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Police & Fire
Carlstadt Police Capture Freed Newark Ex-Con, 55, After Home Burglary Carlstadt Police Capture Freed Newark Ex-Con, 55, After Home Burglary
Carlstadt Police Capture Freed Newark Ex-Con, 55, After Home Burglary Carlstadt police chased down an ex-con from Newark and were searching for an accomplice after both climbed through a resident’s window, ransacked a bedroom and bolted out the back door, authorities said. Neighbors alerted police to the break-in on the 400 block of 8th Street, Police Chief Thomas Berta said. Lt. Thomas Negro and Officers James Ross and Matthew Smith quickly assembled a perimeter with help from East Rutherford police, Berta said. Ross and Smith captured one of the suspected burglars, Jose Andujar, 55, as he tried to flee through a Division Avenue backyard, the chief said. …

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
Authorities: Retired Jersey City Police Officer Kills Himself In Hasbrouck Heights Home Authorities: Retired Jersey City Police Officer Kills Himself In Hasbrouck Heights Home
Authorities: Retired Jersey City Police Officer Kills Himself In Hasbrouck Heights Home A distraught retired Jersey City police officer shot and killed himself in his Hasbrouck Heights home Thursday night, authorities confirmed. The 50-something man’s wife called police and met them outside the Lawrence Avenue house, saying he had a handgun and was threatening to kill himself, shortly after 5:30 p.m. When efforts to reach him failed, borough police called for the Bergen County Regional SWAT team and Crisis Negotiation Unit. After additional attempts at contact also failed, the SWAT team broke in and found him dead of a single gunshot wound to the head, with a handgun nearby, …

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
Authorities: Released Porch Pirates Rob Bicyclist On Hackensack Street Authorities: Released Porch Pirates Rob Bicyclist On Hackensack Street
Authorities: Released Porch Pirates Rob Bicyclist On Hackensack Street Two men charged with stealing dozens of packages from residents' porches in several Bergen County towns robbed a bicyclist on a Hackensack street the same day they were released from custody, authorities said Wednesday. Rochelle Park police last Friday captured Kelvin Hernandez Brioso and Francisco Castillo Rodriguez, both 22 of Hackensack, following a string of package thefts. They sent both to the Bergen County Jail, only to have a judge release them following a detention hearing, authorities said. Just after 8:40 p.m. that same day, Brioso and Rodriguez grabbed an adult bicyclist near …

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
IT'S OVER: Rochelle Park Detectives Nab Accused Porch Pirates, Recover 32 Packages From Pickup IT'S OVER: Rochelle Park Detectives Nab Accused Porch Pirates, Recover 32 Packages From Pickup
IT'S Over: Rochelle Park Detectives Nab Accused Porch Pirates, Recover 32 Packages From Pickup Spotting what had become a notorious white pickup truck, a Hackensack special police officer helped Rochelle Park detectives nab three accused porch pirates who they said snatched packages from residents in several Bergen County towns. They also found 32 stolen packages in the bed and cab of the 2015 Ford F-150. Rochelle Park Dispatcher Mike Columbini, who is also a Special Police Officer 2 in Hackensack, alerted Detective Sgt. James DePreta to the vehicle, which parked on a Hackensack street. He noticed its distinct window vent guards, tinted windows and a sticker on the front A-pillar t…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
ON THE LOOKOUT: Porch Pirates Swipe Packages In Several Bergen County Towns ON THE LOOKOUT: Porch Pirates Swipe Packages In Several Bergen County Towns
ON THE Lookout: Porch Pirates Swipe Packages In Several Bergen County Towns Police in several Bergen County towns were looking for a white pickup truck that victims in at least six towns say was involved in pirating packages from their porches. A Hasbrouck Heights resident said a thief stole a large box containing a chair that she and her husband bought for their children (see photos below). “It’s not even about the chair but more of a violation,” she said. Residents say the same new, white Ford F-150 was at the scene of similar thefts in Hackensack, Lyndhurst, Maywood and Rochelle Park, as well as in Nutley (the truck can be seen in the video above). The packag…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
Body Dumped Off Route 17? Nope Body Dumped Off Route 17? Nope
Body Dumped Off Route 17? Nope A report of a body possibly dumped off Route 17 drew responders' attention around noontime Wednesday, but it turned out bogus, authorities said. A woman approached a Hasbrouck Heights police lieutenant on a traffic detail and said she'd seen what she thought was a suspicious incident near North Williams Avenue. Someone apparently had tossed a shopping bag near the train tracks off the highway. Social media being what it is, rumors grew of a possible body, so borough police summoned a Bergen County sheriff's K9. New Jersey Transit police also responded. It turned out to be "one of those pl…

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by Jerry DeMarco
News
24 Hour Fitness Closing 7 New Jersey Gyms 24 Hour Fitness Closing 7 New Jersey Gyms
24 Hour Fitness Closing 7 New Jersey Gyms 24 Hour Fitness will be closing seven gyms across North Jersey amid the coronavirus pandemic. The company in a statement Monday said it filed for voluntary Chapter 11 bankruptcy and will be closing 130 locations across the U.S. Among them are ones in Jersey City, Hasbrouck Heights, Piscataway, Saddle Brook, Wayne, Whippany and Woodbrige. "Removing these financial and operational constraints allows us to focus entirely on transforming our business and the club experience for the better," the chain said.  "We will have the financial flexibility and resources to upgrade equipment and ex…

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by Cecilia Levine
Police & Fire
Firefighters Douse Hackensack Apartment Blaze Firefighters Douse Hackensack Apartment Blaze
Firefighters Douse Hackensack Apartment Blaze Firefighters doused a roaring garden apartment blaze before dawn Saturday. City firefighters had to cut a fence behind the Main Street apartments and enter the property through the Target parking lot to conduct searches and ventilate the roof after the blaze broke out around 1:15 a.m. Firefighters extinguished heavy flames that shot out the window on the first floor and extended to the second. The two-alarm fire was knocked down within 25 minutes and declared under control within an hour. Three minor injuries were reported, including one involving a firefighter who responders said had dif…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
Fire Blows Through Roof Of Moonachie Home Fire Blows Through Roof Of Moonachie Home
Fire Blows Through Roof Of Moonachie Home Flames blew through the roof of a Moonachie home early Monday evening. The call for what began as a two-alarm blaze on Joseph Street was called in at 4:50 p.m. No injuries were immediately reported. Assisting their Moonachie colleagues at the scene or in coverage were firefighters from Carlstadt, Hasbrouck Heights, Little Ferry, South Hackensack and Wood-Ridge.

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
Hasbrouck Heights Professor Accused Of Attempted St. Patrick's Arson Dies In Verrazano Leap Hasbrouck Heights Professor Accused Of Attempted St. Patrick's Arson Dies In Verrazano Leap
Hasbrouck Heights Professor Accused Of Attempted St. Patrick's Arson Dies In Verrazano Leap A philosophy professor from Hasbrouck Heights who authorities said planned to burn down St. Patrick's Cathedral died by suicide last week, nearly a month after being released from Rikers Island amid the coronavirus outbreak. A judge ordered Marc Lamparello, 38, to participate in an outpatient program at Bergen New Bridge Medical Center after releasing him on March 20 as part of an effort to stem the rapid spread of COVID-19 through the city jail system. Lamparello jumped from Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge last Friday, a week after police prevented a similar suicide try at the George Washington …

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
SEEN HIM? Ex-Con Sought After Hackensack Stolen Car Pursuit Ends In Crash SEEN HIM? Ex-Con Sought After Hackensack Stolen Car Pursuit Ends In Crash
Seen HIM? Ex-Con Sought After Hackensack Stolen Car Pursuit Ends In Crash A manhunt was under way for an ex-con with a 25-year criminal history who crashed a stolen car twice while being pursued by Hackensack police Thursday morning. Antonio Singletary, 48, was behind the wheel of a 2017 Lincoln MKZ that Officer Frank McCall tried to pull over shortly before 9 a.m., Detective Capt. Darrin DeWitt said. Singletary hit the gas instead, speeding off south on Polifly Road before the sedan knocked down a light pole and kept going as he tried to make a left onto eastbound Route 80, the captain said. Singletary then tried to merge onto northbound Route 17, but…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
UPDATE: High-Speed Mahwah Pursuit Down Route 17 Ends In Crash, Arrest Of Career Burglar UPDATE: High-Speed Mahwah Pursuit Down Route 17 Ends In Crash, Arrest Of Career Burglar
Update: High-Speed Mahwah Pursuit Down Route 17 Ends In Crash, Arrest Of Career Burglar A high-speed Mahwah police pursuit ended in a crash and the arrest of a career burglar on Route 17 in Ramsey late Sunday, authorities said. Township police responding to an 11:15 p.m. call arrived as Mark C. Todd, 46, of Hackensack from Janek’s Market-Deli on Ramapo Valley Road (Route 202). Officer Martin Kilroy ordered him to stop, but Todd ran to a 1988 Oldsmobile parked on Reich Avenue and drove off on Ramapo Valley Road, nearly hitting a police cruiser driven by Officer Keith Iorio, Police Chief Stephen Jaffe said. A brief high-speed chase followed at speeds reportedly over 100 miles …

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by Jerry DeMarco