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Police & Fire
Paramus Police Department Mourns Loss Of Officer Allan Alvarez, 42 Paramus Police Department Mourns Loss Of Officer Allan Alvarez, 42
Paramus Police Department Mourns Loss Of Officer Allan Alvarez, 42 The Paramus Police Department is mourning the loss of officer Allan Alvarez. Alvarez, 42, died unexpectedly on Sunday due to complications of a medical procedure at Overlook Medical Center in Summit, his obituary says. A Plainfield native, Alvarez grew up in Piscataway and was a Rahway resident at the time of his passing. He graduated Piscataway High School in 1996 and was a U.S. Army veteran, having served in Bosnia and a tour during Operation Desert Fox. At the rank of sergeant, Alvarez received his honorable discharge in 2001. In 2006, Allan was hired by the Paramus Police Departm…

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by Cecilia Levine
Police & Fire
Widow Of Slain Bergen Sheriff's Officer Relieved After Killer Is Denied Parole Widow Of Slain Bergen Sheriff's Officer Relieved After Killer Is Denied Parole
Widow Of Slain Bergen Sheriff's Officer Relieved After Killer Is Denied Parole Bergen County Sheriff’s Officer Joseph Rybka took with him the pride of those he served as he gasped his final breath on a Paramus hospital floor on Jan. 7, 1979. Only 32 years old and already a 10-year veteran of the sheriff’s office, he was a proud sentry who protected others from the horrors of crime. But while guarding a dangerous prisoner at what was then known as Bergen Pines Hospital (now Bergen New Bridge Medical Center), Rybka was suddenly and viciously attacked. Stephen Perry, an offender with a huge list of offenses, was at the hospital after being wounded in a shootout with Tea…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
Police Standoff With Suicidal Rahway Man Ends Peacefully Police Standoff With Suicidal Rahway Man Ends Peacefully
Police Standoff With Suicidal Rahway Man Ends Peacefully A police standoff with an armed and suicidal man barricaded in a Rahway apartment ended peacefully after nearly two hours Tuesday. Authorities responded to an East Cherry Street apartment on reports of a man who was possibly suicidal and armed with a gun around 2:30 p.m., Rahway police said. Officers found the man -- who told police he was armed with a gun and suicidal -- barricaded in his apartment and refusing to come out. Rahway police got into the apartment and were able to speak to the man, who told them he was sad over the loss of his mom. Police persuaded the man to come outsid…

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by Cecilia Levine
Police & Fire
Authorities: Rahway Man Wanted In Violent Sex Assault Found Hiding Under Bed In Bronx Authorities: Rahway Man Wanted In Violent Sex Assault Found Hiding Under Bed In Bronx
Authorities: Rahway Man Wanted In Violent Sex Assault Found Hiding Under Bed In Bronx 
A man wanted in connection with a violent Rahway sexual assault was arrested after he was found hiding under a bed in New York City, authorities said. Wilfredo "Will" Jose Gonzalez, 34, met with the victim in NYC one early morning last October, and rode the train to his Hamilton Street home, according to Union County Assistant Prosecutor and Special Victims Unit Supervisor Caroline Lawlor, who is prosecuting the case. Gonzalez threatened the woman at knifepoint before repeatedly physically and sexually assaulting her, Lawlor said. The victim managed to escape to a local hospital for …

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by Cecilia Levine
Obituaries
Matthew Conroy Of Roselle Park Dies, 22 Matthew Conroy Of Roselle Park Dies, 22
Matthew Conroy Of Roselle Park Dies, 22 The Roselle Park community is mourning the death of Matthew Conroy on Feb. 27. He was 22 years old. Matthew was born in Rahway and attended Robert Gordon Elementary School and Roselle Park Middle School. He graduated in 2016 from Roselle Park High School. Matthew loved wrestling, watching football and playing video games, his obituary says. He was also an arts enthusiast and found a creative outlet in drawing and music. "The world lost a genuine person, a young man who is loved by so many relatives and friends," reads Matthew’s obituary. "This love will forever keep his memory alive." Mat…

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by Valerie Musson
Police & Fire
Rahway Woman Charged In Mom's Stabbing Death Rahway Woman Charged In Mom's Stabbing Death
Rahway Woman Charged In Mom's Stabbing Death A Rahway woman is accused of stabbing her mom to death over the weekend, authorities charged. Malika Jones was being held in the Union County Jail on murder and weapons charges in connection with Sunday's fatal stabbing of her 57-year-old mom, Inell Jones, Acting Union County Prosecutor Lyndsay V. Ruotolo said Tuesday. The pair were arguing at a house on the 100 block of East Albert Street when the elder Jones was stabbed around 3 p.m., and subsequently pronounced dead, the Union County Prosecutor's Office said. The younger Jones was immediately taken into custody and charged within h…

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by Cecilia Levine
Lifestyle
'The Simpsons' Lovers Behind Union County Bagel Shop D'OH Are Anything But Average 'The Simpsons' Lovers Behind Union County Bagel Shop D'OH Are Anything But Average
'The Simpsons' Lovers Behind Union County Bagel Shop D'OH Are Anything But Average D’OH Bagels in Rahway is anything but your average breakfast joint. The mom-and-pop shop opened its doors in the summer of 2017 and makes each item fresh in-store each morning. The shop’s name, of course, is an homage to the Simpsons as well as a quirky play on words. “My husband grew up loving 'The Simpsons,' which is partially where the name D'OH! came from,” said Erin Leonard, who runs the shop with her husband, Manny. "But it’s sort of a pun since we make all of our dough in-house, too.” Donut varieties include cinnamon crumb, birthday cake, chocolate peanut butter, chocolate Oreo,…

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by Valerie Musson
Police & Fire
3-Hour Rahway Police Standoff Ends With Man Who Fired Shot In Custody 3-Hour Rahway Police Standoff Ends With Man Who Fired Shot In Custody
3-Hour Rahway Police Standoff Ends With Man Who Fired Shot In Custody A Rahway man who threatened to harm himself and fired off a gunshot with his disabled mother-in-law home was taken into custody following a three-hour standoff with police, authorities said. Rahway police responded to an apartment complex at 255 Grand Ave., on reports that Felix Vasquez, 58, was intoxicated and threatening to hurt himself around 6:45 p.m., Monday, Rahway police said. Residents of the building were evacuated as a precaution before Vasquez discharged a round, police said. Authorities made entry around 9:45 p.m. and Vasequez was hospitalized for psychiatric evaluation, p…

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by Cecilia Levine
Police & Fire
Imprisoned Mom Murderer From Bloomfield Convicted Of Assaulting Girl, 12, For Years Imprisoned Mom Murderer From Bloomfield Convicted Of Assaulting Girl, 12, For Years
Imprisoned Mom Murderer From Bloomfield Convicted Of Assaulting Girl, 12, For Years A Bloomfield man currently serving a 55-year prison term for killing a Rahway mom was convicted this week of sexually assaulting a girl over four years, beginning when she was 12. Jurors in Newark deliberated for less than a day before convicting Roberto Grillo, 40, on Wednesday of aggravated sexual assault, sexual assault and child endangerment, Acting Essex County Prosecutor Theodore N. Stephens II said. The sexual assaults occurred in various locations, including the Belleville McDonald's parking lot, prosecutors told the jury. Grillo tried to kill himself after fleeing to Florida, then…

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by Cecilia Levine
Police & Fire
Dozens Have Been Charged In Carjacking, Car Theft Investigations Dozens Have Been Charged In Carjacking, Car Theft Investigations
Dozens Have Been Charged In Carjacking, Car Theft Investigations Authorities have placed dozens of people behind bars in disrupting a pipeline that delivered luxury vehicles from North and Central Jersey to customers in West Africa via ports in Newark, Elizabeth and Staten Island, the Attorney General's office said Monday .  Panel Dalce was sentenced Friday, becoming the last person put behind bars as a result of a pair of investigations, dubbed "Operation Jacked" and "Operation 17 Corridor" aimed at carjackers and car thieves operating in Somerset, Bergen, Essex and a number of other counties.  More than 50 people have been arrested and charge…

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by Paul Milo
Lifestyle
Rahway Man Wins $5K A Month For Life Scratch-Off Game Rahway Man Wins $5K A Month For Life Scratch-Off Game
Rahway Man Wins $5K A Month For Life Scratch-Off Game A Rahway man recently won $5,000 a month for life playing the Win for Life scratch-ff game from the New Jersey Lottery.  "Robert B." bought three tickets early this fall and hit on the third ticket, he told lottery officials. Aside from buying a TV, he has no other purchases planned but instead will invest the money.  The retailer that sold the ticket was Rahway Mini Mart, 297 West Grand Ave., Rahway.  The cash value of the ticket is $1,060,000.

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by Paul Milo
Police & Fire
Newark Residents Charged In $235K Insurance Fraud Scheme Newark Residents Charged In $235K Insurance Fraud Scheme
Newark Residents Charged In $235K Insurance Fraud Scheme Seven people, almost all from New Jersey, have been charged in connection with a scheme to steal $235,000 from three insurance annuity policies issued by Lincoln Financial Group, Attorney General Gurbir S. Grewal said Thursday.  Authorities say the company received death claims benefit applications from people posing as beneficiaries. The thefts occurred between December 2015 and September 2016, authorities also said.  The following people were charged in an indictment handed up last month:  • Gaetanina Nicole Zarbo, 34, of New Albany, Ohio, who was charged with three c…

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by Paul Milo