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GOTCHA! Gunman Who Carjacked Couple Captured Thanks To Police Drone: NJ Authorities GOTCHA! Gunman Who Carjacked Couple Captured Thanks To Police Drone: NJ Authorities
Gotcha! Gunman Who Carjacked Couple Captured Thanks To Police Drone: NJ Authorities A gunman who carjacked a couple waiting to pick up food outside an Elizabeth restaurant was captured by police thanks to a Newark police drone that followed their Mercedes to Jersey City, authorities said. Rahmel Belle, 22, of Jersey City, and another man were both wearing masks when they got out of a car behind the couple on Morris Avenue around 7:30 p.m. this past April 23, Acting New Jersey Attorney General Matthew J. Platkin said. Pointing a grey handgun with a laser at them, Belle ordered the victims out of the Mercedes and took their keys, cellphones and other valuables – as well as $…

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by Jerry DeMarco
News
Ex-Con Fugitive From NJ Caught With Guns, Drugs, Ammo Faces Lengthy Federal Prison Stretch Ex-Con Fugitive From NJ Caught With Guns, Drugs, Ammo Faces Lengthy Federal Prison Stretch
Ex-Con Fugitive From NJ Caught With Guns, Drugs, Ammo Faces Lengthy Federal Prison Stretch Cedric Lewis had been out of state prison all of two months when detectives from the Essex County Sheriff's Office learned that he'd armed himself with a rifle, two pistols and a pair of extended magazines while selling heroin and cocaine. With the heat on, the Bloomfield ex-con headed south. Three months later, deputy U.S. marshals in Atlanta had him in custody. Lewis, 29, will be headed to federal prison for a much longer stretch than before after taking a deal from the government. Lewis pleaded guilty via videoconference with a federal judge in Newark on Thursday, July 28,  to two …

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
Trio Arrested With Fentanyl, Cocaine, Heroin On Jersey Shore Trio Arrested With Fentanyl, Cocaine, Heroin On Jersey Shore
Trio Arrested With Fentanyl, Cocaine, Heroin On Jersey Shore Brick police arrested three men on multiple drug possession and dealing charges. On Monday, July 18, at 7:30 p.m., Street Crimes Unit detectives stopped a vehicle being operated by Ricardo Calderon, 43, of Elizabeth. The stop was related to an investigation into illicit activity on Homestead Drive, police said.  Detectives found approximately 100 Fentanyl pills, 9 grams of cocaine and over 100 wax folds containing heroin. In addition to the drugs, a large, undisclosed amount of cash was discovered, police said. Residents of the address on Homestead Drive, Frank Russo Jr., …

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by Jon Craig
Police & Fire
Toddlers Among 7 Hurt In Serious Chain-Reaction Crash On Route 78: State Police (UPDATE) Toddlers Among 7 Hurt In Serious Chain-Reaction Crash On Route 78: State Police (UPDATE)
Toddlers Among 7 Hurt In Serious Chain-Reaction Crash On Route 78: State Police (Update) Two toddlers were among the seven victims hurt in a serious chain-reaction crash on Route 78, state police confirmed. The crash occurred in the eastbound lanes near milepost 7.2 in Bloomsbury around 4:25 p.m. on Monday, July 25, NJSP Trooper Charles Marchan told DailyVoice.com. A 2007 Freightliner pulling a utility trailer was heading east in the center lane in front of a Toyota Camry, which was in front of a Mazda CX-5, Marchan said. Meanwhile, a Kia Sorrento was in the left lane alongside the 2007 Freightliner, which also had a 2015 Freightliner box truck to its right. A 2019 Kentworth…

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by Valerie Musson
Police & Fire
Elizabeth Teen Boy Drowns In Delaware River Elizabeth Teen Boy Drowns In Delaware River
Elizabeth Teen Boy Drowns In Delaware River The body of an Elizabeth teen was recovered from the Delaware River Sunday, July 24, officials said. Divers recovered the boy's body at about 3:30 p.m., approximately an hour and 15 minutes after witnesses saw him go under near the Ames-Jennings site in the Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area, the NPS said in a news release. The boy — swimming at a small picnic area on the New Jersey side of the river, was not wearing a life jacket, officials said. “Our hearts and our deepest sympathies go out to the family and friends of the victims of these tragic incidents,” NPS dive t…

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by Cecilia Levine
Police & Fire
Police ID Boy, Woman Killed In Capsized Boat On Hudson River (PHOTOS) Police ID Boy, Woman Killed In Capsized Boat On Hudson River (PHOTOS)
Police ID Boy, Woman Killed In Capsized Boat On Hudson River (Photos) Authorities have identified the 7-year-old boy and 47-year-old woman killed when the boat they were on capsized on the Hudson River. Julian Vasquez and Lindelia Vasquez along with a group of about a dozen family members were on the boat named Stimulus Money in Elizabeth, NJ  when it overturned on Manhattan's West Side Tuesday, July 12, abc7 reports.  Lindelia worked at Canela's Bar and Restaurant on North Broad Street in Elizabeth, friends tell CBS. Two other passengers were reported in critical condition and a third was said to be critical but stable. Julian and Lindelia were rushed t…

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by Cecilia Levine
News
Young Ex-Cons Nabbed In Elizabeth Taxi Driver Shooting Charged Federally Young Ex-Cons Nabbed In Elizabeth Taxi Driver Shooting Charged Federally
Young Ex-Cons Nabbed In Elizabeth Taxi Driver Shooting Charged Federally Two ex-cons seized in the shooting of a taxi driver during a late-night robbery in Elizabeth were identified by federal authorities on Tuesday. City police nabbed Naeem Jackson, 22, of East Orange, and Walter Williams-Lang, 20, of Elizabeth, but the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Newark took the case because of the government’s ability to secure much harsher penalties than under state law. Both Jackson and Williams-Lang were wearing dark clothing and masks over their faces when they entered the cabbie's minivan shortly after 4:30 a.m., U.S. Attorney Philip R. Sellinger said. Williams-Lang point…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
Texas Driver Who Killed Man On Garden State Parkway Was Wanted In 2014 Hit-Run: Police Texas Driver Who Killed Man On Garden State Parkway Was Wanted In 2014 Hit-Run: Police
Texas Driver Who Killed Man On Garden State Parkway Was Wanted In 2014 Hit-Run: Police A 31-year-old Texas driver who struck and killed an Elizabeth man walking on the Garden State Parkway last month had a warrant stemming from a similar incident in 2014, said arresting authorities. Fornice Cary Boatner 3rd was operating a 2007 silver Dodge Ram with a temporary Texas license plate when he struck Felipe Dos-Santos, 31, on the Parkway at milepost 130.4 in Woodbridge on May 22, around 1 a.m. — then fled the scene, said New Jersey State Police alongside the Liberty County Sheriff's Office. Boatner fled the scene and Santos' body was found in a ditch three days later, police …

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by Cecilia Levine
News
Ex-BF Gets Plea-Bargained 30 Years For Killing NJ Mom, Abducting Son Ex-BF Gets Plea-Bargained 30 Years For Killing NJ Mom, Abducting Son
Ex-BF Gets Plea-Bargained 30 Years For Killing NJ Mom, Abducting Son UPDATE: A New Jersey man who admitted killing his former girlfriend, kidnapping their young son and fleeing to Tennessee last summer was sentenced to a plea-bargained 30 years in state prison, authorities said. Tyler Rios, 28, must serve 25½ years before he’ll be eligible for parole under the deal brokered with the Union County Prosecutor’s Office for killing 24-year-old Yasemin Uyar, taking his son with him as he drove her body to Tennessee in the trunk of her car and dumping the corpse in a field there on July 8, 2021. That means he’d still be in his early 50s when he’s eventually releas…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
Pedestrian Struck Dead By Hit-Run Car On Garden State Parkway Pedestrian Struck Dead By Hit-Run Car On Garden State Parkway
Pedestrian Struck Dead By Hit-Run Car On Garden State Parkway New Jersey State Police seek the public’s help with a fatal hit-and-run crash on the Garden State Parkway that killed a 31-year-old pedestrian from Elizabeth last week. Based on the preliminary investigation, detectives determined that at approximately 12:45 a.m. on May 25, Felipe Dos Santos was walking northbound on the shoulder of the parkway hear milepost 130.4 in Woodbridge Township, according to New Jersey State Police. He was struck by a vehicle that fled the scene after the crash and continued traveling north, State Police said. As a result, Dos Santos sustained fatal injuries, they …

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by Jon Craig
Police & Fire
Fatal Hit-Run Pedestrian Crash Investigated On Garden State Parkway: NJSP Fatal Hit-Run Pedestrian Crash Investigated On Garden State Parkway: NJSP
Fatal Hit-Run Pedestrian Crash Investigated On Garden State Parkway: Njsp New Jersey State Police seek the public's help with a fatal hit-and-run pedestrian crash that took place along the Garden State Parkway. Troop “D” Criminal Investigation Office is investigating the crash which occurred on the northbound parkway at milepost 130.4 in Woodbridge Township, a New Jersey State Police spokeswoman said Thursday, May 26. The crash occurred at 1:05 a.m. on Sunday, May 22, Trooper Brandi Slota said. The victim is a 31-year-old man from Elizabeth, she said. His name has not been released. The crash remains under investigation and there is no additional information a…

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by Jon Craig
Police & Fire
Nine Illegal Firearms, Heroin Seized In Newark Busts: Police Nine Illegal Firearms, Heroin Seized In Newark Busts: Police
Nine Illegal Firearms, Heroin Seized In Newark Busts: Police Seven people were arrested and nine illegal firearms were seized in four days in an ongoing gun operation in Newark, authorities said. The nine illegal handguns, recovered since Friday, April 29, bring the city's total gun recoveries in 2022 to 251 — a 54 percent increase over the same period a year ago, Newark Public Safety Director Brian A. O’Hara said. On Monday, May 2, 2022, police arrested Darrell Hodges, 27, and James Hailey, 41, both of Newark, in separate incidents, O'Hara said.  Police received a Crime Stoppers tip about a man with a firearm in area of Bergen and West Ru…

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by Cecilia Levine