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South Jersey Woman, 3 Men Arrested In Torching Of Historic Mansion, Iron Foundry, Police Say South Jersey Woman, 3 Men Arrested In Torching Of Historic Mansion, Iron Foundry, Police Say
South Jersey Woman, 3 Men Arrested In Torching Of Historic Mansion, Iron Foundry, Police Say A woman and three men from Camden County have been arrested in connection with multiple fires as an abandoned iron foundry, authorities said. The fires were intentionally set using flammables in April and June, destroying two buildings while damaging two others, according to Burlington City police.  The arson fires occurred at the city's defunct U.S. Pipe and Foundry and historic McNeal Mansion once used as the iron foundry's headquarters.The foundry complex is abandoned and police allege the suspects climbed under fencing. Police released a surveillance camera that allegedly caught image…

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by Jon Craig
Police & Fire
Atlantic County Man Indicted For Torching Lakewood House With 3 Inside, Ocean Prosecutor Says Atlantic County Man Indicted For Torching Lakewood House With 3 Inside, Ocean Prosecutor Says
Atlantic County Man Indicted For Torching Lakewood House With 3 Inside, Ocean Prosecutor Says A 26-year-old man from South Jersey has been indicted on attempted murder and arson charges, authorities said.  Jamal Preston of Egg Harbor Township, was indicted by a grand jury on Thursday, according to Ocean County Prosecutor Bradley D. Billhimer. Preston was arrested by U.S. Marshals at a motel in Absecon in connection with a fire he allegedly set to a home in Lakewood, Billhimer said. On Aug. 22, 2020, the Lakewood police were called to the house fire. A multi-agency investigation found that the fire had been intentionally set using a flammable liquid, the prosecu…

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by Jon Craig
Police & Fire
Jersey Shore Wildland Arson Investigation 'At An Impasse,' Prosecutor Says Jersey Shore Wildland Arson Investigation 'At An Impasse,' Prosecutor Says
Jersey Shore Wildland Arson Investigation 'At An Impasse,' Prosecutor Says Authorities from the Jersey Shore say they have been unable to identify those responsible for setting a suspicious wildfire last month. The fire consumed 167 acres of land in Brick and Lakewood in March, according to Ocean County Prosecutor Bradley D. Billhimer. A business was destroyed and hundreds of area residents had to be evacuated, Billhimer said.  A firefighter suffered a heart attack while battling the blaze, which jumped over the Garden State Parkway, he said.  Fire officials identified the fire’s origin "along with our conclusion that the fire was intentiona…

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by Jon Craig
News
Ex-Con Sent To Prison For Setting Fire To Paterson Home Ex-Con Sent To Prison For Setting Fire To Paterson Home
Ex-Con Sent To Prison For Setting Fire To Paterson Home UPDATE: An ex-con with a lengthy criminal record must spend at least 2½ years in prison before she’ll be eligible for parole after deliberately setting fire to a Paterson home occupied by squatters. Erin Micco, a Florida native who recently lived in Rutherford, was arrested soon after the two-alarm blaze destroyed the 2½-story Pearl Street home and damaged a neighboring residence last Nov. 17. None of the squatters were injured in the fire, which took nearly six hours to douse. Micco already had a criminal history that dates back to 2012. She served time for grand theft and trafficking in…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
Prosecutor: Jersey Man, 41, Found With Bloody Clothes After Killing Mom, Burning Down Home Prosecutor: Jersey Man, 41, Found With Bloody Clothes After Killing Mom, Burning Down Home
Prosecutor: Jersey Man, 41, Found With Bloody Clothes After Killing Mom, Burning Down Home A North Jersey man accused of killing his mother and burning down his home Monday morning has been jailed on murder and arson charges, authorities said. Anthony Citro, 41, was found with blood on his clothing as police responded to a fire at his home at 37 Chestnut Hill Dr. E. in Denville just before 7:25 a.m., Acting Morris County Prosecutor Robert J. Carroll said in a joint release with Morris County Sheriff James M. Gannon, Chief of Detectives Chris Kimker and Denville Police Chief Frank Perna. While extinguishing the blaze, fire crews found the body of Citro’s mother, Eileen Citro, 68, …

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by Valerie Musson
Police & Fire
Somerset County Man, 36, Convicted In Deadly Fire That Killed Cats After Argument With Ex-GF Somerset County Man, 36, Convicted In Deadly Fire That Killed Cats After Argument With Ex-GF
Somerset County Man, 36, Convicted In Deadly Fire That Killed Cats After Argument With Ex-GF A 36-year-old Somerset County man was convicted of aggravated arson and related charges after intentionally lighting a house with nine people on fire and causing the death of two cats. Patrick M. Hammond, of Somerville Borough, was convicted of the following charges after an April 21 non-jury bench trial, Prosecutor Michael H. Robertson said in a joint release with other county officials: Second-degree aggravated arson Third-degree endangering another person (nine counts) Third-degree endangering the welfare of a child (four counts) Third-degree animal cruelty (two counts) Disorderly perso…

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by Valerie Musson
News
Paterson Squatter Admits Torching Multi-Family Home In Purported Suicide Try Paterson Squatter Admits Torching Multi-Family Home In Purported Suicide Try
Paterson Squatter Admits Torching Multi-Family Home In Purported Suicide Try A Paterson squatter who set fire to a multi-family home after authorities said he deliberately stabbed himself has pleaded guilty to aggravated arson. Ertugrul Abaci, 58, bled heavily as he staggered across Sussex Street on June 9, 2019, authorities said at the time. He’d just ignited a fire in and outside the attic apartment where he’d lived nearly 23 years – and hadn’t paid rent on for the past five, they said. The German-born Abaci, who became a U.S. citizen after emigrating in the early 1990s, used a bottle of vodka as an accelerant after taking a few swigs from it, investigators said.…

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by Jerry DeMarco
News
Angry Woman Set Huge Paterson Fire That Displaced 60 By Lighting Paper Towels, Indictment Says Angry Woman Set Huge Paterson Fire That Displaced 60 By Lighting Paper Towels, Indictment Says
Angry Woman Set Huge Paterson Fire That Displaced 60 By Lighting Paper Towels, Indictment Says UPDATE: A woman deliberately set a fire last summer that roared through a string of attached mixed-use buildings in Paterson -- displacing 60 residents and injuring four firefighters – during an argument with a tenant, authorities charged. Authorities didn’t suggest a possible motive when they announced that detectives had arrested Yanit Valdez, 38, of Manhattan 10 days after the massive Aug. 3 fire on Cianci Street. However, an indictment returned by a grand jury in Paterson this week accuses Valdez of lighting paper towels on a couch to settle an argument in an upper-floor apartment. Fla…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
FBI: Middlesex Man Admits Trying To Torch Trenton Police Car Following Floyd Protest FBI: Middlesex Man Admits Trying To Torch Trenton Police Car Following Floyd Protest
FBI: Middlesex Man Admits Trying To Torch Trenton Police Car Following Floyd Protest UPDATE: A Middlesex County man admitted Tuesday that he stuffed a rag into the gas tank of a police cruiser and set it on fire during a riot in Trenton following what had been a peaceful protest last year over the death of George Floyd. Justin Spry, 22, of South Plainfield took a deal from the government rather than go to trial, becoming the second of three men involved in the incident to admit their roles. Spry originally tried claiming on Twitter that he was brutalized by police, but federal authorities produced surveillance video showing otherwise. “Law enforcement officers on scene ob…

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by Jerry DeMarco
News
Prosecutor: Garden State Parkway Wildfire 'Intentionally Set' Prosecutor: Garden State Parkway Wildfire 'Intentionally Set'
Prosecutor: Garden State Parkway Wildfire 'Intentionally Set' Authorities say that Sunday's wildland fire, which jumped over the Garden State Parkway in Lakewood, was intentionally set. “We have located the origin of the fire and have concluded that the fire was intentionally set,” Ocean County Prosecutor Bradley D. Billhimer said on Friday. No other new details were released by the prosecutor. Earlier news coverage and video of the fire by Daily Voice can be found by clicking here.  About 1:15 p.m. on Sunday, the New Jersey Forest Fire Service Observation Tower in Lakewood reported a wildland fire in the area of Cedarbridge Aven…

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by Jon Craig
Police & Fire
‘Going To Be Fighting This Fire Next Few Days,’ Passaic Mayor Says Of Massive Blaze ‘Going To Be Fighting This Fire Next Few Days,’ Passaic Mayor Says Of Massive Blaze
‘Going To Be Fighting This Fire Next Few Days,’ Passaic Mayor Says Of Massive Blaze UPDATE: A massive, multi-alarm blaze that consumed a Passaic recycling company continued burning into late morning Saturday as firefighters fought raging flames along with bitter cold. All of the workers at Atlantic Coast Fibers plant on 7th Street got out OK and no serious injuries were reported in the inferno, which began shortly after 11 p.m. Friday. A firefighter was hospitalized with an undisclosed injury, and the Passaic County prosecutor’s arson unit responded because of the size and amount of damage caused by the blaze, authorities said. In an eerie coincidence, the fire broke out…

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by Jerry DeMarco
News
Rioter Cops To Torching Trenton Police Cruiser After George Floyd Protest Rioter Cops To Torching Trenton Police Cruiser After George Floyd Protest
Rioter Cops To Torching Trenton Police Cruiser After George Floyd Protest A South Jersey man admitted in federal court Tuesday that he tried to set fire to a police cruiser during a video-recorded riot that broke out following a peaceful protest last spring in Trenton. Killian F. Melecio, 20, of Columbus told a U.S. District Court Judge in Trenton via videoconference that he stuffed a shirt he’d gotten from another man into the gas tank of the vehicle and tried to ignite it last May 31. The protest earlier that day in response to the death of George Floyd had been peaceful, authorities said. Violence later erupted as a mob spread down East State Street, smashing …

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by Jerry DeMarco