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Police & Fire
Prosecutor: Death Of Woman, 39, Found In Backyard Saddle River Pool Probed (UPDATE) Prosecutor: Death Of Woman, 39, Found In Backyard Saddle River Pool Probed (UPDATE)
Prosecutor: Death Of Woman, 39, Found In Backyard Saddle River Pool Probed (Update) Bergen County Prosecutor Mark Musella said Tuesday that the death of a 39-year-old woman found in a backyard pool the day before is being investigated. Saddle River police were called to the $2.7 million home on Fox Hedge Road off East Allendale Road at 4:26 p.m. Monday, July 31. They began life-saving measures that were continued by Bergen County EMS paramedics, who also used a bag-valve mask as they rushed her to their rig.They continued CPR all the way to HUMC, where she was pronounced dead, Saddle River Police Chief Jason Cosgriff said. Musella said his Major Crimes Unit and Saddle Riv…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
Man, Woman Shot Dead At Hackensack Nursing Home Man, Woman Shot Dead At Hackensack Nursing Home
Man, Woman Shot Dead At Hackensack Nursing Home A 76-year-old visitor to a Hackensack nursing home shot and killed his 73-year-old wife terminally ill wife and then turned the gun on himself, responders said. No one apparently heard the shots at CareOne at Wellington on Union Street early Saturday, July 15, investigators said. The bodies of Michael Zaccario and Patricia Zaccario, both of Wood-Ridge, were found after someone went to the room to check on them, they said. Police received a 911 call from the facility at 8:51 a.m., then found the couple both dead of gunshot wounds, Bergen County Prosecutor Mark Musella said. The prosecutor'…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
BI-STATE BUST: Bergen Man, Westchester Woman Had 20 Pounds Of Fentanyl, 2½ Pounds Of Coke: Feds BI-STATE BUST: Bergen Man, Westchester Woman Had 20 Pounds Of Fentanyl, 2½ Pounds Of Coke: Feds
Bi-state Bust: Bergen Man, Westchester Woman Had 20 Pounds Of Fentanyl, 2½ Pounds Of Coke: Feds A Bergen County man and a woman from Westchester were busted with 20 pounds of deadly fentanyl and 2½ pounds of cocaine for sale, federal authorities said. Plinio Junior Pineda Lopez, 33, of Oakland and Lorendy Diaz Beltre De Inoa, 27, of Yonkers were arrested with 1.5 kilos of fentanyl in Wallington, U.S. Attorney for New Jersey Philip R. Sellinger said Wednesday. Nearly eight more kilos of hidden fentanyl were found during a court-approved search on Tuesday, July 11, of Lopez’s Hillside Avenue home just off West Oakland Avenue and down the street from an entrance/exit for Route 287, inve…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
ROAD RAGE: Firefighter Gets 5-Year Prison Term For Route 9W Crash That Critically Injured Teens ROAD RAGE: Firefighter Gets 5-Year Prison Term For Route 9W Crash That Critically Injured Teens
Road Rage: Firefighter Gets 5-Year Prison Term For Route 9W Crash That Critically Injured Teens UPDATE: A volunteer firefighter who caused a road-rage crash that nearly killed a group of fellow Bergen County teens – and then inexplicably returned to the scene as a responder – was sentenced to a plea-bargained five years in state prison. Luke G. Stein, 19, apologized to the victims and their families, some of whom addressed the judge emotionally, during a sentencing hearing in Hackensack on Friday, June 30. Lital Aburus said she'd had nine surgeries, including cosmetic operations on her face, neck and arms, along with a broken collarbone. Ariana Grant spoke of laying in a hospital be…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
Couple From PA Charged In Computer Repair Scam That Conned Victims In NJ, Elsewhere Couple From PA Charged In Computer Repair Scam That Conned Victims In NJ, Elsewhere
Couple From PA Charged In Computer Repair Scam That Conned Victims In NJ, Elsewhere A Pennsylvania man whose wife was charged with a computer scam that allowed her to siphon money out of unsuspecting victims’ accounts had a similar scheme going, Bergen County authorities announced. Kuleep Sethi, 66, was arrested by detectives from the Bergen County Prosecutor’s Office on theft, conspiracy and money laundering charges earlier this week -- five months after they busted his wife, Mona, for the same thing. The Furlong, PA couple scammed victims not only in New Jersey but throughout the world, Bergen County Prosecutor Mark Musella said. The thieves “created the belief that vic…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
DJ Turned Bank Robber Foiled By Cool Teller, Crime-Fighting Teamwork, PalPark Police Say DJ Turned Bank Robber Foiled By Cool Teller, Crime-Fighting Teamwork, PalPark Police Say
DJ Turned Bank Robber Foiled By Cool Teller, Crime-Fighting Teamwork, PalPark Police Say Looks like he might not have thought things through. A would-be Palisades Park bank robber from the Bronx was foiled by a composed teller, his own hastiness and forensic science, authorities said on Tuesday, June 20. Daqwaun D. Ralls, a 30-year-old self-employed DJ known as "DJ SonDae," already had a criminal past when he walked into the Shinhan Bank America branch on Broad Avenue on May 31. According to Palisades Park Police Lt. George Beck, Ralls handed the teller a note that said: "No dye packs." It also came with a warning that Ralls had gasoline in a bottle, along with a lighter and …

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
HIGHWAY ROBBERIES: Masked Trio Terrorizes NJ Gas Station Attendants In Three Counties HIGHWAY ROBBERIES: Masked Trio Terrorizes NJ Gas Station Attendants In Three Counties
Highway Robberies: Masked Trio Terrorizes NJ Gas Station Attendants In Three Counties A trio of armed robbers terrorized gas station attendants in several North Jersey towns overnight Tuesday, taking cash and valuables at gunpoint, authorities confirmed. Information was still coming in as this story was being written. At this point, however, the same three masked bandits are believed responsible for armed robberies in Montclair, at an Exxon station on Route 46 in Elmwood Park and at an Exxon/Tiger Mart on 21st Avenue in Paterson before dawn June 13. They were also tied to a failed holdup at a Wawa in Garfield. Authorities believe the three black suspects dressed all in blac…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
MURDER: Englewood Man Convicted Again Of Shooting, Burning Rapper, Dumping Body In Paramus MURDER: Englewood Man Convicted Again Of Shooting, Burning Rapper, Dumping Body In Paramus
Murder: Englewood Man Convicted Again Of Shooting, Burning Rapper, Dumping Body In Paramus An Englewood man faces 30 years to life in prison after jurors in Hackensack convicted him of murder for a second time for shooting an aspiring rapper and then setting his body on fire. Randy Manning was originally found guilty and sentenced to life in 2014 for killing Rhian “Kampane” Stoute in Englewood three years earlier. Manning got the state Supreme Court to support a lower court ruling overturning the conviction and granting him a new trial in 2020. The verdicts this time were pretty much the same: Jurors found Manning guilty of murder, desecration and unlawful moving of human remai…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
HOME INVASION: Seven Captured, Charged With Posing As NYPD To Tie Up And Rob Fair Lawn Resident HOME INVASION: Seven Captured, Charged With Posing As NYPD To Tie Up And Rob Fair Lawn Resident
Home Invasion: Seven Captured, Charged With Posing As Nypd To Tie Up And Rob Fair Lawn Resident UPDATE: Two men accused of posing as law enforcement officers to rob a Fair Lawn resident at gunpoint during a home invasion last fall have been brought to Bergen County after being arrested out of state. Whether local or federal authorities will be prosecuting them and four alleged accomplices -- three of whom have already been released -- remains an open question, at least publicly. All seven were arrested in New York State last month and charged in a Nov. 17, 2022 home invasion in which residents were zip-tied and an undisclosed amount of cash and jewelry was stolen. The two main defend…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
Were Yours Contacted? Pedo Got Kids To Strip Online, Then Shared Screenshots: Bergen Prosecutor Were Yours Contacted? Pedo Got Kids To Strip Online, Then Shared Screenshots: Bergen Prosecutor
Were Yours Contacted? Pedo Got Kids To Strip Online, Then Shared Screenshots: Bergen Prosecutor An unemployed Bergen County man paid children to strip during webchats so he could take screenshots that he then viewed and shared, authorities charged. Edward A. Torres, 23, tried destroying the evidence during a court-approved raid of his Union Place apartment off Harding Avenue, Bergen County Prosecutor Mark Musella said. Detectives from his Cyber Crimes Unit had learned that Torres “used the Internet to view, download, possess, and distribute items depicting nude and/or sexually explicit prepubescent and pubescent children,” the prosecutor said. He got children to produce some of those…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
Armed Robber Fires Shot In Passaic Pharmacy Holdup, Employees Still Don't Comply: Feds Armed Robber Fires Shot In Passaic Pharmacy Holdup, Employees Still Don't Comply: Feds
Armed Robber Fires Shot In Passaic Pharmacy Holdup, Employees Still Don't Comply: Feds Talk about gutsy. An ex-con from Paterson fired a pair of shots in a drug store robbery, then fled a second pharmacy holdup in Passaic empty-handed when employees there refused to comply, said federal authorities who now have him in custody. Antonio Rivera, 46, demanded Percocet, morphine and oxycodone at gunpoint in an unidentified Paterson drug store this past Feb. 8, U.S. Attorney for New Jersey Philip R. Sellinger said. An employee complied after Rivera fired a shot, Sellinger said. Another handed over cash from a register after Rivera squeezed off a second round, the U.S. attorney sa…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
Brutal Murderer Of Bergen County Woman Sent To Prison For 55 Years Brutal Murderer Of Bergen County Woman Sent To Prison For 55 Years
Brutal Murderer Of Bergen County Woman Sent To Prison For 55 Years UPDATE:  An East Rutherford man was sentenced to 55 years in state prison for brutally kidnapping, stabbing and strangling a female neighbor. Francis "Frank" Tattoli, 30, won't be eligible for parole for nearly 48 years for the Christmastime 2016 slaying of Mone’t Thomas, 25, in the Summer Street apartment building where both lived. Thomas, who was born in Teaneck, worked as a manager of group sales for the Holiday Inn in Secaucus. She lived in the building with her boyfriend and bulldog. She'd just taken the dog for a walk when she was attacked in the hallway. Surveillance…

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by Jerry DeMarco