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Traveler Caught With Gun At Newark Airport Checkpoint Traveler Caught With Gun At Newark Airport Checkpoint
Traveler Caught With Gun At Newark Airport Checkpoint TSA agents grabbed a Florida man as he tried to board a plane at Newark Airport with a gun and a box of ammo in his carry-on baggage, authorities said. The weapon was properly packed in a hard-sided case along with a box that held 35 bullets, the Transportation Security Administration said. But it wasn't supposed to be carried on, the TSA said. Had he declared the gun, the passenger would have been able to include the legally owned firearm with his checked baggage, the agency said. He apparently forgot. Agents held the man for Port Authority police who took him into custody. That makes …

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by Jerry DeMarco
News
Drug Mule Caught With 15½ Pounds Of Coke Wrapped In Chocolate At Newark Airport Gets 30 Months Drug Mule Caught With 15½ Pounds Of Coke Wrapped In Chocolate At Newark Airport Gets 30 Months
Drug Mule Caught With 15½ Pounds Of Coke Wrapped In Chocolate At Newark Airport Gets 30 Months UPDATE: A Peruvian woman was sentenced to 30 months in federal prison for trying to smuggle nearly 15½ pounds of cocaine hidden in chocolate candy through Newark Airport. Yolanda Fonseca Melgarejo, 60, a legal permanent resident of the United States and a citizen of Peru, was nabbed after flying in from Lima in March 2019. She had seven kilos of coke "concealed within wrapped chocolate candy in her luggage," Acting U.S. Attorney Rachael A. Honig said. Malgarejo took a deal from the government rather than risk trial, pleading guilty this past June to a single count of importing controlled s…

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by Jerry DeMarco
News
Feds: NJ Family Services Caseworker Busted With Child Porn At Newark Airport Feds: NJ Family Services Caseworker Busted With Child Porn At Newark Airport
Feds: NJ Family Services Caseworker Busted With Child Porn At Newark Airport A New Jersey child services worker was busted on child porn charges following a search of his cellphone and laptop at Newark Airport, federal authorities said. Trent Collier, a 55-year-old "family service specialist" for the state Division of Child Protection and Permanency, had arrived on a flight from the Dominican Republic last week when his luggage was searched, Acting U.S. Attorney Rachael Honig said. "Law enforcement" officers conducting forensic searches of both devices found "at least two images of child pornography depicting the genitals of prepubescent children," according to a co…

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by Jerry DeMarco
News
IDA: Firefighters Cut Hole In Paterson Bridge To Rescue Man Trapped In Passaic River Below IDA: Firefighters Cut Hole In Paterson Bridge To Rescue Man Trapped In Passaic River Below
IDA: Firefighters Cut Hole In Paterson Bridge To Rescue Man Trapped In Passaic River Below During a night full of rescues, one of the most dramatic occurred at a bridge over the swollen Passaic River. City firefighters cut a hole in the deck of the Temple Street bridge off Presidential Boulevard in Paterson to rescue a man who'd become stuck beneath it late Wednesday as a relentless downpour brought by Tropical Storm Ida bombarded New Jersey. How he ended up there wasn't immediately clear. His rescuers found the victim alert and conscious after cutting a small survey hole, responders said. They carved out a larger space using jackhammers and other heavy equipment to get the man…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
Gunman In Hillside Homicide Nabbed At Newark Airport, Prosecutor Says Gunman In Hillside Homicide Nabbed At Newark Airport, Prosecutor Says
Gunman In Hillside Homicide Nabbed At Newark Airport, Prosecutor Says A 30-year-old Newark man was arrested at Newark Airport Wednesday morning in connection with the killing of a 31-year-old Hillside man last month, authorities announced. Darrius L. Easterling is accused of shooting Steven Zimmerman on the 1400 block of North Broad Street around 10 p.m. July 22, Union County Prosecutor William A. Daniel and Hillside Police Chief Vincent Ricciardi said. Zimmerman was pronounced dead at the scene, according to Union County Assistant Prosecutor Peter Benza, who is prosecuting the case. Easterling was identified as the gunman and later charged with fi…

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by Cecilia Levine
News
Panic At Newark Airport (UPDATE): Things Get Hairy After Traveler Breaches Checkpoint Panic At Newark Airport (UPDATE): Things Get Hairy After Traveler Breaches Checkpoint
Panic At Newark Airport (Update): Things Get Hairy After Traveler Breaches Checkpoint UPDATE: Panic ensued after a woman breached a security checkpoint at Newark Airport, a Port Authority police spokesperson said Monday. "Around 10:20 am a woman breached a security checkpoint in Terminal C and PAPD responded," Public Information Officer Abigail Goldring said following Monday's incident. "PAPD took the individual into custody, moved passengers onto the street, and conducted a sweep of the affected areas as a precaution.  "While there was no bomb threat nor shooting that occurred, the disturbance caused significant public alarm to ticketed passengers who consequently ran from…

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by Jerry DeMarco
News
Panic At Newark Airport (UPDATE): Things Get Hairy After Traveler Breaches Checkpoint Panic At Newark Airport (UPDATE): Things Get Hairy After Traveler Breaches Checkpoint
Panic At Newark Airport (Update): Things Get Hairy After Traveler Breaches Checkpoint UPDATE: Panic ensued Monday morning after a woman "breached a security checkpoint" at Newark Airport, a Port Authority police spokesperson said. "Around 10:20 am a woman breached a security checkpoint in Terminal C and PAPD responded," Public Information Officer Abigail Goldring said. "PAPD took the individual into custody, moved passengers onto the street, and conducted a sweep of the affected areas as a precaution.  "While there was no bomb threat nor shooting that occurred, the disturbance caused significant public alarm to ticketed passengers who consequently ran from the disturbance a…

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by Jerry DeMarco
News
It's The Old Gun In The Belt Buckle Trick: Ridgefield Park Man Nabbed At Newark Airport It's The Old Gun In The Belt Buckle Trick: Ridgefield Park Man Nabbed At Newark Airport
It's The Old Gun In The Belt Buckle Trick: Ridgefield Park Man Nabbed At Newark Airport TSA agents at Newark Airport said they nabbed a Ridgefield Park man trying to sneak a gun belt buckle through security. The weapon, seized at a Terminal C X-ray security check, was “packed inside of two soft-sided zippered cases within a backpack and initially appeared to be a large belt buckle with a replica gun on it,” the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) said. It could quickly be popped out of its “decorative metal oval frame” and used, the agency said in a release. The owner told Port Authority police who arrested him that he “forgot he had his gun with him,” it said. “Cla…

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by Jerry DeMarco
News
Feds: PA Man Nabbed Collecting 950 Pounds Of Khat At Newark Airport Feds: PA Man Nabbed Collecting 950 Pounds Of Khat At Newark Airport
Feds: PA Man Nabbed Collecting 950 Pounds Of Khat At Newark Airport A Pennsylvania man was arrested by federal agents when he showed up at Newark Airport to collect a half-ton of khat that was flown in by freight container, authorities said. Azeez Adebari, 46, of Harrisburg, was listed as the consignee on a manifest and other documents the claimed the contents as clothing, ground melon and pepper, among other things, Acting U.S. Attorney Rachael A. Honig U.S. Customs and Border Protection authorities charged Adebari with conspiring to possess and distribute 430 kilograms (948 pounds) of the illegal drug after taking him into custody at the airport on Monday…

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by Jerry DeMarco
News
MEADOWLANDS RACETRACK MURDERS: Jersey City Man Tipped Off Shooters, Authorities Charge MEADOWLANDS RACETRACK MURDERS: Jersey City Man Tipped Off Shooters, Authorities Charge
Meadowlands Racetrack Murders: Jersey City Man Tipped Off Shooters, Authorities Charge A fourth Jersey City man has been charged with two counts of murder for arranging the shooting deaths of two young Paterson men outside the Meadowlands Racetrack last fall, authorities said Monday. Davon Womack, 23, is accused of tipping off the shooters that Davonte Scudder, 22, and Brian Astacio, 21, were in the parking lot of the East Rutherford complex the night of Oct. 25. Womack had “noticed the victims at the complex and then communicated with the co-defendants, who then traveled to the complex parking lot,” New Jersey State Police Col. Patrick J. Callahan and Bergen County Prosecut…

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by Jerry DeMarco
News
Dr. Oz Helps Port Authority PD Resuscitate Stricken Traveler At Newark Airport Dr. Oz Helps Port Authority PD Resuscitate Stricken Traveler At Newark Airport
Dr. Oz Helps Port Authority PD Resuscitate Stricken Traveler At Newark Airport Celebrity physician Dr. Oz helped Port Authority police resuscitate a stricken traveler at Newark Airport, authorities said. PAPD Officer Jeffrey Croissant saw the 60-year-old New Jersey man go down in the Terminal A baggage claim area shortly after 11 p.m. Monday, authority spokeswoman Lenis Valens said. He "looked like a tree falling," the officer said. Croissant rushed over and found the man wasn’t breathing and didn’t have a pulse, Valens said. The officer summoned backup, began CPR and was joined by Mehmet Oz, who’d just gotten off the flight and was at the carousel when he saw the c…

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by Jerry DeMarco
News
NJ Feds Hold Longtime Most-Wanted Fugitive In Child Sex Abuse Case On Kid Porn Charges NJ Feds Hold Longtime Most-Wanted Fugitive In Child Sex Abuse Case On Kid Porn Charges
NJ Feds Hold Longtime Most-Wanted Fugitive In Child Sex Abuse Case On Kid Porn Charges A Canadian fugitive accused of sexually assaulting children who was captured at Newark Airport after 17 years on the run was ordered held on kiddie porn charges Monday afternoon. Perth De, also known as “Parthasarthie Kapoor,” 47, had been one of Canada’s “Ten Most Wanted” fugitives when federal agents nabbed him on Jan. 21, 2020 as he tried to fly to his native India from Newark. An examination of several cellphones in his luggage “revealed numerous videos of children being sexually abused,” Acting U.S. Attorney Rachael Honig said. “Some of the videos had been distributed from the cellular…

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by Jerry DeMarco