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Massive Route 287 Tanker Truck Explosion Kills Driver, NJSP Confirms Massive Route 287 Tanker Truck Explosion Kills Driver, NJSP Confirms
Massive Route 287 Tanker Truck Explosion Kills Driver, Njsp Confirms UPDATE: A 59-year-old gasoline tanker driver from Paterson was killed in a massive fireball during a crash on Route 287 near the New York State border in Mahwah early Saturday, New Jersey State Police confirmed. A series of explosions were heard after the rig rolled and burst into flames on a notorious stretch of the southbound highway near Route 17 and the New York State Thruway at 6:47 a.m., NJSP Sgt. Alejandro Goez said. Firefighters used foam to douse the blaze while also extinguishing flames that extended into the woods along the mountain. Thick, black smoke could be seen for miles. …

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by Jerry DeMarco
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Mahwah Man, 20, Struck, Killed On Route 17 Mahwah Man, 20, Struck, Killed On Route 17
Mahwah Man, 20, Struck, Killed On Route 17 A 20-year-old Mahwah man was struck and killed overnight Thursday on Route 17 in Ramsey, authorities confirmed. Erik Eidner had been with a group of people at his home late Wednesday and apparently went out for food sometime after midnight, Ramsey Police Chief Bryan Gurney said. The 2019 Mahwah High School graduate had gotten out of the vehicle and was in the left lane of the northbound highway outside Wendy's, the chief said, when he was struck and killed by what responders said was a tractor-trailer. His body was then run over by a passenger car. What Eidner was doing in the roadway wa…

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by Jerry DeMarco
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Selfie Gives Away Waiter Accused Of Recording Women In Route 17 Diner Bathroom Selfie Gives Away Waiter Accused Of Recording Women In Route 17 Diner Bathroom
Selfie Gives Away Waiter Accused Of Recording Women In Route 17 Diner Bathroom Police had little trouble identifying a waiter accused of secretly recorded women using the bathroom at a Route 17 diner. They simply pulled up a selfie on the cellphone that they said he'd hidden in a ceiling vent, customers said. Olegario Mendez, 36, of Suffern was arrested after a woman using the bathroom at the Majestic Diner in Ramsey spotted the phone with the lens facing down over the toilet this past weekend. "The officer who removed the phone said it was on record for an hour," the woman's companion told Daily Voice. Mendez was charged with invasion of privacy and released pend…

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by Jerry DeMarco
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Fowl Smell: Truck Spills Decomposed Chicken Carcasses Along Route 17 Fowl Smell: Truck Spills Decomposed Chicken Carcasses Along Route 17
Fowl Smell: Truck Spills Decomposed Chicken Carcasses Along Route 17 Witnesses said you couldn't imagine the stink when a tractor-trailer carrying chicken carcasses lost part of its load as rush-hour temperatures on Route 17 neared 90 degrees on Monday.  Hay and chicken parts "flew all over the highway" after a strap on a tarp came loose from the trailer as it headed down the hill on the southbound highway in Ramsey shortly before 6 p.m., one witness said. The driver "braked to stop near the iHop and it all spilled over the top onto the trailer connections," he added. "It's the worst smell you ever smelled in your life," another witness said. "I was gaggin…

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by Jerry DeMarco
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10 Years After: Bergen Man Busted On Child Porn Charges Again 10 Years After: Bergen Man Busted On Child Porn Charges Again
10 Years After: Bergen Man Busted On Child Porn Charges Again A landscaper from Waldwick who was busted on child porn charges nearly 10 years ago was back in custody after detectives caught him this time with more than 600 illegal files, authorities said. Jakob Menzo, 31, was arrested after detectives raided his Dow Avenue home on Thursday, Bergen County Prosecutor Mark Musella said. Members of his Cyber Crimes Unit found that Menzo “used the Internet to view, download, and possess more than 600 digital files depicting nude and/or sexually explicit prepubescent and pubescent children,” the prosecutor said. Menzo was living in Ramsey, attending Bergen…

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by Jerry DeMarco
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Ramsey Woman, 55, Killed In Fire Ramsey Woman, 55, Killed In Fire
Ramsey Woman, 55, Killed In Fire A Ramsey woman was killed in what authorities said Friday was a tragic accident. The victim, 55, was found in an upstairs Church Street apartment following an unreported fire, Ramsey Police Chief Bryan Gurney said. The Bergen County Prosecutor's Office was notified and the Bergen County Sheriff's Bureau of Criminal identification responded to collect evidence, but no wrongdoing was suspected, Gurney said. The Bergen County Medical Examiner's Office also responded.

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by Jerry DeMarco
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Hackensack Man Released On Child Porn Charges Hackensack Man Released On Child Porn Charges
Hackensack Man Released On Child Porn Charges UPDATE: A Bergen County-based insurance underwriter for entertainers, athletes and corporate executives was released pending court action on child porn charges, authorities said. Matthew Heitman, 33, was arrested Thursday during a raid of his Hackensack home, Prosecutor Mark Musella said. The former Upper Saddle River resident "used the Internet to view, download, and possess more than 1,000 digital files and distributed multiple digital files depicting nude and/or sexually explicit prepubescent and pubescent children," the prosecutor said. Heitman was discovered during a "months-long Inte…

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by Jerry DeMarco
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VIDEO: Don Bosco Lacrosse Coach Dismissed After Shoving St. Joe's Player To Ground VIDEO: Don Bosco Lacrosse Coach Dismissed After Shoving St. Joe's Player To Ground
Video: Don Bosco Lacrosse Coach Dismissed After Shoving St. Joe's Player To Ground Video shows an assistant boys lacrosse coach from Don Bosco Prep shoving an opposing player from St. Joseph Regional High School to the ground during a skirmish that broke out Saturday in Ramsey. Bosco Athletic Director Marcin Szorc confirmed, without identifying him, that the coach was out of a job before the match ended in a 20-0 victory for the Ramsey private high school over its Montvale rival. “I'm a Bosco fan, but impossible to defend a program allowing their coaches to storm the field & hit an opposing, defenseless player. Hope the young man is ok,” @donbosconi commented in a tw…

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by Jerry DeMarco
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'I Shot My Parents': Bogus Call Brings Police From Several Bergen Towns 'I Shot My Parents': Bogus Call Brings Police From Several Bergen Towns
'I Shot My Parents': Bogus Call Brings Police From Several Bergen Towns A caller had just told a Montvale police dispatcher that she'd just shot her parents. Law enforcement colleagues from Hillsdale, Park Ridge and Woodcliff Lake immediately mobilized to assist their Pascack Valley colleagues Saturday night. Officers went to the parents' house and didn't find anyone home. They checked out at least one other claim the caller made that was bogus, too. "It was called in from out of state," Police Chief Joseph Sanfillipo said. "An investigation is ongoing." Authorities don't consider "swatting" pranks amusing. Summoning police from surrounding towns, depl…

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by Jerry DeMarco
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Massive Birthday Drive-By For Fallen Rockland Firefighter's Son Includes NJ Colleagues Massive Birthday Drive-By For Fallen Rockland Firefighter's Son Includes NJ Colleagues
Massive Birthday Drive-By For Fallen Rockland Firefighter's Son Includes NJ Colleagues VIDEO: Several New Jersey fire departments joined a massive drive-by for the sixth birthday of a heartbroken boy whose hero firefighter dad died in a nursing home blaze in Rockland County. Fire trucks, SUVs and other police, firefighter and EMS vehicles participated in the nearly 40-minute procession in Nanuet early Wednesday evening for the son of Spring Valley Firefighter Jared Lloyd. Lloyd, 35, was on the third floor of the Evergreen Court Home for Adults when it collapsed on Tuesday. His body was recovered on his boy's birthday on Wednesday, authorities said. Firefighters from a numbe…

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by Jerry DeMarco
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Bergen Prosecutor: Man Makes More Than 130 Bogus Calls Claiming He Sexually Assaulted Kids Bergen Prosecutor: Man Makes More Than 130 Bogus Calls Claiming He Sexually Assaulted Kids
Bergen Prosecutor: Man Makes More Than 130 Bogus Calls Claiming He Sexually Assaulted Kids A security guard who claimed to be sexually assaulting children while on the phone with 911 dispatchers and crisis hotline counselors in New Jersey and New York was charged with causing a false public alarm, authorities said. John LaForgia, 36, of Staten Island made more than 130 bogus calls to law enforcement agencies and crisis hotlines in various jurisdictions, including Hackensack, Oakland, Ramsey, and Ridgewood, over the course of only two weeks, Bergen County Prosecutor Mark Musella said Monday. The former Lodi resident, who has no children of his own, apparently spent no time with …

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by Jerry DeMarco
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Ramsey Police Chief Says Protest Leader Was Warned 2X Before Charges, Group Demands Concessions Ramsey Police Chief Says Protest Leader Was Warned 2X Before Charges, Group Demands Concessions
Ramsey Police Chief Says Protest Leader Was Warned 2X Before Charges, Group Demands Concessions Ramsey’s police chief said he's justified in charging the founder of a local protest group with disorderly conduct for blocking traffic during a recent downtown demonstration. Nicholas Haas had already received two written warnings for blocking the roadway during other marches when he led members of the Ramsey Alliance for Social Equality (RASE) up East Main Street on Jan. 10 “without requisite approval,” Police Bryan Gurney said. Haas "did not heed either the multiple written warnings…nor his own words stating he would notify the Ramsey Police beforehand on any events in the street,” Gurne…

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by Jerry DeMarco