Pair Nabbed In Ridgefield Vehicle Burglary Pair Nabbed In Ridgefield Vehicle Burglary
Pair Nabbed In Ridgefield Vehicle Burglary A Ridgefield police officer quickly nabbed one suspect and another was captured soon after following an overnight vehicle break-in, authorities said. The pair bolted into the Ridgefield Nature Center as Officer Kevin Nebbia pulled up to the burglarized vehicle on Bruce Street near Slocum Avenue shortly before 3 a.m., Lt. Bruno Carbone said. Nebbita grabbed one of them and the other vanished into the center, Carbone said. Police from Leonia and Palisades Park and a Bergen County Sheriff's K9 unit helped their Ridgefield colleagues establish a perimeter, the lieutenant said. They flushed ou…
Bail Reform Was Once This Bergen Serial Burglar's Friend — Not Anymore: Authorities Bail Reform Was Once This Bergen Serial Burglar's Friend — Not Anymore: Authorities
Bail Reform Was Once This Bergen Serial Burglar's Friend — Not Anymore: Authorities Charges continue to mount against a one-man crime wave – and onetime bail reform poster boy – whom judges have kept held in the Bergen County Jail since mid-October. Police in Glen Rock and Wyckoff became the latest to charge Nicola Torres, 40, of Passaic, with commercial burglaries in their towns. That makes more than a dozen municipal police departments in four New Jersey counties just this year alone. Torres has a criminal record that stretches back more than 15 years, mostly for business break-ins. More recently, the 6-foot-2-inch, 240-pound felon has been repeatedly arrested and the…
Philly Teen's NJ Kidnappers Learn Their Fate Philly Teen's NJ Kidnappers Learn Their Fate
Philly Teen's NJ Kidnappers Learn Their Fate Two men convicted of kidnapping a Philadelphia teenager and holding him for ransom in New Jersey will spend 40 years each in federal prison, authorities announced.  Eduardo Castelan-Pardo, 39, of Leonia, New Jersey, and Jose Ochoa, 32, of Moreno Valley, California were sentenced to four decades behind bars, said US Attorney Jacqueline Romero on Wednesday, Oct. 19.  Castelan-Pardo and Ochoa were found guilty of kidnapping an unnamed 17-year-old Philadelphia boy in June 2021.  Prosecutors said the pair and one other man abducted the teen as he was leaving work at a Philly rest…
Bail Reform Poster Boy Wanted On Warrants Out Of Eight North Jersey Towns Nabbed By Maywood PD Bail Reform Poster Boy Wanted On Warrants Out Of Eight North Jersey Towns Nabbed By Maywood PD
Bail Reform Poster Boy Wanted On Warrants Out Of Eight North Jersey Towns Nabbed By Maywood PD A serial burglar wanted on warrants out of no fewer than eight towns in four counties was captured by Maywood police and charged with a break-in at a local dry cleaner. Nicolas G. Torres, 40, of Passaic, has been repeatedly arrested and then subsequently released under New Jersey’s 2017 bail reform law, mostly on commercial burglary charges, over the past several years, records show. His criminal record stretches back more than a decade before that, however. Earlier this year, Torres was linked to break-ins at businesses in Fort Lee, Leonia, Englewood Cliffs, Little Falls, Montclair, Ridg…
SECRET STASH: Driver Busted, $81,000 In Drug Money Seized Near GWB, Bergen Prosecutor Says SECRET STASH: Driver Busted, $81,000 In Drug Money Seized Near GWB, Bergen Prosecutor Says
Secret Stash: Driver Busted, $81,000 In Drug Money Seized Near GWB, Bergen Prosecutor Says Detectives in Bergen County arrested an out-of-state driver who they said was running drug money after they found $80,945 stashed in a secret compartment of his car. Jose A. Rosa Vasquez, a 31-year-old Dominican National who lives in Hazelton, PA, was stopped in Leonia by investigators from the Bergen County Prosecutor’s Office Narcotic Task Force on Monday, Oct. 3. A search of his vehicle “revealed a sophisticated, electronically operated hidden compartment containing numerous bundles of money,” Bergen County Prosecutor Mark Musella said Wednesday. Rosa Vasquez was charged with money laun…
Englewood Chiropractor Who Violated Patients Loses License For Good: State Attorney General Englewood Chiropractor Who Violated Patients Loses License For Good: State Attorney General
Englewood Chiropractor Who Violated Patients Loses License For Good: State Attorney General An Englewood chiropractor who inappropriately touched and made sexual comments to female patients has permanently lost his license, state authorities announced. The professional misconduct of Archer Irby, 51, of Leonia was “egregious, depraved, and predatory,” the New Jersey Board of Chiropractic Examiners said in permanently revoking his license. Irby was cleared of criminal charges several years ago, but Administrative Law Judge Thomas R. Betancourt this past April ruled that the doctor had violated four female patients at his Irby Spinal Care office in Englewood by: exposing himself to…
Out-Of-State Couple Busted In Leonia With Seven Pounds Of Pot, $11,000 Cash Out-Of-State Couple Busted In Leonia With Seven Pounds Of Pot, $11,000 Cash
Out-Of-State Couple Busted In Leonia With Seven Pounds Of Pot, $11,000 Cash An out-of-state couple was toting more than seven pounds of pot and $11,000 in suspected proceeds in their sedan when the driver ran a red light at a busy Leonia intersection, authorities said. Sgt. Ray Forsdahl stopped the 2014 Chevrolet Malibu after the violation at the intersection of Broad Avenue and Fort Lee Road around 6 p.m. Wednesday, Leonia Police Chief Scott Tamagny said. Forsdahl saw the plot in plain view and requested a Bergen County sheriff’s K-9 unit. They were joined at the scene by Leonia Police Capt. Christopher Garris and Officers Debbie Maldonado and Young Cho, the chief…
PalPark Burglary Cracked With Arrest Of Uber Robber's Accused Getaway Driver PalPark Burglary Cracked With Arrest Of Uber Robber's Accused Getaway Driver
PalPark Burglary Cracked With Arrest Of Uber Robber's Accused Getaway Driver A Garfield man who was charged last week in the knifepoint robbery of an Uber passenger had also been busted for a burglary in Palisades Park, authorities confirmed. Allen Ernst, 28, and an accomplice bolted from a Palisades Park home when a resident who lives there returned around 4:30 p.m. July 14, said Capt. Anthony Espino, the officer in charge of the department. The pair – who apparently entered through an unlocked sliding rear door -- dropped a pillowcase full of valuables as they fled, the captain said. Police from Leonia and Ridgefield and a Bergen County sheriff’s K-9 unit helped …
PalPark Officer Dragged, Perps Sought In Traffic Stop PalPark Officer Dragged, Perps Sought In Traffic Stop
PalPark Officer Dragged, Perps Sought In Traffic Stop SEE ANYTHING? A Palisades Park police officer was dragged by an SUV when the driver deliberately hit the gas during an overnight traffic stop, authorities said. The officer spotted the Jeep with its headlights off near the corner of East Central Boulevard and 6th Street around 2 a.m. Friday, said Capt. Anthony Espino, the officer in charge of the department. He stopped the vehicle on East Central Boulevard near Inwood Terrace just over the border in Fort Lee, Espino said. The car then began moving, dragging the officer, before the driver jumped out, the captain said. The officer then…
Route 95 Motorist Caught With Loaded Gun After Crossing Median: Leonia PD Route 95 Motorist Caught With Loaded Gun After Crossing Median: Leonia PD
Route 95 Motorist Caught With Loaded Gun After Crossing Median: Leonia PD A motorist who was stopped after driving his sedan over the median from the express to the local lanes on Route 95 had a loaded gun in the glove compartment, police said. Richard X. Santos, an unemployed 29-year-old resident of Washington Heights, was behind the wheel of a 2018 BMW sedan with a female passenger when he was stopped by Officer Debbie Maldonado on the northbound highway around noontime Tuesday, Leonia Police Chief Scott Tamagny said. Officers Ryan Berger and Young Cho joined Maldonado at the scene along with a Bergen County Sheriff’s K-9 Unit, the chief said Wednesday. A warr…
$50 MILLION LAWSUIT: Bergen Funeral Home Mixed Up Bodies, Sent Wrong Woman’s Corpse To Cemetery $50 MILLION LAWSUIT: Bergen Funeral Home Mixed Up Bodies, Sent Wrong Woman’s Corpse To Cemetery
$50 Million Lawsuit: Bergen Funeral Home Mixed Up Bodies, Sent Wrong Woman’s Corpse To Cemetery Mourners were saying their final goodbyes to a beloved Bergen County grandmother when, at the last instant, the graveside service was abruptly halted. It turns out the body of the 93-year-old Korean woman whose death they were mourning in a Westchester cemetery had been left back at the funeral home in New Jersey. Another corpse had been dressed in her clothing, placed in the casket and brought that morning to a funeral in Leonia. It was then driven 25 miles north in a procession to Valhalla, NY. The body had already been lowered into the grave when the mistake was finally acknowledge…
Ridgefield Adult, Juvenile Charged With Arson In Multi-Alarm Palisades Park Warehouse Fire Ridgefield Adult, Juvenile Charged With Arson In Multi-Alarm Palisades Park Warehouse Fire
Ridgefield Adult, Juvenile Charged With Arson In Multi-Alarm Palisades Park Warehouse Fire UPDATE: A vacant warehouse blaze that injured a firefighter in Palisades Park was deliberately set by two Ridgefield residents, authorities charged. Alexander Regalado, 18, was arrested and a juvenile was detained after they were identified as responsible for the multi-alarm Fourth of July weekend fire on Fairview Street off Grand Avenue, Bergen County Prosecutor Mark Musella said. The fire, which ravaged the warehouse and damaged a neighboring building, wasn’t fully extinguished for nearly six hours. Route 46 was closed in both directions at one point because of the thick smoke and a fi…