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Vernon Township, NJ

Police & Fire
Paterson Officers Charged With Covering For NYPD Captain Indicted For Brutally Beating Woman Paterson Officers Charged With Covering For NYPD Captain Indicted For Brutally Beating Woman
Paterson Officers Charged With Covering For Nypd Captain Indicted For Brutally Beating Woman UPDATE: The other shoe finally dropped with the arrests of three Paterson police officers in connection with what authorities said was the kidnapping and brutal beating of an off-duty female NYPD commander from New Jersey by a fellow captain she'd been dating. Giuseppe Ciarla, Juan Cruz-Fernandez and Jason Schmid let then-NYPD Capt. Hariton Marachilian leave after finding the victim with clearly visible injuries from a vicious beating outside a Paterson restaurant in December 2022, Passaic County Prosecutor Camelia M. Valdes said. Marachilian and the female captain had been out to dinner wi…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
Tense Standoff Ends Safely After Military Vet Pulls Knife On Police At North Jersey Resort Tense Standoff Ends Safely After Military Vet Pulls Knife On Police At North Jersey Resort
Tense Standoff Ends Safely After Military Vet Pulls Knife On Police At North Jersey Resort A potential tragedy was avoided when Vernon Township police safely disarmed a troubled military veteran from New York who pulled a knife on them at the Crystal Springs Resort. Police were called after witnesses said the man had been sharpening the knife and "acting erratically" at the pool bar in the Minerals Hotel shortly before 2 p.m. Saturday, March 9. He'd also apparently told an employee that he has PTSD. The first officer there cleared the area after finding him, township police said. An off-duty officer and backups from surrounding towns quickly joined him, they said. The man refu…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
𝗨𝗣𝗗𝗔𝗧𝗘: More Than 90 Dogs, Pups Removed From NJ Home, Couple Charged 𝗨𝗣𝗗𝗔𝗧𝗘: More Than 90 Dogs, Pups Removed From NJ Home, Couple Charged
𝗨𝗣𝗗𝗔𝗧𝗘: More Than 90 Dogs, Pups Removed From NJ Home, Couple Charged UPDATE: The ASPCA said on Wednesday that it helped remove more than 90 adult dogs and puppies from the Sussex County home of a self-described animal rescue couple who were charged with multiple cruelty-related counts. Two dogs were found dead during a 7 a.m. raid at a Vernon Township home led by the Sussex County Prosecutor’s Office on Tuesday, Feb. 20, authorities reported. Both Gizela Juric, who founded the Angels for Animals Network in Cliffside Park before moving it to Sussex County, and her boyfriend, Ronald Colgan, were charged with six criminal animal cruelty accounts, the American S…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
'Unfed, Unhealthy & Dirty': More Than 90 Dogs, Pups Removed From Sussex Home, Couple Charged 'Unfed, Unhealthy & Dirty': More Than 90 Dogs, Pups Removed From Sussex Home, Couple Charged
'Unfed, Unhealthy & Dirty': More Than 90 Dogs, Pups Removed From Sussex Home, Couple Charged UPDATE: The ASPCA said on Wednesday that it helped remove more than 90 adult dogs and puppies from the Sussex County home of a self-described animal couple who were charged with multiple cruelty-related counts. Two dogs were found dead during a 7 a.m. raid at a Vernon Township home led by the Sussex County Prosecutor’s Office on Tuesday, Feb. 20, authorities reported. Both Gizela Juric, who founded the Angels for Animals Network in Cliffside Park before moving it to Sussex County, and her boyfriend, Ronald Colgan, were charged with six criminal animal cruelty accounts, the American Soc…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
AGGRAVATED MANSLAUGHTER: Husband Jailed In Shooting Death Of Beloved Bergen Police Officer AGGRAVATED MANSLAUGHTER: Husband Jailed In Shooting Death Of Beloved Bergen Police Officer
Aggravated Manslaughter: Husband Jailed In Shooting Death Of Beloved Bergen Police Officer UPDATE: A retired Tenafly police officer has been charged with aggravated manslaughter in the shooting death of his husband, last month in their Sussex County home, Daily Voice has learned. Joseph Grieco, 37, remained held in the Morris County Correctional Facility in Morristown in connection with the July 26 death of retired NYPD Officer John Kelly, who had deep ties in Bergen County. The single aggravated manslaughter charge cites an "extreme indifference to human life." Under New Jersey law, that means the defendant didn't set out to kill the victim but acted in such a reckless and unr…

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by Jerry DeMarco
News
Beloved Retired Police Officer From Bergen Dies In 'Freak Accident' In Sussex County Beloved Retired Police Officer From Bergen Dies In 'Freak Accident' In Sussex County
Beloved Retired Police Officer From Bergen Dies In 'Freak Accident' In Sussex County A retired New York City police officer with deep ties in Bergen County died in what his husband called "a freak accident" in Sussex County. John Kelly and fellow retired Tenafly Police Officer Joseph Grieco had bought a plot of land less than 100 yards from the New York State border in Glenwood, an unincorporated area within Vernon Township. They were building a new home there and had taken an apartment nearby in the meantime, those who knew them said. Vernon Township police were called to the residence around 1 a.m. last Wednesday, July 26, "for a discharge of a weapon with injuries," th…

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by Jerry DeMarco
News
BETRAYER OF THE BADGE: NJ Officer Admits Using Authority On Duty To Pressure Women Into Sex BETRAYER OF THE BADGE: NJ Officer Admits Using Authority On Duty To Pressure Women Into Sex
Betrayer OF THE Badge: NJ Officer Admits Using Authority On Duty To Pressure Women Into Sex UPDATE: A Vernon Township police officer who was accused of groping a Bergen County woman during a domestic violence call admitted abusing his authority on duty to force women to submit to his sexual advances. Emanuel Rivera, 38, acknowledged the “imbalance of power” between him and the women he was hitting on, New Jersey Attorney General Matthew J. Platkin and Acting Sussex County Prosecutor Annmarie Taggart said in a joint statement. This left them unable to consent, he admitted, because of the “coercive, intimidating nature of such requests” coming from a uniformed police officer," the s…

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by Jerry DeMarco
News
SENTENCED: Drugged Driver In Gas Station Crash That Killed 3 Could Be Out In 22½ Years SENTENCED: Drugged Driver In Gas Station Crash That Killed 3 Could Be Out In 22½ Years
Sentenced: Drugged Driver In Gas Station Crash That Killed 3 Could Be Out In 22½ Years UPDATE: A drug-addicted Sussex County driver who killed a father, son and gas station attendant in a horrific crash on Route 23 in Wayne three years ago was sentenced to a plea-bargained 25½ years without parole in state prison. Jason Vanderee, 32, of Vernon Township, apologized to the survivors during his sentencing in Superior Court in Paterson on Thursday, March 3. His mother also begged for leniency. Superior Judge Marilyn C. Clark held fast to the terms of the plea deal, saying that she hoped it would “bring some degree of justice to the families who have suffered such grievous lo…

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by Jerry DeMarco
News
Drugged Driver Takes Plea In Route 23 Gas Station Crash That Killed Dad, Teenage Son, Attendant Drugged Driver Takes Plea In Route 23 Gas Station Crash That Killed Dad, Teenage Son, Attendant
Drugged Driver Takes Plea In Route 23 Gas Station Crash That Killed Dad, Teenage Son, Attendant UPDATE: A drug-addicted Sussex County driver who killed a father, son and gas station attendant in a horrific crash on Route 23 in Wayne two years ago will be sentenced to a minimum of 25½ years without parole after pleading guilty Friday to three counts of aggravated manslaughter, authorities said. Jason Vanderee, 29, told a state judge in Paterson that he’d used heroin and fentanyl in combination with other drugs when he blacked out behind the wheel on Feb. 19, 2019. Jon Warbeck, a former Carlstadt firefighter from Fair Lawn and his 17-year-old son, Luke, of Lincoln Park, had stopped for…

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by Jerry DeMarco
News
Indictment Returned Against Sussex Officer Accused Of Groping Woman, Pursuing Others On Duty Indictment Returned Against Sussex Officer Accused Of Groping Woman, Pursuing Others On Duty
Indictment Returned Against Sussex Officer Accused Of Groping Woman, Pursuing Others On Duty A former Paterson police officer who’s accused of groping a Bergen County woman during a domestic call with another department is also charged with using his authority to get other women’s phone numbers, authorities said. Emanuel Rivera, 37, was a Vernon Township police officer when he met the woman while responding to a May 11, 2019 domestic violence call at her then-boyfriend’s home, Acting New Jersey Attorney General Andrew J. Bruck said. She told him and other responding officers that she intended to spend the night at a friend’s house but then opted to sleep in her car near there when …

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by Jerry DeMarco
News
Injured EMT Settles Suit Against Mountain Creek For $1.75 Million Injured EMT Settles Suit Against Mountain Creek For $1.75 Million
Injured EMT Settles Suit Against Mountain Creek For $1.75 Million An EMT who was injured in a fall while working at Mountain Creek reportedly settled a lawsuit against the resort for $1.75 million. Frank Villecco was working for Atlantic Health, which provided emergency medical services to the Vernon Township resort, when he slipped on water while bringing an injured skier into a medical room in March 2013, New Jersey Law Journal reported. Villecco suffered a herniated disc, which required fusion surgery, a spinal cord stimulator implant and pain medication for what became a chronic condition, his lawyer said. He sued Mountain Creek for not removing the …

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
NJ Police Officer Who Shot Loose Dog Accused Of Sex Crime Against Domestic Assault Victim NJ Police Officer Who Shot Loose Dog Accused Of Sex Crime Against Domestic Assault Victim
NJ Police Officer Who Shot Loose Dog Accused Of Sex Crime Against Domestic Assault Victim Authorities have charged a North Jersey police officer with illegally touching a woman while responding to domestic violence call.  Vernon Township Officer Emanuel Rivera was responding to an early-morning incident on May 11, 2019, when he tracked down a female subject who was asked to leave the house and "engaged in illegal sexual contact through coercive means," Sussex County Prosecutor Francis A. Koch said Thursday. Rivera, 36, who was accused of shooting a loose dog last year, is charged with fourth-degree criminal sexual contact, the prosecutor said. A former six-y…

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by Cecilia Levine