SWAT STANDOFF: Barricaded Ridgefield Man Seized With Knives, Grenade, Young Daughter In Home SWAT STANDOFF: Barricaded Ridgefield Man Seized With Knives, Grenade, Young Daughter In Home
SWAT Standoff: Barricaded Ridgefield Man Seized With Knives, Grenade, Young Daughter In Home A troubled Ridgefield man was seized after barricading himself in his home with his 12-year-old daughter, authorities said. A Bergen County Regional SWAT team joined local officers during the Maple Avenue standoff, which ended when Osvaldo Salas-Kechichian, 44, was taken into custody shortly before 11 p.m. Sunday, nearly three hours after it began, Ridgefield Deputy Chief Robert Meurer said. His roommate had come to headquarters earlier to report that Salas-Kechichian threw his belongings outside and threatened him with a knife, Meurer said. Salas-Kechichian, who was known to have several …
‘Are You Jewish?’ Hammer-Wielding Man In Rampage At Teaneck Medical Office Reportedly Asks ‘Are You Jewish?’ Hammer-Wielding Man In Rampage At Teaneck Medical Office Reportedly Asks
‘Are You Jewish?’ Hammer-Wielding Man In Rampage At Teaneck Medical Office Reportedly Asks An attack on a Teaneck pediatric office and dry cleaners by a man wielding a hammer should be considered a bias incident, said a mom who hid in a bathroom with her terrified daughter. “Are you Jewish?” Jill Gordon said he asked her and others during Sunday’s rampage at the Riverside Medical Group on Palisade Avenue. Camwren T. Cole, 23, of Teaneck – who’d apparently cut himself while smashing windows -- also screamed “They tried to turn me trans!” Gordon said. Responding officers nabbed the bloody Cole moments later and sent him, in custody, to Bergen New Bridge Medical Center in Paramus f…
Hookup Turns To Robbery After Leonia Man Is Drugged By Online 'Date' Hookup Turns To Robbery After Leonia Man Is Drugged By Online 'Date'
Hookup Turns To Robbery After Leonia Man Is Drugged By Online 'Date' A Leonia man was set up by a woman who met him online, drugged him at his home and then robbed him with help from two other men, authorities said. Katherine Berg, 32, of Paterson went to the victim’s Grand Avenue home in the early morning hours of June 26 and slipped him a drug that knocked him out, Police Chief Scott Tamagny said. A medical call brought police around 11 a.m. the next day, the chief said. A family member had found the 30-something victim with “numerous injuries and no memory of what had occurred,” Tamagny said. More than 24 hours had passed and the victim was immediately…
Punk Godmother Patti Smith, Alex Hamilton, Ron Jaworski Among NJ Hall Of Fame Inductees Punk Godmother Patti Smith, Alex Hamilton, Ron Jaworski Among NJ Hall Of Fame Inductees
Punk Godmother Patti Smith, Alex Hamilton, Ron Jaworski Among NJ Hall Of Fame Inductees Patti Smith didn’t know what to expect when she popped in the cassette that Bruce Springsteen had given her. Soon after, the godmother of punk poetry wrote a simple love song, punctuated by a big Boss arena-rock chorus. “Because the Night” became a late ‘70s anthem of sorts, one that introduced many listeners to Patricia Lee Smith – who, like Springsteen, lived in the Garden State. Smith, 74, will be among two dozen new inductees to the New Jersey Hall of Fame, it was announced Tuesday. Among those joining Smith -- the former Pitman resident and Deptford High School graduate -- will be he…
Fort Lee Funds Dedicated To Families Displaced In Devastating Apartment Building Fire Fort Lee Funds Dedicated To Families Displaced In Devastating Apartment Building Fire
Fort Lee Funds Dedicated To Families Displaced In Devastating Apartment Building Fire UPDATE: A fund established to aid Hurricane Sandy victims will go toward helping families displaced by a fire that destroyed an apartment building near the George Washington Bridge. Two volunteer firefighters were hospitalized with relatively minor injuries in the six-alarm fire on Hudson Terrace in Fort Lee, which ignited Saturday afternoon, continued through the night and collapsed portions of the five-story brick building. Authorities initially feared the worst when a resident was unaccounted for, Mayor Mark Sokolich said, but that tenant apparently is out of the country. The Red Cros…
Mayor: Fears Of Fatality Unfounded In Furious Fire That Destroyed Fort Lee Apartment Building Mayor: Fears Of Fatality Unfounded In Furious Fire That Destroyed Fort Lee Apartment Building
Mayor: Fears Of Fatality Unfounded In Furious Fire That Destroyed Fort Lee Apartment Building UPDATE: No serious injuries were reported in a raging fire that destroyed an apartment building near the George Washington Bridge. Two volunteer firefighters were hospitalized with relatively minor injuries from the six-alarm fire on Hudson Terrace in Fort Lee, which ignited Saturday afternoon, continued through the night and collapsed portions of the five-story brick building. Authorities initially feared the worst when a resident was unaccounted for, Mayor Mark Sokolich said, but that tenant apparently is out of the country. The Red Cross had put up about a dozen families at local hote…
Fire Rages At Fort Lee Apartment Building Fire Rages At Fort Lee Apartment Building
Fire Rages At Fort Lee Apartment Building UPDATE: No serious injuries were reported in a raging fire that destroyed an apartment building near the George Washington Bridge. Two volunteer firefighters were hospitalized with relatively minor injuries from the six-alarm fire on Hudson Terrace in Fort Lee, which ignited Saturday afternoon, continued through the night and collapsed portions of the five-story brick building. Authorities initially feared the worst when a resident was unaccounted for, Mayor Mark Sokolich said, but that tenant apparently is out of the country. The Red Cross had put up about a dozen families at local hotel…
Units Damaged In Fort Lee Condo Fire Units Damaged In Fort Lee Condo Fire
Units Damaged In Fort Lee Condo Fire Firefighters doused a Thursday afternoon blaze that damaged units on two floors of a Fort Lee condominium. Flames blew through two first-floor windows after breaking out in a crawlspace in the five-story brick Central Court Condominiums on Central Road shortly before 2 p.m. Firefighters had the two-alarm blaze knocked down in about an hour and under control before 3:30 p.m. It was later ruled accidental. No injuries were reported. Firefighters from Edgewater, Englewood, Englewood Cliffs, Fairview, Leonia, Palisades Park and Ridgefield were among the mutual aid responders. Tony Greco took…
'I Just Shot My Father': Bogus Swatting Call Draws Mass Response To Palisades Park Apartment 'I Just Shot My Father': Bogus Swatting Call Draws Mass Response To Palisades Park Apartment
'I Just Shot My Father': Bogus Swatting Call Draws Mass Response To Palisades Park Apartment A throng of police and tactical units descended on a Palisades Park garden apartment complex Friday night in response to what turned out to be a bogus 911 call of a man with a bomb strapped to his chest. The swatting incident forced the evacuation of the West Central Boulevard complex off Grand Avenue after a 911 caller told a dispatcher around 9 p.m. that "I just shot my father," Detective Alex Monteleone said. Units were rushing to the site when the swatter called again, saying he'd shot his dad a second time, he said. The third time, he said he had a pipe bomb strapped to his chest that…
Feds Praise Leonia PD After Ringleader Of International Call-Center Phone Scam Gets 20 Years Feds Praise Leonia PD After Ringleader Of International Call-Center Phone Scam Gets 20 Years
Feds Praise Leonia PD After Ringleader Of International Call-Center Phone Scam Gets 20 Years A worldwide investigation that produced a 20-year federal prison sentence for an Indian national who ran call centers that defrauded Americans across the U.S. out of millions of dollars got a huge boost from police in Leonia. Leonia Detective Michael Jennings, in particular, did legwork that helped federal authorities eventually identify Hitesh Madhubhai Patel, 44, as the ringleader of the transnational scheme. For that reason, police in the Bergen County borough near the George Washington Bridge got a shout-out from the U.S. Department of Justice on Monday. It began in 2015 when Jennings …
Palisades Park Firefighters Battle Extreme Heat, Terrain To Douse House Blaze Palisades Park Firefighters Battle Extreme Heat, Terrain To Douse House Blaze
Palisades Park Firefighters Battle Extreme Heat, Terrain To Douse House Blaze It wasn’t the easiest job: The air was thick, with temperatures still in the high 80s, when a fire broke out in a home on a Palisades Park hill at the top of a private driveway. Borough firefighters lugging hoses and ground ladders doused the Monday night blaze -- saving the house -- with no serious injuries. An air conditioning unit in back of the Chateau Road home ignited, sending flames up the vinyl siding, then into a soffit and roof rafter, shortly before 8 p.m., Fire Chief John Mantone said. Mantone’s firefighters had help at the scene from their colleagues from Ridgefield and Leoni…
Longtime Leonia Firefighter Resigns Over 'Indefensible' Post About Asian American Protester Longtime Leonia Firefighter Resigns Over 'Indefensible' Post About Asian American Protester
Longtime Leonia Firefighter Resigns Over 'Indefensible' Post About Asian American Protester A string of racist insults on Facebook against a young Asian-American protester has cost a volunteer of nearly 45 years his ranking positions with the Leonia Fire Department. It began with a post by a fellow firefighter of a photo taken during a protest in Leonia against the death of George Floyd. A young woman in the photo holds a sign that says “F(***) THE POLICE”. "To my Leonia people, who is this and how do you think this is peaceful?" a comment attached to the photo asked. A thread of nearly 300 comments followed -- many sharing the poster’s anger -- before the June 8 post was remove…