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Feds: Knifepoint Robber Who Choked Out Female Harrison Cab Dispatcher Gets 9½ Years Feds: Knifepoint Robber Who Choked Out Female Harrison Cab Dispatcher Gets 9½ Years
Feds: Knifepoint Robber Who Choked Out Female Harrison Cab Dispatcher Gets 9½ Years UPDATE: An ex-con who choked out a female dispatcher while robbing a Harrison taxicab company at knifepoint was sentenced to 9½ years without parole in federal prison. Alfuquan Turner, 46, of Newark took his chances with a jury rather than take a deal from the government after he was charged with robbing the Harrison Cab Company on Frank E. Rodgers Boulevard in Sept. 2019. Turner had his face covered with a plastic bag when he demanded money from the dispatcher, who told him there wasn't any in the office, prosecutors told jurors in U.S. District Court in Newark earlier this year. Turner …

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
North Jersey Catholic School Dean Tried Meeting Teen For Sex: Prosecutor North Jersey Catholic School Dean Tried Meeting Teen For Sex: Prosecutor
North Jersey Catholic School Dean Tried Meeting Teen For Sex: Prosecutor A North Jersey high school dean of senior students has been fired after being arrested on accusations he tried meeting a teen for sex, authorities said. Didier Jean-Baptiste, 54, of Jersey City — a dean at St. Benedict’s Preparatory School in Newark — arranged to meet a person who he believed was a teen for sex in Harrison, Hudson County Prosecutor Esther Suarez said. The crimes did not involve any students, Suarez said.  Jean-Baptiste was charged with luring and child endangerment. He was arrested on Oct. 6 at his home and released on a summons. Jean-Baptiste is tentatively scheduled to a…

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by Cecilia Levine
Business
Chef Behind NYC Michelin-Starred Restaurant Expands North Jersey Viennese Bistro Chef Behind NYC Michelin-Starred Restaurant Expands North Jersey Viennese Bistro
Chef Behind NYC Michelin-Starred Restaurant Expands North Jersey Viennese Bistro A North Jersey Viennese bistro whose chef helms a Michelin-starred New York City restaurant is opening another location, JerseyDigs reports. Charley's at the Urby development in Harrison is apparently coming to Newark’s Urby development with a liquor license, the outlet said. The restaurant's chef is Kurt Gutenbrunner, the owner and executive chef of Wallsé in the West Village. View this post on Instagram A post shared by JLev (@iisjlev) Charley's originated between hospitality investor David Barry and Guternbrunner, who grew up in a small v…

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by Cecilia Levine
News
Fugitive Dubbed 'Real-Life Tony Soprano' Couldn't Hide From The Law, Even In Death Fugitive Dubbed 'Real-Life Tony Soprano' Couldn't Hide From The Law, Even In Death
Fugitive Dubbed 'Real-Life Tony Soprano' Couldn't Hide From The Law, Even In Death He was considered one of the last of the old-time mobsters, a "real-life Tony Soprano" listed as one of New Jersey's most wanted fugitives. Even six feet under, though, Tony Mota couldn't evade his pursuers. After eluding capture for nearly 25 years for a gruesome murder committed in Hudson County, Anthony Mota was found buried in the country where he was born, the Dominican Republic. Mota had been collecting debts for high-level Colombian drug dealers in New York City when he and a group of accomplices abducted a Queens man on Dec. 13, 1997, authorities said. The victim, 38-year-old …

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
One Of NJ's 'Most Wanted' Fugitives In Torture Execution Found Dead In Dominican Republic One Of NJ's 'Most Wanted' Fugitives In Torture Execution Found Dead In Dominican Republic
One Of NJ's 'Most Wanted' Fugitives In Torture Execution Found Dead In Dominican Republic One of New Jersey's most wanted fugitives in a kidnapping and execution of a Queens, NY man was found dead in the Dominican Republic, authorities announced. Anthony Mota kidnapped the victim on Dec. 12, 1997, then bound and tortured him with others for days until they got a ransom amount of $23,000 from the victim's family, United States Marshal for the District of New Jersey Juan Mattos, Jr., and NJSP Superintendent Col. Patrick J. Callahan said. Soon after, Mota took the victim to an area along Interstate 280 in Harrison, and shot him in the head and neck, ki…

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by Cecilia Levine
Police & Fire
5 Alarm Fire Tears Through Kearny Home 5 Alarm Fire Tears Through Kearny Home
5 Alarm Fire Tears Through Kearny Home A fire-alarm fire brought Hudson County firefighters o Kearny Sunday, June 26. The blaze broke out at 210 Laurel Ave. around 10:45 a.m., and was still raging as of 2 p.m. Firefighters from Jersey City, Kearny and Harrison were at the scene.

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by Cecilia Levine
Business
American Dream: Juicy Platters Expands To Paramus American Dream: Juicy Platters Expands To Paramus
American Dream: Juicy Platters Expands To Paramus Juicy Platters is expanding to Paramus. The Mediterranean-inspired, Halal, platter joint will open in a leased space at 393 Rt 17 South. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Juicy! - Halal With Heart (@juicyplatters) Juicy Platters is expected to open sometime in the summer once construction has been completed, a company spokesperson told Daily Voice. Owned by Jaffar Wahdat, Juicy Platters quickly gained popularity after opening on Broadway in Fair Lawn in 2011. Wahdat expanded to Hackensack and Harrison over the course of 10 years…

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by Cecilia Levine
Police & Fire
Drive-Thru Taco Bell Robbed At Gunpoint: Newark PD Drive-Thru Taco Bell Robbed At Gunpoint: Newark PD
Drive-Thru Taco Bell Robbed At Gunpoint: Newark PD A Taco Bell drive-thru restaurant in Newark was robbed at gunpoint in broad daylight Tuesday, leading to the arrest of the 25-year-old perpetrator, authorities said. Deion Nance, of Newark, is accused of driving up to the drive-thru window at the Broad Street location before demanding cash and wielding a gun around 2:40 p.m., Newark Public Safety Director Brian A. O’Hara said Wednesday. Nance was driving a vehicle that was carjacked at gunpoint out of Harrison during the robbery, O’Hara said. The victim handed over $176 in cash before Nance fled east on Clay Street from Broad Street. …

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by Valerie Musson
News
Jersey Ex-Con ID'd As Fleeing Route 287 Stolen Car Driver Who Crashed On NY State Thruway Jersey Ex-Con ID'd As Fleeing Route 287 Stolen Car Driver Who Crashed On NY State Thruway
Jersey Ex-Con ID'd As Fleeing Route 287 Stolen Car Driver Who Crashed On NY State Thruway UPDATE: A driver chased by police more than 40 miles from New Jersey into New York State before crashing a stolen car was identified as an ex-con who’s been involved in previous pursuits and has an arrest record that numbers in the dozens. Dustin Jeandron, 37, recently of Keyport and Trenton, gave New York State troopers a Hell’s Kitchen address after they took him into custody following Wednesday afternoon’s chase. Jeandron was driving a Hyundai sedan reported stolen out of Harrison when a Wayne police officer "spotted the vehicle in Wayne with fictitious plates and attempted to make a sto…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
Body Recovered From Passaic River Body Recovered From Passaic River
Body Recovered From Passaic River A body was recovered from the Passaic River in Hudson County Monday afternoon, police reports say. The New Jersey State Police Marine Unit was apparently dispatched to the area of the river near 1st Street in Harrison around 2:15 p.m. Last week, the bodies of a young couple who were swept away in Hurricane Ida's floodwaters were recovered from the river. As of Monday, a Little Falls woman who witnesses said was also swept into the river by the current remained missing. No further details were immediately released.

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by Cecilia Levine
News
CONFIRMED: Male, Female Bodies Pulled From Passaic River Are Couple Drowned By Ida CONFIRMED: Male, Female Bodies Pulled From Passaic River Are Couple Drowned By Ida
Confirmed: Male, Female Bodies Pulled From Passaic River Are Couple Drowned By Ida CONFIRMED: The New Jersey Medical Examiner's Office on Friday positively identified two bodies pulled from the Passaic River over the previous two days as a former high school prom king and queen swept away in Hurricane Ida's floodwaters last week. A search for Nidhi Rana, 18, and Ayush Rana, 21, had ended when the medical examiner's office finally confirmed their identities Friday afternoon based on dental and medical records, Passaic Mayor Hector Carlos Lora said. Nidhi and Ayush were swept into a storm drain that empties into the river after getting out of their car on Main Street durin…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Sports
Red Bull Arena Brawl Draws Massive Police Presence, At Least 1 Injured Red Bull Arena Brawl Draws Massive Police Presence, At Least 1 Injured
Red Bull Arena Brawl Draws Massive Police Presence, At Least 1 Injured A brawl outside the Red Bull Arena during a doubleheader soccer match drew a massive police presence and left at least one person injured Sunday evening. More than 20,000 people were at the Harrison sports complex for the matches between Club Deportivo Olimpia vs. Futbol Club Motagua and Deportivo Independiente Medellin vs. America de Cali S.A., Secaucus police said. ¡Vergonzoso! El saldo que dejó la batalla campal entre aficionados de Olimpia y Motagua en Nueva Jersey. Unos 200 policías tuvieron que intervenir para controlar el pleito en las afueras del Red Bull Arena. https://t.co/qpP…

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by Cecilia Levine