire
Palisades Park Firefighters Battle Extreme Heat, Terrain To Douse House Blaze Palisades Park Firefighters Battle Extreme Heat, Terrain To Douse House Blaze
Palisades Park Firefighters Battle Extreme Heat, Terrain To Douse House Blaze It wasn’t the easiest job: The air was thick, with temperatures still in the high 80s, when a fire broke out in a home on a Palisades Park hill at the top of a private driveway. Borough firefighters lugging hoses and ground ladders doused the Monday night blaze -- saving the house -- with no serious injuries. An air conditioning unit in back of the Chateau Road home ignited, sending flames up the vinyl siding, then into a soffit and roof rafter, shortly before 8 p.m., Fire Chief John Mantone said. Mantone’s firefighters had help at the scene from their colleagues from Ridgefield and Leoni…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
Shock, Sadness Follow Sudden Death Of Veteran Leonia Firefighter Shock, Sadness Follow Sudden Death Of Veteran Leonia Firefighter
Shock, Sadness Follow Sudden Death Of Veteran Leonia Firefighter TRIBUTE: Shock and sadness continued to spread with the news that veteran Leonia firefighter Jack Peters, a retired borough police officer, had died suddenly at 65. “It is with sadness and complete shock that we tell you that Jack Peters, husband, father, grandfather, father in law, and friend to many has passed away unexpectedly today,” daughter Kristen Richter wrote Tuesday night. “We know he touched many people in some way. He loved his town, the fire department, and his family -- especially his grandchildren, his “blessings”,” she added. Tributes continued to mount by the hundreds on W…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
Longtime Leonia Firefighter Resigns Over 'Indefensible' Post About Asian American Protester Longtime Leonia Firefighter Resigns Over 'Indefensible' Post About Asian American Protester
Longtime Leonia Firefighter Resigns Over 'Indefensible' Post About Asian American Protester A string of racist insults on Facebook against a young Asian-American protester has cost a volunteer of nearly 45 years his ranking positions with the Leonia Fire Department. It began with a post by a fellow firefighter of a photo taken during a protest in Leonia against the death of George Floyd. A young woman in the photo holds a sign that says “F(***) THE POLICE”. "To my Leonia people, who is this and how do you think this is peaceful?" a comment attached to the photo asked. A thread of nearly 300 comments followed -- many sharing the poster’s anger -- before the June 8 post was remove…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
Cliffside Park Apartment Fire Doused Cliffside Park Apartment Fire Doused
Cliffside Park Apartment Fire Doused Cliffside Park police braved thick smoke Saturday afternoon to get all residents of an apartment building out safely after a fire broke out in a unit being renovated. The fire broke out around 2 p.m. on the second floor of a four-story apartment building above a trio of storefronts at the corner of Anderson and Lincoln avenues. A paint thinner apparently caught fire, sending smoke through the hallways. Sgt. Chris Merrill dashed through the smoke to the upper floor to get residents out, while Officers Jason Messina and Marc Moschella and Deputy Chief Vincent Capano cleared the rest of the …

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by Jerry DeMarco
News
SpaceX Rocket's Historic Launch Engineered By Bergen County Native SpaceX Rocket's Historic Launch Engineered By Bergen County Native
SpaceX Rocket's Historic Launch Engineered By Bergen County Native A New Jersey native played an integral role in the recent launch of the NASA/SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket. Sam DiMaggio, a 1985 graduate of Leonia High School, is principal dynamics engineer on the SpaceX project. The sophisticated rocket's May 30 flight from Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Fla., carried its first-ever crew to the International Space Station aboard a Crew Dragon capsule. DiMaggio joined SpaceX in 2000 and was a designer on the initial Falcon 1 launch vehicle, the world's first privately-developed liquid-fueled rocket to reach orbit in 2008. He received his bachelor…

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by Jon Craig
Police & Fire
SEE ANYTHING? Motorized Robber Mugs Leonia Postal Carrier SEE ANYTHING? Motorized Robber Mugs Leonia Postal Carrier
SEE Anything? Motorized Robber Mugs Leonia Postal Carrier A bandit riding a scooter robbed a postal carrier of a package in Leonia, said police who sought the public’s help finding him. The strong-armed robber pushed the carrier, grabbed the package, then fled Cumley Terrace toward Fort Lee Road on an electric or motorized scooter around noon Tuesday, Capt. Scott Tamagny said. He was described as black, about 6 feet tall and 200 pounds, wearing black shorts, a white shirt and a black face mask. The postal carrier wasn’t injured, Tamagny said, adding that members of the US Postal Inspection Service were trying to determine what was in the package.…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
Authorities: Drunk Long Island Driver Leads 10-Mile NJ Chase Toward GWB Authorities: Drunk Long Island Driver Leads 10-Mile NJ Chase Toward GWB
Authorities: Drunk Long Island Driver Leads 10-Mile NJ Chase Toward GWB A fashion sales manager from Long Island was drunk when she led New Jersey State Police troopers on a 10-mile chase from Saddle Brook to Leonia, authorities said. A trooper tried to stop a weaving Nissan Rogue headed east on Route 80 in Saddle Brook shortly after 9 p.m. Thursday, a State Police spokesman said. Jan Kotowski, 45, of North Bellmore in Nassau County, kept going, however, NJSP Trooper Alejandro Goez said Friday. The trooper was joined by another, both with lights and sirens activated, before Kotowski finally pulled over on Route 95, he said. Kotowski was charged with eluding …

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by Jerry DeMarco