Fair 58°
Police & Fire
Paterson Woman Repeatedly Stabbed 5-Year-Old Granddaughter After Hearing Voices: Responders Paterson Woman Repeatedly Stabbed 5-Year-Old Granddaughter After Hearing Voices: Responders
Paterson Woman Repeatedly Stabbed 5-Year-Old Granddaughter After Hearing Voices: Responders A 51-year-old Paterson woman who responders said claimed to be hearing voices repeatedly stabbed her 5-year-old granddaughter, authorities confirmed. The child was rushed to St. Joseph’s University Medical Center with a police escort after being stabbed in the side at an apartment building at the corner of Carroll Street and Godwin Avenue shortly after 4 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 10, they said. Aurora Villacorta, who was hospitalized in custody, is charged with aggravated assault, child endangerment and various weapon offenses, Passaic County Prosecutor Camelia M. Valdes and Paterson Police Depa…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
NJ Child Services Imposter Shows Up At Victim's Doorstep, Blasts Her With Pepper Spray: Police NJ Child Services Imposter Shows Up At Victim's Doorstep, Blasts Her With Pepper Spray: Police
NJ Child Services Imposter Shows Up At Victim's Doorstep, Blasts Her With Pepper Spray: Police A 24-year-old New Jersey woman was arrested and charged on Tuesday, Oct. 10, after she blasted a woman with pepper spray while impersonating a child protection agent, authorities said police said. On Saturday, Sept. 30, Maplewood police responded to Brown Street where a woman had received a call from Widda Deneus claiming to be from the Division of Child Protection and Permanency, Maplewood police said.  After the phone call, Deneus showed up at the woman's front door and asked to come inside, police said. The woman refused since Deneus did not present any identification and was not ac…

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by Sam Barron
Police & Fire
Three Guns Found, Two Suspects Seized By Police Following Englewood Rooming House Incident Three Guns Found, Two Suspects Seized By Police Following Englewood Rooming House Incident
Three Guns Found, Two Suspects Seized By Police Following Englewood Rooming House Incident Police responding to a disturbance at an Englewood rooming house found three guns -- all loaded -- and made two arrests, authorities said. A woman who became involved in a dispute with two residents and a non-resident at the home on James Street near Demarest Avenue told responding officers that she'd been threatened with a a knife. She also claimed that she'd seen one of the residents carrying a gun. No one was injured, but Detective Lt. Fred Pulice said police did find the three weapons during the Oct. 6 call. They also arrested 74-year-old ex-con Melvin Dewey Macklin and Tammy Pierce,…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
Violent Garfield Ex-Con Charged With Englewood Shooting Violent Garfield Ex-Con Charged With Englewood Shooting
Violent Garfield Ex-Con Charged With Englewood Shooting A Garfield ex-con with a violent criminal history was charged with firing a gunshot at another man in Englewood earlier this year. Michael Dashawn Lockett, 31, apparently had some kind of beef with the victim when he squeezed off a shot on an otherwise quiet Green Street near Argonne Park in broad daylight this past Feb. 15, authorities said. No one was struck, they said. Englewood detectives and members of the US Marshals Service captured Lockett in Hackensack on Tuesday, Oct. 3. He was charged with aggravated assault and weapons possession and sent him to the Bergen County Jail, where h…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
Man Arrested In Jewelry Store Burglary In Morris County: Police Man Arrested In Jewelry Store Burglary In Morris County: Police
Man Arrested In Jewelry Store Burglary In Morris County: Police A Mercer County man has been arrested in connection with a burglary at a jewelry store in Morris County, authorities said. Jerome B. Howard of Lawrenceville also is a suspect in an earlier break-in at a jewelry store in Chatham, Madison police said. His age was not released. At 3:43 a.m. Thursday, Oct. 5, Madison Police responded to an activated burglar alarm at Gerlach’s Jewelers on Main Street, police said. The officers, who were on patrol, responded within two minutes to the scene and found a rear door to the business forced open and a rear screen window pulled off the building. Upon a…

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by Jon Craig
Police & Fire
GOTCHA! Fair Lawn Police Interrupt Burglary, Fish Suspect Out Of Passaic River GOTCHA! Fair Lawn Police Interrupt Burglary, Fish Suspect Out Of Passaic River
Gotcha! Fair Lawn Police Interrupt Burglary, Fish Suspect Out Of Passaic River Fair Lawn police who interrupted an overnight burglary captured one of the fleeing bandits after he hopped into the Passaic River, authorities said. The burglars scattered as police arrived at the corner of Fair Lawn Avenue and River Road shortly before 3 a.m. Saturday, Sept. 30, Sgt. Eric Eleshewich said. It was around 6:30 a.m. when officers spotted one of them about a quarter-mile up River Road, the sergeant said. Seeing them, he ran down to the river, where the officers captured him, Eleshewich said. Yaniel Diaz Mateo, a 21-year-old Dominican national who lives in Paterson, was charge…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
'Welcome To The Jungle' Blasts From Vehicle Plowed Through NJ Police Station (VIDEO) 'Welcome To The Jungle' Blasts From Vehicle Plowed Through NJ Police Station (VIDEO)
'Welcome To The Jungle' Blasts From Vehicle Plowed Through NJ Police Station (Video) A New Jersey man was arrested and charged with terrorism after authorities say he intentionally crashed a car into a home and the Independence Township Police Department, authorities said. Video released by the Warren County Prosecutor's Office shows John Hargreaves slamming his vehicle through the exterior of the ITPD station. The vehicle comes to a rest inside the squad room, where Hargreaves emerges proudly from his gold Toyota SUV with his hands in the air on Wednesday evening, Sept. 20. Officers can be seen walking Hargreaves across the squad room and placing him in handcuff…

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by Sam Barron
Police & Fire
Peruvian Nationals Charged With Stabbing Man, 50, In Paterson's Peru Square Peruvian Nationals Charged With Stabbing Man, 50, In Paterson's Peru Square
Peruvian Nationals Charged With Stabbing Man, 50, In Paterson's Peru Square Two Peruvian nationals were nabbed by Paterson police right after they stabbed a 50-year-old city man downtown, authorities said. Bryan Canales-Arias, 29, and Ernesto Canales-Arias, 23, who also live in the city, were seized shortly after the victim was stabbed near the corner of Main and Market streets – in the area known as Peru Square -- shortly before 1:30 a.m. Monday, Sept. 25. The victim was taken to St. Joseph’s University Medical Center with what Passaic County Prosecutor Camelia M. Valdes and Paterson Police Department Officer-In-Charge Isa Abbassi described in a brief release as m…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
GOTCHA: Citizens ID Assailant Who Broke Eye Socket Of Patron At Lyndhurst Wendy's: Police GOTCHA: Citizens ID Assailant Who Broke Eye Socket Of Patron At Lyndhurst Wendy's: Police
Gotcha: Citizens ID Assailant Who Broke Eye Socket Of Patron At Lyndhurst Wendy's: Police A 55-year-old fast-food customer had his eye socket broken when a Lyndhurst man nearly half his age sucker-punched him, authorities said. Eric Martinez, 28, fled the Wendy’s on Ridge Road after bashing the Belleville man in an entirely unprovoked attack as the victim waited online around 3:30 p.m. last Thursday, Sept. 14, Lyndhurst Detective Lt. Vincent Auteri said. Lynchurst Officer Joseph White retrieved surveillance images that were then published (see collage above), the lieutenant said. Soon calls began coming in. Police had obtained an arrest warrant when Martinez chose to surrender…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
Attempted Murder: Somerset County Man Indicted In Chase With Police Lieutenant Attempted Murder: Somerset County Man Indicted In Chase With Police Lieutenant
Attempted Murder: Somerset County Man Indicted In Chase With Police Lieutenant A Somerset County man has been indicted on charges for first-degree attempted murder and other offenses following a June police chase with a local lieutenant, authorities announced Thursday, Sept. 21. Brian A. Niziolek, 37, of Fairview Avenue in Somerville, was charged with first-degree attempted murder, second- and third-degree aggravated assault, second-degree eluding, second-degree burglary, resisting arrest, motor vehicle theft, and various weapons offenses following the police pursuit in Manville on Thursday, June 29, Somerset County Prosecutor John P. McDonald said. Officers respondin…

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by Valerie Musson
Police & Fire
GOTCHA! Mahwah, Upper Saddle River PDs Nab Rockland Man In Commercial Burglary Spree GOTCHA! Mahwah, Upper Saddle River PDs Nab Rockland Man In Commercial Burglary Spree
Gotcha! Mahwah, Upper Saddle River PDs Nab Rockland Man In Commercial Burglary Spree Police from Mahwah and Upper Saddle River teamed up to nab a serial burglar from Rockland County who broke into several well-known area businesses – including a local mini mart that was victimized twice, authorities said. Carlos M. Martinez Amaya wasn't only charged with burglarizing the Mahwah Bar & Grill, Ernie’s Ice Cream and the Fardale Deli & Mini Mart (twice). He's also accused of commercial burglaries in Upper Saddle River and Franklin Township and with pointing a gun at someone. Minimal proceeds were taken during break-ins the same night, March 31, at Ernie’s on Franklin Tu…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
Murderer Used Microwave, Mop Bucket To Beat Inmate In NJ Jail: Prosecutors Murderer Used Microwave, Mop Bucket To Beat Inmate In NJ Jail: Prosecutors
Murderer Used Microwave, Mop Bucket To Beat Inmate In NJ Jail: Prosecutors A man already imprisoned for murder was sentenced to an additional 20 years for a brutal beating of an inmate in the Essex County Jail, prosecutors announced on Tuesday, Sept. 12. In Sept. 2019, Darryl Watson and six inmates beat Jayshawn Boyd, a 22-year-old Newark resident with a microwave, water cooler, and an industrial mop bucket, leaving him with permanent brain damage, Acting Essex County Prosecutor Theodore N. Stephens, II said. Watson was convicted of attempted murder in the first degree, aggravated assault in the second degree and possession of a microwave for an unlawful purp…

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by Sam Barron