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Police & Fire
Bergen Detectives Nab Colombian Nationals Posing As Deliverymen In Multi-Town Burglary Spree Bergen Detectives Nab Colombian Nationals Posing As Deliverymen In Multi-Town Burglary Spree
Bergen Detectives Nab Colombian Nationals Posing As Deliverymen In Multi-Town Burglary Spree Detectives from the Bergen County prosecutor’s office nabbed three Colombian nationals who they said posed as delivery men during a burglary rampage through no fewer than nine area towns. Santiago Camargo-Rojas, 24, Steven Rugeles, 30, and Nicholas Buitrago-Grillo, 23, have all remained held in the Bergen County Jail since their arrests on Tuesday, July 18. ICE officials obtained holds on all three so that a federal immigration judge in Newark can determine whether all or any of them are living in the United States legally or must be deported. The trio targeted homes in affluent areas, of…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
Thief Nabbed By South Hackensack Officer After Crashing Stolen SUV Outside Bergen Courthouse Thief Nabbed By South Hackensack Officer After Crashing Stolen SUV Outside Bergen Courthouse
Thief Nabbed By South Hackensack Officer After Crashing Stolen SUV Outside Bergen Courthouse A 50-year-old vehicle thief crashed an SUV in the parking lot of the Bergen County Courthouse while trying to elude a South Hackensack police officer, authorities said. Officer Damian Colon was on patrol when he spotted a 2016 Honda SUV reported stolen out of Newark heading down Green Street at 1:15 a.m. Thursday, July 20, Detective Sean Bannon said. Colon tried to pull the driver over, the detective said. but he hit the gas instead. A short time later, the SUV careened across the sidewalk and crashed into a handicapped parking sign at 1 Bergen Plaza, Bannon said. The driver -- Angel…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
Civilians, Police Need Decon After Officer Dispenses Pepper Spray In Dispute At Bergen Lake Civilians, Police Need Decon After Officer Dispenses Pepper Spray In Dispute At Bergen Lake
Civilians, Police Need Decon After Officer Dispenses Pepper Spray In Dispute At Bergen Lake Nearly a dozen people had to be treated at a Bergen County lake after a sheriff's officer responding to a dispute dispensed pepper spray, authorities said. It began when one group of mostly juvenile lake-goers at Darlington County Park got into an argument that somehow involved another group. Because Darlington is a county park, Bergen County Sheriff Anthony Cureton has officers stationed there during peak hours. His officers responded to the dispute and summoned Mahwah police. The incident on Saturday, July 15, began when one group of mostly juvenile lake-goers at Darlington County P…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
Couple From PA Charged In Computer Repair Scam That Conned Victims In NJ, Elsewhere Couple From PA Charged In Computer Repair Scam That Conned Victims In NJ, Elsewhere
Couple From PA Charged In Computer Repair Scam That Conned Victims In NJ, Elsewhere A Pennsylvania man whose wife was charged with a computer scam that allowed her to siphon money out of unsuspecting victims’ accounts had a similar scheme going, Bergen County authorities announced. Kuleep Sethi, 66, was arrested by detectives from the Bergen County Prosecutor’s Office on theft, conspiracy and money laundering charges earlier this week -- five months after they busted his wife, Mona, for the same thing. The Furlong, PA couple scammed victims not only in New Jersey but throughout the world, Bergen County Prosecutor Mark Musella said. The thieves “created the belief that vic…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
Search For Lara Emanuele: Authorities Give Update On NJ Woman Missing For Weeks (PHOTOS) Search For Lara Emanuele: Authorities Give Update On NJ Woman Missing For Weeks (PHOTOS)
Search For Lara Emanuele: Authorities Give Update On NJ Woman Missing For Weeks (Photos) A beloved Morris County woman has been missing for three weeks, prompting an outpour of support from community members and a coordinated search effort by police departments across the state. Lara Emanuele, 46, was reported missing after failing to return home from work on Wednesday, June 7. Her vehicle containing her abandoned cell phone was found the following day in the nearby parking lot of a hotel on Howard Boulevard. Emaneuele, of Roxbury, was seen “[exiting] her vehicle in the parking lot alone and [departing] of her own free will,” Morris County Prosecutor Robert Carroll said. Her…

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by Valerie Musson
Police & Fire
HEARTLESS: 19 Catalytic Converters Swiped From Vehicles Serving Bergen Seniors, Disabled, More HEARTLESS: 19 Catalytic Converters Swiped From Vehicles Serving Bergen Seniors, Disabled, More
Heartless: 19 Catalytic Converters Swiped From Vehicles Serving Bergen Seniors, Disabled, More A pair of heartless thieves from Pennsylvania stole 19 catalytic converters from a lot off Route 17 packed with vehicles used to help seniors, the disabled and frail Bergen County residents get around, authorities said. Detectives grabbed one of them – identified as Noe Gabriel Hernandez, 24, Bergen County Prosecutor Mark Musella said. The other, Juan Rosario, 25, was being sought, he said on Tuesday, June 27. The unemployed thieves swiped 17 of the devices from county-owned vehicles parked in the Division of Community Transportation lot on Essex Street in Lodi on March 20, the prosecutor …

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
Garfield Shooting: Repeat Offender From Elmwood Park Charged With Attempted Murder Of JC Man Garfield Shooting: Repeat Offender From Elmwood Park Charged With Attempted Murder Of JC Man
Garfield Shooting: Repeat Offender From Elmwood Park Charged With Attempted Murder Of JC Man UPDATE: Bergen County prosecutor’s detectives seized a repeat offender from Elmwood Park who they said shot a 26-year-old Jersey City man several times in a Garfield shopping center parking lot this past weekend. Joshua Casiano, 29, was already wanted on warrants out of Passaic and Clifton, records show, when investigators said he shot the victim and left him behind the Citizens Bank branch at the Mill Shoppes of Garfield just off River Drive late Sunday, June 18. The victim survived the 11:45 p.m. shooting and was reported by Bergen County Prosecutor Mark Musella to be in stable condition…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
UPDATE: Garfield Shooting Victim Stable: Bergen Prosecutor UPDATE: Garfield Shooting Victim Stable: Bergen Prosecutor
Update: Garfield Shooting Victim Stable: Bergen Prosecutor UPDATE (June 22): Bergen County prosecutor’s detectives seized a repeat offender from Elmwood Park who they said shot a 26-year-old Jersey City man several times in a Garfield shopping center parking lot this past weekend. Joshua Casiano, 29, was already wanted on warrants out of Passaic and Clifton, records show, when investigators said he shot the victim and left him behind the Citizens Bank branch at the Mill Shoppes of Garfield just off River Drive late Sunday, June 18. The victim survived the 11:45 p.m. shooting and was reported by Bergen County Prosecutor Mark Musella to be in stable…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
WATCH: Park Ridge Special Officer Snatches Child Before She's Pinned By Moving Car (Video) WATCH: Park Ridge Special Officer Snatches Child Before She's Pinned By Moving Car (Video)
Watch: Park Ridge Special Officer Snatches Child Before She's Pinned By Moving Car (Video) It happened in a blink. A young Park Ridge schoolgirl had just emerged from an SUV and was behind the vehicle as the driver put it into reverse. Fortunately, the child had a guardian angel -- Mike Stallone, a special law enforcement officer with the Park Ridge Police Department who'd just been assigned to West Ridge Elementary School. Stallone rushed forward and scooped up the youngster before she could be crushed between two vehicles, Capt. Joseph Rampolla said. A surveillance camera captured the moment (click below). Police and school districts have been working together to assign…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
Bergen Mechanic, 63, Charged With Collecting Child Porn Bergen Mechanic, 63, Charged With Collecting Child Porn
Bergen Mechanic, 63, Charged With Collecting Child Porn A 63-year-old mechanic from River Vale was arrested Thursday on child porn charges, Bergen County Prosecutor Mark Musella confirmed. John DeFilippo was taken into custody by members of the prosecutor’s Cyber Crimes Unit during a June 8 raid at his Westwood Avenue home, Musella said. The investigators had found that DeFilippo “used the Internet to view, download, and possess items depicting nude and/or sexually explicit prepubescent children,” the prosecutor said. DeFilippo was processed on charges of possessing child sexual abuse material and sent to the Bergen County Jail to await a first…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
CHOPPED: Passaic, Bergen Garages Doubled As Destinations For Stolen Vehicles, Authorities Say CHOPPED: Passaic, Bergen Garages Doubled As Destinations For Stolen Vehicles, Authorities Say
Chopped: Passaic, Bergen Garages Doubled As Destinations For Stolen Vehicles, Authorities Say A group of towing and mechanic business owners in Bergen and Passaic had a lucrative moonlighting operation going before New Jersey State Police shut them down, authorities said. Workers at the off-hour chop shops in Paterson, Passaic and Elmwood Park altered stolen vehicles for resale and disassembled others to be sold as parts, state authorities said on Friday, June 2. Fourteen people in all were arrested during quick-strike raids last week by the NJSP, assisted by the Passaic County Sheriff’s Office, Paterson police and several other local, county and federal law enforcement agencies. R…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
14-Year-Old Little Ferry Boy, Companion Charged With Attempted Murder In Moonachie Shooting 14-Year-Old Little Ferry Boy, Companion Charged With Attempted Murder In Moonachie Shooting
14-Year-Old Little Ferry Boy, Companion Charged With Attempted Murder In Moonachie Shooting UPDATE: Two youths – one 14, the other 15 – were charged with attempted murder and other crimes after the younger one fired a gunshot at three teens in Moonachie, authorities said. The Little Ferry boy was on a bicycle with the older borough teen when he fired at the trio near the corner of Edstan Drive and Rooney Place shortly before 7:30 p.m. late last week, Moonachie Chief Richard Behrens said. Sgt. Victor Migliorino heard the shot and raced to the scene, where a vehicle had been struck and a shell casing was recovered, the chief said. An investigation into the planned May 25 incident l…

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by Jerry DeMarco