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Police & Fire
CAPTURED: Bergen Prosecutor’s Detectives Nab Escaped 'James Bond Gang' Fugitive In Hudson CAPTURED: Bergen Prosecutor’s Detectives Nab Escaped 'James Bond Gang' Fugitive In Hudson
Captured: Bergen Prosecutor’s Detectives Nab Escaped 'James Bond Gang' Fugitive In Hudson A James Bond Gang associate who escaped from a halfway house in March was captured Friday in North Bergen by detectives from the Bergen County prosecutor’s office. Hakeem Chance, 28, of Hackensack had an original parole eligibility date of July 13, 2022 when he escaped from the East Jersey State Harbor Halfway House, records show. He remained a fugitive for six months before members of Bergen County Prosecutor Mark Musella’s Special Investigations Squad tracked down and nabbed Chance near the corner of Kennedy Boulevard and 89th Street. They brought him to the Bergen County Jail on an esca…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
MANHUNT: NJ Murder Suspect, 28, Captured On Roof Of Route 46 Hotel In Wayne Identified MANHUNT: NJ Murder Suspect, 28, Captured On Roof Of Route 46 Hotel In Wayne Identified
Manhunt: NJ Murder Suspect, 28, Captured On Roof Of Route 46 Hotel In Wayne Identified An ex-con from North Carolina wanted in an Essex County homicide was captured on the roof of a Route 46 hotel in Wayne before dawn Tuesday, multiple law enforcement sources told Daily Voice. The search began after Derrick Anthony Younger, 28, ran from a Route 46 traffic stop near Route 23 around midnight. Wayne Police Officer Wayne Bush, who stopped Younger, chased him on foot to the Ramada Inn. A Passaic County Sheriff's SWAT unit was summoned in case of a possible standoff. Although authorities initially suspected that Younger was in Room 228, he'd actually gone to the roof. After a SW…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
MANHUNT: Police Capture Essex Murder Suspect From North Carolina On Roof Of Route 46 Hotel MANHUNT: Police Capture Essex Murder Suspect From North Carolina On Roof Of Route 46 Hotel
Manhunt: Police Capture Essex Murder Suspect From North Carolina On Roof Of Route 46 Hotel An ex-con from North Carolina wanted in an Essex County homicide was captured on the roof of a Route 46 hotel in Wayne before dawn Tuesday, multiple law enforcement sources told Daily Voice. The search began after Derrick Anthony Younger, 28, ran from a Route 46 traffic stop near Route 23 around midnight. Wayne Police Officer Wayne Bush, who stopped Younger, chased him on foot to the Ramada Inn. A Passaic County Sheriff's SWAT unit was summoned in case of a possible standoff. Although authorities believed Younger was in Room 228, he'd actually gone to the roof. After a SWAT robot found t…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
Eight Firefighters Hospitalized In Passaic Blaze Eight Firefighters Hospitalized In Passaic Blaze
Eight Firefighters Hospitalized In Passaic Blaze Eight firefighters were hospitalized with heat exhaustion Monday after rescuing 20 or so residents – several of whom were trapped – during a roaring Monday afternoon blaze that ravaged two homes and damaged others in Passaic. Seven of the firefighters are from the city and the eighth is from Wallington, Passaic Mayor Hector Carlos Lora said. None of the injuries was considered life-threatening, he said. Firefighters rescued five people from two of the Passaic Street homes and got 15 out of another after the blaze broke out around 2 p.m. at 74 Passaic Street, the mayor said. Flames raced th…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
UPDATE: Wind-Whipped Paterson Fire On Eve Of Mother's Day Burns 59 Residents Out Of Their Homes UPDATE: Wind-Whipped Paterson Fire On Eve Of Mother's Day Burns 59 Residents Out Of Their Homes
Update: Wind-Whipped Paterson Fire On Eve Of Mother's Day Burns 59 Residents Out Of Their Homes High winds whipped a roaring fire that tore through a Paterson neighborhood Saturday night, destroying five houses, severely damaging a sixth and displacing 59 residents. No injuries were reported in the Beech Street blaze, city Public Safety Director Jerry Speziale said. The Red Cross provided temporary shelter, food and clothing to the displaced. Fire officials who responded to the fire around 8:45 p.m. immediately called in a second alarm. What followed: In barely 10 minutes, three houses were involved and a third alarm was transmitted; A fourth alarm went out almost immediately afte…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
70-Year-Old Bank Robber Gets Five Years For Wayne, Pequannock Holdups 70-Year-Old Bank Robber Gets Five Years For Wayne, Pequannock Holdups
70-Year-Old Bank Robber Gets Five Years For Wayne, Pequannock Holdups A 70-year-old confessed bank robber from Little Falls was sentenced to five years in prison Friday for holding up banks four days apart in Wayne and Pequannock. Wayne detectives, with help from the FBI and the Passaic County Sheriff's Office, captured Philip N. McGrantham as he returned home in a rented Nissan Altima that a law enforcement source told Daily Voice was used earlier that day in the Sept. 30 robbery last year of a TD Bank branch on Valley Avenue. He was carrying the proceeds of the holdup at the time, authorities said. McGrantham struck a deal with prosecutors and admitted t…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
Investigators Probe Overnight Fire That Gutted Little Falls Steakhouse Investigators Probe Overnight Fire That Gutted Little Falls Steakhouse
Investigators Probe Overnight Fire That Gutted Little Falls Steakhouse Investigators were probing an overnight fire Saturday that destroyed a Little Falls restaurant. The blaze apparently broke out in the kitchen at Rare Steakhouse on Main Street around 3:30 a.m.  Firefighters had it knocked down in under 45 minutes. Fire officials declared it under control around 4:50 a.m. No injuries were reported. An investigation to determine the cause was continuing, Passaic County Prosecutor Camelia M. Valdes, Little Falls Fire Chief Jack Sweezy Jr. and Little Falls Police Chief Steve Post said in a joint release. They asked that anyone with information that cou…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
Maywood Detectives Nab 15 In $40,000 Mailbox Checks Theft Maywood Detectives Nab 15 In $40,000 Mailbox Checks Theft
Maywood Detectives Nab 15 In $40,000 Mailbox Checks Theft Maywood police snared a whopping 15 people in the mailbox theft of what turned into more than $40,000 worth of checks. Police responding to a citizen’s call at 3:23 a.m. last Aug. 19 found a mailbox pried open, and its contents removed, at the intersection of West Pleasant and Wyoming avenues, Detective Sgt. William Phayre said Tuesday. “Over the course of the next several weeks, more than a dozen victims reported fraudulent activity involving checks that were placed in the mailbox during the days leading up to the theft,” Phayre said. “Many of the checks were altered and deposited into va…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
GOTCHA! FBI Nabs Two In Passaic, Little Falls Bank Robberies GOTCHA! FBI Nabs Two In Passaic, Little Falls Bank Robberies
Gotcha! FBI Nabs Two In Passaic, Little Falls Bank Robberies The FBI nabbed two men who robbed banks in Passaic and Little Falls last month, federal authorities said Wednesday. Nicholas Ortiz, 37, of Paterson, and Jose Soto, 49, of Passaic, remained in federal custody and had closed-circuit appearances scheduled Wednesday afternoon with a U.S. District Court judge in Newark, U.S. Attorney Craig Carpenito said. Both are charged with holding up a Valley National Bank in Little Falls on Feb. 27. Soto also is charged with robbing a PNC branch in Passaic on Feb. 6 -- although authorities believe Ortiz participated. One of them pointed a silver and …

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
VIDEO: Firefighters Battle Paterson Blaze VIDEO: Firefighters Battle Paterson Blaze
Video: Firefighters Battle Paterson Blaze Firefighters battled a raging Monday morning blaze at a Paterson mixed-use building. The fire broke out in an auto body shop in the Market Street building off Route 80 around 9:30 a.m., city Police Director Jerry Speziale said. Flames quickly consumed the first floor, responders said. The fire went to four alarms within 40 minutes, then five alarms shortly after 11 a.m. "We had a firefighter who fell through the roof but was able to self-evacuate and appears to be OK," Speziale said. Firefighters from Haledon, Passaic, Clifton and Little Falls were among those providing mutual aid. The…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
Authorities: Paterson PD Clips Latin King Who Offered More Than Shave, Haircut At Barbershop Authorities: Paterson PD Clips Latin King Who Offered More Than Shave, Haircut At Barbershop
Authorities: Paterson PD Clips Latin King Who Offered More Than Shave, Haircut At Barbershop Drug detectives raided the Paterson barbershop and Little Falls home of a high-ranking Latin King, seizing more than 10 pounds of pot, a stolen handgun and nearly $21,500 in drug cash, authorities said. Investigators had been watching the “Smooth Kreationz” barbershop owned by ex-con Jecksan “King Smooth” Cancel, 41, after receiving a tip that he’d been selling pot from the Ellison Street business, Public Safety Director Jerry Speziale said Friday. Working with Little Falls police, they raided four locations – including Cancel’s second-floor Lower Notch Road apartment -- seizing the marijua…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
VIDEO: Hackensack Office Burglars Swipe $40,000 In Coins, Pricey Painting VIDEO: Hackensack Office Burglars Swipe $40,000 In Coins, Pricey Painting
Video: Hackensack Office Burglars Swipe $40,000 In Coins, Pricey Painting Burglars broke into a Hackensack office building and stole $40,000 worth of collectible coins and a painting worth several thousand dollars, said police who released a surveillance video Wednesday. The video shows three intruders casing one of the offices and then suddenly rushing out of the four-story building at 560 Hudson Street around 2:45 a.m. Monday. The coins and painting were stolen from Gilberti Construction, while five other offices sustained damage to interior doors and locks with nothing apparently taken, Detective Capt. Darrin DeWitt said. Hackensack police urged anyone who wi…

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by Jerry DeMarco