Maintenance Man Poses As Complex Owner, Scams Apartment Seekers Out Of $14,000: Garfield PD Maintenance Man Poses As Complex Owner, Scams Apartment Seekers Out Of $14,000: Garfield PD
Maintenance Man Poses As Complex Owner, Scams Apartment Seekers Out Of $14,000: Garfield PD A maintenance man at a Garfield garden apartment complex scammed hopeful renters out of $14,000 by posting bogus listings on Facebook, showing them empty units he claimed he owned and then collecting deposits from them, authorities charged. John K. DelValle, a 48-year-old bodybuilder from Hackensack, made it all appear genuine by having the victims sign worthless rental agreements, police said. Then he handed them the master keys that he'd been given for work. DelValle also conned another unwitting victim out of $7,000 -- and a car -- by "selling" him a Tesla that he was renting, Garfield …
FASHION STATEMENT: Serial Porch Pirate Wore Same Jacket, Yellow Kicks Each Time: Garfield PD FASHION STATEMENT: Serial Porch Pirate Wore Same Jacket, Yellow Kicks Each Time: Garfield PD
Fashion Statement: Serial Porch Pirate Wore Same Jacket, Yellow Kicks Each Time: Garfield PD He wore a distinctive black jacket arrayed with NFL team patches, not to mention sneakers you couldn’t miss -- yellow. He also already had a lengthy arrest record. In the end, Jaquiece Shadeer Smith left Garfield police investigating eight different front-porch package thefts with a single suspect. To call the 35-year-old city resident “known to police” would be an understatement. Smith has a decade-long rap sheet, records show, and even was recently arrested for porch piracy in Hackensack. Garfield Detectives Sebastian Tyburski and Arkadiusz Dudek interviewed eyewitnesses and gather…
Somewhere In The Swamps Of East Rutherford: Garfield Vehicle Thief Crashes, Bails Somewhere In The Swamps Of East Rutherford: Garfield Vehicle Thief Crashes, Bails
Somewhere In The Swamps Of East Rutherford: Garfield Vehicle Thief Crashes, Bails The driver of a vehicle stolen out of Garfield crashed the car on an East Rutherford service road, bailed out and vanished into the swamps after being chased by the owner, authorities said. No injuries were reported. East Rutherford police had help establishing a perimeter after the thief was last seen near the Hilton off the eastbound Route 3 service road around 1:30 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 3, Capt. Jeff Yannacone said. Among those responding were fellow officers from Lyndhurst, Rutherford, Secaucus and the Bergen County Sheriff's Office, as well as New Jersey State Police. A sheriff's K-9 …
Smoky Post-Christmas House Fire Ravages Passaic Home Smoky Post-Christmas House Fire Ravages Passaic Home
Smoky Post-Christmas House Fire Ravages Passaic Home A smoky house fire in Passaic went to four alarms the day after Christmas. No injuries were immediately reported in the blaze, which ignited in a Van Buren Street home near Central Avenue around 11 a.m., Passaic Mayor Hector Carlos Lora said. "All tenants are reported to be out and safe," the mayor said around noon. "Nobody appears to be in the building." Firefighters were quickly removed after a partial ceiling collapse, Lora said. They had two ladder trucks and multiple hand lines in operation. Damien Danis for DAILY VOICE Although smoke met them at the scene, the fire may have b…
Thousands Without Power, Roads Flooded, Schools Delayed In North Jersey After Storm Thousands Without Power, Roads Flooded, Schools Delayed In North Jersey After Storm
Thousands Without Power, Roads Flooded, Schools Delayed In North Jersey After Storm Rain from a Sunday, Dec. 17 storm closed roads and delayed school openings across New Jersey on Monday, Dec. 18. Thousands of residents were without power as of 9 a.m. According to the PSE&G outage map, the following areas did not have power: Bergen: 3,764 (Most in New Milford, Elmwood Park, Garfield) Hudson: 4,095 (Most in Bayonne, North Bergen) Passaic: 2,718 (Most in Clifton, Passaic) Union: 660 Flooding is ongoing in several areas this morning with 2 to 5 inches of rain reported so far. DO NOT drive through... Posted by US National Weather Service Philadelphia/M…
Tenant With 1,700 Child Porn Files Secretly Recorded Garfield Kid For Gratification: Prosecutor Tenant With 1,700 Child Porn Files Secretly Recorded Garfield Kid For Gratification: Prosecutor
Tenant With 1,700 Child Porn Files Secretly Recorded Garfield Kid For Gratification: Prosecutor A Garfield kiddie porn collector planted a camera that secretly recorded a child for his sexual gratification, authorities charged. Jorge E. Mendez, a 56-year-old married product inspector, was arrested during a raid of his second-floor apartment on Tuesday, Dec. 5, Bergen County Prosecutor Mark Musella said. Mendez was charged with production and possession of child sexual abuse material by Cyber Crimes Unit investigators who seized 1,700 images of “nude and/or sexually explicit pubescent and prepubescent children,” the prosecutor said. He remained held in the Bergen County Jail pending …
GOTCHA! Leonia Officer Quickly Finds Familiar Face Who Fled Traffic Stop: Police GOTCHA! Leonia Officer Quickly Finds Familiar Face Who Fled Traffic Stop: Police
Gotcha! Leonia Officer Quickly Finds Familiar Face Who Fled Traffic Stop: Police A repeat offender who might’ve thought he’d given a Leonia police sergeant the slip would've been wrong. It began when Leonia Police Sgt. Ray Forsdahl tried to stop a BMW with New York plates for a violation in the area of Broad and Lakeview avenues, Capt. Chris Garris said. The driver kept going, though, getting onto southbound Route 95, the captain said on Friday, Dec. 1. Forsdahl pursued him for a ways, then dropped back out of safety reasons, he said. Besides, he knew who the driver was.  Didn’t take long to figure out where he laid his head, either. To call Brandon Warren, 28,…
Arson Investigator, Expert Fire Photographer Richard Wolfson Leaves Lasting Impact In NJ Arson Investigator, Expert Fire Photographer Richard Wolfson Leaves Lasting Impact In NJ
Arson Investigator, Expert Fire Photographer Richard Wolfson Leaves Lasting Impact In NJ Whether he was capturing it through his lens, fighting it or investigating it, Richard Wolfson was likely at the fire. Wolfson volunteered 40 of the 50 years he lived in Garfield as one of his city's bravest. He was also a regional arson investigator, often serving as an expert witness in criminal cases.  And he single-handedly founded the NJ Metro Fire Photographers Association in 1985, serving as its first-ever president. Rich Wolfson's impact was felt throughout North Jersey's firefighting, fire photography and fire investigating communities, which is why his death last week leaves suc…
Firefighters Douse Intense Attic Blaze In Garfield Firefighters Douse Intense Attic Blaze In Garfield
Firefighters Douse Intense Attic Blaze In Garfield Firefighters in Garfield contained an intense attic blaze that severely damaged a single-family home. They got there quickly after smoke was reported coming out an attic window of the two-story, wood-frame home on Bergen Street shortly before 5:30 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 1. It took barely a half-hour for the firefighters to knock it down. No injuries were reported. GARFIELD FD Wallington firefighters assisted. The Garfield Fire Prevention Bureau is investigating the cause. GARFIELD FD Damien Danis for DAILY VOICE (both photos) GARFIELD FD GARFIELD FD
'No Criminality' Suspected In Sudden Death Of Garfield Man, 33, Investigation Continues 'No Criminality' Suspected In Sudden Death Of Garfield Man, 33, Investigation Continues
'No Criminality' Suspected In Sudden Death Of Garfield Man, 33, Investigation Continues The sudden unattended death of a 33-year-old Garfield man wasn’t believed to be suspicious, although an investigation hasn’t yet been completed, authorities said Tuesday. City police responding to a 911 call for medical aid found Tadeusz Soltys unresponsive in a Palisade Avenue apartment at the corner of Van Winkle Avenue shortly after 8:30 a.m. Saturday, Oct. 28, Assistant Bergen County Prosecutor Elizabeth Rebein confirmed on Tuesday. His girlfriend apparently had last seen Soltys there Friday night, then found him on the floor and called for help when she returned the next morning, a so…
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…
Habitual Offender Charged With Death Of Garfield Man From Fake Oxy Pills Full Of Fentanyl Habitual Offender Charged With Death Of Garfield Man From Fake Oxy Pills Full Of Fentanyl
Habitual Offender Charged With Death Of Garfield Man From Fake Oxy Pills Full Of Fentanyl A habitual offender killed a fellow Garfield resident by giving him bogus oxycodone pills that contained fentanyl, authorities charged. Juhaan Justice Hammond, 30, is charged with strict liability for the drug-induced death this past Sunday of Ivan Santiago in Garfield, Bergen County Prosecutor Mark Musella announced on Friday, Sept. 22. Santiago and an unidentified second person were hospitalized after overdosing on Lincoln Place shortly after 6:30 p.m. Sept. 17, Musella said. Narcan was administered, the prosecutor said, adding that Santiago was pronounced dead at the hospital. Detectiv…