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Mark Musella

Girl, 15, Killed In Ridgefield Crash Girl, 15, Killed In Ridgefield Crash
Girl, 15, Killed In Ridgefield Crash 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 tee…
NJ Widower, 91, Charged With Exposing Himself To Three Kids NJ Widower, 91, Charged With Exposing Himself To Three Kids
NJ Widower, 91, Charged With Exposing Himself To Three Kids A 91-year-old Saddle Brook widower was jailed Friday after authorities said he exposed himself to a trio of preteens. John Urso was booked into the Bergen County Jail on April 12 following his arrest on lewdness charges hours earlier, records show. The defendant "exposed themselves to students who were playing outside at Franklin School," Saddle Brook Schools Supt. Toni Violetti wrote in a message to the community. Violetti thanked staff at the K-6 school on Caldwell Avenue "for their quick response" and township police "for their swift investigation and decisive action." Bergen Cou…
Young Teen Sexually Assaulted In New Milford By Elderly Man, Middle-Aged Companion:  Prosecutor Young Teen Sexually Assaulted In New Milford By Elderly Man, Middle-Aged Companion:  Prosecutor
Young Teen Sexually Assaulted In New Milford By Elderly Man, Middle-Aged Companion: Prosecutor An underage teen was sexually assaulted in New Milford by two men – one of them 67, the other 59 -- said authorities who reported finding one of them with a date rape drug. The older man, Eliezer Kopelowitz of Englewood, and Wayne Bambling of River Edge, were both arrested in New Milford late last week, Bergen County Prosecutor Mark Musella said on Monday, April 8. Kopelowitz was charged with second-degree sexual assault of the child, who the prosecutor said was between 13 and 17. He was also charged with child endangerment, criminal sexual contact and possession of both GHB and drug parap…
UPDATE: Impaired Wrong-Way Route 4 Driver Injures 5, Himself, Faces Multiple Assault Charges UPDATE: Impaired Wrong-Way Route 4 Driver Injures 5, Himself, Faces Multiple Assault Charges
Update: Impaired Wrong-Way Route 4 Driver Injures 5, Himself, Faces Multiple Assault Charges 𝗨𝗣𝗗𝗔𝗧𝗘: An impaired driver from Westchester was headed the wrong way on westbound Route 4 in Paramus when his SUV slammed head-on into another over the weekend, sending five people as well as himself to the hospital, authorities said. Whigmer J. Villanueva, 56, of Harrison was "operating his vehicle recklessly and under the influence of drugs and or alcohol" when his eastbound 2008 Toyota rammed an unidentified vehicle shortly near Paramus Road before 2:30 a.m. Saturday, March 23, a criminal complaint says. "Two passengers in the defendant's vehicle were injured as a result of the acci…
UPDATE: Teaneck Woman Remains Hospitalized After Husband’s Suicide Fire Kills 2nd Victim UPDATE: Teaneck Woman Remains Hospitalized After Husband’s Suicide Fire Kills 2nd Victim
Update: Teaneck Woman Remains Hospitalized After Husband’s Suicide Fire Kills 2nd Victim FOR THE RECORD: A Teaneck woman remained hospitalized weeks after her husband ignited a gasoline-fueled fire that killed himself and another woman in their basement apartment. Ranjodh Singh IV, 35, “purposely set fire to himself in the basement apartment” shortly after midnight Feb. 19, Bergen County Prosecutor Mark Musella said last week. “As a result, the fire spread rapidly through the basement and trapped the other two occupants of the apartment,” Musella said. He used an accelerant, the prosecutor said, which responders said was gasoline. Singh died before dawn. Single mom Manjin…
ARSON? Body Found Following Fierce Fire In Ridgefield (UPDATE) ARSON? Body Found Following Fierce Fire In Ridgefield (UPDATE)
Arson? Body Found Following Fierce Fire In Ridgefield (Update) 𝗨𝗣𝗗𝗔𝗧𝗘: A former bed and breakfast in Ridgefield had been leveled by fire when responders found the remains of a man wrapped around a support beam. “He must’ve been alive and trying to hold on when the floor above him collapsed,” said a firefighter who was at the predawn blaze at the former Toddle Inn on Broad Avenue on Wednesday, March 6. Bergen County Prosecutor Mark Musella identified the victim on Friday as 42-year-old Xavier Contreras. An Ecuadoran national, the homeless Contreras sometimes joined the groups of day laborers waiting for passing contractors in nearby Palisades Park, jus…
Ex-NJ Middle School Band Director Charged With Sexual Touching Ex-NJ Middle School Band Director Charged With Sexual Touching
Ex-NJ Middle School Band Director Charged With Sexual Touching A Sussex County high school administrator had sexual contact multiple times with an underage student in Bergen County when he was a middle school band director there, authorities charged. Kurt Zimmerman, a 55-year-old married father of two, “engaged in sexual conduct” with a student between 13 and 17 years old both at Westwood Regional Middle School in Westwood and at Westwood Regional High School in Washington Township, Bergen County Prosecutor Mark Musella said. Zimmerman, of Rockaway, has worked since 2013 at Hopatcong High School, first as a band director for 10 years and then as coo…
Detectives Nab Driver From Hudson In Fort Lee Hit-Run Bus Stop Crash That Seriously Injured Two Detectives Nab Driver From Hudson In Fort Lee Hit-Run Bus Stop Crash That Seriously Injured Two
Detectives Nab Driver From Hudson In Fort Lee Hit-Run Bus Stop Crash That Seriously Injured Two Bergen County prosecutor’s detectives charged a mechanic from Jersey City with a hit-and-run chain-reaction crash that seriously injured two people at a bus stop near the George Washington Bridge nearly a week ago. Oliver Garcia, 28, was driving 2007 BMW 550i that slammed into a Honda CRV, knocking it into the pedestrians at the Lemoine Avenue bus stop in front of the Wells Fargo Bank branch shortly before 7 p.m. last Saturday, Feb. 17, Bergen County Prosecutor Mark Musella said. The Honda driver remained at the scene, but Garcia sped off, the prosecutor said. The pedestrians were taken to…
UPDATE: Two Trapped In Suspicious Teaneck Basement Fire Die: Prosecutor UPDATE: Two Trapped In Suspicious Teaneck Basement Fire Die: Prosecutor
Update: Two Trapped In Suspicious Teaneck Basement Fire Die: Prosecutor UPDATE: Two people were confirmed dead Thursday following a suspicious gasoline-fed overnight basement fire in Teaneck that sources said was an attempted murder-suicide earlier this week. Firefighters were dousing the 12:30 a.m. blaze at a multi-family home on Palisade Avenue on Monday, Feb. 19, when they discovered and rescued three people trapped in a basement apartment, Bergen County Prosecutor Mark Musella said. He identified them as Manjit Kaur, 47, 35-year-old Ranjodh Singh IV and an as-yet-unidentified woman. All three were taken to Hackensack University Medical Center, but Manjit K…
Fugitive Wanted For Murdering Fellow Out-Of-Stater In NJ Captured In Colombia Fugitive Wanted For Murdering Fellow Out-Of-Stater In NJ Captured In Colombia
Fugitive Wanted For Murdering Fellow Out-Of-Stater In NJ Captured In Colombia The long arm of the law reached 2,400 miles to South America, where authorities arrested a fugitive wanted for shooting a Yonkers resident dead in Englewood late last summer. Joshua Alvarado, 29, of New York City was captured in Medellin last Saturday, Feb. 17, with assistance from U.S. Marshals and the Colombian National Police, Bergen County Prosecutor Mark Musella said. Alvarado is charged with murder, felony murder, armed burglary, aggravated assault and weapons offenses, among other counts, the prosecutor said. Englewood police responding to a 911 call to a residence on Mevan Avenue …
SHOCKER: NJ Teacher Had Sex With Student Starting At 15 In School, Car, House: Authorities SHOCKER: NJ Teacher Had Sex With Student Starting At 15 In School, Car, House: Authorities
Shocker: NJ Teacher Had Sex With Student Starting At 15 In School, Car, House: Authorities A married teacher had intercourse as part of a years-long sexual relationship with a former Garfield Middle School student beginning when the youngster was 15, including several times in a car -- and even at the school, authorities charged. Amy Impero D'Ovidio, a 46-year-old Bergen County native, had worked for the Garfield Board of Education when the alleged encounters began, they said. She was 35 at the time. Locations included “within the Garfield Middle School, at a private residence in Cedar Grove, as well as within a vehicle at unknown locations in Bergen, Essex, and Passaic counties…
MURDER-SUICIDE BID? 3 Hospitalized After Arsonist With Gasoline Ignites Teaneck Basement Fire MURDER-SUICIDE BID? 3 Hospitalized After Arsonist With Gasoline Ignites Teaneck Basement Fire
Murder-suicide BID? 3 Hospitalized After Arsonist With Gasoline Ignites Teaneck Basement Fire UPDATE: Two people have died following a suspicious gasoline-fed overnight basement fire in Teaneck that sources said was an attempted murder-suicide earlier this week. Firefighters were dousing the 12:30 a.m. blaze at a multi-family home on Palisade Avenue when they discovered and rescued three people trapped in a basement apartment on Monday, Feb. 19, Bergen County Prosecutor Mark Musella said. He identified them as Manjit Kaur, 47, 35-year-old Ranjodh Singh IV and an as-yet-unidentified woman. All three were taken to Hackensack University Medical Center, but Manjit Kaur and the woman we…
Paramus Man Stabbed Dead By Son, Left For Two Days: Authorities Paramus Man Stabbed Dead By Son, Left For Two Days: Authorities
Paramus Man Stabbed Dead By Son, Left For Two Days: Authorities UPDATE: A Paramus man who’d just stabbed his father to death dragged the body to a bathroom and tried to set it on fire last week as part of an attempt to conceal what he’d done, authorities said. Melvin Thomas repeatedly stabbed his father, 61-year-old Manuel Thomas, in the chest with a kitchen knife on Valentine’s Day, a criminal complaint says. He then dragged the bloody corpse to a bathroom where he tried igniting it with a lighter, according to the complaint filed by Paramus Police Detective Justin Sicari. “This attempt failed,” the detective wrote. Melvin Thomas wiped off …
Hudson Ex-Con Delivering Flowers Convicted Of Sexually Assaulting Woman On Bergen Street Hudson Ex-Con Delivering Flowers Convicted Of Sexually Assaulting Woman On Bergen Street
Hudson Ex-Con Delivering Flowers Convicted Of Sexually Assaulting Woman On Bergen Street A floral deliveryman with a criminal history was convicted of grabbing a woman on a Leonia street and trying to sexually assault her in Leonia after harassing her 20 minutes earlier in Fort Lee. Randy Gallman of Jersey City was on the clock when he harassed the woman the afternoon of Dec. 29, 2020, Bergen County Prosecutor Mark Musella said. He caught up to her a short time later, dragged her into an alleyway and tried to sexually assault her, the prosecutor said on Friday, Dec. 16. The victim said she screamed and Gallman ran off as she dialed 911. Local police notified detectives with M…
GOTCHA! Band Of Bandits Charged In Back-To-Back Route 46 Gas Station Holdups: Bergen Prosecutor GOTCHA! Band Of Bandits Charged In Back-To-Back Route 46 Gas Station Holdups: Bergen Prosecutor
Gotcha! Band Of Bandits Charged In Back-To-Back Route 46 Gas Station Holdups: Bergen Prosecutor A quartet of disguised New Yorkers tied to holdups on their side of the Hudson committed back-to-back gunpoint robberies of gas station convenience stores just minutes from the George Washington Bridge, authorities charged. The total take: five grand. Rahquan Brooks, 20, and Kevin Ulysses, 19, of the Bronx had two juveniles with them when they drove up to the Exxon station on eastbound Route 46 just before the Overpeck Creek bridge in Ridgefield Park shortly before 4:30 a.m. July 24, 2022, Bergen County Prosecutor Mark Musella said. The silver sedan had been carjacked out of Brooklyn thre…
Woman Deliberately Set Rutherford Garden Apartment Fire, Authorities Charge Woman Deliberately Set Rutherford Garden Apartment Fire, Authorities Charge
Woman Deliberately Set Rutherford Garden Apartment Fire, Authorities Charge A woman remained held Tuesday after authorities charged her with deliberately igniting a fire in the kitchen of a garden apartment in the Rutherford complex where she lives. Mary Anne Hampl, 62, was arrested shortly after 7 p.m. last Thursday, Feb. 8, after borough firefighters doused the Hastings Avenue blaze, Bergen County Prosecutor Mark Musella said. Hampl, who Musella said is unemployed, is accused of intentionally creating a fire and smoke condition with items purposefully placed on a stove. The prosecutor didn't suggest a possible motive. Detectives from his Arson Squad charged Ham…
Ridgewood Photographer Possessed Child Porn: Prosecutors Ridgewood Photographer Possessed Child Porn: Prosecutors
Ridgewood Photographer Possessed Child Porn: Prosecutors A 70-year-old Ridgewood medical photographer was arrested and charged on Thursday, Feb. 8 with using the internet to view child pornography, authorities said. Following a monthslong investigation, the Bergen County Prosecutor's Office Cyber Crimes Unit searched the residence of Rob Wolfson, Bergen County Prosecutor Mark Musella said. The investigation revealed Wolfson used the internet to watch, download and possess items depicting nude and/or sexually explicit prepubescent and pubescent children, Musella said.  Wolfson was charged with possession of child pornography and rem…
Infant Ingests Cocaine At NJ Home, Couple Arrested Infant Ingests Cocaine At NJ Home, Couple Arrested
Infant Ingests Cocaine At NJ Home, Couple Arrested A couple were arrested after an infant ingested cocaine at the man’s Bergenfield home and had to be rushed to the hospital, authorities said. The child was taken to Hackensack University Medical Center following a call for help from Seminary Court, a cul-de-sac behind Our Lady of Angels Cemetery, on Monday, Jan. 29. It was quickly determined that the infant had ingested cocaine, Bergen County Prosecutor Mark Musella said. Prosecutor’s detectives and Bergenfield police seized Raymond Sylvester, 55, a physical therapist who lives at the home, and Leshawnda Nixon, 33, who’s listed in criminal…
Juvenile Held In Crash That Gravely Injured Teaneck Mom Juvenile Held In Crash That Gravely Injured Teaneck Mom
Juvenile Held In Crash That Gravely Injured Teaneck Mom UPDATE: A high school student who ran after causing a crash that gravely injured a Teaneck mom near her home was seized by township police and will be prosecuted, authorities confirmed. Bergen County Prosecutor Mark Musella didn't in any way identify the underage teen driver because of state juvenile justice laws. However, local sources said he's a Bogota High School student who was with a classmate when the 2015 Ford Explorer he was driving slammed into a 2022 Nissan Rogue at the intersection of Palmer and Sherman avenues -- three blocks from the high school -- at 7:52 a.m. Thurs…
Female Driver Gravely Injured, Criminal Investigation Follows Teaneck Crash Involving Teens Female Driver Gravely Injured, Criminal Investigation Follows Teaneck Crash Involving Teens
Female Driver Gravely Injured, Criminal Investigation Follows Teaneck Crash Involving Teens UPDATE: A teen driver who ran after causing a crash that gravely injured a local Teaneck mom was seized by township police and will be prosecuted, authorities confirmed. Bergen County Prosecutor Mark Musella didn't in any way identify the driver because of state laws governing such incidents. However, local sources said he's a Bogota High School student who was with a classmate when the 2015 Ford Explorer he was driving slammed into a 2022 Nissan Rogue at the intersection of Palmer and Sherman avenues -- three blocks from the high school -- at 7:52 a.m. Thursday, Jan. 25. The impact sent t…
Disgraced NJ Judge’s Son Charged With Collecting Child Porn Disgraced NJ Judge’s Son Charged With Collecting Child Porn
Disgraced NJ Judge’s Son Charged With Collecting Child Porn BREAKING NEWS: The son of a former judge who was removed from the bench for misconduct was busted on child porn charges following a raid on the family home in Waldwick, authorities confirmed on Friday. George M. Silebi, 27, “used the Internet to view, download, and possess items depicting nude and/or sexually explicit prepubescent and pubescent children,” Bergen County Prosecutor Mark Musella said on Jan. 18. Detectives from Musella’s Cyber Crimes Unit raided the Sheridan Avenue home of former Superior Court Judge Liliana DeAvila-Silebi exactly a week earlier. From there they traveled to N…
Freed Pedophile Produced Homemade Child Porn, Bergen Prosecutor Says Freed Pedophile Produced Homemade Child Porn, Bergen Prosecutor Says
Freed Pedophile Produced Homemade Child Porn, Bergen Prosecutor Says A computer tech from Dumont who'd been freed pending trial after authorities charged him with sexually assaulting an underage teen was rearrested after authorities said they found homemade child porn. Coswayne Donald, 44, “used his cellular phone to manufacture and possess items depicting nude and/or sexually explicit pubescent children,” Bergen County Prosecutor Mark Musella said on Wednesday, Jan. 10. Detectives from Musella’s Special Victims Unit originally arrested Donald on first-degree aggravated sexual assault charges last June. The prosecutor said at the time that the married defen…
Airport Tech From Hackensack Charged With Child Endangerment Airport Tech From Hackensack Charged With Child Endangerment
Airport Tech From Hackensack Charged With Child Endangerment A Hackensack man who works at Teterboro Airport was busted on child endangerment charges, authorities said. Reynaldo Ariel Tarquino was arrested on his 29th birthday last Friday, Jan. 5, after being reported to law enforcement authorities by the state Division of Child Protection and Permanency, Bergen County Prosecutor Mark Musella said on Wednesday, June 10. The prosecutor said investigators from his office and Hackensack police found that Tarquino, a line service technician, “abused a child under the age of 13 in Hackensack and New Milford." He didn’t elaborate. Records show the allega…
Prosecutor: Investigation Underway Into Alleged Improprieties At Bergen Police Academy (UPDATE) Prosecutor: Investigation Underway Into Alleged Improprieties At Bergen Police Academy (UPDATE)
Prosecutor: Investigation Underway Into Alleged Improprieties At Bergen Police Academy (Update) In his first extended public comment since claims of misconduct at the local police academy were revealed by Daily Voice last month, Bergen County Prosecutor Mark Musella confirmed that an investigation by his office is underway. “We take all allegations of misconduct seriously, and we immediately began an investigation” into the allegations at the Bergen County Police Academy in Mahwah after being notified of the alleged improprieties. All of the academy’s instructors except one were relieved of their duties by the New Jersey Police Training Commission (PTC) amid the accusations, Daily Voi…
GOTCHA! Accused Route 4 Road Rage Driver Caught, Charged With Attempted Murder In Stabbing GOTCHA! Accused Route 4 Road Rage Driver Caught, Charged With Attempted Murder In Stabbing
Gotcha! Accused Route 4 Road Rage Driver Caught, Charged With Attempted Murder In Stabbing UPDATE: A manhunt ended with the arrest in Belleville of a Paterson motorist on attempted murder charges following the stabbing of another driver during a noontime road rage incident on Route 4 in Paramus, authorities confirmed. Christian A. Velez, 24, and the victim got out of their vehicles in front of the Popeye's on the highway’s eastbound side during an unspecified argument around 11:30 a.m. Thursday, Dec. 28, Paramus Police Chief Robert Guidetti said. The 28-year-old victim, who was driving a Mercedes van, was stabbed in the side and back and slashed once on the arm, the chief said. …
ROUTE 4 STABBING: Road Rage Driver Who Fled Caught, Charged With Attempted Murder ROUTE 4 STABBING: Road Rage Driver Who Fled Caught, Charged With Attempted Murder
Route 4 Stabbing: Road Rage Driver Who Fled Caught, Charged With Attempted Murder UPDATE: A manhunt ended with the arrest in Belleville of a Paterson motorist on attempted murder charges following the stabbing of another driver during a noontime road rage incident on Route 4 in Paramus, authorities confirmed. Christian A. Velez, 24, and the victim got out of their vehicles in front of the Popeye's on the highway’s eastbound side during an unspecified argument around 11:30 a.m. Thursday, Dec. 28, Paramus Police Chief Robert Guidetti said. The 28-year-old victim, who was driving a Mercedes van, was stabbed in the side and back and slashed once on the arm, the chief sa…
HOME INVASION: Lookout For NYPD Impersonators Takes Plea In Gunpoint Bergen Robbery HOME INVASION: Lookout For NYPD Impersonators Takes Plea In Gunpoint Bergen Robbery
Home Invasion: Lookout For Nypd Impersonators Takes Plea In Gunpoint Bergen Robbery UPDATE: A Bronx man nicknamed "Shakes" admitted that he served as the lookout while two home invaders posing as NYPD detectives tied up and robbed a Fair Lawn family. Dominick Memoli, 57, was in on the planning of last year’s robbery, in which residents were zip-tied and an undisclosed amount of cash and jewelry was stolen, Bergen County Prosecutor Mark Musella said. He became the first of seven defendants in the case to take a deal from prosecutors rather than risk the potential outcome of a trial. All seven were arrested in New York State this past May. ****** HOME INVASION: Accused NY…
ICE Moves To Take Custody Of Teaneck Chef Charged With Sexually Assaulting Underage Teen ICE Moves To Take Custody Of Teaneck Chef Charged With Sexually Assaulting Underage Teen
ICE Moves To Take Custody Of Teaneck Chef Charged With Sexually Assaulting Underage Teen Federal authorities took the first step Wednesday toward seizing a 37-year-old chef from Teaneck who was jailed locally on charges of sexually assaulting an underage teenager. Victorino Romero was initially arrested by detectives from the Bergen County Prosecutor’s Office Special Victims Unit on Tuesday, Dec. 19, following a joint investigation with Teaneck police, records show. They accused him of sexually assaulting a youngster that criminal records say was between 13 and 16 years old. Romero, who is married, was sent to the county jail in Hackensack to await a first appearance in Centra…
Bergen Prosecutor's Lieutenant Charged With Stealing Coke, Fentanyl From Evidence Bergen Prosecutor's Lieutenant Charged With Stealing Coke, Fentanyl From Evidence
Bergen Prosecutor's Lieutenant Charged With Stealing Coke, Fentanyl From Evidence A Bergen County prosecutor’s lieutenant stole cocaine and potentially deadly fentanyl from his department's evidence room, then tried to return the drugs in “substantially different” condition after superiors got wise, state authorities charged. Kevin T. Matthew, 47, of Cedar Grove, apparently was selling the drugs based on what was a series of cash deposits under $10,000 each at various banks to try and slide past federal reporting requirements, Attorney General Matthew Platkin said on Tuesday, Dec. 19. Two razor blades were also found in Matthew’s office at the BCPO, the attorney general …
FUGITIVE SOUGHT: Accused Pedophile Living In Cliffside Wanted For Assaulting Fairview Pre-Teen FUGITIVE SOUGHT: Accused Pedophile Living In Cliffside Wanted For Assaulting Fairview Pre-Teen
Fugitive Sought: Accused Pedophile Living In Cliffside Wanted For Assaulting Fairview Pre-Teen A 52-year-old man accused of sexually assaulting a pre-teen in Fairview multiple times fled the country and has been in Guatemala for at least the past few months, a reliable source told Daily Voice. Detectives obtained a warrant for the arrest of Bernardo Velazco, a single and unemployed Guatemalan national who had been living in Cliffside Park when the assaults allegedly occurred. He is considered a fugitive from justice, Bergen County Prosecutor Mark Musella said on Monday, Dec. 18. Fairview police alerted members of the prosecutor's Special Victims Unit after the alleged assaults …
Laborer Charged With Sexually Assaulting Preteen In Midland Parik Laborer Charged With Sexually Assaulting Preteen In Midland Parik
Laborer Charged With Sexually Assaulting Preteen In Midland Parik A man who attaches images, lettering and other signage to vehicles for a living sexually assaulted a pre-teen in Midland Park, authorities charged. Luis Saul Yanez, a 29-year-old Mexican national who lives in the borough, remained held in the Bergen County Jail on Friday, Dec. 15. He was arrested four days earlier on charges of sexual assault by contact and child endangerment through sexual conduct, records show. Bergen County Prosecutor Mark Musella said an investigation of Yanez began when Midland Park police alerted his Special Victims Unit on Sept. 26 to a single alleged incident.&nbs…