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Police & Fire
Passaic County Jail Officer Admits Bringing Inmate To 'Blind Spot' For Beating By Colleagues Passaic County Jail Officer Admits Bringing Inmate To 'Blind Spot' For Beating By Colleagues
Passaic County Jail Officer Admits Bringing Inmate To 'Blind Spot' For Beating By Colleagues 𝗨𝗣𝗗𝗔𝗧𝗘: A Passaic County correctional officer admitted that he brought an inmate to a "blind spot" at the county jail so two colleagues could beat him for squirting one of them with urine. Officer Lorenzo Bowden, 39, initially agreed with Sgt. Jose Gonzalez and Sgt. Donald Vinales not to talk after they'd received federal grand jury subpoenas two years ago this month, U.S. Attorney Philip Sellinger said. Bowden eventually had a change of heart. The pretrial detainee was "transported through an area of the PCJ that does not have a video surveillance camera, which correctional officers …

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by Jerry DeMarco
Politics
Former President Trump To Hold Beachfront Campaign Rally In New Jersey Likely Mid-Trial Former President Trump To Hold Beachfront Campaign Rally In New Jersey Likely Mid-Trial
Former President Trump To Hold Beachfront Campaign Rally In New Jersey Likely Mid-Trial Former President Donald Trump will hold a reelection campaign rally on a New Jersey beach while likely in the middle of a criminal trial up the Atlantic coast in New York City. Trump's rally will be held on the beach in Wildwood on Saturday, May 11, according to a news release from the city on Thursday, Apr. 18. City commissioners passed a resolution on Monday, Apr. 15 approving the 45th President's second campaign visit to Wildwood. The Trump campaign website listed the address for the rally as 3601 Boardwalk, which is next to Morey's Piers & Beachfront Waterparks. The event will …

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by Chris Spiker
Police & Fire
NJ Teacher Who Posed As Woman To Lure 70 Boys Into Sending Him Nudes Gets 17½ Years: Feds NJ Teacher Who Posed As Woman To Lure 70 Boys Into Sending Him Nudes Gets 17½ Years: Feds
NJ Teacher Who Posed As Woman To Lure 70 Boys Into Sending Him Nudes Gets 17½ Years: Feds UPDATE: It's a measure of how despicably and disgustingly a former Union County grade-school teacher and youth soccer coach from Morristown abused dozens of boys he'd met online that a plea bargain got him "only" 17½ years in federal prison. Steven Brooks, 37, must serve at least 85% of the negotiated sentence handed down in federal court in Newark on Thursday, April 18, for posing as a woman to lure at least 70 underage boys into sending him nude photos and videos. That means he'll be in his early 50s before he'll be eligible to experience freedom again. FBI agents who investigated Brooks…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
North Bergen Man Charged With Collecting Child Porn: Prosecutor North Bergen Man Charged With Collecting Child Porn: Prosecutor
North Bergen Man Charged With Collecting Child Porn: Prosecutor A 25-year-old North Bergen man was caught collecting pornographic images of children, authorities said. Nicholas Sanchez, 25, was taken into custody by members of the Hudson County Prosecutor’s Office Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force following an investigation, they said. He's charged with child endangerment through the possession of sex abuse material, Hudson County Prosecutor Esther Suarez said. A tip last December led task force members to an account controlled by the defendant on an online server that Suarez said contained “child sex abuse material.” She didn't say whether …

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
6-Car Crash Kills 41-Year-Old On Garden State Parkway: State Police 6-Car Crash Kills 41-Year-Old On Garden State Parkway: State Police
6-Car Crash Kills 41-Year-Old On Garden State Parkway: State Police A 41-year-old North Carolina man was killed in a multi-car crash on the Garden State Parkway in Essex County early Wednesday, April 17, authorities said. Tarron Francis was heading north in a Nissan SUV when he was struck by a Dodge passenger vehicle around 12:45 a.m. in Irvington, said Jeffrey Lebron, a spokesman for the New Jersey State Police. The impact caused a chain reaction crash involving four other vehicles, two Toyota SUVs, a GMC SUV and a Kia passenger vehicle, Lebron said. Francis died as a result of the crash, and the driver of the Dodge sustained moderate injuries and was tak…

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by Sam Barron
Police & Fire
NJ HS Teacher Accused Of Sexually Assaulting Student Freed From Jail Until Trial NJ HS Teacher Accused Of Sexually Assaulting Student Freed From Jail Until Trial
NJ HS Teacher Accused Of Sexually Assaulting Student Freed From Jail Until Trial A Mercer County high school teacher accused of sexually assaulting a student several times at a Monmouth County wildlife preserve was released from jail to await her trial, authorities said. A judge denied a request on Wednesday, Apr. 17 to keep 37-year-old Jessica Sawicki of Point Pleasant Beach in jail through her trial, a Monmouth County Prosecutor's Office spokesperson said. She was charged with five counts of second-degree sexual assault and five counts of second-degree endangering the welfare of a child. Sawicki was arrested on Monday, Apr. 8, according to an affidavit obtai…

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by Chris Spiker
Business
Trader Joe's Recalling Basil Sold In New Jersey Due To Salmonella Outbreak Trader Joe's Recalling Basil Sold In New Jersey Due To Salmonella Outbreak
Trader Joe's Recalling Basil Sold In New Jersey Due To Salmonella Outbreak Trader Joe's is recalling Infinite Herbs-brand organic basil that was sold across the country in 2.5-ounce clamshell packaging due to concerns of Salmonella contamination. This week, the supermarket giant issued an alert cautioning shoppers in 29 states, as well as Washington, DC, not to consume the product as the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) investigates a reported outbreak of Salmonella. Trader Joes is recalling Infinite Herbs Organic Basil FDA According to the FDA, "Trader Joe’s has already voluntarily removed all Infinite Herbs-brand organic basil packed in 2.5-oz clamshell pa…

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by Zak Failla
Lifestyle
'Not Pretty, Can't Act:' Sydney Sweeney Slams NJ Producer Who Publicly Insulted Her 'Not Pretty, Can't Act:' Sydney Sweeney Slams NJ Producer Who Publicly Insulted Her
'Not Pretty, Can't Act:' Sydney Sweeney Slams NJ Producer Who Publicly Insulted Her A film producer from New Jersey is under fire after saying Sydney Sweeney can't act and isn't pretty. Carol Baum, who graduated Columbia High School in Maplewood, disparaged the "Euphoria" star during a Q-n-A at the Jacob Burns Film Center in Pleasantville, NY, on Thursday, April, 11.  Baum, who has produced movies like "Father of the Bride" and "Buffy the Vampire Slayer," was on hand to discuss her experiences producing the 1988 David Cronenberg film "Dead Calm," which came out nine years before Sweeney was born. "I don't get Sydney Sweeney," Baum reportedly said. "I was watching on …

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by Sam Barron
Police & Fire
Bergen Man Charged With 2010 Pre-Teen Sex Assault Bergen Man Charged With 2010 Pre-Teen Sex Assault
Bergen Man Charged With 2010 Pre-Teen Sex Assault A Midland Park man was charged with sexually assaulting a pre-teen in Wyckoff in 2010. Donato Avolio, now 35, was in his early 20s when he sexually assaulted the youngster, Bergen County Prosecutor Mark Musella said. Wyckoff police notified his Special Victims Unit of the allegation on March 27, Musella said. An arrest warrant was drawn up the following day charging Avolio with second-degree sexual assault of a victim under 13, he said. A manhunt that lasted nearly three weeks ended with the single, Italian-born Avolio’s arrest in Clifton on Tuesday, April 16, the prosecutor said. He has…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Sports
NJ Golfer Returning To U.S. Women's Open After Reaching Leaderboard While In High School NJ Golfer Returning To U.S. Women's Open After Reaching Leaderboard While In High School
NJ Golfer Returning To U.S. Women's Open After Reaching Leaderboard While In High School A Monmouth County golfer who was in high school while on the leaderboard of an LPGA major tournament's final round is returning to the event three years later. Megha Ganne qualified for the 2024 U.S. Women's Open after winning a U.S. Golf Association qualifying tournament on Monday, Apr. 15. The Holmdel native finished six under par in the two-round event in El Macero, California. Ganne shared pictures on Instagram of the official invitation to her third LPGA major. "US OPEN BOUND!!" Ganne posted. "[It's] been a while since one of these, grateful for another U.S. Women's Open opp…

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by Chris Spiker
Police & Fire
License Permanently Stripped From NJ Doc Who Let 20-Year-Old ER Patient Die License Permanently Stripped From NJ Doc Who Let 20-Year-Old ER Patient Die
License Permanently Stripped From NJ Doc Who Let 20-Year-Old ER Patient Die UPDATE: An ER doctor had her medical license permanently revoked by the state of New Jersey for allowing a 20-year-old patient to die on her watch and then trying to cover it up, authorities said. Shar Kennett, 66, of Wayne was on duty in the emergency room at Overlook Medical Center in Summit when the patient was brought in with urgent "respiratory distress" on June 29, 2017, Attorney General Matthew J. Platkin said. Kennett failed to examine him and didn't order any diagnostics, "despite his parents' urgent requests for assistance," Platkin said on Thursday, April 18. The patient died in…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Schools
NJ Student Hospitalized After 'Blackout Challenge' NJ Student Hospitalized After 'Blackout Challenge'
NJ Student Hospitalized After 'Blackout Challenge' A student at an Essex County middle school was hospitalized on Tuesday, April 16, after he tried the "blackout challenge." Two students at South Orange Middle School took part in the dangerous stunt, popular on social media, which involves holding one's breath to the point of passing out, Lynn Irby Hill, the principal, said in a letter to parents. The first student passed out but was treated by the nursing staff, Irby Hill said. The second student had difficulty resuming breathing and was taken to a hospital by ambulance for further evaluation, Irby Hill said. Assistant Principal Jim Waldro…

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by Sam Barron