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Police & Fire
Pair Who Shot At State Police Officer At Salem County Mobile Home Park Sentenced: AG Pair Who Shot At State Police Officer At Salem County Mobile Home Park Sentenced: AG
Pair Who Shot At State Police Officer At Salem County Mobile Home Park Sentenced: AG Two more Cumberland County men have been sentenced to New Jersey State Prison in connection with the shooting of a State Police detective during a confrontation at a Salem County mobile home park, authorities said. A third gunman was previously sentenced. State Police Detective Richard Hershey, who was seriously wounded by a bullet fired by the third gunman, has since recovered and returned to duty. On Jan. 24, Najzeir “Naz” Hutchings, 25, of Bridgeton, was sentenced to 13 years in prison for aggravated assault and a weapons offense, according to according to Attorney General Matthew …

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by Jon Craig
Police & Fire
'Extraordinary' Police Captain To Make History As Jersey Shore City's First Female Chief 'Extraordinary' Police Captain To Make History As Jersey Shore City's First Female Chief
'Extraordinary' Police Captain To Make History As Jersey Shore City's First Female Chief A police captain in Cape May County will make history when she's sworn in as her city's first female police chief. Capt. Katherine Madden will become the police chief of North Wildwood on Wednesday, May 1, the city announced. She will be North Wildwood's 14th police chief in the city's history. Madden will replace Chief John Stevenson when he retires on Tuesday, Apr. 30. Chief Stevenson has served in the city's police department for more than 30 years, including the last three as chief. NORTH WILDWOOD POLICE CAPTAIN KATHERINE MADDEN TO BE SWORN IN AS FIRST FEMALE POLICE CHIEF North Wi…

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by Chris Spiker
Police & Fire
Barricaded Man In NJ Motel Wounds 2 NJ State Troopers With Airsoft Gun Barricaded Man In NJ Motel Wounds 2 NJ State Troopers With Airsoft Gun
Barricaded Man In NJ Motel Wounds 2 NJ State Troopers With Airsoft Gun An armed man who wounded two New Jersey State Police troopers with an airsoft gun during a lengthy standoff at a Sussex County motel was eventually taken alive, authorities said. Troopers were conducting a welfare check at the Cobmin Ridge Motel on Route 206 in Branchville, 10 or so miles from the Pennsylvania border, around 6 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 30, they said. Nicolas R. Martinez, 27, refused to leave a room he was staying in, according to a joint release from New Jersey State Police, the state Department of Law & Public Safety and the Sussex County Prosecutor's Office. Negotiations la…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
NJ Sheriff's Association Cites 'Fortitude, Resoluteness' Of Fallen Passaic Comrade Berdnik NJ Sheriff's Association Cites 'Fortitude, Resoluteness' Of Fallen Passaic Comrade Berdnik
NJ Sheriff's Association Cites 'Fortitude, Resoluteness' Of Fallen Passaic Comrade Berdnik "On behalf of the Sheriffs' Association of New Jersey, President Sheriff Gilbert "Whip" Wilson and its members, we express our sincere condolences for the loss of our dear brother in law enforcement, Passaic County Sheriff Richard Berdnik. "Sheriff Berdnik's untimely passing was a shock to us all. He served as a member of the New Jersey Sheriffs Association for fifteen (13) years, where he worked hard to ensure the safety of the Passaic County residents and that the needs of the Passaic County community were addressed.  "Sheriff Berdnik was a man of great character, always mild-mannere…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
Heart Disease Aggravated By Meth Use Killed Newark Suspect Following Arrest: Medical Examiner Heart Disease Aggravated By Meth Use Killed Newark Suspect Following Arrest: Medical Examiner
Heart Disease Aggravated By Meth Use Killed Newark Suspect Following Arrest: Medical Examiner It’s unsettling to watch video of a suspect you know has died. The last moments for Raul DeJesus -- who led Newark police on a foot chase before collapsing near Route 280 -- are no exception. Newark police did nothing wrong during the encounter, a grand jury has found. Among the evidence reviewed by the grand jurors are three police bodycams, one of them worn by the officer who began chasing the 43-year-old Newark native on foot after he ran. Two others graphically document the arrest and the moments that followed as highway traffic barreled by. In the end, what killed DeJesus was heart …

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
Passaic Sheriff Berdnik's Death By Suicide 'Unfathomable Loss' For NJ, Attorney General Says Passaic Sheriff Berdnik's Death By Suicide 'Unfathomable Loss' For NJ, Attorney General Says
Passaic Sheriff Berdnik's Death By Suicide 'Unfathomable Loss' For NJ, Attorney General Says Passaic County Sheriff Richard Berdnik died by his own hand on Tuesday in his hometown Clifton, in what the Garden State's attorney general called "an unfathomable loss for New Jersey." Emergency responders rushed to Toro's Turkish Restaurant on Hazel Street a few minutes after 3:30 p.m. Jan. 23. Berdnik had just taken his life in the men's room, the sudden gunshot through the heart startling staff and patrons alike, sources told Daily Voice. Not even 15 minutes earlier, the popular sheriff had posed for cellphone photos. Then he got a phone call with some very unsettling news, reliable so…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
Malnourished Dog Left In Freezing Cold Rescued By Haledon Police, Couple Charged With Cruelty Malnourished Dog Left In Freezing Cold Rescued By Haledon Police, Couple Charged With Cruelty
Malnourished Dog Left In Freezing Cold Rescued By Haledon Police, Couple Charged With Cruelty A call from a concerned citizen brought a trio of Haledon police officers to a heartbreaking scene. Outside a home on Southside Avenue, they found "a young gray pit bull collapsed on the ground, severely emaciated and exhibiting signs of frostbite and hypothermia," Deputy Police Chief George Guzman, Jr. said.Her name is Elsa. Officers Nasir Mora and Antonio Parisi and Corporal Andrea Boos provided emergency care and rushed Elsa to a local animal hospital, the deputy chief said. The borough's human law enforcement officer, Corporal April Latona, then led an investigation assisted …

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
Video Shows Bloodied, Naked, Knife-Wielding Man Shot By Police At Fort Lee Condo Video Shows Bloodied, Naked, Knife-Wielding Man Shot By Police At Fort Lee Condo
Video Shows Bloodied, Naked, Knife-Wielding Man Shot By Police At Fort Lee Condo In what looks like a slasher film, a naked and bloodied man wielding a knife on the debris-strewn terrace of a condominium in Fort Lee is shot and killed by police. Two tactical officers are standing on chairs and a third on a table on a neighboring balcony when Mohamed Bounaouar, 42, of Las Vegas emerges from inside a townhouse at the Cedar Court complex shortly before 8:30 a.m. on Feb. 4, 2023, police bodycam images released by state authorities on Jan. 12 show. Bounaouar's raised left hand grips a large knife. His mouth and other parts of his body are bloodied. He shouts several words in…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
Jersey Shore Officer Who Looked Up People He Knew On Police Database Suspended, Prosecutor Says Jersey Shore Officer Who Looked Up People He Knew On Police Database Suspended, Prosecutor Says
Jersey Shore Officer Who Looked Up People He Knew On Police Database Suspended, Prosecutor Says A Brielle police officer is accused of illegally using police databases to look up people he knew, authorities said. Brian Dreher, 37, of Brick Township, is charged with third-degree computer theft, Monmouth County Prosecutor Raymond Santiago announced on Friday, Jan. 12. Dreher faces up to five years in state prison If he's convicted. “Any transgression of this nature by an officer is unacceptable,” Santiago said in a news release. “While this officer’s action is not indicative of the majority of our police officers across Monmouth County, we must continue to hold our officers r…

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by Chris Spiker
Police & Fire
Ex-Con Killed In Shootout With Police On Garden State Parkway ID'd Ex-Con Killed In Shootout With Police On Garden State Parkway ID'd
Ex-Con Killed In Shootout With Police On Garden State Parkway ID'd New Jersey's top law officer on Monday identified a gunman who was killed in a shootout with Cranford police following a high-speed pursuit and crash on the Garden State Parkway in Woodbridge. Ex-con Kevin Harlfinger, a 40-year-old ex-con from Perth Amboy, was behind the wheel of a stolen white work van being pursued by Cranford officers when it crashed near Exit 131 shortly before midnight Dec. 28, according to a brief statement released on Monday, Jan. 8, by the office of Attorney General Matthew J. Platkin in Trenton. Harlfinger exchanged shots with the officers, wounding one of them, au…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
NJ Man Who Stabbed PA State Trooper 'Numerous Times' In Berks County ID'd NJ Man Who Stabbed PA State Trooper 'Numerous Times' In Berks County ID'd
NJ Man Who Stabbed PA State Trooper 'Numerous Times' In Berks County ID'd A Pennsylvania State Police trooper was stabbed while serving a warrant for a New Jersey man in Berks County on Saturday, according to multiple releases by Trooper David Beohm.  Two troopers were sent to serve a 302 warrant, which is for involuntary mental health commitment, for 27-year-old Bradley Odenath of Pine Hill, NJ. They arrived at 293 Bachmoll Road, Tilden Township at 8:42 a.m. on Dec. 30, Beohm detailed.  "During their interaction with the male one of the troopers was stabbed numerous times in the leg," Beohm stated in the release.  Troopers were able to subd…

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by Jillian Pikora
Police & Fire
Bergen Prosecutor's Lieutenant Charged With Stealing Coke, Fentanyl From Evidence Bergen Prosecutor's Lieutenant Charged With Stealing Coke, Fentanyl From Evidence
Bergen Prosecutor's Lieutenant Charged With Stealing Coke, Fentanyl From Evidence A Bergen County prosecutor’s lieutenant stole cocaine and potentially deadly fentanyl from his department's evidence room, then tried to return the drugs in “substantially different” condition after superiors got wise, state authorities charged. Kevin T. Matthew, 47, of Cedar Grove, apparently was selling the drugs based on what was a series of cash deposits under $10,000 each at various banks to try and slide past federal reporting requirements, Attorney General Matthew Platkin said on Tuesday, Dec. 19. Two razor blades were also found in Matthew’s office at the BCPO, the attorney general …

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by Jerry DeMarco