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Washington Heights, NY

Police & Fire
George Washington Bridge Climber, Not Protestors, Jams NYC-Bound Traffic For Hours George Washington Bridge Climber, Not Protestors, Jams NYC-Bound Traffic For Hours
George Washington Bridge Climber, Not Protestors, Jams Nyc-bound Traffic For Hours Police expected a protest that would throw the George Washington Bridge into chaos on Saturday and got something else entirely. A 24-year-old climber partially caused massive delays when he started climbing the Manhattan tower's south side shortly before noon May 18. What began as half-hour backups quickly stretched to more than 90 minutes on both levels during one of the busiest times of the average GWB weekend. All eastbound lanes were eventually closed at one point as Port Authority and NYPD emergency services officers with rappelling ropes and other rescue gear eventually got him down …

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
CHI LO HA VISTO? FBI Hopes Someone Has Seen NJ Man Who Went Missing In Italy CHI LO HA VISTO? FBI Hopes Someone Has Seen NJ Man Who Went Missing In Italy
CHI LO HA Visto? FBI Hopes Someone Has Seen NJ Man Who Went Missing In Italy SEEN HIM? The FBI this weekend released age-progressed drawings of a missing Jersey Shore man who was last known to be hiking through a remote section of Italy nearly five years ago. Liam Biran, a wine steward from Marlboro, NJ, who aspired to be a sommelier, was 32 when he headed to Israel to visit his grandparents the second week of April 2019. In his last LinkedIn post, Biran wrote that he was "tracking vineyards in Israel. From golan Heights to desert shores. Networked, photographed, and discussed options for export." Biran -- who had duel American and Israeli passports -- had planned …

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
Ex-Jet Muhammad Wilkerson Busted For DWI, Gun Loaded With Hollow Points In North Jersey Stop Ex-Jet Muhammad Wilkerson Busted For DWI, Gun Loaded With Hollow Points In North Jersey Stop
Ex-Jet Muhammad Wilkerson Busted For DWI, Gun Loaded With Hollow Points In North Jersey Stop Former New York Jets pass rusher Muhammad Wilkerson was busted for driving drunk in North Jersey again, only this time with a loaded gun under his seat, according to a published report. Wilkerson told police who stopped him in an unidentified Morris County town shortly after 6:30 a.m. Dec. 22 that he was coming from a club in New York City, TMZ. reported. Police said the retired defensive end smelled strongly of alcohol and was arrested after failing a field sobriety test, according to documents filed in Superior Court in Morristown. Wilkerson, a 34-year-old Linden native, reportedly claim…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
Bergen Biz Partner Of Power 105.1 DJ Envy Busted By Feds In Multi-Million-Dollar Fraud Scheme Bergen Biz Partner Of Power 105.1 DJ Envy Busted By Feds In Multi-Million-Dollar Fraud Scheme
Bergen Biz Partner Of Power 105.1 DJ Envy Busted By Feds In Multi-Million-Dollar Fraud Scheme A New Jersey real estate investor and influencer who's business partners with Power 105.1 DJ Envy was seized early Wednesday by federal agents who charged him with orchestrating a multimillion-dollar Ponzi-like investment scheme. Promising returns that were too good to be true, Cesar Humberto Piña "exploited celebrity status and social media" to scam dozens of people out of millions of dollars, U.S. Attorney for New Jersey Philip R. Sellinger said on Oct. 18. Piña, 45, who lives in the suburban Bergen County town of Franklin Lakes, craftily "developed a devoted following" whom he then victi…

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by Jerry DeMarco
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NY Dealer Gets 11 Years, No Parole, For Moving Fentanyl, Meth, Coke By The Pound Into NJ NY Dealer Gets 11 Years, No Parole, For Moving Fentanyl, Meth, Coke By The Pound Into NJ
NY Dealer Gets 11 Years, No Parole, For Moving Fentanyl, Meth, Coke By The Pound Into NJ A dealer who admitted flooding four North Jersey counties with massive quantities of fentanyl, meth and coke is headed to federal prison for more than a decade. Juan Carlos Merced Moreno, 45, of Manhattan must serve out just about all of his plea-bargained 11-year sentence because there's no parole in the federal prison system. Moreno and his partners operated a fentanyl mill in Washington Heights that supplied traffickers in New Jersey with at least 25,000 pills that were distributed throughout the Garden State, U.S. Attorney for New Jersey Philip R. Sellinger said. Authorities disco…

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by Jerry DeMarco
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New Milford Resident Among Purported Trinitarios Members Seized In Massive NYC Drug Takedown New Milford Resident Among Purported Trinitarios Members Seized In Massive NYC Drug Takedown
New Milford Resident Among Purported Trinitarios Members Seized In Massive NYC Drug Takedown A New Milford resident was one of more than a dozen purported Triniarious gang members arrested in a lightning-strike series of raids on both sides of the Hudson River, authorities confirmed. Fentanyl and an unspecified amount of illegal proceeds were seized during the New Milford raid around 6 a.m. Wednesday, Jan. 25, a source close to the takedown told Daily Voice. Meanwhile, in New York City, 10 accused members of the Washington Heights faction of the Trinitarios were nabbed as part of the operation, led by members of ICE's Homeland Security Investigations New York office and including t…

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by Jerry DeMarco
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Dealer Admits Role In Major Ring That Moved Fentanyl, Meth, Coke By The Pound Into NJ From NYC Dealer Admits Role In Major Ring That Moved Fentanyl, Meth, Coke By The Pound Into NJ From NYC
Dealer Admits Role In Major Ring That Moved Fentanyl, Meth, Coke By The Pound Into NJ From NYC One of three Manhattan men accused of flooding four North Jersey counties with massive quantities of fentanyl, meth and coke admitted his role in the organization, authorities said. Juan Carlos Merced Moreno, 45, and his partners operated a fentanyl mill in Washington Heights that supplied traffickers in New Jersey with at least 25,000 pills that were distributed throughout the Garden State, U.S. Attorney for New Jersey Philip R. Sellinger said. And that wasn't all. Authorities discovered the operation during what began as an investigation into the Hudson County crew, which flooded the str…

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by Jerry DeMarco
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Fleeing Vandal Caught By At GWB Bus Station Had Loaded Gun: Port Authority PD Fleeing Vandal Caught By At GWB Bus Station Had Loaded Gun: Port Authority PD
Fleeing Vandal Caught By At GWB Bus Station Had Loaded Gun: Port Authority PD A vandal who was chased down by Port Authority police at the George Washington Bridge bus station was carrying a loaded gun, authorities said. Justice D. Velez, 20, of the Bronx was vandalizing a card payment machine when he saw the officers coming and took off, said Lenis Valens, a Port Authority spokeswoman. Velez tossed a small backpack as he led Officers Johan Quinde, Eric Arroyo, Frank DiMaggio and Jubil Oommen on a foot chase that ended on the upper roadway of the Washington Heights station, Valens said. Inside the backpack was a loaded .38-caliber handgun, she said. Velez was arres…

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by Jerry DeMarco
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Route 95 Motorist Caught With Loaded Gun After Crossing Median: Leonia PD Route 95 Motorist Caught With Loaded Gun After Crossing Median: Leonia PD
Route 95 Motorist Caught With Loaded Gun After Crossing Median: Leonia PD A motorist who was stopped after driving his sedan over the median from the express to the local lanes on Route 95 had a loaded gun in the glove compartment, police said. Richard X. Santos, an unemployed 29-year-old resident of Washington Heights, was behind the wheel of a 2018 BMW sedan with a female passenger when he was stopped by Officer Debbie Maldonado on the northbound highway around noontime Tuesday, Leonia Police Chief Scott Tamagny said. Officers Ryan Berger and Young Cho joined Maldonado at the scene along with a Bergen County Sheriff’s K-9 Unit, the chief said Wednesday. A warr…

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by Jerry DeMarco
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Fierce Fire Destroys Trailer, Several Vehicles, Sends Smoke Column Skyward In Fort Lee Fierce Fire Destroys Trailer, Several Vehicles, Sends Smoke Column Skyward In Fort Lee
Fierce Fire Destroys Trailer, Several Vehicles, Sends Smoke Column Skyward In Fort Lee Investigators were probing the cause of a fire early Saturday that engulfed a storage trailer and several vehicles behind a Fort Lee gas station. Huge columns of black, then gray, then white smoke could be seen from Washington Heights and Upper Manhattan after the fire broke out in the office-like trailer behind Fort Lee Getty on Palisade Avenue around 6 a.m. Fort Lee firefighters confined the rampaging blaze, protecting the gas station and other nearby buildings and vehicles. Assisting were their colleagues from Cliffside Park and Ridgefield. Eight vehicles in all were reportedly either…

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by Jerry DeMarco
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Body Of Man In Late 20s Or 30s Pulled From Hudson River North Of GWB Body Of Man In Late 20s Or 30s Pulled From Hudson River North Of GWB
Body Of Man In Late 20s Or 30s Pulled From Hudson River North Of GWB Authorities were trying to identify a man whose body washed up on the Hudson River shoreline in the shadow of the George Washington Bridge. The fully-clothed body reportedly was first spotted by a jet skier on the Washington Heights side of the river sometime Tuesday evening. Palisades Interstate Parkway police were called to the Englewood Marina off Henry Hudson Drive in Englewood Cliffs around 8:30 a.m. Wednesday after it reached the shoreline there, PIP Police Lt. Raymond E. Walter said. The victim is about 5-foot-8 and 200 pounds and appeared to have been in his late 20s or 30s, Walter…

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by Jerry DeMarco
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Woman Threatening To Jump Closes Upper Level Of GWB Woman Threatening To Jump Closes Upper Level Of GWB
Woman Threatening To Jump Closes Upper Level Of GWB The upper level of the George Washington Bridge was closed while New York City police rescued a woman who threatened to jump. Several members of the NYPD Emergency Services Unit converged on a railing above a ledge where the woman had perched herself on the Washington Heights side of the bridge's eastbound lanes around 2 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 20. Responders said she had a knife. The officers "were able to successfully engage the individual in conversation before rescuing her from the ledge" about 90 minutes later, NYPD Special Operations reported. The bridge was reopened and the woman was ta…

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by Jerry DeMarco
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GOTCHA! 3 Guns Seized In Capture Of Fugitive During Cliffside Park Raid GOTCHA! 3 Guns Seized In Capture Of Fugitive During Cliffside Park Raid
Gotcha! 3 Guns Seized In Capture Of Fugitive During Cliffside Park Raid Authorities who raided a Cliffside Park apartment found three guns while capturing a parolee suspected in a New York City shooting. Jenderson Jerez, 31, of Washington Heights was already wanted for violating parole when U.S. marshals, borough police and members of the NYPD hit the Lafayette Avenue building where he'd been hiding out, Cliffside Park Deputy Police Chief Vincent Capano said. Borough detectives armed with a search warrant seized two 9mm handguns and a defaced .380-caliber firearm, Capano said. Jerez was prohibited from leaving the state and having any guns in his possession un…

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by Jerry DeMarco
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Drunken Ex-Con Fights Police Over Gun On Route 17 After Hit-Run Victim Follows Him From NYC Drunken Ex-Con Fights Police Over Gun On Route 17 After Hit-Run Victim Follows Him From NYC
Drunken Ex-Con Fights Police Over Gun On Route 17 After Hit-Run Victim Follows Him From NYC Hasbrouck Heights police had to fight a combative ex-con to get a gun away from him after he was followed to a Route 17 gas station by the victim of a hit-and-run crash in Washington Heights, authorities said. A drunken Jamel McCaskill, 44, also had $20,000 in banded cash in his totaled car, police said after Friday night's arrest. McCaskill was known to authorities, having been shot by a rival gang member in Harlem six years ago. The case made international headlines after the sentencing judge told the shooter: "Black lives don’t matter to black people.” A caller told Hasbrouck Heig…

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by Jerry DeMarco
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MAJOR BUST: Authorities Smash Trafficking Ring, Seize $1 Million Worth Of Drugs, Arrest 20 MAJOR BUST: Authorities Smash Trafficking Ring, Seize $1 Million Worth Of Drugs, Arrest 20
Major Bust: Authorities Smash Trafficking Ring, Seize $1 Million Worth Of Drugs, Arrest 20 A barber shop and used car lot were fronts for a large-scale North Jersey drug trafficking ring, said authorities who seized nearly 21 pounds of fentanyl, 7½ pounds of cocaine, a loaded gun and more while arresting 20 people in Hudson, Bergen, Essex and Union counties. Nearly two dozen locations in New Jersey and New York were raided and nearly four pounds of meth, more than a pound and a half of fentanyl and $118,395 in cash were seized by a team headed by the Hudson County Prosecutor’s Narcotics Task Force working with federal Homeland Security Investigations and the NYPD, they said Wednes…

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by Jerry DeMarco
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Authorities Smash Major NJ Trafficking Ring, Seize $1 Million Worth Of Drugs, Arrest 20 Authorities Smash Major NJ Trafficking Ring, Seize $1 Million Worth Of Drugs, Arrest 20
Authorities Smash Major NJ Trafficking Ring, Seize $1 Million Worth Of Drugs, Arrest 20 A barber shop and used car lot were fronts for a large-scale North Jersey drug trafficking ring, said authorities who seized nearly 21 pounds of fentanyl, 7½ pounds of cocaine, a loaded gun and more while arresting 20 people in Hudson, Bergen, Essex and Union counties. Nearly two dozen locations in New Jersey and New York were raided and nearly four pounds of meth, more than a pound and a half of fentanyl and $118,395 in cash were seized by a team headed by the Hudson County Prosecutor’s Narcotics Task Force working with federal Homeland Security Investigations and the NYPD, they said Wednes…

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by Jerry DeMarco
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Authorities: New Milford Police Subdue Combative NYC Man Packing Loaded Pistol Authorities: New Milford Police Subdue Combative NYC Man Packing Loaded Pistol
Authorities: New Milford Police Subdue Combative NYC Man Packing Loaded Pistol A driver carrying a loaded gun fought with New Milford police before being subdued following a traffic stop, authorities said. Four officers sustained minor injuries during the struggle with Railey Nunez, 24, of the Tribeca section of Manhattan, Police Chief Brian Clancy said. Officer Dan O’Neill had stopped the Mercedes Benz bearing a temporary license plate from Tennessee for a violation at Boulevard and Floral Court shortly before 8 p.m. Monday, Clancy said. O’Neill and Officer Przemyslaw Boinski ordered the driver, 35-year-old Alex Hernandez of Washington Heights, and Nunez from the ve…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
Authorities: Teaneck Woman Spits On Englewood Police (Again) During 5th TRO Violation Authorities: Teaneck Woman Spits On Englewood Police (Again) During 5th TRO Violation
Authorities: Teaneck Woman Spits On Englewood Police (Again) During 5th TRO Violation A combative repeat offender from Teaneck who’d already been arrested four times for violating restraining orders and twice for spitting on police while claiming to have the coronavirus did it again in Englewood, authorities said. City police responding to 1 a.m. disturbance call at a local home last week found Sughuy Cepeda, 43, there in violation of a temporary restraining order, state Attorney General Gurbir S. Grewal said. Formerly of Cliffside Park and the Fort George section of Washington Heights, the 5-foot-3-inch, 215-pound Cepeda has a recent history of run-ins for which she’s been …

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by Jerry DeMarco