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HERO (VIDEO): Correctional Officer Grabs Suicidal Man In Mid-Jump From Jersey Bridge HERO (VIDEO): Correctional Officer Grabs Suicidal Man In Mid-Jump From Jersey Bridge
Hero (Video): Correctional Officer Grabs Suicidal Man In Mid-Jump From Jersey Bridge A suicidal man determined to jump to his death had just let go of the railing on a bridge over the Raritan River when a state correctional officer came running and grabbed him, dramatic cellphone video shows. Officer Faustino Saucedo of Perth Amboy was off duty and headed to pick up his wife when he saw the commotion on the Edison bridge between Woodbridge and Sayreville shortly after 4 p.m. Sunday. The man was sitting on the edge of the Route 9 span, which runs parallel to the Driscoll Bridge. Saucedo -- who works at the Adult Diagnostic and Treatment Center in Avenel -- parked his car an…

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by Jerry DeMarco
News
Ex-Mamajuana Café Co-Owner From Bergen Admits Bankruptcy Fraud Ex-Mamajuana Café Co-Owner From Bergen Admits Bankruptcy Fraud
Ex-Mamajuana Café Co-Owner From Bergen Admits Bankruptcy Fraud UPDATE: A Bergen County businessman who once co-owned the popular Mamajuana Café chain admitted in federal court that he concealed assets from a bankruptcy trustee. An investigation by the NYPD and New York City-based Homeland Security agents led to charges against Victor Osorio, 53, of Cresskill, who helped spark the Dominican restaurant chain's expansion to Paterson, East Rutherford, Secaucus, West New York and Woodbridge, as well as to New York and Florida. Osorio, a Dominican native who also co-owned a separate restaurant in Pennsylvania, filed for Chapter 7 relief in U.S. District Cour…

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by Jerry DeMarco
News
Feds: Multi-County Burglary Crew Broke Into 40 North Jersey Pharmacies Seeking Codeine Feds: Multi-County Burglary Crew Broke Into 40 North Jersey Pharmacies Seeking Codeine
Feds: Multi-County Burglary Crew Broke Into 40 North Jersey Pharmacies Seeking Codeine A gang of burglars used bricks and rocks to break into at least 40 pharmacies in Hudson, Bergen and several other counties, targeting specific prescription drugs that they could sell, federal authorities said. Ten men, all from Jersey City, were charged in the three-month spree following an investigation led by Secaucus police, Acting U.S. Attorney Rachael A. Honig said Tuesday. Surveillance video captured images of the burglars breaking into some of the victimized pharmacies in North Bergen, Jersey City, Guttenberg, West New York, Secaucus, Lyndhurst, North Arlington, Linden, Iselin, Madis…

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by Jerry DeMarco
News
National Eyeglass, Contacts Retailer Accused Of Discriminating Against Pregnant NJ Employee National Eyeglass, Contacts Retailer Accused Of Discriminating Against Pregnant NJ Employee
National Eyeglass, Contacts Retailer Accused Of Discriminating Against Pregnant NJ Employee A discount vision retailer with stores throughout New Jersey discriminated against a now-former employee by switching her to part time and not providing a suitable place to pump breast milk after she had a baby, a state civil rights complaint alleges. Jalaia Hill says in a state civil rights complaint that her health coverage was eliminated by the sudden position switch from full to part time when she returned from maternity leave to the America’s Best Contacts & Eyeglasses store in Burlington. America’s Best also “failed to reasonably accommodate her request for a place to express brea…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Obituaries
Man Killed In Woodbridge Fire, 21, Had Been Providing For Family In Haiti, GoFundMe Says Man Killed In Woodbridge Fire, 21, Had Been Providing For Family In Haiti, GoFundMe Says
Man Killed In Woodbridge Fire, 21, Had Been Providing For Family In Haiti, GoFundMe Says The victim of Wednesday's fatal fire in Woodbridge has been identified as a 21-year-old Avenel man who had apparently been providing for his family in Haiti. Chadly Julien's body was found shortly after fire crews responded to 88 South Inman Ave., around 9 a.m., Middlesex County Prosecutor Yolanda Ciccone said. The cause of the fire remained under investigation, authorities said. Meanwhile, more than $18,400 had been raised on a GoFundMe for Chadly's family. Campaign founder Bleriot Thompson said Chadly had been sending a portion of each paycheck to his family in Haiti. "We wan…

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by Cecilia Levine
Schools
NJ Superintendent Has Disappointing Message For Students Ahead Of Winter Storm NJ Superintendent Has Disappointing Message For Students Ahead Of Winter Storm
NJ Superintendent Has Disappointing Message For Students Ahead Of Winter Storm A South Jersey schools superintendent has a disappointing message for students ahead of this week's winter storm. "Don't expect a snow day," Cherry Hills Superintendent Dr. Joseph Meloche said Monday. The region is bracing for its first whopper of a storm in nearly two years coming Wednesday. But Meloche warned, it shouldn't impact a thing for the district. “I know that this is disappointing to some," Meloche said.  "I get it. I love the snow. However, with our abbreviated daily schedules, there is still time to maintain our continuity of learning, to interact with our teachers…

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by Cecilia Levine
News
Feds Praise Leonia PD After Ringleader Of International Call-Center Phone Scam Gets 20 Years Feds Praise Leonia PD After Ringleader Of International Call-Center Phone Scam Gets 20 Years
Feds Praise Leonia PD After Ringleader Of International Call-Center Phone Scam Gets 20 Years A worldwide investigation that produced a 20-year federal prison sentence for an Indian national who ran call centers that defrauded Americans across the U.S. out of millions of dollars got a huge boost from police in Leonia. Leonia Detective Michael Jennings, in particular, did legwork that helped federal authorities eventually identify Hitesh Madhubhai Patel, 44, as the ringleader of the transnational scheme. For that reason, police in the Bergen County borough near the George Washington Bridge got a shout-out from the U.S. Department of Justice on Monday. It began in 2015 when Jennings …

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by Jerry DeMarco
Schools
COVID-19: 5 NJ Schools Report Outbreaks This Week Including One With 23 Cases COVID-19: 5 NJ Schools Report Outbreaks This Week Including One With 23 Cases
Covid-19: 5 NJ Schools Report Outbreaks This Week Including One With 23 Cases Five new COVID-19 outbreaks associated with in-school transmission have been reported in New Jersey this week, state officials said Wednesday. Of those 47 new cases, 23 of were reported in one particular school in Union County -- although New Jersey officials did not specify which school that was, NJ.com reports. The other outbreaks were in Bergen, Monmouth, Ocean and Passaic County schools, according to new data on New Jersey's COVID-19 dashboard. “We knew going in that there would be cases in our schools, and the vast majority of the cases we see continue to be linked to out-of-scho…

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by Cecilia Levine
Police & Fire
Englewood Ex-Con Sought In Middlesex Shooting Captured At Teaneck Hotel Englewood Ex-Con Sought In Middlesex Shooting Captured At Teaneck Hotel
Englewood Ex-Con Sought In Middlesex Shooting Captured At Teaneck Hotel An Englewood fugitive wanted in connection with a shooting in Middlesex County was captured at a Teaneck hotel, authorities said. Ex-con Bryant Kyron Dula, 26, was seized without incident Tuesday night at the Teaneck Marriott at Glenpointe, where he'd apparently been staying, responders said. A Bergen County Regional SWAT team was ready but not needed when county prosecutor's detectives and local police made the arrest. A gun reportedly was recovered in Dula's room. Dula -- also known as "Feva Five" -- has an adult criminal history that began shortly after he turned 18, records show. He…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
Authorities: NJ Man Tells Woman 'I'm Going To Do What I Want' Before Violent Sex Assault Authorities: NJ Man Tells Woman 'I'm Going To Do What I Want' Before Violent Sex Assault
Authorities: NJ Man Tells Woman 'I'm Going To Do What I Want' Before Violent Sex Assault A Middlesex County man told took a woman to a secluded area and told her he was "going to do what he wanted" before sexually assaulting her last year, authorities said Monday. Tyrone R. Johnson, 33, of Woodbridge, took the woman to a secluded area on East Elizabeth Avenue in Linden on Dec. 17, 2019, where he began pulling off her clothing as she pleaded for him to stop, Acting Union County Prosecutor Lyndsay V. Ruotolo and Linden Police Chief David Hart said. The victim told police about the incident, and was taken to a local hospital for treatment for fractures around her eye socket, and b…

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by Cecilia Levine
Police & Fire
Union County Driver, 51, Airlifted In Garden State Parkway Crash Union County Driver, 51, Airlifted In Garden State Parkway Crash
Union County Driver, 51, Airlifted In Garden State Parkway Crash A Union County driver was airlifted in a Garden State Parkway crash overnight,  New Jersey State Police said. Wahid Perry, 51, was headed south when he struck the center concrete barrier and bridge support near milepost 131.9 in Woodbridge around 2 a.m. Monday, Trooper Alejandro Goez said. Perry was ejected and flown to Robert Wood Johnson in New Brunswick, Goez said. No other passengers or vehicles were involved. The crash remains under investigation.

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by Cecilia Levine
Schools
COVID-19: Four Jersey Shore Schools Close After Students Test Positive COVID-19: Four Jersey Shore Schools Close After Students Test Positive
Covid-19: Four Jersey Shore Schools Close After Students Test Positive Positive coronavirus cases prompted two Central Jersey districts to close schools Thursday. A student at a Little Silver school Monmouth County tested positive for the coronavirus, forcing officials to move students to remote teaching from home after two days of in-person classes. Little Silver's closure order was limited to part of Markham Place School's sixth grade. A freshman at the East Brunswick campus of Middlesex County Vocational and Technical Schools also tested positive for COVID-19, forcing the entire school district to switch to all-remote learning for at least two wee…

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by Jon Craig