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Drug-related Crimes

Police & Fire
NJ Councilman Who Once Sold Meth To Undercover Cop Stole $1K From Democratic Club: Prosecutor NJ Councilman Who Once Sold Meth To Undercover Cop Stole $1K From Democratic Club: Prosecutor
NJ Councilman Who Once Sold Meth To Undercover Cop Stole $1K From Democratic Club: Prosecutor A 47-year-old councilman in New Jersey been charged with stealing from the borough's democratic club. Malik D. Johnston, who also goes by Pippin Folk, has been charged with third-degree theft by unlawful taking after withdrawing a $1,000 check from the Flemington Democratic Club's bank account, at a branch in Bridgewater, Hunterdon County Prosecutor Renée M. Robeson said. Johnston was a former officer of the club at the time of the transaction, and did not have permission or lawful authority to make the cash withdrawal and keep the funds, Robeson said alongside the borough's police chi…

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by Cecilia Levine
Police & Fire
Masked Offender From Bergenfield Caught With Meth, Burglar Tools In Pre-Dawn Stop: Dumont PD Masked Offender From Bergenfield Caught With Meth, Burglar Tools In Pre-Dawn Stop: Dumont PD
Masked Offender From Bergenfield Caught With Meth, Burglar Tools In Pre-Dawn Stop: Dumont PD A known offender was arrested again after a Dumont officer spotted him carrying bolt cutters while riding a bicycle down the main drag two hours before sunrise, authorities said. And, once again, a judge released him soon after. Andrew Lugo, 35, of Bergenfield, has been arrested in several towns – among them, Saddle River, Hackensack, Englewood, Teaneck and Little Ferry – the past few years, records show. Charges have included burglary, theft, receiving stolen property and drug possession. A year ago, Bergenfield police arrested him for a host of credit card thefts during burglaries. Lu…

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by Jerry DeMarco
News
Ex-Con Had Help In Violent Carjacking Attempt Outside Route 17 Motorcycle Shop, Police Reveal Ex-Con Had Help In Violent Carjacking Attempt Outside Route 17 Motorcycle Shop, Police Reveal
Ex-Con Had Help In Violent Carjacking Attempt Outside Route 17 Motorcycle Shop, Police Reveal A career criminal who was seized moments after a violent carjacking attempt in Hasbrouck Heights had help, said authorities who charged a fellow convicted felon from Lodi in connection with the crime. Manuel Felton, 44, was coming off two recent years in state prison on drug-related convictions when authorities said he and Jared Stun targeted a motorcyclist outside a Route 17 cycle shop on July 15. Stun knocked the victim to the ground in an attempt to steal his ride, then blasted him and two good Samaritans with bear spray outside Cycle Gear on southbound Route 17, Sgt. John Behr said. Tw…

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by Jerry DeMarco
News
South Hackensack Officer's Route 46 Traffic Stop Leads To Cocaine Seizure, Ex-Con's Arrest South Hackensack Officer's Route 46 Traffic Stop Leads To Cocaine Seizure, Ex-Con's Arrest
South Hackensack Officer's Route 46 Traffic Stop Leads To Cocaine Seizure, Ex-Con's Arrest An ex-con staying at a Route 46 motel was caught with nearly a half-ounce of cocaine following a traffic stop, authorities said. South Hackensack Officer Kyle Skelley stopped a 2020 Honda CRV with a cracked windshield just off the highway around 9 a.m. Tuesday, Detective Sgt. James Donatello said. The driver, William J. Ayala, 40, of Paterson, acted nervously, the sergeant said. A background check turned up a mostly drug-related criminal history stretching back 20 years in Bergen and Passaic counties, as well as in Lakehurst and Miami Beach, FL, where Ayala had been charged with assaulting…

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by Jerry DeMarco
News
Feds: Hit Man From Philly Admits Committing Murder-For-Hire For NJ Political Operative Feds: Hit Man From Philly Admits Committing Murder-For-Hire For NJ Political Operative
Feds: Hit Man From Philly Admits Committing Murder-For-Hire For NJ Political Operative A Philadelphia resident admitted Wednesday that he was one of the two hit men paid by a onetime New Jersey political operative to kill a former associate. Bomani Africa, 61, who has a criminal history that includes convictions for robbery and drug-related crime, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit murder for hire via videoconference with a federal judge in Newark, U.S. Attorney for New Jersey Philip R. Sellinger announced. People immediately began wondering who the hired killers were after Sean Caddle, 44, admitted on Tuesday that he paid them to whack Michael Galdieri, the son of forme…

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by Jerry DeMarco
News
Passaic County Sheriff: Drug Detectives Nab Pair Of Older Dealers Passaic County Sheriff: Drug Detectives Nab Pair Of Older Dealers
Passaic County Sheriff: Drug Detectives Nab Pair Of Older Dealers Passaic County sheriff's detectives grabbed one Paterson man with several ounces of crack and another as he tried to flush more drugs, authorities said. Narcotics Bureau investigators followed and arrested Eric Seegers, 62, after watching Shawn Nero, 48, conduct business outside Nero's Madison Street apartment, Passaic County Sheriff Richard H. Berdnik said. Seegers was carrying 6½ ounces of crack and $1,400 in suspected drug proceeds, the sheriff said. The detectives then doubled back to Nero's. Seeing them at the door, he rushed back into the apartment and tried to destroy the remaining…

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by Jerry DeMarco
News
Bergen Nurse Practitioner Charged With Illegally Obtaining Thousands Of Oxy, Adderall Pills Bergen Nurse Practitioner Charged With Illegally Obtaining Thousands Of Oxy, Adderall Pills
Bergen Nurse Practitioner Charged With Illegally Obtaining Thousands Of Oxy, Adderall Pills A nurse practitioner from River Edge obtained thousands of Oxycodone and Adderall pills for distribution using bogus prescriptions, authorities charged. Mathew Testino surrendered to detectives from the Bergen County Prosecutor’s Narcotics Task Force on Wednesday. A judge freed him the next day, with conditions, pending trial. Testino, who turned 51 on Friday, had been wanted since being charged with dozens of drug-related counts this past March, Bergen County Prosecutor Mark Musella said. He’s accused of “fraudulently obtaining and signing prescriptions on approximately 30 separate occasi…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
Prosecutor: NJ Drug Dealer Indicted In Woman's OD Death, Fentanyl In System Was 5X Lethal Dose Prosecutor: NJ Drug Dealer Indicted In Woman's OD Death, Fentanyl In System Was 5X Lethal Dose
Prosecutor: NJ Drug Dealer Indicted In Woman's OD Death, Fentanyl In System Was 5X Lethal Dose A Burlington County drug dealer was indicted on charges stemming from a woman's fatal overdose in 2019, authorities said. Antoine Crawley, 35, of Pemberton's Sunbury Village section, was charged by a grand jury in the death of 27-year-old Brittney Wallace, Burlington County Prosecutor Scott Coffina said. An autopsy found that the fentanyl level in Wallace's system was more than five times the lethal dose, authorities said. The indictment returned June 24 charges Crawley with strict liability for drug-induced death, possession of a controlled dangerous substance, possession of a controlled …

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by Cecilia Levine
News
Hookup Turns To Robbery After Leonia Man Is Drugged By Online 'Date' Hookup Turns To Robbery After Leonia Man Is Drugged By Online 'Date'
Hookup Turns To Robbery After Leonia Man Is Drugged By Online 'Date' A Leonia man was set up by a woman who met him online, drugged him at his home and then robbed him with help from two other men, authorities said. Katherine Berg, 32, of Paterson went to the victim’s Grand Avenue home in the early morning hours of June 26 and slipped him a drug that knocked him out, Police Chief Scott Tamagny said. A medical call brought police around 11 a.m. the next day, the chief said. A family member had found the 30-something victim with “numerous injuries and no memory of what had occurred,” Tamagny said. More than 24 hours had passed and the victim was immediately…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
HEROES: Captive Woman Raped, Beaten Over Several Hours Rescued By Lodi Police HEROES: Captive Woman Raped, Beaten Over Several Hours Rescued By Lodi Police
Heroes: Captive Woman Raped, Beaten Over Several Hours Rescued By Lodi Police A horrific nightmare ended when Lodi police rescued a woman from a local criminal who authorities said held her against her will for several hours while raping and beating her. James McArow, 25, of Westervelt Place spent two months in the Bergen County Jail earlier this year for an incident last October when authorities said he stabbed two people. Lodi police got a 911 call Monday night that brought them to his backyard, where they found the victim hiding, Bergen County Prosecutor Mark Musella said. She “had been held against her will and physically and sexually assaulted” by McArow, Musel…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
Driver Who Killed Bayonne Man, 5-Year-Old Daughter Gets 37 Years Driver Who Killed Bayonne Man, 5-Year-Old Daughter Gets 37 Years
Driver Who Killed Bayonne Man, 5-Year-Old Daughter Gets 37 Years A Hamilton man who was driving at more than 10 times the speed limit when he crashed into another vehicle, killing a Bayonne man and his young daughter, was sentenced Thursday to nearly 40 years in prison, the Hudson County Prosecutor’s Office said. Scott Hahn, 39, was under the influence of drugs when he crashed into the back of another car at an Interchange 14C toll booth on the New Jersey Turnpike in Jersey City Feb. 22, 2016. Hahn was driving at 53 mph in what is a 5 mph zone, investigators later determined. The collision claimed the lives of Timothy O’Donnell, 48, and his five-year-ol…

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by Paul Milo