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NJ Ranks Among Top States For Hospital Safety In Fall 2024, Leapfrog Report Finds
New Jersey hospitals are among the safest in the nation, according to the fall 2024 Hospital Safety Grade report from The Leapfrog Group.
The Garden State ranks in the top 10 states for the highest percentage of "A" hospitals, joining states like Utah, Virginia, and Connecticut. The grades, which are updated twice a year, assess nearly 3,000 hospitals across the country on their effectiveness at preventing medical errors, accidents, and infections.
The Leapfrog Hospital Safety Grade uses up to 30 performance measures to assign grades ranging from "A" to "F," offering patients and fami…
'Hot Boys Mafia' Gangster Was Being Served In NJ Shooting That Injured Him, Detective: Cops
A Perth Amboy detective remains in stable condition after he was shot while executing an arrest warrant in Rahway on the evening of Wednesday, July 24, authorities said.
At 8:32 p.m., the detective, who has not been identified, was shot by 20-year-old Rahway resident Angel Santiago, who is a suspect in an aggravated assault that occurred in Perth Amboy Tuesday, Union County Prosecutor William Daniel and Rahway Police Director Nicholas Breiner said.
The detective was shot multiple times in the leg, while Santiago sustained a single gunshot wound to the lower leg, authorities said. …
Member Of 'Hit List' Burglary Crew That Targeted Asian Homeowners In NJ, NY, PA Sentenced
𝗨𝗣𝗗𝗔𝗧𝗘: A member of a burglary ring that specifically targeted Asian-American small business owners in New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania and Delaware was sentenced to a plea-bargained 33 months in federal prison.
James Hurt, 48, of New York, and other members of the second-story crew worked from what the FBI called a hit list of dozens of homes in the four states based on “stereotype and opportunity" from Dec. 2, 2016, to March 20, 2019.
The burglars often got into homes through unsecured upper-floor windows before seeking out cash, jewelry and guns, the FBI said
In one instance, th…
Member Of Burglary Crew That Targeted Asian Homeowners On 'Hit List' In NJ, NY, PA, Sentenced
𝗨𝗣𝗗𝗔𝗧𝗘: A confessed member of a burglary ring that targeted Asian-American small business owners in New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania and Delaware was sentenced to 33 months in federal prison.
Kevin Jackson, 57, of Rahway, NJ, must serve a little over two years before he'll be eligible for release because there's no parole in the federal prison system.
Jackson was part of a second-story crew that the FBI said worked from a hit list of dozens of homes in the four states based on “stereotype and opportunity" from Dec. 2, 2016, to March 20, 2019.
One of Jackson's associates told detectives t…
Feds: Nine Sex, Money, Murder Members Nabbed With Fentanyl, Coke, More At Open-Air Drug Market
Nine reputed members and associates of the Sex, Money, Murder street gang were charged by Homeland Security agents in New Jersey with peddling fentanyl, heroin, and cocaine at an open-air drug market.
Working with local law enforcers, agents with HSI Investigations Newark homed in on a neighborhood on West 3rd Street in Plainfield where the subset of the Bloods controlled the drug trade, U.S. Attorney Philip Sellinger said.
For months, they witnessed and recorded sales, conducted undercover buys -- some by confidential informants -- and analyzed phone records, the U.S. attorney said.
…
NJ Man Promised Victims Luxury Cars, Instead He Kept Their $202K: Cops
A 32-year-old Rahway man has been arrested after he was given more than $200,000 to purchase luxury vehicles that the victims never received, authorities said.
Jonathan Najarro, who ran J and J Auto Sound and Security Corporation, became the center of an investigation last October, when the victims reported he had $202,920 of their money, Somerset County Prosecutor John P. McDonald said.
The theft occurred between July 2022 and October 2022 in Somerville, said McDonald alongside Somerset County Prosecutor’s Office Chief of County Detectives Francisco Roman Jr., and Somerville…
3rd Member Of 'Hit List' Burglary Crew That Targeted Asian Homeowners In NJ, NY, PA, Cops Plea
UPDATE: A third member of a burglary ring that targeted Asian-American small business owners in New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania and Delaware has pleaded guilty, authorities confirmed.
Kevin Jackson, 57, of Rahway, was part of a second-story crew that the FBI said worked from a hit list of dozens of homes in four states based on “stereotype and opportunity."
One of Jackson's associates told detectives that Asians were targeted “because it was believed that the victims kept large sums of currency and jewelry in their residences,” an FBI complaint says.
Notes found in the defendants’ cars …
Member Of 'Hit List' Burglary Crew That Targeted Asian Homeowners In NJ, NY, PA, DE Cops Plea
UPDATE: A burglar from a crew that targeted Asian and Asian-American small business owners in New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania and Delaware took a deal from the government rather than risk the outcome of a trial, federal authorities said.
James Hurt, 47, of New York, was part of a second-story outfit that the FBI said worked from a hit list of dozens of homes in four states based on “stereotype and opportunity."
One of Hurt's associates told detectives that Asians were targeted “because it was believed that the victims kept large sums of currency and jewelry in their residences,” an FBI c…
Bella Giacobbe, Daughter Of NJ Town's Mayor, Dies At 22
Anabella "Bella" Marie Giacobbe, the 22-year-old daughter of Rahway Mayor Raymond Giacobbe Jr. and school board member Laura Giacobbe, died on Sept. 24.
Bella was an honor roll student at Union Catholic High School, where she played volleyball, lacrosse, and track and field, her obituary says. She graduated from Rutgers University last May with a degree in psychology.
Bella had recently started as a volleyball coach at St. Thomas Aquinas and had aspirations of becoming a teacher due to her love for children, according to her obituary.
Bella apparently died after a medical procedure, acco…
Man Found Guilty In Throat Slashing Outside Union County Bar
A 45-year-old man has been found guilty of slashing a victim's throat outside of a Union County bar last year, authorities announced.
A Union County jury deliberated for nearly three hours before returning a guilty verdict against, Michael G. Johnston, 45, of Winfield Park, last week, nearly a year after the Rahway incident, Union County First Assistant Prosecutor James O. Tansey announced.
Johnston and the 25-year-old victim were at Butch Kowal’s Tavern in Rahway, when they began arguing around 1:45 a.m. on Aug. 30, 2021, according to Union County Assistant Prosecutor Melissa Cap…
NJ's Steve Garaffa Was Guided By Sense Of Justice (Tribute)
Support is surging for the family of a 37-year-old North Jersey man being remembered as a "good soul" with an optimistic approach to life.
Steven Garaffa, of Rahway, died on Saturday, April 30, 2022. More than $16,000 had been raised on a GoFundMe for his family as of May 8.
"The sign of a truly good soul, he could make anyone laugh at his own expense and sought out the positive in everything," the page reads.
"Often a cliché upon someone’s passing, but one hundred percent accurate as it pertains to Steve. He was a loving husband, son, and brother in addition to being a loyal fr…
Fugitive, Buddy Bound Elderly Victim In Gunpoint Elizabeth Home Invasion: Prosecutor
One man was in custody and another at large in connection with an Elizabeth home invasion in which they bound the elderly resident and held her at gunpoint last month, authorities said Friday, April 1.
The elderly victim had been restrained by Herby Desir, 34, of Rahway, and Emmanuel Rivera, 33, of Carteret, in the home on Summit and Colonia roads, but had been freed by a neighbor who found her and cut her loose, Daniel said alongside Elizabeth Police Director Earl J. Graves.
The pair held the victim at gunpoint during the robbery, from which Desir and Rivera fled and made off with the…
Feds: NJ Drug Dealer Gets 10 Years, No Parole
An admitted drug dealer from Union County is headed to federal prison for 10 years.
Tyrell "Hell Rell" Wilson, 36, of Rahway, must serve out just about all of the sentence because there's no parole in the federal prison system.
Wilson was busted in September 2019 with ex-con Marvin "Black Jesus" Lagrier, 39, of Newark.
Authorities said they seized cocaine base, heroin, fentanyl, drug-packaging materials, a gun and several rounds of ammunition after searching Wilson's vehicle and a backpack he tossed while trying to flee.
They also recovered several Newark Housing Authority uniforms bearin…
