Fair 20°
Police & Fire
Saddle Brook Stock Clerk, 20, Charged With Sexually Assaulting Pre-Teen Saddle Brook Stock Clerk, 20, Charged With Sexually Assaulting Pre-Teen
Saddle Brook Stock Clerk, 20, Charged With Sexually Assaulting Pre-Teen A 20-year-old stock clerk from Saddle Brook was charged with sexually assaulting a pre-teen. Yabniel Andres Martinez Lebron remained held in the Bergen County Jail over the weekend pending an upcoming first appearance in Central Judicial Processing Court in Hackensack. A joint investigation with Saddle Brook police began, Bergen County Prosecutor Mark Musella said, after the state Division of Child Protection and Permanency contacted his Special Victims Unit on Friday, Nov. 17. Detectives arrested Martinez Lebron that day on charges of aggravated sexual assault of a victim under 13 years …

SHARE

by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
SWATTING: Multiple Staffers At Saddle Brook School Receive Bogus Bomb Threat SWATTING: Multiple Staffers At Saddle Brook School Receive Bogus Bomb Threat
Swatting: Multiple Staffers At Saddle Brook School Receive Bogus Bomb Threat Five different staff members at a Saddle Brook school received the same emailed bomb threat, said authorities who cleared the building, conducted a search and found nothing harmful. Members of the Bergen County Bomb Squad swept both inside and outside the K-6 Franklin Elementary School on Caldwell Avenue before giving the all-clear, Saddle Brook Schools Supt. Toni Violetti said Tuesday morning, Nov. 14. A SWAT team also responded to the 8 a.m. swatting incident, said Capt. John A. Zotollo, Jr., the officer in charge of the Saddle Brook Police Department. The Bergen County Prosecutor's…

SHARE

by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
Manager At Bergen-Based Entertainment Union Charged With Embezzling $1.7M Manager At Bergen-Based Entertainment Union Charged With Embezzling $1.7M
Manager At Bergen-Based Entertainment Union Charged With Embezzling $1.7M The former office manager of a Bergen County-based union representing behind-the-scenes workers in the entertainment industry was arrested on charges of embezzling $1.7 million from the local. Theresa Gremillot, 58, of Saddle Brook, pocketed an estimated 3,000 debits from the operating accounts of the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees (IATSE) Local #632 between Jan. 1, 2019 and July 1, 2023, Bergen County Prosecutor Mark Musella said. That’s an average of nearly 13 transactions a week. Gremillot was arrested on Wednesday, Nov. 8, and booked into the Bergen County Jail to…

SHARE

by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
Car Burglar Trying To Hotfoot It Tackled After Assaulting Officer: Clifton PD Car Burglar Trying To Hotfoot It Tackled After Assaulting Officer: Clifton PD
Car Burglar Trying To Hotfoot It Tackled After Assaulting Officer: Clifton PD One of a group of sophisticated car thieves assaulted a Clifton police officer before being subdued following an overnight foot chase, authorities said. Francis Jose-Suarez, 20, of the Bronx was among a group trying to get into vehicles in the area of East 8th Street and Trenton Avenue shortly before 4:30 a.m. Wednesday, Nov. 1, Lt. Robert Anderson said. Alerted by a resident, responding officers spotted an unoccupied Dodge Charger with the motor running, the lieutenant said. Turns out it had been stolen out of Saddle Brook earlier that night, he said. A neighbor pointed police toward…

SHARE

by Jerry DeMarco
Legal
Wrongful Death Suit: $5M Received By Family For North Jersey Electrician's Fatal Fall Wrongful Death Suit: $5M Received By Family For North Jersey Electrician's Fatal Fall
Wrongful Death Suit: $5M Received By Family For North Jersey Electrician's Fatal Fall The estate of an electrician who died from a 30-foot fall at a food manufacturing plant in Saddle Brook has reportedly received a $5 million settlement. Joseph Roscitt, who worked for the Modern Electric Company in Clifton, was atop a scissor lift changing light bulbs when an employee at Chefler Foods accidentally backed a forklift into the aerial platform on Dec. 1, 2021, authorities said Roscitt, who was a member of IBEW Local 164 in Paramus, suffered brain bleeding and other critical injuries when his head slammed against the concrete floor, they said. A portion of his skull was removed…

SHARE

by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
Firefighters Battle Vacant Building Blaze On Frequently Struck Paterson Street Firefighters Battle Vacant Building Blaze On Frequently Struck Paterson Street
Firefighters Battle Vacant Building Blaze On Frequently Struck Paterson Street A Paterson street that's had more than its share of late-night fires in multi-family houses had another last night. Flames began quickly spreading on the second floor of a vacant 2½-story building on Lafayette Street just off Rosa Parks Boulevard shortly after 10 p.m. Monday, Oct. 23, responders said. It quickly extended to the third floor and forced firefighters into an exterior attic while threatening a twin home next door. Fire officials asked NJ TRANSIT to temporarily close the elevated railway above Lafayette Street. Firefighters doused hot spots past midnight. No one was found ins…

SHARE

by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
Smoky Fire Closes Route 46 Popeyes Smoky Fire Closes Route 46 Popeyes
Smoky Fire Closes Route 46 Popeyes Firefighters doused an overnight blaze Thursday at the Popeyes Louisiana Chicken restaurant on westbound Route 46 in Lodi. The smoky fire broke out in the kitchen shortly before 1 a.m. Oct. 19, roughly two hours after closing time. Firefighters had it under control within a half hour.  No injuries were reported. Firefighters doused the Popeyes blaze on Route 46 in Lodi in just under a half hour.Mark Adamczyk Mutual aid was provided by firefighters from Saddle Brook, Maywood and Rochelle Park. The County Wide Emergency Response Team provided canteen services. The fire was containe…

SHARE

by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
Sedan Pinballs In Route 80 Crash With Tractor-Trailer: NJSP Sedan Pinballs In Route 80 Crash With Tractor-Trailer: NJSP
Sedan Pinballs In Route 80 Crash With Tractor-Trailer: Njsp A driver was seriously injured when his sedan collided with a tractor-trailer on Route 80 in Saddle Brook, hit a guard rail off the shoulder and then bounded back into the center divider, New Jersey State Police said. The Mazda driven by Carlos Encarnacion, 33, of Elmwood Park, and the Freightliner tractor semi-trailer were both headed west when the impact sent the Mazda off the road to the right and into the guardrail at milepost 62.2 shortly after 8 a.m. Thursday, Oct. 12, NJSP Detective I Jeffrey Lebron said. The sedan then slammed into the highway's concrete divider, he said. Encarnaci…

SHARE

by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
Visitor, 68, Injured In Kessler Elevator Accident Visitor, 68, Injured In Kessler Elevator Accident
Visitor, 68, Injured In Kessler Elevator Accident A 68-year-old visitor to the Kessler Institute for Rehabilitation in Saddle Brook had to be hospitalized Thursday night after an elevator accident, authorities said. Authorities are trying to determine what exactly happened around 7 p.m. Sept. 28, said Police Capt. John Zotollo, the officer in charge of the department. The victim was riding the elevator with his adult son, having visited a relative at the Market Street facility, when the door opened and his arm and leg got stuck between floors, the captain said. "The cause is unknown at this time," Zotollo said shortly before 9:30 p.m. …

SHARE

by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
Lab Tech Charged With Assaulting Pre-Teen: Bergen Prosecutor Lab Tech Charged With Assaulting Pre-Teen: Bergen Prosecutor
Lab Tech Charged With Assaulting Pre-Teen: Bergen Prosecutor An accused child abuser from Saddle Brook had just been booked into the Bergen County Jail when a judge in Hackensack released him, records show. Victor Morales, a 32-year-old lab tech, “physically assaulted a child under the age of 13 years old who was in his care,” Bergen County Prosecutor Mark Musella said. Saddle Brook police alerted his Special Victims Unit detectives to the child abuse report on Tuesday, Aug. 22, the prosecutor said. They took Morales into custody, then charged him with aggravated assault and child endangerment, Musella said. Morales was booked into the county jail …

SHARE

by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
Bergen Wedding Photog Busted With Gun At Lodi Bar: Police Bergen Wedding Photog Busted With Gun At Lodi Bar: Police
Bergen Wedding Photog Busted With Gun At Lodi Bar: Police A well-known wedding photographer from Bergen County was arrested after police said he left a gun on the bar while going out to smoke a cigarette at a Lodi tavern. Patrons told police responding to a 911 call at the Hilltop Bar on Essex Street that they could clearly see the gun inside a satchel that Nicholas Gagliano, 35, had left behind while he ducked out for a smoke shortly after 2:30 a.m. Aug. 5, Lodi Police Sgt. Dominic Miller said. The officers secured the 9mm Springfield Armory XDS – which wasn’t loaded – and took Gagliano into custody, the sergeant said. Gagliano, of Saddle Brook,…

SHARE

by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
UPDATE: Resident, 80, Hospitalized, Son Arrested In Destructive Rochelle Park Blaze UPDATE: Resident, 80, Hospitalized, Son Arrested In Destructive Rochelle Park Blaze
Update: Resident, 80, Hospitalized, Son Arrested In Destructive Rochelle Park Blaze An 80-year-old woman was hospitalized and her ex-con son arrested as firefighters doused a smoky Tuesday morning blaze that ravaged their Rochelle Park home. Carmine Covino, 55, was taken into custody after he interfered with responders trying to take his mother, Concetta, to Hackensack University Medical Center after she suffered smoke inhalation, Rochelle Park Police Lt. Edward Kukalski said. Covino, a registered sex offender with a lengthy rap sheet, "ignored several warnings" before officers were left no choice, the lieutenant said. Witnesses said Covino -- who Kukalski said sustained…

SHARE

by Jerry DeMarco