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Police & Fire
Accused $550,000 Mortgage Fraud Schemer From Bergen Already Had A History, Records Show Accused $550,000 Mortgage Fraud Schemer From Bergen Already Had A History, Records Show
Accused $550,000 Mortgage Fraud Schemer From Bergen Already Had A History, Records Show Gerrmaioud Chape was no stranger to police and prosecutors in Bergen County. So it wasn’t surprising to some when county prosecutors charged him with stealing $525,000 from unwitting investors through mortgage fraud. Chape, 43, already had a petty criminal history that included arrests for speeding, shoplifting and drugs when Bogota police charged him in 2015 with pocketing $40,000 that a Colombian brother and sister saved to come to America. The money was supposed to be a down payment on a mortgage for the siblings’ new home, authorities said at the time, but Chape used it instead on pers…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Politics
North Jersey Pols Demand Apology From White House After NJ Mayor Turned Away During Ramadan North Jersey Pols Demand Apology From White House After NJ Mayor Turned Away During Ramadan
North Jersey Pols Demand Apology From White House After NJ Mayor Turned Away During Ramadan A consortium of mayors throughout North Jersey are demanding an apology from the White House to Prospect Park Mayor Mohamed Khairullah after he was denied entry for a celebration marking the end of Ramadan. Khairullah, who was recently sworn in for his fifth term as mayor, was told by Secret Service Monday, May 1 that he had not been cleared for entry.  Khairullah received the news just hours before he was set to arrive. Khairullah was also recently interrogated for three hours at John F. Kennedy International Airport. "As mayors who value transparency and the U.S. legal sys…

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by Sam Barron
Police & Fire
Horrific Route 4 Crash: Victim Freed, Hospitalized After Tesla Rear-Ends Dump Truck (PHOTOS) Horrific Route 4 Crash: Victim Freed, Hospitalized After Tesla Rear-Ends Dump Truck (PHOTOS)
Horrific Route 4 Crash: Victim Freed, Hospitalized After Tesla Rear-Ends Dump Truck (Photos) A horrific early rush-hour crash on Route 4 in Teaneck on Thursday sent a motorist to the hospital, authorities confirmed. A Tesla sedan rear-ended a dump truck on the westbound highway at Decatur Avenue shortly after 5:30 a.m. May 18, Bergen County Sheriff Anthony Cureton said. Teaneck firefighters extricated the victim, who was taken to Hackensack University Medical Center by the Teaneck Volunteer Ambulance Corps with a hand injury -- and received a careless driving summons from the sheriff's officers. A Tesla rear-ended a dump truck on Route 4 West at Decatur Avenue at 5:30 a.m. Thu…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
Teaneck Swindler Whose Family Helped Fleece Investors Of $4.7M Gets 8 Years In State Slammer Teaneck Swindler Whose Family Helped Fleece Investors Of $4.7M Gets 8 Years In State Slammer
Teaneck Swindler Whose Family Helped Fleece Investors Of $4.7M Gets 8 Years In State Slammer UPDATE: A Teaneck con man who was captured after trying to flee the country must spend the next three years in state prison for running a Ponzi scheme with family and friends that fleeced dozens of unwitting investors out of $4.7 million. Chander Singh, 46, reshaped a failed company into an unscrupulous criminal venture by soliciting loans from investors to buy distressed properties, authorities said. Singh promised double-digit returns from what would be renovations of the ratholes, which he found with the help of his parents and brother, all of whom worked as real estate agents, they said…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
Burglar's Dozen: Repeat Offender Tied To 13 New Milford Vehicle Break-Ins Burglar's Dozen: Repeat Offender Tied To 13 New Milford Vehicle Break-Ins
Burglar's Dozen: Repeat Offender Tied To 13 New Milford Vehicle Break-Ins There's a reason they call it a crime of opportunity. More than a dozen vehicles that were left unlocked at the south end of New Milford had laptops, credit cards, IDs and other personal belongings stolen by a local repeat offender, authorities said. All of the 13 thefts occurred overnight on May 2, Police Capt. Kevin Van Saders said. Detectives identified Lashawn Ray, 26, conducted a warranted search of his home in town and arrested him on Thursday, May 11, after finding some of the stolen goods, the captain said. They charged Ray with nine counts of burglary and six counts of theft and …

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
Lodi Man Who Fled Auto Assault Nabbed After Going To Look For Victim In ER: Teaneck PD Lodi Man Who Fled Auto Assault Nabbed After Going To Look For Victim In ER: Teaneck PD
Lodi Man Who Fled Auto Assault Nabbed After Going To Look For Victim In ER: Teaneck PD A Lodi man deliberately hit a Teaneck woman with his car, fled the scene, then was arrested when he went to the hospital to look for her, authorities said. Manuel Augusto, 30, of Lodi, deliberately reversed his car into the victim, knocking her down, as she stood in her driveway following an argument shortly after 1:30 a.m. last Friday, May 5, Police Chief Andrew R. McGurr said. Then he drove off, the chief said. The Teaneck Volunteer Ambulance Corps took the victim to nearby Holy Name Medical Center with pain in her arms, back and chest and shortness of breath, the chief said. She was st…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
Worker's Leg Broken By Fallen Beam At Site Of Future Teaneck Senior Housing Complex Worker's Leg Broken By Fallen Beam At Site Of Future Teaneck Senior Housing Complex
Worker's Leg Broken By Fallen Beam At Site Of Future Teaneck Senior Housing Complex A worker suffered a compound leg fracture during a mishap on the site of a developing senior housing community in Teaneck, authorities said. The 23-year-old worker was walking between two metal I beams at ground level when one of them tipped onto his leg shortly after 1 p.m. Monday, May 8, Teaneck Police Chief Andrew McGurr said. Fellow workers at the site pitched in to lift the beam off their injured colleague’s leg, the chief said. Members of the Teaneck Volunteer Ambulance Corps then took him to Hackensack University Medical Center, McGurr said. Police, firefighters and an ALS unit fro…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
Front Loader Tips, Lands On Driver In Bogota Front Loader Tips, Lands On Driver In Bogota
Front Loader Tips, Lands On Driver In Bogota A construction worker escaped serious injury when a front loader tipped and landed on top of him in Bogota. The worker was clearing property on the former site of the Bogota Golf Center on Cross Street when the machine fell down an embankment shortly after 3 p.m. Friday, May 5, Police Sgt. Geoffrey Cole said. Police, firefighters and members of the Bogota Rescue Squad responded along with BLS and ALS units from Holy Name Medical Center in Teaneck, the sergeant said. The victim, who'd climbed out, was taken to Hackensack University Medical Center with minor leg and arm injuries, Cole said.

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
Bogota Man Jailed For Domestic Violence Bogota Man Jailed For Domestic Violence
Bogota Man Jailed For Domestic Violence A Bogota man was jailed for domestic violence, authorities said. Joshua G. Mejia, 31, was arrested after the victim had to be treated at Holy Name Medical Center in Teaneck early Friday, April 28, Police Sgt. Geoffrey Cole said. Mejia remained held in the Bergen County Jail while awaiting a first appearance in Central Judicial Processing Court in Hackensack. He's charged with aggravated assault by strangulation, false imprisonment, criminal restraint, making terroristic threats and simple assault.

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
Underage Undercover: Teaneck Police Sting Busts Businesses For Selling Vape Products To Minors Underage Undercover: Teaneck Police Sting Busts Businesses For Selling Vape Products To Minors
Underage Undercover: Teaneck Police Sting Busts Businesses For Selling Vape Products To Minors Underage undercover buyers helped Teaneck police bust six business owners who they said sold vape products to minors. The pretend puffers visited 13 shops in all as part of the second undercover sting by township detectives over the past year in response to residents’ complaints, Teaneck Police Chief Andrew R. McGurr said on Monday, April 24. “Six establishments sold vape products to an underaged person,” the chief said. Not only is selling vape products to minors illegal – so is selling flavored vape products to anyone, regardless of age, in New Jersey, McGurr said. McGurr identified t…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
Brutal Murderer Of Bergen County Woman Sent To Prison For 55 Years Brutal Murderer Of Bergen County Woman Sent To Prison For 55 Years
Brutal Murderer Of Bergen County Woman Sent To Prison For 55 Years UPDATE:  An East Rutherford man was sentenced to 55 years in state prison for brutally kidnapping, stabbing and strangling a female neighbor. Francis "Frank" Tattoli, 30, won't be eligible for parole for nearly 48 years for the Christmastime 2016 slaying of Mone’t Thomas, 25, in the Summer Street apartment building where both lived. Thomas, who was born in Teaneck, worked as a manager of group sales for the Holiday Inn in Secaucus. She lived in the building with her boyfriend and bulldog. She'd just taken the dog for a walk when she was attacked in the hallway. Surveillance…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
Ex-Con Kidnapper Gets 43 Years, No Parole, For Rape, Arson, Assault Rampage Through NJ, NY, PA Ex-Con Kidnapper Gets 43 Years, No Parole, For Rape, Arson, Assault Rampage Through NJ, NY, PA
Ex-Con Kidnapper Gets 43 Years, No Parole, For Rape, Arson, Assault Rampage Through NJ, NY, PA UPDATE: An ex-con who kidnapped and raped his ex-girlfriend in Pennsylvania, then torched a used car dealership in Paterson and rammed a stolen SUV into police cars at both ends of the George Washington Bridge was sentenced to 43 years in federal prison. Luis Figueroa, 42, first took a plea deal from the government that called for him to serve 26 years in a federal penitentiary. Then he abruptly withdrew his plea, took his chances with a trial – and lost. Federal jurors in Newark convicted Figueroa in May 2022 of kidnapping, criminal sexual abuse, illegal gun possession and assaulting…

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by Jerry DeMarco