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Trucker Charged With Tossing Molotov Cocktails On Roof Of NJ Strip Club Trucker Charged With Tossing Molotov Cocktails On Roof Of NJ Strip Club
Trucker Charged With Tossing Molotov Cocktails On Roof Of NJ Strip Club A truck driver who apparently had a beef with a strip club in Lodi tossed Molotov cocktails onto the roof of the business, authorities said. Andy Pena, 41, who lives in town was arrested Thursday and charged with aggravated arson, attempting to cause widespread injury or damage and weapons possession, Bergen County Prosecutor Mark Musella announced. He was sent to the Bergen County Jail to await a first appearance in Central Judicial Processing Court in Hackensack. The incident occurred in the early morning hours of July 8 at the Harem Cabaret on southbound Route 17 beneath the Route 80 ov…

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by Jerry DeMarco
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Ridgefield Adult, Juvenile Charged With Arson In Multi-Alarm Palisades Park Warehouse Fire Ridgefield Adult, Juvenile Charged With Arson In Multi-Alarm Palisades Park Warehouse Fire
Ridgefield Adult, Juvenile Charged With Arson In Multi-Alarm Palisades Park Warehouse Fire UPDATE: A vacant warehouse blaze that injured a firefighter in Palisades Park was deliberately set by two Ridgefield residents, authorities charged. Alexander Regalado, 18, was arrested and a juvenile was detained after they were identified as responsible for the multi-alarm Fourth of July weekend fire on Fairview Street off Grand Avenue, Bergen County Prosecutor Mark Musella said. The fire, which ravaged the warehouse and damaged a neighboring building, wasn’t fully extinguished for nearly six hours. Route 46 was closed in both directions at one point because of the thick smoke and a fi…

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by Jerry DeMarco
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SERIAL CALLER: Midwest Woman Jailed For Threatening To Blow Up Ramsey Police HQ SERIAL CALLER: Midwest Woman Jailed For Threatening To Blow Up Ramsey Police HQ
Serial Caller: Midwest Woman Jailed For Threatening To Blow Up Ramsey Police HQ A Midwest woman who once set fire to garbage bins outside a middle school -- and then contacted authorities to confess -- was charged this week with threatening to blow up Ramsey police headquarters. The threat by Amber Schadewald, 24, "led to a search of the building, parking lot and departmental and personal vehicles by Bergen County sheriff's bomb dogs" back in January, Ramsey Police Chief Brian Lyman said. The subsequent investigation led to Schandewald, who "was believed to be in a group home in Minnesota at the time she made the threat," Lyman said Thursday. Schadewald has a history…

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by Jerry DeMarco
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Fugitive Dubbed 'Real-Life Tony Soprano' Couldn't Hide From The Law, Even In Death Fugitive Dubbed 'Real-Life Tony Soprano' Couldn't Hide From The Law, Even In Death
Fugitive Dubbed 'Real-Life Tony Soprano' Couldn't Hide From The Law, Even In Death He was considered one of the last of the old-time mobsters, a "real-life Tony Soprano" listed as one of New Jersey's most wanted fugitives. Even six feet under, though, Tony Mota couldn't evade his pursuers. After eluding capture for nearly 25 years for a gruesome murder committed in Hudson County, Anthony Mota was found buried in the country where he was born, the Dominican Republic. Mota had been collecting debts for high-level Colombian drug dealers in New York City when he and a group of accomplices abducted a Queens man on Dec. 13, 1997, authorities said. The victim, 38-year-old …

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by Jerry DeMarco
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GUILTY: Kidnapping Rapist Who Cancelled Plea Deal Convicted In Rampage Through PA, NJ, NY GUILTY: Kidnapping Rapist Who Cancelled Plea Deal Convicted In Rampage Through PA, NJ, NY
Guilty: Kidnapping Rapist Who Cancelled Plea Deal Convicted In Rampage Through PA, NJ, NY An ex-con who kidnapped and raped his ex-girlfriend in Pennsylvania, torched a used car dealership in Paterson and crashed a stolen SUV into police cars on either side of the George Washington Bridge rolled the dice and lost. After originally pleading guilty to several charges, Luis Figueroa, 41, withdrew his plea and took his chances with federal jurors in Newark. They ended up convicting him following a two-week trial. So now, instead of the 26-year deal that he originally accepted from the government, Figueroa could be sentenced to nearly 50 years in federal prison. The rampage had an “…

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by Jerry DeMarco
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Authorities: Convicted Pyro Calls In Lyndhurst Car Fire, Waits For Responders, Lands In Jail Authorities: Convicted Pyro Calls In Lyndhurst Car Fire, Waits For Responders, Lands In Jail
Authorities: Convicted Pyro Calls In Lyndhurst Car Fire, Waits For Responders, Lands In Jail A paroled arsonist was waiting when firefighters in Lyndhurst responded to his call of an SUV fire. It didn’t take long for investigators to charge him with setting it. Christopher Baulch, 43, has an extensive criminal history that includes prison time served for torching two occupied Lyndhurst apartment buildings in 2000 – one on Christmas Eve, the other on New Year’s Eve – and then trying to play hero, records show. “In both cases, he went to help the people,” the sentencing judge in Hackensack said at the time. Baulch -- formerly of Lyndhurst and currently of Wayne – also has a chi…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
South Jersey Man, 22, Charged With Murder In Fatal Apartment House Fire: State Police South Jersey Man, 22, Charged With Murder In Fatal Apartment House Fire: State Police
South Jersey Man, 22, Charged With Murder In Fatal Apartment House Fire: State Police A 22-year-old man from Burlington has been charged with murder in connection with a fatal arson fire, authorities said. Newlin Evans also was charged with arson for allegedly setting fire to an apartment complex that killed a man and injured two other victims, New Jersey State Police said. On April 20, Pemberton Borough police began investigating a fire on Egbert Street in Pemberton Borough that killed Camryn Powell, 22, of Pemberton Borough. As a result of the initial investigation, the fire was deemed suspicious and members from the New Jersey State Police Troop ‘C’ Red Lion Station alon…

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by Jon Craig
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Philly Man Arrested For Arson, Multiple Burglaries In Camden County Crime Spree: Prosecutor Philly Man Arrested For Arson, Multiple Burglaries In Camden County Crime Spree: Prosecutor
Philly Man Arrested For Arson, Multiple Burglaries In Camden County Crime Spree: Prosecutor A 33-year-old Philadelphia man has been arrested and charged for setting multiple fires in one business and damaging others during a string of burglaries in Camden County, authorities said. On May 3, 2022, at approximately 3:46 a.m., Berlin Township police were dispatched to an alarm at the Pure Puff Vape Shop located on the 500 block of Route 73. While en route, police were advised of reports that the business was on fire.  Police and firefighters observed heavy smoke coming from the interior of the business. Police also learned that five other businesses on the 500 block of Route 7…

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by Jon Craig
Police & Fire
Somerset County Woman Who Set Fire To Hamilton Business Sign Charged With Arson, Police Say Somerset County Woman Who Set Fire To Hamilton Business Sign Charged With Arson, Police Say
Somerset County Woman Who Set Fire To Hamilton Business Sign Charged With Arson, Police Say A Somerset County woman who set fire to a business sign in Mercer County was charged with arson, authorities said. Alicia Schmitter, 40, is accused of using a lighter to set fire to an advertisement flag in front of Angie’s Multiservices on the 1800 block of South Broad Street in Hamilton just before 3:10 a.m. on Thursday, April 21, local police said. Schmitter, of Franklin Park, was seen on surveillance footage walking out of sight before officers found her lying on the sidewalk nearby, police said. During questioning, Schmitter allegedly pulled out the lighter and tried to set fire to a …

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by Valerie Musson
News
Security Guard Charged With Setting Fire At Macy's Meadowlands Thankgiving Parade Studio Security Guard Charged With Setting Fire At Macy's Meadowlands Thankgiving Parade Studio
Security Guard Charged With Setting Fire At Macy's Meadowlands Thankgiving Parade Studio A security guard was charged with deliberately setting a fire at the building in the Meadowlands where the balloons and floats for the annual Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade are designed, constructed and stored. Mathew Awojobi, 63, of Newark was arrested in connection with the brush fire set outside the Macy's Parade Studio in Moonachie, which broke out shortly before 7 p.m. Monday, April 18, Bergen County Prosecutor Mark Musella . Moonachie firefighters doused the suspicious blaze on State Street off Moonachie Road. Detectives reviewed area security video as part of an investigation by Mus…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
Fire At Apartment Complex Ruled 'Suspicious': Jackson PD Fire At Apartment Complex Ruled 'Suspicious': Jackson PD
Fire At Apartment Complex Ruled 'Suspicious': Jackson PD An overnight fire at a Jersey Shore apartment complex was intentionally set, authorities said. Jackson police are seeking help from anyone who may have witnessed or who has information on the suspected arson, they said. On Thursday April 7, at 12:33 a.m., Jackson police responded with fire department to the Pineview Apartments on West County Line Road for a fire that appeared suspicious. The fire was located in a stairwell at Building C in the complex which had already been extinguished by residents upon the arrival of firefighters. During an investigation, multiple containers filled with …

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by Jon Craig
News
Rideshare Driver Charged With Setting Early-Morning Arson Fire At Bergen County Pizzeria Rideshare Driver Charged With Setting Early-Morning Arson Fire At Bergen County Pizzeria
Rideshare Driver Charged With Setting Early-Morning Arson Fire At Bergen County Pizzeria GOTCHA! A rideshare driver from Carlstadt was charged with setting a fire in the basement of a Wood-Ridge pizzeria that investigators said had multiple points of origin. Majd Abdallah, a 27-year-old Jordanian national, was arrested following an investigation into the Feb. 21 blaze, which broke out in a common basement area below Emilia Romagna Pizza & Ristorante on Valley Boulevard shortly before 8 a.m., Bergen County Prosecutor Mark Musella said. He’s charged with several counts of aggravated arson and burglary, Musella said. No injuries were reported were in the two-alarm blaze. Fir…

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by Jerry DeMarco