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Monday, dec 30
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Bergen County Sheriff’s Office
Police & Fire
Wild Street Brawl Sends Jersey Shore Repeat Offender, Officers To Hospital
A repeat offender from Toms River who was high on PCP fought violently with police who kept him from running into traffic outside a 7-Eleven in North Jersey, authorities said. The incident was another in a recent series of episodes involving Albert P. Fischetta III, 40, whose violent reaction sent two officers – and himself – to the hospital, they said. Fischetta had been freed after police in Berkeley Township said he attacked an elderly man while not wearing any clothes last fall, records show. This time, his girlfriend told police in Hasbrouck Heights (Bergen County) that Fischetta sudd…
Police & Fire
Violent Ex-Con Fugitive Captured In Quiet Maywood Neighborhood Thanks To Clever Tactic (
Update
)
A violent ex-con fugitive who was holed up in his girlfriend's home on a quiet Maywood street surrendered Wednesday morning after U.S. Marshals showed up with a Bergen County Regional SWAT team. It took a bit of time -- and some cleverness -- to finally capture Duron Smith, 45, who was wanted for dragging a police officer with his car near his Harrisburg, PA, home during a drug bust earlier this year. U.S. Marshals went to Smith's girlfriend's house in the 200 block of Prospect Avenue armed with a warrant around 7 a.m. May 22, Maywood Police Chief Terence Kenny…
Police & Fire
Again
? Repeat Bergen Offender Busted Trafficking 28,000 Child Sex Images: Prosecutor
A repeat offender from South Hackensack relapsed following his release from prison by amassing and sharing 28,000 images of child pornography, said authorities who arrested him on Thursday. Corey Barraclough, 33, was released from the Adult Diagnostic Treatment Center in Avenel last October after serving more than 5½ years behind bars. The first 17 months or so were spent in the Bergen County Jail beginning in and the rest in state custody, records show. That's because the Northvale native had been found with more than 2,400 illegal child-porn images -- and was caught chatting online with …
Police & Fire
One Arrest Made During Gaza War Protest In Teaneck
FOLLOW UP: An Upper Manhattanite was the only person arrested at a large demonstration outside a Teaneck synagogue, authorities said. Pro-Palestinian protestors faced off against Jewish counter-demonstrators during a fundraiser on Monday, April 1, at Congregation Bnai Yeshurun on West Englewood Avenue. The private event featured a representative of ZAKA, a Jewish group that collects body parts and blood for burial at the scenes of accidents and terrorist attacks. After American Muslims for Palestine and Within Our Lifetime announced plans to picket the event, township authorities took the …
Police & Fire
Four Caught, One Sought In Brutal Stabbing Death Outside Garfield Bar
Authorities who’ve charged four men with the brutal murder of a man outside a Garfield bar last month turned to the public for help finding a fugitive gang member from Pennsylvania who sources said repeatedly stabbed the victim in the chest. Ricky “Angel” Vargas, 35, of East Stroudsburg, PA, and his four companions confronted Richard Franceschi, 31, of Hawthorne outside JoJo's Bar & Grill on Monroe Street before dawn this past Feb. 4, Bergen County Prosecutor Mark Musella said. Vargas had a knife and co-defendant Jayson William Rivera, 23, also of East Stroudsburg, had a handgun, the pr…
Police & Fire
Update
: Paramus Woman, 75, Struck, Dragged By Vehicle Driven By 94-Year-Old Motorist Dies
A 75-year-old Paramus woman who was struck and dragged 20 feet by a sedan driven by a 94-year-old borough resident over the weekend has died, authorities confirmed. Helen Koons was in the crosswalk in the rear parking lot of the Paramus Public Library off East Century Road when the 2013 Toyota Corolla dragged her around 12:45 p.m. Saturday, March 16, Police Chief Robert M. Guidetti said. She was semi-alert when taken to Hackensack University Medical Center, the deputy chief said. Koons was pronounced dead at the hospital at 11:42 a.m. Sunday, he said. Boyd A. Loving for DAILY VOICE…
Police & Fire
Man Who Drove 12 Pounds Of Heroin, Fentanyl All The Way From Cali Busted In Bergen County: Feds
A California man was minutes from a dropoff after driving more than a dozen pounds of fentanyl and heroin cross country to New Jersey when he was stopped in Fort Lee for running a stop sign, authorities said. Timothy Alan Blank, 54, of Reseda, CA, made it 2,800 miles before Fort Lee police pulled his SUV over in Englewood Cliffs north of Sylvan and Myrtle avenues last Friday, March 8, according to a federal complaint. A Bergen County Sheriff's K-9 directed officers to the trunk, where it says they found the five kilos wrapped in five bricks. Blank collected the wrapped $195,000 of heroin a…
Police & Fire
Only Two Arrests Made At Trouble-Free Israeli Real Estate Protest In Teaneck, Police Chief Says
Two out-of-towners were arrested after they threw liquid on protestors near the end of a controversial Israeli real estate showcase at a Teaneck synagogue, authorities said. The two assaults were the only incidents after what had been several hours of orderly demonstrations on Sunday, March 10, that drew thousands of participants and onlookers. The ongoing Israel-Hamas war stoked concerns over staging such an event, which reportedly involved information on some properties in West Bank settlements that the United States has considered illegal. The protests weren't only two-sided. Boyd A…
Police & Fire
Gotcha
! Five Charged With Rash Of Bergen Armed Wristwatch Robberies, Stabbing In PalPark
Authorities have charged five men with robbing three separate victims of wristwatches – stabbing one of them – in two Bergen County towns, thanks to an arrest by Port Authority police. Two of the robberies occurred in broad daylight on River Road in Edgewater last fall, Bergen County Prosecutor Mark Musella said on Friday, March 1. The third included a stabbing in the victim’s driveway in Palisades Park, the prosecutor said. One of two robbers brandished a handgun while a colleague stood lookout when they robbed the first Edgewater victim shortly after 3 a.m. Oct. 24, Musella said. The ro…
Police & Fire
Prosecutor: Investigation Underway Into Alleged Improprieties At Bergen Police Academy (
Update
)
In his first extended public comment since claims of misconduct at the local police academy were revealed by Daily Voice last month, Bergen County Prosecutor Mark Musella confirmed that an investigation by his office is underway. “We take all allegations of misconduct seriously, and we immediately began an investigation” into the allegations at the Bergen County Police Academy in Mahwah after being notified of the alleged improprieties. All of the academy’s instructors except one were relieved of their duties by the New Jersey Police Training Commission (PTC) amid the accusations, Daily Voi…
Police & Fire
Murder
Update
: Mom Shot Dead On New Year's Eve In Bergen, Gunman Surrenders In Montclair
UPDATE: An intense search for a man who authorities said shot and killed his girlfriend at their workplace in Ramsey on New Year's Eve ended when he surrendered to police, multiple law enforcement sources told Daily Voice. The body of 41-year-old Crystal (Camargo) Peterson was found shortly before 7:30 p.m. Sunday in a cafeteria area at Konica Minolta's headquarters just off Route 17 near the Rockland County border, sources with direct knowledge of the domestic violence homicide said. She'd been shot in the head, they said. Charged with murder and possession of a firearm for an unlawful pu…
Police & Fire
Update
: Woman Shot Dead At Konica Minolta HQ, Killer Surrenders In Montclair
UPDATE: An intense search for a man who authorities said shot and killed his girlfriend at their workplace in Ramsey on New Year's Eve ended when he surrendered to police, multiple law enforcement sources told Daily Voice. The body of 41-year-old Crystal (Camargo) Peterson was found shortly before 7:30 p.m. Sunday in a cafeteria area at Konica Minolta's headquarters just off Route 17 near the Rockland County border, sources with direct knowledge of the homicide said. She'd been shot in the head, they said. Charged with murder and possession of a firearm for an unlawful purpose was Lui…
Police & Fire
Update
: Car Thieves In Fiery Utility Pole Crash That Closed Route 17 Are Both 15
The driver and passenger in a stolen Range Rover that hit a utility pole, rolled over and ignited a cluster of fires during a pre-dawn police chase Friday on Route 17 are both 15-year-old juveniles from Newark, authorities said. The Range Rover and a silver Porsche Panamera were both stolen from the garage of a Carlton Road residence in Wyckoff after the thieves broke into the home and found the keys shortly before 4:30 a.m. Dec. 8, Wyckoff Police Lt. Joseph Soto said. Paramus police who heard an alert from their Wyckoff colleagues spotted both vehicles minutes later heading east on Route 4…
Police & Fire
Bergen Woman Wanted For Threatening Animal Rescue In PA Busted By Local PD In Eviction Clash
A troubled Bergen County woman wanted in Pennsylvania for harassing and threatening an animal rescue there was arrested by River Vale police during an eviction. Catherine DeLucia, 56, “was uncooperative and refused to comply” with Bergen County sheriff's officers and local police trying to remove her from the Collignon Way home, River Vale Lt. Joshua Wisse said on Friday, Nov. 17. A computer check found that DeLucia was wanted out of Snyder County, PA, on charges of making terroristic threats and repeated anonymous harassment. DeLucia has had an ongoing battle with an animal rescue that s…
Police & Fire
Gotcha
! Manhunt Ends In Out-Of-State Capture Of Accused Child Molester From Bergen County
An accused child molester from Bergen County who remained on the run for two years was captured by US Marshals in South Carolina, authorities said. Cesar de Jesus Perez Acosta, 37, of River Vale is accused of touching the pre-teen victim's breasts and vagina in October 2021, court records show. River Vale police obtained a warrant for Perez Acosta’s arrest following interviews with those present at the time of the alleged assault, a criminal complaint filed in Superior Court in Hackensack says. A DNA swab of the girl's breast provided physical evidence, the complaint says without elaborat…
Police & Fire
Charges Upgraded Against Teaneck Restaurant Manager In Double-Fatal DWI Crash
UPDATE: Authorities have upgraded charges against a Teaneck restaurant manager who they said was drunk when he slammed his speeding car into a tree, killing two of his passengers. Teddy Mejia, 32, originally was charged with death by auto following the horrific Oct. 21 crash that killed Rudy Rosales Escobar, 40, of Hasbrouck Heights, and Alexander Cosme Curruchich, 29, of Englewood. Investigators have since determined that Mejia was not only intoxicated but also speeding down Teaneck Road when his 2021 BMW M850i hit the tree – shearing off an entire limb – and rolled onto its roof near Bilt…
Police & Fire
Five Arrests Made At Dueling Protests Over Israel-Hamas War (w/
Video
)
UPDATE: Dueling protests involving more than 600 demonstrators divided over the war between Israel and Hamas outside an Englewood City Council meeting led to the arrests of five of them – all of whom are from outside the city, authorities said. Englewood Police Chief Thomas Greeley had backup from several local police departments, as well as the Bergen County Sheriff’s Office, at the gathering on Tuesday night, Oct. 24, which ended without any major incidents after he convinced the council to cut its meeting short. Both sides were at odds over a resolution approved by the City Council earl…
Police & Fire
Fairview Restaurant Owner In $90,000 Wire Transfer Scam Flees To Brazil, Returned To US
A Fairview restaurant owner who claimed to be sending wire transfers for customers to Brazil pocketed at least $90,000 before fleeing the country, authorities said. Joanistel Ramos, 59, who owns Brasil and Brazil restaurant on Anderson Avenue, stiffed at least 15 local victims out of $40,000 in wire transfers that were never sent, Fairvew Police Capt. Michael Martic said. "She basically printed out a bogus generic receipt and put the money in her pocket," the captain said. Ramos, of Cliffside Park, also defrauded a money transfer company in Newark called Lyons Express out of an additional …
Police & Fire
Misaddressed Bomb Threat Over Transgender Canadian Teacher Brings Tactical Teams To Glen Rock
A misdirected bomb threat intended for a school more than 600 miles away brought the bomb squad, K-9 unit and SWAT team to Glen Rock on Tuesday. A Central School in Hamilton, Ontario, apparently was the intended target of an email directed to the school of the same name in Glen Rock, borough Police Chief Dean Ackermann said on Sept. 26. No fewer than six schools in the Hamilton-Wentworth district in Ontario reported receiving an unrelenting string of threats that began late last week. Their Central School wasn’t one of them, however. Not taking any chances, the Glen Rock police chief sum…
Police & Fire
NY Dental Hygienist Who Traveled To Bergen To Meet Child For Sex Could Be Freed Next Summer
UPDATE: A dental hygienist who was arrested in Bergen County after coming from Rockland to meet what he thought was a 14-year-old girl was sent to state prison for what could be less than a year. Dariush Ghamarnezhad, 42, of Pomona was among 16 men from Bergen, Passaic, Rockland and Westchester counties who were busted by authorities during a five-day 2019 sting operation dubbed “Operation Home Alone." Various law enforcement agencies united to nab men who they said tried to lure youngsters into sex through social media. Just about all of them were arrested when they showed up at a residen…
Police & Fire
Multi-Million-Dollar Bergen Home Burglary: Three Captured In Celebrity Neighborhood Break-In
Law enforcers from several agencies helped capture a burglary trio from Delaware who authorities said targeted a multi-million-dollar home in an exclusive Bergen County neighborhood. It was shortly before 4:30 a.m. Thursday, Aug. 24, when the burglars apparently found an unlocked rear door to the Timberline Drive home off Route 9W in Alpine, in an area where Chris Rock, Lil Kim and other celebrities own estates. Police from surrounding towns, Bergen County sheriff's officers and others quickly converged on New Jersey's most affluent suburb, and the Delaware trio were all soon in custody. E…
Police & Fire
10 Packed Into Pickup Chased Down By Police, Rush-Hour Traffic Stopped On GS Parkway
Nearly a dozen people packed into a pickup truck stopped weekend rush-hour traffic on the Garden State Parkway after they tried to run from a brigade of area police. A few in the group of mostly juveniles were reportedly seen dashing north on the southbound Parkway toward the New York State border before police nabbed them shortly after 4:30 p.m. Friday, Aug. 18. Montvale police seized two adults and eight minors with help from New Jersey State Police, Bergen County sheriff's officers and colleagues from Park Ridge, Saddle River, Upper Saddle River and Woodcliff Lake, Montvale Police C…
Police & Fire
Drug
Fraud
: Crimebusters Smash Statewide NJ Ring That Stole, Forged Prescriptions For Codeine
An elaborate drug fraud ring operating in more than half the counties in New Jersey stole doctors’ prescription pads as part of a scheme to stock up on opioid-boosted cough syrup, authorities charged. Medical offices in various parts of the state – including Wayne, Morristown and Bridgewater – were broken into by Divinete Jeffries, 30, of East Orange, Attorney General Matthew Platkin said. Jefferies snatched prescription pads that were then forged and given to accomplices who submitted them to various pharmacies using stolen IDs and bogus driver’s licenses, according to an indictment return…
Police & Fire
ICE Looks To Deport Laborer Charged With Decade-Long Child Sex Abuse In Bergen, At Jersey Shore
For more than a decade, a laborer believed to living in the U.S. illegally sexually abused a child in Bergen County and at the Jersey Shore, authorities said Monday. Federal authorities have placed a detainer on Jonan Pascasio-Erazo, a 46-year-old Salvadoran national living in Waldwick, who was jailed late last week. Pascasio-Erazo sexually assaulted the victim in Waldwick, Mahwah and Belmar multiple times, beginning in 2012, up until his arrest, Bergen County Prosecutor Mark Musella said. Waldwick police notified detectives from Musella’s Special Victims Unit of the disclosure on Friday, …
Police & Fire
Civilians, Police Need Decon After Officer Dispenses Pepper Spray In Dispute At Bergen Lake
Nearly a dozen people had to be treated at a Bergen County lake after a sheriff's officer responding to a dispute dispensed pepper spray, authorities said. It began when one group of mostly juvenile lake-goers at Darlington County Park got into an argument that somehow involved another group. Because Darlington is a county park, Bergen County Sheriff Anthony Cureton has officers stationed there during peak hours. His officers responded to the dispute and summoned Mahwah police. The incident on Saturday, July 15, began when one group of mostly juvenile lake-goers at Darlington County P…
Police & Fire
Couple From PA Charged In Computer Repair Scam That Conned Victims In NJ, Elsewhere
A Pennsylvania man whose wife was charged with a computer scam that allowed her to siphon money out of unsuspecting victims’ accounts had a similar scheme going, Bergen County authorities announced. Kuleep Sethi, 66, was arrested by detectives from the Bergen County Prosecutor’s Office on theft, conspiracy and money laundering charges earlier this week -- five months after they busted his wife, Mona, for the same thing. The Furlong, PA couple scammed victims not only in New Jersey but throughout the world, Bergen County Prosecutor Mark Musella said. The thieves “created the belief that vic…
Police & Fire
Heartless
: 19 Catalytic Converters Swiped From Vehicles Serving Bergen Seniors, Disabled, More
A pair of heartless thieves from Pennsylvania stole 19 catalytic converters from a lot off Route 17 packed with vehicles used to help seniors, the disabled and frail Bergen County residents get around, authorities said. Detectives grabbed one of them – identified as Noe Gabriel Hernandez, 24, Bergen County Prosecutor Mark Musella said. The other, Juan Rosario, 25, was being sought, he said on Tuesday, June 27. The unemployed thieves swiped 17 of the devices from county-owned vehicles parked in the Division of Community Transportation lot on Essex Street in Lodi on March 20, the prosecutor …
Police & Fire
Garfield Shooting: Repeat Offender From Elmwood Park Charged With Attempted Murder Of JC Man
UPDATE: Bergen County prosecutor’s detectives seized a repeat offender from Elmwood Park who they said shot a 26-year-old Jersey City man several times in a Garfield shopping center parking lot this past weekend. Joshua Casiano, 29, was already wanted on warrants out of Passaic and Clifton, records show, when investigators said he shot the victim and left him behind the Citizens Bank branch at the Mill Shoppes of Garfield just off River Drive late Sunday, June 18. The victim survived the 11:45 p.m. shooting and was reported by Bergen County Prosecutor Mark Musella to be in stable condition…
Police & Fire
Watch
: Park Ridge Special Officer Snatches Child Before She's Pinned By Moving Car (Video)
It happened in a blink. A young Park Ridge schoolgirl had just emerged from an SUV and was behind the vehicle as the driver put it into reverse. Fortunately, the child had a guardian angel -- Mike Stallone, a special law enforcement officer with the Park Ridge Police Department who'd just been assigned to West Ridge Elementary School. Stallone rushed forward and scooped up the youngster before she could be crushed between two vehicles, Capt. Joseph Rampolla said. A surveillance camera captured the moment (click below). Police and school districts have been working together to assign…
Police & Fire
Chopped
: Passaic, Bergen Garages Doubled As Destinations For Stolen Vehicles, Authorities Say
A group of towing and mechanic business owners in Bergen and Passaic had a lucrative moonlighting operation going before New Jersey State Police shut them down, authorities said. Workers at the off-hour chop shops in Paterson, Passaic and Elmwood Park altered stolen vehicles for resale and disassembled others to be sold as parts, state authorities said on Friday, June 2. Fourteen people in all were arrested during quick-strike raids last week by the NJSP, assisted by the Passaic County Sheriff’s Office, Paterson police and several other local, county and federal law enforcement agencies. R…
Police & Fire
14-Year-Old Little Ferry Boy, Companion Charged With Attempted Murder In Moonachie Shooting
UPDATE: Two youths – one 14, the other 15 – were charged with attempted murder and other crimes after the younger one fired a gunshot at three teens in Moonachie, authorities said. The Little Ferry boy was on a bicycle with the older borough teen when he fired at the trio near the corner of Edstan Drive and Rooney Place shortly before 7:30 p.m. late last week, Moonachie Chief Richard Behrens said. Sgt. Victor Migliorino heard the shot and raced to the scene, where a vehicle had been struck and a shell casing was recovered, the chief said. An investigation into the planned May 25 incident l…
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