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Police & Fire
Bayonne Man, 38, Charged With Sexually Assaulting Four Underage Girls Bayonne Man, 38, Charged With Sexually Assaulting Four Underage Girls
Bayonne Man, 38, Charged With Sexually Assaulting Four Underage Girls A 38-year-old Bayonne man was charged with sexually assaulting four underage girls. Anthony Lashley, 38, assaulted the teens “on multiple occasions between 2017 and 2024 in Jersey City and Bayonne,” Hudson County Prosecutor Esther Suarez said on Tuesday, April 16. All four were under 18 at the time, the prosecutor said. Authorities arrested Lashley this past Feb. 22 in connection with two alleged victims, Suarez said. An investigation turned up two more, she said, for which he was charged on April 9. Suarez didn’t say why she waited a week to announce it. Lashley, meanwhile, remained he…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
Shooting At Notorious Paterson Street Corner Wounds Out-Of-Towner, 42 Shooting At Notorious Paterson Street Corner Wounds Out-Of-Towner, 42
Shooting At Notorious Paterson Street Corner Wounds Out-Of-Towner, 42 Another shooting at one of Paterson’s most dangerous street corners sent a 42-year-old Newark man to the hospital. Shots rang out at Godwin Avenue and Carroll Street shortly after 10:30 p.m. Monday, April 15. As officers were arriving at the scene, a private vehicle was taking the victim to St. Joseph’s University Medical Center with non-fatal gunshot wounds, Passaic County Prosecutor Camelia M. Valdes and Paterson Police Department Officer-In-Charge Isa Abbassi said in a joint release Tuesday. Valdes and Abbassi didn’t say whether any suspects had been arrested or identified.

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
Police ID College Student Killed In I-295 Crash Police ID College Student Killed In I-295 Crash
Police ID College Student Killed In I-295 Crash Authorities have identified the 20-year-old driver killed in a single-vehicle crash on Interstate 295 in Mercer County. Samuel Beale, of the Kenvil section of Roxbury, was driving a Nissan SUV northbound near milepost 60.6 in Hamilton shortly before 8 p.m. Sunday, April 14, when he veered off the highway to the left and struck a concrete bridge support and guardrail, New Jersey State Police said. Beale was pronounced dead at the scene, State Police said. Beale was a sophomore economics major at Rider University in Lawrenceville, according to his LinkedIn.com profile.

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by Jon Craig
Police & Fire
Dumont Man Seized After SWAT Standoff Following Series Of Threatening Messages, Chief Says Dumont Man Seized After SWAT Standoff Following Series Of Threatening Messages, Chief Says
Dumont Man Seized After SWAT Standoff Following Series Of Threatening Messages, Chief Says A Dumont man was seized following a brief SWAT standoff after he threatened borough police, authorities said. Michael D. Tolan, 49, was upset by two motor vehicle summonses he received on Saturday, April 13, Dumont Police Chief Brian Joyce said. He then contacted Dumont Municipal Court and left nine voicemails “voicemails threatening to do harm to former and current members of the Dumont Police Department,” the chief said. A Bergen County Regional SWAT team and Cresskill police joined their Dumont colleagues at Tolan’s Magnolia Avenue home on Saturday. “After a brief standoff, Mr. Tolan …

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
Bronx Tax Preparer 'The Magician' Busted By IRS In Record $100M Fraud Bronx Tax Preparer 'The Magician' Busted By IRS In Record $100M Fraud
Bronx Tax Preparer 'The Magician' Busted By IRS In Record $100M Fraud A Bronx tax preparer known as "The Magician" was arrested by IRS agents for a $100 million tax fraud that federal authorities said was one of the largest ripoffs of its kind. Rafael Alvarez, 60, submitted thousands of bogus tax returns over a 10-year period, Southern District of New York U.S. Attorney Damian Williams said. It was one of the single biggest tax ripoffs by a single tax preparer in history, federal authorities announced on "Tax Day" Monday, April 15. And it allowed Alvarez to pull in $15 million in revenue in just three years, Williams said. It also won Alvarez his sleight-of…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
Armed Robber Gets 50 Years For Stealing $100K In Jewelry While Returning Luxury Car Armed Robber Gets 50 Years For Stealing $100K In Jewelry While Returning Luxury Car
Armed Robber Gets 50 Years For Stealing $100K In Jewelry While Returning Luxury Car A 37-year-old Somerset man was sentenced to 50 years in state prison on Friday, April 12, after being convicted of planning an armed robbery in Dec. 2021 that resulted in the victim being robbed of $100,000 worth of jewelry and cell phones at gunpoint, authorities said. On Dec. 4, 2021, Melvin Banks was scheduled to return a Mercedes S580 to the owner of a luxury car rental service in Riverdale at 9 p.m. Morris County Prosecutor Robert J. Carroll, First Assistant Prosecutor Maggie Calderwood, Chief of Detectives Robert McNally, and Riverdale Police Chief Charles Quant Jr. said. At 9:31 p.m.…

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by Sam Barron
Police & Fire
NJ Turnpike Crash Damages Elizabeth Overpass Sending Debris Onto Streets Below, Officials Say NJ Turnpike Crash Damages Elizabeth Overpass Sending Debris Onto Streets Below, Officials Say
NJ Turnpike Crash Damages Elizabeth Overpass Sending Debris Onto Streets Below, Officials Say A vehicle collided with an overpass in Elizabeth sending debris flying onto the streets below, officials said. The crash occurred on the New Jersey Turnpike above Elizabeth Avenue Monday evening, April 15. Police said it forced the closure of Elizabeth Avenue at 4th Street.  The roadway reopened early Tuesday morning, officers said. No injuries were reported, authorities said. 

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by Sam Barron
Police & Fire
'Vibrant Spirit': Death Of Ridgefield Girl, 15, Leaves 'Profound Void' In 2 Communities 'Vibrant Spirit': Death Of Ridgefield Girl, 15, Leaves 'Profound Void' In 2 Communities
'Vibrant Spirit': Death Of Ridgefield Girl, 15, Leaves 'Profound Void' In 2 Communities UPDATE: The death of a 15-year-old Ridgefield girl who was struck while riding a scooter near her home leaves a "profound void," said the schools chief in Clifton, where her father works. Serenity Law was struck at the intersection of Shaler Boulevard and Edgewater Avenue in Ridgefield shortly after 7:30 p.m. Sunday, April 14, Bergen County Prosecutor Mark Musella said. She was pronounced dead at Hackensack University Medical Center a short time later, the prosecutor said. Although Musella referred to the incident as a "pedestrian death," law enforcement sources confirmed that the teen was…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
Morris County Man Raped Boy Over 10 Years: Prosecutor Morris County Man Raped Boy Over 10 Years: Prosecutor
Morris County Man Raped Boy Over 10 Years: Prosecutor A 61-year-old Towaco resident was arrested and charged with sexually assaulting a young boy over the course of 10 years, authorities said. Juan Fernandez performed multiple sexual acts on the boy from when he was six years old until he was 16, Morris County Prosecutor Robert J. Carroll, Chief of Detectives Robert McNally, and Montville Township Police Chief Andrew Caggiano said. Authorities said they began investigating Fernandez last month. Fernandez was charged with three counts of aggravated sexual assault, three counts sexual assault and two counts of endangering the welfare o…

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by Sam Barron
Police & Fire
POLICE SHOOTOUT: Montclair Officer, Suspect Both Shot In Exchange Of Gunfire, Prosecutor Says POLICE SHOOTOUT: Montclair Officer, Suspect Both Shot In Exchange Of Gunfire, Prosecutor Says
Police Shootout: Montclair Officer, Suspect Both Shot In Exchange Of Gunfire, Prosecutor Says A police officer and suspect were both injured in a shooting on Monday, April 15, authorities said. An individual in a residence began shooting at a police officer on the 100 block of Forest Street, Thomas Fennelly, a spokesman for the Essex County Prosecutors Office said. The officer was hit but was able to return fire, striking the suspect, Fennelly aid. The officer and suspect were transported to a nearby hospital with non-life threatening injuries, Fennelly said. The Essex County Prosecutor’s Office is investigating, Fennelly said. 

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by Sam Barron
Police & Fire
HEROES: Detectives Revive Man Who Collapsed At Hudson Prosecutor’s Office HEROES: Detectives Revive Man Who Collapsed At Hudson Prosecutor’s Office
Heroes: Detectives Revive Man Who Collapsed At Hudson Prosecutor’s Office A visitor who suffered a medical emergency at Hudson County Prosecutor’s Office was revived by a group of detectives, authorities said. Prosecutor’s Detectives Stephen King and Salvatore Benanti, and Jersey City Police Detective Scott Rogers found the man without a pulse in the sixth-floor lobby of the Hudson County Administration Building. Prosecutor’s Detectives Risheem Whitten, Kristen Mikulak and Daniel Bellini “quickly joined their colleagues to provide immediate, life-saving medical assistance,” Hudson County Prosecutor Esther Suarez said. The victim regained a pulse within minutes a…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
GOTCHA! Fleeing Car Thief, 16, Captured By Paramus PD With Assist From Law Enforcement Partners GOTCHA! Fleeing Car Thief, 16, Captured By Paramus PD With Assist From Law Enforcement Partners
Gotcha! Fleeing Car Thief, 16, Captured By Paramus PD With Assist From Law Enforcement Partners Paramus police captured a 16-year-old Newark boy after he'd popped the ignition cylinder on an SUV parked in the owner's driveway. Officers Slavko Bajovic and Ryan Cottrell were responding to a call from the owner of the Bullard Road home when they saw the teen run from the 2017 Hyundai Tucson to a Sonata parked nearby shortly before 6 a.m. Sunday, April 14, Police Chief Robert Guidetti said. Guidetti's officers got help establishing a perimeter from a Bergen County Sheriff's K-9 unit and police from Bergenfield, River Edge and Rochelle Park police, Guidetti said. Bajovic found the Sonata …

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by Jerry DeMarco