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CRACKDOWN: 10 Busted, Guns, Drugs Seized, 350 Tickets Written, Cars Towed In Paterson PD Blitz CRACKDOWN: 10 Busted, Guns, Drugs Seized, 350 Tickets Written, Cars Towed In Paterson PD Blitz
Crackdown: 10 Busted, Guns, Drugs Seized, 350 Tickets Written, Cars Towed In Paterson PD Blitz Paterson police blitzed the city over the weekend, arresting 10 people, seizing two guns and nearly 1,000 heroin folds, among other drugs, and writing 349 traffic tickets as part of a crackdown on rising crime. The special ops detail “was deployed in our continued strategic response to an uptick in violent crime nationally,” city Public Safety Director Jerry Speziale said. A total of 50 criminal complaints were filed, all but two of them for drug-related offenses, Speziale said. Detectives and officers from the Ceasefire, Street Crimes, Narcotics /ABC and Traffic units were deployed along …

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by Jerry DeMarco
News
Paterson Detectives Nab Teen With Loaded Gun Paterson Detectives Nab Teen With Loaded Gun
Paterson Detectives Nab Teen With Loaded Gun Paterson detectives chased down a 17-year-old boy who was carrying a loaded handgun with a high-capacity magazine, authorities said. Investigators specifically working a “gun suppression” detail approached members of a group who were drinking and blocking the road at the corner of North Main and Arch streets shortly after 9 p.m. when the teen bolted, city Public Safety Director Jerry Speziale said. Detectives John Traynor chased the teen, who had a gun sticking from his waistband, Speziale said. He tossed it while running through the parking lot of the nearby Community Health Center just …

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by Jerry DeMarco
News
Clifton Man Gets Probation For Threatening Paterson Police Chief Over Race, Religion Clifton Man Gets Probation For Threatening Paterson Police Chief Over Race, Religion
Clifton Man Gets Probation For Threatening Paterson Police Chief Over Race, Religion UPDATE: A Clifton man who texted threats to Paterson’s first Muslim police chief because of his race, religion and nationality got plea-bargained probation. Stefan Keco, 29, who spent more than 15 months in the Passaic County Jail, also was ordered to attend counseling and to not have any contact with Chief Ibrahim Baycora, in addition to the three-year probationary sentence. Rather than face trial, Keco took a deal from prosecutors following an investigation by city police and including the FBI, Passaic County Prosecutor’s Office and other law enforcement agencies. In exchange for leni…

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by Jerry DeMarco
News
Paterson PD: West Milford Driver Who Picked Up Drug Dealer Had 11-Month-Old Child With Her Paterson PD: West Milford Driver Who Picked Up Drug Dealer Had 11-Month-Old Child With Her
Paterson PD: West Milford Driver Who Picked Up Drug Dealer Had 11-Month-Old Child With Her A suburban driver had her 11-month old infant with her when she picked up a Paterson dealer who was being followed by detectives, authorities said. Investigators who stopped the car driven by Jamie Mahon, 27, of West Milford found a crack vial near the baby, Public Safety Director Jerry Speziale said. The passenger, Glenn Urena, 38, of Paterson was carrying 50 heroin folds and 10 vials of crack, he said. Detectives raided the Urena’s Washington Street apartment -- just around the corner from City Hall -- where Speziale said they seized 970 more heroin folds, 87 crack vials and drug paraphe…

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by Jerry DeMarco
News
Clifton Man Admits Threatening Paterson Police Chief Over Race, Religion Clifton Man Admits Threatening Paterson Police Chief Over Race, Religion
Clifton Man Admits Threatening Paterson Police Chief Over Race, Religion UPDATE: A Clifton man admitted that he sent Paterson’s first Muslim police chief threatening texts because of his race, religion and nationality, authorities said. Stefan Keco, 29, told a Superior Court judge in Paterson on Monday that he sent the texts to Chief Ibrahim Baycora on Feb. 26 “with the purpose to terrorize him and in reckless disregard of the risk of causing such terror,” Passaic County Prosecutor Camelia Valdes said. Baycora had been sworn to the position only a few weeks before receiving the threats. The threats “caused a disruption to the day-to-day operations of the poli…

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by Jerry DeMarco
News
Paterson Fire Captain Rouses Sleeping Residents In Early-Morning Blaze Paterson Fire Captain Rouses Sleeping Residents In Early-Morning Blaze
Paterson Fire Captain Rouses Sleeping Residents In Early-Morning Blaze UPDATE: A Paterson fire captain got two sleeping residents to safety early Sunday before flames blew through the roof of a string of attached homes anchored by a Greek restaurant, authorities said. The fire broke between a parked van and the 2½-story, wood-frame Berkshire Street building off Union Avenue shortly before 7 a.m., Public Safety Director Jerry Speziale said. The flames "traveled through the unprotected truss flooring system" of three attached addresses and blew through the roof before they were knocked down a little under an hour later, Speziale said. Lightweight materials use…

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by Jerry DeMarco
News
HEROES: Man Rescued From Base Of Great Falls In Paterson HEROES: Man Rescued From Base Of Great Falls In Paterson
Heroes: Man Rescued From Base Of Great Falls In Paterson PHOTOS: City firefighters rescued a man from the base of the Great Falls in Paterson shortly after midnight Sunday. The rescuers used a tethered raft to row their way to the 32-year-old man, who was sitting on on the rocky island near the hydroelectric plant off McBride Avenue at Overlook Park's Lower Pavillion, city Public Safety Director Jerry Speziale said. He claimed he'd jumped from the footbridge above the falls, but that's a drop of more than seven stories. "There were no witnesses to confirm it," Speziale said. "The city recently reinvested in rescue operations with the purchase …

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by Jerry DeMarco
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WILD CHASE: Thief Fleeing Paterson PD Crashes Sedan Stolen With Kid, 5, Inside WILD CHASE: Thief Fleeing Paterson PD Crashes Sedan Stolen With Kid, 5, Inside
Wild Chase: Thief Fleeing Paterson PD Crashes Sedan Stolen With Kid, 5, Inside A 17-year-old carjacker crashed while fleeing Paterson police in a sedan that he'd just stolen with a 5-year-old child inside, authorities said. The owner had left the 2010 Nissan Altima running, with the youngster inside, in front of the Goody II Chinese and Spanish restaurant on Union Avenue around 9 p.m. Monday, Public Safety Director Jerry Speziale said. All available uniformed officers and detectives flooded the area in response to the call, Speziale said. Twenty minutes later, Lt. Louis Pacelli spotted the sedan behind Public School #5, he said. Seeing him, the teen driver hit the g…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
Indictment: Clifton Man Threatened Paterson Police Chief Over Race, Religion Indictment: Clifton Man Threatened Paterson Police Chief Over Race, Religion
Indictment: Clifton Man Threatened Paterson Police Chief Over Race, Religion UPDATE: Paterson’s first Muslim police chief wasn’t in the job long when authorities said he became the target of threatening texts from a Clifton man because of his race, religion and nationality. A grand jury in Paterson returned a terroristic threats indictment against Stefan Keco, 29, who’s been held in the Passaic County Jail since city detectives arrested and charged him more than a year ago with threatening Police Chief Ibrahim “Mike” Baycora. Baycora had been sworn to the position only a few weeks before receiving the threats, authorities said. Keco sent the texts to the chief “wit…

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by Jerry DeMarco
News
HEROES: Paterson Firefighters Rescue Dad, Daughter, 3, From Burning Building HEROES: Paterson Firefighters Rescue Dad, Daughter, 3, From Burning Building
Heroes: Paterson Firefighters Rescue Dad, Daughter, 3, From Burning Building The flames drew closer as a Paterson father held his 3-year-old daughter over the railing of a third-floor fire escape Sunday morning. Then saviors arrived. Firefighters Robert Santore and Brian Hirschmanner told the dad to hold tight, then scaled the fire escape and rescued both. Father and daughter reportedly were doing fine after an ambulance took them to St. Joseph’s Regional Medical Center during the three-alarm blaze in their three-story brick walkup on Fair Street. Two other civilians were taken to the hospital for treatment of injuries that weren’t considered life-threatening, auth…

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by Jerry DeMarco
News
FOUND! Missing Paterson Woman Home Safe After Two Weeks FOUND! Missing Paterson Woman Home Safe After Two Weeks
Found! Missing Paterson Woman Home Safe After Two Weeks A missing 20-year-old Paterson woman reportedly was home safe. "This is what community looks like," wrote Zellie Thomas, a leader of the Paterson BLM group, Wednesday morning in announcing the return of Nyrah Barner Curry. Both her father and brother confirmed her return after loved ones and others spoke at a City Council meeting about her disappearance and why they -- and not Paterson officials -- had to get the word out about her disappearance despite a missing persons report. Thomas didn't elaborate on why Curry was gone and where she'd been. Family members believed she was headed to a…

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by Jerry DeMarco
News
Detective Chase Down Paterson Teen Carrying Loaded Handgun, 170 Heroin Folds Detective Chase Down Paterson Teen Carrying Loaded Handgun, 170 Heroin Folds
Detective Chase Down Paterson Teen Carrying Loaded Handgun, 170 Heroin Folds Paterson detectives responding to a report of an armed assault chased down a teen who was carrying a loaded handgun and a 170 heroin folds, authorities said. Detectives Mohammad Bashir and Yamil Pimienta, responding to a report of a group assaulting two victims, approached a group of of four on the corner of Jefferson and North 5th Street, city Public Safety Director Jerry Speziale said. As they got out of their car, the detectives saw one hand a plastic bag to another and tell him to run. The boy, 17, tossed the bag as he ran through rear yards on North 4th Street before Detectives Musta…

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by Jerry DeMarco