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Police & Fire
Hawthorne Man Killed, Passenger From Paterson Hurt When Tree Falls On Car Hawthorne Man Killed, Passenger From Paterson Hurt When Tree Falls On Car
Hawthorne Man Killed, Passenger From Paterson Hurt When Tree Falls On Car A 25-year-old motorist from New Jersey was killed Friday afternoon when a large tree fell on his car on the Merritt Parkway in Fairfield County amid the damaging Nor'easter. Jonathan Rodriguez-Melendez of Hawthorne was traveling southbound near the Stamford-Greenwich border south of Exit 33 at about 1:20 p.m. amid rain and severe crosswinds when the tree fell on his Mini Cooper, Connecticut State Police said. Rodriguez-Melendez was pronounced dead at the scene. Francisco Berdecia, 33, of Paterson, New Jersey, a passenger in the vehicle, was transported to Greenwich Hospital with minor, non-…

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by Joe Lombardi
Police & Fire
Tree Falls On Ridgewood Students' Cars Tree Falls On Ridgewood Students' Cars
Tree Falls On Ridgewood Students' Cars RIDGEWOOD, N.J. -- Several Ridgewood High School students heading home at the end of their school day Friday found their cars damaged by a fallen tree. There was no immediately word on how long it would take to tend to the vehicles, which were parked in a private lot. Village police took property damage reports. Boyd A. Loving contributed to this article.

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
Garfield High School Locked Down, Searched After Threat Garfield High School Locked Down, Searched After Threat
Garfield High School Locked Down, Searched After Threat GARFIELD, N.J. -- A threat locked down Garfield High School on Friday. The threat "was found on a note in the hallway," Capt. Darren Sucorowski said. "The school resource officer and school administration decided to have the student's shelter in place and lock down the school." Garfield police secured the school, with help from a Bergen County Regional SWAT Team, the county sheriff's office and GHS security. Officers from Elmwood Park, Lodi, Passaic, Saddle Brook and the New Jersey State Police helped secure the outer perimeter and a search was conducted.  "Stude…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
Ex-Con Gets 11+ Years For $2,000 Passaic Nightclub Robbery Ex-Con Gets 11+ Years For $2,000 Passaic Nightclub Robbery
Ex-Con Gets 11+ Years For $2,000 Passaic Nightclub Robbery PASSAIC, N.J. -- An ex-con who admitted robbing a Passaic nightclub of $26,084 at gunpoint with two accomplices was sentenced Friday in federal court in Newark to more than 11 years in prison. Because there's no parole in the federal prison system, 29-year-old Keontrae “Taz” Lawrence of South Orange must serve just about all of the sentence. Both Lawrence and another confessed accomplice -- Shaheed "Abbo" Blamahsah, also of South Orange – made the employee dump the contents of two safes into two purses at gunpoint and then count to 100 as the trio left the club on Sept. 6, 2015. …

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
Police: Burglar Held In Sex Assault Stole Guns, Jewelry In Mahwah Police: Burglar Held In Sex Assault Stole Guns, Jewelry In Mahwah
Police: Burglar Held In Sex Assault Stole Guns, Jewelry In Mahwah MAHWAH, N.J. – A man who authorities said sexually assaulted a woman after breaking into her Morris County home was charged with a trio of burglaries in Mahwah, authorities said. Brian Sessions, 47, of Jersey City was captured on surveillance cameras wearing a backpack he stole in one of three burglaries committed last June – two off Hilltop Road and the other off Ridge Road, Police Chief James N. Batelli said Friday. He also stole two guns and jewelry valued around $15,000, the chief said. Mahwah detectives connected with their Morris County colleagues, who’d arrested Session for similar …

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
Storm Knocks Ridgewood Church Tree Across Road Storm Knocks Ridgewood Church Tree Across Road
Storm Knocks Ridgewood Church Tree Across Road RIDGEWOOD, N.J. -- Friday morning's squalls toppled a large tree on the property of a Ridgewood church. The St. Elizabeth's Church tree fell across Fairmount Road, blocking traffic and downing utility lines, knocking out power to customers in the immediate area. Members of village police, firefighters and the Shade Tree Division responded, along with PSE&G. ****** ALSO SEE: Several Ridgewood High School students heading home at the end of their school day Friday found their cars damaged by a fallen tree. https://ridgewood.dailyvoice.com/police-fire/tree-falls-on-ridgewood-students-ca…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
Port Authority Police At WTC Reunite Non-Verbal Missing Man With Family Port Authority Police At WTC Reunite Non-Verbal Missing Man With Family
Port Authority Police At WTC Reunite Non-Verbal Missing Man With Family A missing Bronx man who couldn't speak and wasn't carrying identification seemed confused as he wandered around the 9/11 memorial in lower Manhattan before dawn Thursday. Port Authority officers assigned to the World Trade Center handed him a pen -- on which the man wrote an address that ended up reuniting him with his family. Loved ones and others distributed fliers and police had issued alerts in the search for 21-year-old Tanvir Hossain. Hossain, who's non-verbal and has schizophrenia, was last seen on Sunday. The officers who found him flashed his photo to the NYPD's 52nd Precinct. …

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
Sheriff Saudino: Enrollment Open For Bergen Citizens Police Academy Sheriff Saudino: Enrollment Open For Bergen Citizens Police Academy
Sheriff Saudino: Enrollment Open For Bergen Citizens Police Academy HACKENSACK, N.J. – Enrollment is open for the 21st class of the Bergen County Citizen’s Police Academy, an eight-week course designed to give residents a working knowledge of law enforcement policies and tactics, Sheriff Michael Saudino said.   Bergen County residents 18 and older are eligible to participate. “One of the most important components of law enforcement is fostering strong relationships with the community,” Saudino said. “Our Citizen’s Police Academy gives residents firsthand knowledge of the important work police do to enhance public safety and protect Bergen County residents.…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
Clifton/Garfield PD: Two Caught In Police Impersonator 'Prostitution' Raids Clifton/Garfield PD: Two Caught In Police Impersonator 'Prostitution' Raids
Clifton/Garfield PD: Two Caught In Police Impersonator 'Prostitution' Raids CLIFTON, N.J. -- Three men posting as police officers had been ransacking hotel rooms in New Jersey, claiming they were conducting prostitution raids, until Clifton and Garfield police teamed up to find and bust them. Using the ruse, two of them entered the hotel room of a 35-year-old hotel guest at the Clifton Howard Johnson on Route 3, Detective Lt. Robert Bracken said. While one guarded the victim, the other robber grabbed cash, electronics and the keys to the woman's car, he said. Over the next several weeks, Bracken said, detectives spoke with their colleagues in other towns and the F…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
Snow Closes GWB Walkway Snow Closes GWB Walkway
Snow Closes GWB Walkway FORT LEE, N.J. -- Friday morning's snow closed the George Washington Bridge pedestrian walkway. Port Authority of New York & New Jersey made the call just after 5 a.m. They didn't say when they planned to reopen the walkway.

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
Clifton PD: Burglar Bolts After Finding Family Home, Tracked Down By K-9 Clifton PD: Burglar Bolts After Finding Family Home, Tracked Down By K-9
Clifton PD: Burglar Bolts After Finding Family Home, Tracked Down By K-9 CLIFTON, N.J. -- A Clifton family scared off a would-be burglar, who was caught soon after by a police dog in a nearby backyard, authorities said. The Delawanna Avene residents were watching TV when a bedroom window burglar alarm sensor went off, Detective Sgt. Robert Anderson said. One of the residents spotted 20-year-old Nigel Patel trying to get in, he said. He bolted but was caught after police established a perimeter and the Passaic County Sheriff's Office brought in K-9 Officer Anthony Testino and "Luna" -- who tracked Patel to the backyard, Anderson said. Patel was sent t…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
POLICE: Scrawled Bathroom Wall Scribble Prompts Lodi HS Lockdown POLICE: Scrawled Bathroom Wall Scribble Prompts Lodi HS Lockdown
Police: Scrawled Bathroom Wall Scribble Prompts Lodi HS Lockdown LODI, N.J. -- A barely decipherable message scrawled on a bathroom wall led to an afternoon lockdown Thursday at Lodi High School. "It's nothing serious. The building and students are safe," a law enforcement official with direct knowledge of the incident told Daily Voice. Included in the ineligible writing was the time "1 p.m," authorities said. School officials and Lodi police dealt with the matter quickly. The lockdown was temporarily kept in place while a pair of tactical officers with a K-9 swept the building, as anxious parents waited outside. A trio of New Jerse…

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by Jerry DeMarco