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ICY MORNING (UPDATE): One Dead, Highways Closed, Dozens Injured In North Jersey Crashes ICY MORNING (UPDATE): One Dead, Highways Closed, Dozens Injured In North Jersey Crashes
ICY Morning (Update): One Dead, Highways Closed, Dozens Injured In North Jersey Crashes UPDATE: One victim was confirmed dead and westbound Route 3 in East Rutherford was temporarily closed Wednesday morning following what was the most serious in a series of crashes on icy North Jersey roads. Here's a listing of incidents. Mark Kolta, 31, of North Bergen had been involved in an earlier chain-reaction crash on the Hackensack River bridge on westbound Route 3 shortly after 6:30 a.m., East Rutherford Deputy Police Chief Phillip Taormina said. He was struck in another pileup after getting out of his vehicle, the deputy chief said. Kolta was pronounced dead at a local hospital a …

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by Jerry DeMarco
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Hackensack Man Struck By Car Outside Saddle Brook Supermarket Settles Suit For $1.28 Million Hackensack Man Struck By Car Outside Saddle Brook Supermarket Settles Suit For $1.28 Million
Hackensack Man Struck By Car Outside Saddle Brook Supermarket Settles Suit For $1.28 Million UPDATE: A Hackensack man who suffered a traumatic brain injury when he was hit by a car in a supermarket parking lot in Saddle Brook reportedly received a $1.275 million settlement from a lawsuit. Richard Kunzweiler was 75 when he was struck by a car driven by a 66-year-old Fair Lawn man outside the Acme in Saddle Brook on Aug. 16, 2018, records show. Besides the traumatic brain injury, Kunzweiler suffered a C7 vertebral fracture, a ligament tear, a spinal cord injury and bulging discs and several broken bones, a suit filed in Superior Court in Hackensack claims. He had surgery that requir…

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by Jerry DeMarco
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Fatality Confirmed In Multi-Alarm Paterson Blaze That Destroys One Home, Threatens Others Fatality Confirmed In Multi-Alarm Paterson Blaze That Destroys One Home, Threatens Others
Fatality Confirmed In Multi-Alarm Paterson Blaze That Destroys One Home, Threatens Others UPDATE: Authorities on Saturday confirmed the death of a resident in a late-night Paterson house fire that responders said could have been much worse. Firefighters moved quickly to keep the four-alarm Lafayette Street blaze from spreading, snuffing the threat such a fire posed to the neighborhood of tightly bunched wood-frame houses barely two blocks from the Passaic River. Paterson's bravest responded to a call of a fire with people possibly trapped at 103 Lafayette Street shortly after 11 p.m., Deputy Fire Chief William Henderson said. Firefighters found heavy flames on the second floor,…

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by Jerry DeMarco
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Bergen County Lawyer, 79, Attacked In His Office, IT Worker Charged With Attempted Murder Bergen County Lawyer, 79, Attacked In His Office, IT Worker Charged With Attempted Murder
Bergen County Lawyer, 79, Attacked In His Office, IT Worker Charged With Attempted Murder An IT worker was charged with attempted murder after a 79-year-old attorney was beaten in his Fair Lawn office, authorities said. Associates said Friday that Ira J. Levine was out of the intensive care unit following Tuesday’s attack, in which he was struck with what Bergen County Prosecutor Mark Musella described as a “wooden baton.” His accused assailant, Mohammad Ramadan, 34, of Rochelle Park remained held in the Bergen County Jail pending a first appearance in Central Judicial Processing Court in Hackensack on charges that also include aggravated assault causing serious bodily…

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by Jerry DeMarco
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Family Of 5 Loses Everything In Fierce Hawthorne Fire Family Of 5 Loses Everything In Fierce Hawthorne Fire
Family Of 5 Loses Everything In Fierce Hawthorne Fire UPDATE: Two cats were killed and another was missing in a destructive fire that ravaged a Hawthorne home, authorities said. A family of five -- including three children -- got out OK after the fire erupted on Victor Place around 7 p.m. Sunday, they said. They were evaluated on-scene by EMS. At the scene of the Victor Place fire in Hawthorne.DAILY VOICE The blaze immediately went to a second alarm before heavy flames and problems with water pressure boosted it to three, Hawthorne Fire Chief Jerry Speranza said. The roof was opened and the fire was eventually placed under control after…

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by Jerry DeMarco
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Firefighters Battle Hawthorne Blaze Firefighters Battle Hawthorne Blaze
Firefighters Battle Hawthorne Blaze UPDATE: Two cats were killed and another was missing in a destructive fire that ravaged a Hawthorne home, authorities said. A family of five -- including three children -- got out OK after the fire erupted on Victor Place around 7 p.m. Sunday, they said. They were evaluated on-scene by EMS. 76 Victor Place, HawthorneTom Tomesco The blaze immediately went to a second alarm before water problems and heavy flames boosted it to three, Hawthorne Fire Chief Jerry Speranza said. The roof was opened and the fire was eventually placed under control after about 90 minutes. Firefighters conti…

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by Jerry DeMarco
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Authorities: Bergen Man Dies By Suicide In Lawnmower Authorities: Bergen Man Dies By Suicide In Lawnmower
Authorities: Bergen Man Dies By Suicide In Lawnmower A troubled Bergen County man apparently died by suicide using a running lawn mower, authorities said. Responders didn't initially know the circumstances after a relative found the 33-year-old Fair Lawn man's body in his backyard Monday afternoon. Then they discovered that he'd left a note before sticking his head inside the machine. The Bergen County Prosecutor's Office was notified, the Bergen County Sheriff's Bureau of Criminal Identification collected evidence and the Bergen County Medical Examiner's Office collected the body. The various agencies will work with Fair Lawn police to reac…

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by Jerry DeMarco
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Drugged Driver Takes Plea In Route 23 Gas Station Crash That Killed Dad, Teenage Son, Attendant Drugged Driver Takes Plea In Route 23 Gas Station Crash That Killed Dad, Teenage Son, Attendant
Drugged Driver Takes Plea In Route 23 Gas Station Crash That Killed Dad, Teenage Son, Attendant UPDATE: A drug-addicted Sussex County driver who killed a father, son and gas station attendant in a horrific crash on Route 23 in Wayne two years ago will be sentenced to a minimum of 25½ years without parole after pleading guilty Friday to three counts of aggravated manslaughter, authorities said. Jason Vanderee, 29, told a state judge in Paterson that he’d used heroin and fentanyl in combination with other drugs when he blacked out behind the wheel on Feb. 19, 2019. Jon Warbeck, a former Carlstadt firefighter from Fair Lawn and his 17-year-old son, Luke, of Lincoln Park, had stopped for…

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by Jerry DeMarco
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Grand Jury: No Reason To Charge Officer Whose SUV Struck, Killed Boy, 12, On Rainy Route 208 Grand Jury: No Reason To Charge Officer Whose SUV Struck, Killed Boy, 12, On Rainy Route 208
Grand Jury: No Reason To Charge Officer Whose SUV Struck, Killed Boy, 12, On Rainy Route 208 Following what was an unimaginable tragedy for all involved, a grand jury found no cause to pursue charges against a Bergen County sheriff's officer who struck and killed a 12-year-old boy who'd run into his path of his SUV on a dark and rainy highway, authorities announced Wednesday. Christian Tawadros was with three other juveniles who hopped the divider and dashed across Route 208 just north of Fair Lawn Avenue in Fair Lawn on April 14, 2019. Christian, who was in a special education program at the Thomas Jefferson Middle School, had joined his 7th-grade brother and two friends to go out…

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by Jerry DeMarco
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Sedan Slams Into Fair Lawn Bank Building Sedan Slams Into Fair Lawn Bank Building
Sedan Slams Into Fair Lawn Bank Building A sedan slammed into a Fair Lawn bank building early Sunday evening, causing major damage to both. The Hyundai mounted the sidewalk, plowed through bushes and rammed the corner of the Provident Bank branch on River Road at Hopper Avenue around 5:15 p.m. The adult female driver refused medical attention for what appeared to be minor injuries. A building inspector was required to check the building for structural damage. Both the Hyundai and the Provident Bank building were severely damaged.Boyd A. Loving for DAILY VOICE Responding were borough police, firefighters and EMS and members o…

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by Jerry DeMarco
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Teen Daughter Of Slain Fair Lawn Mom 'Lost Her Best Friend' Teen Daughter Of Slain Fair Lawn Mom 'Lost Her Best Friend'
Teen Daughter Of Slain Fair Lawn Mom 'Lost Her Best Friend' TRIBUTE: Jeanette Willem "was not much for attention," but the late Fair Lawn mom would've appreciated the tidal wave of love and support that has come her family's way, her grieving brother said. A funeral service is scheduled this Monday for Willem, 43, who was slain at her job at Jamis Bikes in Northvale this week. "Everyone has been so supportive," Matthew Willem wrote Friday afternoon, adding that his sister "would have loved seeing everyone come together during this time." The shock and grief has barely subsided since news of Jeanette Willem's death was announced on Wednesday. A co-…

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by Jerry DeMarco
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Prosecutor: Harrington Park Man Killed Fair Lawn Mom With Hammer At Bergen Bicycle Distributor Prosecutor: Harrington Park Man Killed Fair Lawn Mom With Hammer At Bergen Bicycle Distributor
Prosecutor: Harrington Park Man Killed Fair Lawn Mom With Hammer At Bergen Bicycle Distributor UPDATE: A Harrington Park warehouse worker killed a Fair Lawn mom with a ball peen hammer at an international bicycle distributor in Northvale, authorities said. Christian Giron, 24, was quickly taken into custody after the body of co-worker Jeanette Willem, 43, was found at Jamis Bikes at 8:15 a.m. Wednesday, Bergen County Prosecutor Mark Musella said. Giron is charged with murder, weapons offenses and hindering arrest. The killing came less than 24 hours before another, this one in Little Ferry, and was the third of fourth homicides reported in Bergen County in 10 days (SEE: Man Stabbed …

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by Jerry DeMarco