Fair 60°
Police & Fire
Fugitive Former Paramus Basketballer Turned Bail Reform Poster Boy Captured In Rockland Fugitive Former Paramus Basketballer Turned Bail Reform Poster Boy Captured In Rockland
Fugitive Former Paramus Basketballer Turned Bail Reform Poster Boy Captured In Rockland The increasingly violent criminal career of a former Paramus Catholic High School basketball player continued when he tried to carjack a woman in Park Ridge, then led police on a pursuit, authorities said. Police in the Rockland County town of Stony Point later captured Jordan Dufont, 23, after a foot chase, Park Ridge Police Chief Joseph Madden said on Thursday, Aug. 17. Dufont had only just been released on Aug. 3 after spending five weeks in the Bergen County Jail following another pursuit and a combative arrest off Route 17 in Paramus. Police in Park Ridge got a call this time shortly…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
Daughter Of Late Combat Veteran Jailed For Death Threats To Public Officials: NJ State Police Daughter Of Late Combat Veteran Jailed For Death Threats To Public Officials: NJ State Police
Daughter Of Late Combat Veteran Jailed For Death Threats To Public Officials: NJ State Police A grieving naval officer’s daughter from Bergen County who’s been involved in a court battle with the local veterans home made what New Jersey State Police allege were credible threats against two public officials following her father’s death. Amy Johnson, 54, of Westwood, had initially “voiced her dissatisfaction with the court’s decision" over a power-of-attorney request, says a State Police complaint filed in Superior Court in Hackensack. She initially left email and voice messages that the NJSP said mentioned two public officials by name and were “concerning, harassing and threatening i…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
Upstate NY Man Admits Assaulting Female Passenger On Flight To Newark Upstate NY Man Admits Assaulting Female Passenger On Flight To Newark
Upstate NY Man Admits Assaulting Female Passenger On Flight To Newark A New York State man admitted assaulting a female passenger on a flight to Newark Airport, federal authorities in New Jersey said. Ryan Manuella, 30, "moved to a vacant seat next to a female passenger and touched the passenger without her consent" on a flight from Denver on April 16, 2021, U.S. Attorney Philip R. Sellinger said. Manuella -- of the Erie County town of Cheektowaga, just northeast of Buffalo -- didn't know the woman, according to a complaint on file in U.S. District Court in Newark. The victim then yelled at him and left the row of seats, Sellinger said. Manuella took a deal…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
SWAT Team Storms PalPark Apartment, Seizes Tenant Following Threats To Woman SWAT Team Storms PalPark Apartment, Seizes Tenant Following Threats To Woman
SWAT Team Storms PalPark Apartment, Seizes Tenant Following Threats To Woman A nearly three-hour standoff ended when a SWAT team burst into a Palisades Park garden apartment and seized a man who authorities said harassed and threatened a woman. Officers brought a temporary restraining order to the Palisades Gardens apartment of Jonathan C. Hernandez, 32, off Bergen Boulevard shortly before 8 p.m. Friday, May 19. Based on the victim's complaint, they suspected that Hernandez might have been armed, responders said. Hernandez apparently refused to open the door and stopped communicating after a very brief text exchange, they said. After conferring with the Bergen Cou…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Politics
War Of Words: Candidates Spar Over Treatment Of NJ Assemblywoman's Mom War Of Words: Candidates Spar Over Treatment Of NJ Assemblywoman's Mom
War Of Words: Candidates Spar Over Treatment Of NJ Assemblywoman's Mom The war of words is intensifying in the West New York elections. One candidate, a New Jersey assemblywoman, says her mother is getting caught in the crosshairs. The alleged perpetrators say the whole thing was made up. Angelica Jimenez — who is running for West New York commissioner on one slate — alleges her 78-year-old mother was heckled and harassed by supporters of Albio Sires — who is running for mayor of West New York on an opposing slate — when she went to vote over the weekend.  Jimenez said in an Instagram post they banged on her car window and she was also frightened by a po…

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by Sam Barron
News
Bias Intimidation: Clifton Man Charged With Smearing Feces On School Sign Bias Intimidation: Clifton Man Charged With Smearing Feces On School Sign
Bias Intimidation: Clifton Man Charged With Smearing Feces On School Sign A Clifton man was charged with bias intimidation on Friday for smearing feces on a sign at a Paterson elementary school earlier in the week, authorities announced. Mohamad Bekheet, 32, struck in the early morning hours on Monday, April 10, at a pre-K-through-8th grade school named for the late Dr. Hani Awadallah, New Jersey Attorney General Matthew J. Platkin said. Platkin said Bekheet smeared feces over the last five letters of the name of the local educator and advocate for Arab Americans and Palestinians – or “Allah,” which means “God.” He was charged by the state Division of Criminal J…

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by Jerry DeMarco
News
Devil-Masked Visitor Pranks Supervisor, Triggers Scare At Major Testing Lab In Elmwood Park Devil-Masked Visitor Pranks Supervisor, Triggers Scare At Major Testing Lab In Elmwood Park
Devil-Masked Visitor Pranks Supervisor, Triggers Scare At Major Testing Lab In Elmwood Park UPDATE: A Westchester County resident who works at one of the largest clinical testing labs in the U.S. triggered a large emergency response Friday when she walked into the Bergen County building wearing a devil mask, handed a supervisor a jar of salsa with her name on it and left without saying a word, authorities said. Ray Greenwald, 27, of Ardsley, NY, and the supervisor at BioReference Laboratories just off Route 80 in Elmwood didn't know one another and apparently had never met before, Police Chief Michael Foligno said. However, Greenwald, who works in another building, told police sh…

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by Jerry DeMarco
News
Silent Clown-Masked Visitor Leaves Suspicious Item At Major Testing Lab In Elmwood Park Silent Clown-Masked Visitor Leaves Suspicious Item At Major Testing Lab In Elmwood Park
Silent Clown-Masked Visitor Leaves Suspicious Item At Major Testing Lab In Elmwood Park UPDATE: A Westchester County resident who works at one of the largest clinical testing labs in the U.S. triggered a large emergency response Friday when she walked into the Bergen County building wearing a devil mask, handed a supervisor a jar of salsa with her name on it and left without saying a word, authorities said. Ray Greenwald, 27, of Ardsley, NY, and the supervisor at BioReference Laboratories just off Route 80 in Elmwood didn't know one another and apparently had never met before, Police Chief Michael Foligno said. However, Greenwald, who works in another building, told police sh…

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by Jerry DeMarco
News
Can't Let Go: Garfield Stalker With 30-Year Grudge Harasses Franklin Lakes Man, Police Say Can't Let Go: Garfield Stalker With 30-Year Grudge Harasses Franklin Lakes Man, Police Say
Can't Let Go: Garfield Stalker With 30-Year Grudge Harasses Franklin Lakes Man, Police Say A Garfield man with a history of harassment charges was jailed after authorities said he stalked and threatened a man in Franklin Lakes over a perceived slight from 30 or so years ago. Steven Thomas, 57, blamed the victim for hurting someone close to him, Capt. Mark McCombs said. "He dug up the victim's phone number, threatened him and released things from his past," the captain said. "The victim is frightened." Thomas already had a history, including an alleged child-luring incident involving a neighbor's son in 2018, criminal records show. He was also reportedly charged with harassment b…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Schools
Rapist Filmed Penn State Student In Bathroom, Police Say Rapist Filmed Penn State Student In Bathroom, Police Say
Rapist Filmed Penn State Student In Bathroom, Police Say A 52-year-old convicted rapist snuck into a Penn State University bathroom and filmed a student's "genitalia" on Thursday, Feb. 16, 2023, according to court documents obtained by Daily Voice.  Registered sex offender Mark Alonzo Williams also assaulted the student after he confronted him about the phone in  HUB-Robeson Center bathroom, Penn State University police explain in the affidavit of probable cause.  The student was using a bathroom stall on the ground floor of the HUB around 5 p.m. when he saw that Williams was in the stall next to him with “his cell phone positioned…

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by Jillian Pikora
News
‘Stalker’s Christmas’: Accused Restraining Order Violator Spends Valentine's Day In Bergen Jail ‘Stalker’s Christmas’: Accused Restraining Order Violator Spends Valentine's Day In Bergen Jail
‘Stalker’s Christmas’: Accused Restraining Order Violator Spends Valentine's Day In Bergen Jail The approach of Valentine’s Day this year brought a repeat stalker all the way from Queens to Franklin Lakes – and then to jail, authorities reported. Chiawei Chuang, 41, of Flushing had previously been charged with stalking the same person when she allegedly showed up again late Monday, Feb. 13, on a small street in the northwest Bergen County town where the victim lives. Police were called shortly before 10 p.m. and arrested Chuang, who criminal records list as a citizen of the Federated States of Micronesia. She remained held in the Bergen County Jail on Tuesday while awaiting a first a…

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by Jerry DeMarco
News
Carlstadt PD Rescues Kidnapped Woman Forced Into Prostitution At Meadowlands-Area Motel Carlstadt PD Rescues Kidnapped Woman Forced Into Prostitution At Meadowlands-Area Motel
Carlstadt PD Rescues Kidnapped Woman Forced Into Prostitution At Meadowlands-Area Motel A missing woman who’d been held against her will and forced into prostitution at a local motel was rescued by Carlstadt police who arrested her combative captor, authorities said. Officer Matthew Bartlett responded to the Super 8 on Washington Avenue just north of Route 120 after the woman’s cell phone was traced there, Acting Police Chief Thomas Cox said on Monday, Feb. 13. Bartlett spoke with employees, then was joined at the motel by backup Officers James Winand and Anthony Rivezzi, the acting chief said. They found the woman with Kevin Williams, 32, of Newark, he said. Williams initia…

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by Jerry DeMarco