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School Bus Company Brothers Charged With Using Criminals, Unlicensed Drivers In Bergen, Passaic School Bus Company Brothers Charged With Using Criminals, Unlicensed Drivers In Bergen, Passaic
School Bus Company Brothers Charged With Using Criminals, Unlicensed Drivers In Bergen, Passaic A River Edge police officer was in for a surprise when he pulled over a school bus driver for running a stop sign earlier this year. The driver for American Star Transportation of Paterson not only didn't have a license -- he had a criminal case pending in court for patronizing a prostitute, authorities said. Two brothers who operate American Star were arrested this week by state authorities who said they employed criminals and people with suspended licenses as drivers and then lied about it. Public school district officials not just in River Edge but also in Mahwah, Franklin Lakes, Paters…

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by Jerry DeMarco
News
NJ Corrections Officer Admits Sucker-Punching Handcuffed Delinquent NJ Corrections Officer Admits Sucker-Punching Handcuffed Delinquent
NJ Corrections Officer Admits Sucker-Punching Handcuffed Delinquent UPDATE: A now-former senior correctional police officer at a New Jersey youth facility admitted punching a handcuffed inmate from behind while colleagues held him and then lying about it, authorities announced Tuesday. Jason Parks, 43, of Gibbstown, admitted he hit the inmate twice in the head while his arms were handcuffed behind him at the Albert C. Wagner Youth Correctional Facility in Burlington County on Feb. 19, 2019, Attorney General Matthew J. Platkin said on Dec. 20. “The inmate was being held by two other correctional police officers and facing away from Parks at the time,” Platki…

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by Jerry DeMarco
News
NJ Attorney General: Agitated Paterson Man Seized By Police Died Of Drug OD NJ Attorney General: Agitated Paterson Man Seized By Police Died Of Drug OD
NJ Attorney General: Agitated Paterson Man Seized By Police Died Of Drug OD UPDATE: An agitated suspect who died while being taken into custody by Paterson police was the victim of a drug overdose, authorities said. The autopsy results were among the evidence reviewed by a grand jury that found police bore no responsibility for the death of Jose Gonzalez, 41, on Oct. 2, 2021, New Jersey Attorney General Matthew J. Platkin announced on Monday, Dec. 5. Police body camera video previously released by Platkin's office showed Gonzalez writhing uncontrollably, falling down and then going limp while being handcuffed by Paterson police that fateful day. His shorts were s…

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by Jerry DeMarco
News
Law Enforcement 'Supergroups' In NJ Unite To Fight Organized Violent Criminals Law Enforcement 'Supergroups' In NJ Unite To Fight Organized Violent Criminals
Law Enforcement 'Supergroups' In NJ Unite To Fight Organized Violent Criminals A collection of crime-fighting 'supergroups' nailed 42 defendants in a series of pinpointed attacks on organized gangs dealing drugs, packing weapons and waging street warfare in North Jersey, authorities announced. The Violent Crime Initiative, as it's called, targeted what had been thriving criminal organizations in Newark, Paterson and elsewhere, U.S. Attorney for New Jersey Philip R. Sellinger said. Shooting incidents statewide and in cities where the VCIs operate are “appreciably lower” than the year-to-date total from last year, including a 23% reduction statewide, a 30% reduction in …

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by Jerry DeMarco
News
NJ Attorney General Reviews Fatal E-Motorcycle Crash With Port Authority PD Vehicle Near GWB NJ Attorney General Reviews Fatal E-Motorcycle Crash With Port Authority PD Vehicle Near GWB
NJ Attorney General Reviews Fatal E-Motorcycle Crash With Port Authority PD Vehicle Near GWB UPDATE: The death of an electric motorcyclist who authorities said ran a red light before crashing into a Port Authority police car near the George Washington Bridge is being investigated by state authorities. State law requires them to review the Oct. 17 incident in Fort Lee despite the circumstances because the death occurred during an encounter with law enforcement. New Jersey Attorney General Matthew J. Platkin's office identified the victim as Fredy Rolando Queveda -- although loved ones and court records identified him as Fredy Quevedo, a 40-year-old Guatemalan immigrant. The officer…

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by Jerry DeMarco
News
Carjacker Shot By Paterson Detective Was Armed With Blank Pistol: NJ Attorney General Carjacker Shot By Paterson Detective Was Armed With Blank Pistol: NJ Attorney General
Carjacker Shot By Paterson Detective Was Armed With Blank Pistol: NJ Attorney General A 33-year-old motorist shot and killed by Paterson police was armed with what police later found was a blank pistol as he tried to seize other vehicles after fleeing a crash on foot, authorities said. Hui Zhang, 33, of Pensacola, FL, was identified as the man who died in the police-involved shooting on Oct. 10. Zhang was involved in a collision in the area of Straight and Van Houten streets at 4:12 p.m. that day, according to a release from New Jersey Attorney General Matthew J. Platkin's office. Zhang "ran from the scene" and "attempted to enter multiple other vehicles, armed with what a…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
Driver Fleeing Crash Scene With Handgun Killed By Paterson Police: AG Driver Fleeing Crash Scene With Handgun Killed By Paterson Police: AG
Driver Fleeing Crash Scene With Handgun Killed By Paterson Police: AG A driver who crashed his car then fled from the scene with a handgun while trying to enter other nearby vehicle was shot and killed by a Paterson police officer in broad daylight, state officials said. Police responding to the crash near Straight and Van Houten Streets noticed the fleeing driver was armed around 4:10 p.m. Monday, Oct. 10, State Attorney General Matthew J. Platkin said. The officer pursued the man on foot and, during an encounter, fired his service weapon, Platkin said. The driver was pronounced dead at the scene at 4:23 p.m. A firearm was recovered near the driver…

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by Cecilia Levine
News
WATCH: State Authorities Release Bodycam Videos Of Police Shooting Knife-Wielding Englewood Man WATCH: State Authorities Release Bodycam Videos Of Police Shooting Knife-Wielding Englewood Man
Watch: State Authorities Release Bodycam Videos Of Police Shooting Knife-Wielding Englewood Man A chilling trio of bodycam videos released by state authorities shows a fatal Labor Day encounter between Englewood police and a city man who’d just stabbed three people. Bernard Placide has a bedroom door in a West Englewood Avenue home partially open in the video when Officers Brian Havlicek and Luana Sharpe find him shortly before 8:30 a.m. on Thursday, Oct. 6. “Put your hands up now or you’re gonna get shot. I’m not kidding,” Havlicek tells Placide as he and fellow Sharpe stand outside the door, their guns pointed, in the video from three police body cameras. Both of them repeatedly t…

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by Jerry DeMarco
News
TEAMWORK: Paramus PD Nabs Trio After SUV Stolen Out Of Ramsey Crashes At Garden State Plaza TEAMWORK: Paramus PD Nabs Trio After SUV Stolen Out Of Ramsey Crashes At Garden State Plaza
Teamwork: Paramus PD Nabs Trio After SUV Stolen Out Of Ramsey Crashes At Garden State Plaza Paramus police captured three thieves who crashed at the Garden State Plaza during a predawn pursuit of two stolen vehicles down Route 17. The chase began on Main Street in Ramsey shortly after an 2021 Audi Q7 was stolen from a home on Deer Trail North near Darlington County Park around 12:45 a.m., Ramsey Police Chief Bryan Lyman said. Officer Christopher Finn pursued the black SUV onto southbound Route 17, where a white Mercedes that had been reported stolen out of Ridgewood joined it, the chief said. Moments later, Paramus Police Officer Michael Cleary got behind the Audi in the area of…

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by Jerry DeMarco
News
Bad Heart Killed NJ Man, 73, While In Police Custody, Grand Jury Finds Bad Heart Killed NJ Man, 73, While In Police Custody, Grand Jury Finds
Bad Heart Killed NJ Man, 73, While In Police Custody, Grand Jury Finds Newark police bore no responsibility in the death from heart disease of a 73-year-old man who collapsed in the back seat of a patrol car, a state grand jury has found. Juan Restrepo of Summit had been taken into custody by officers who'd responded to a report of an intoxicated man behind the wheel of a vehicle on June 15, 2020, Acting New Jersey Attorney General Matthew J. Platkin said. “He was then transported to [an] NJ TRANSIT station, where officials attempted to obtain a Breathalyzer reading,” the attorney general said. “A reading was not able to be obtained.” Restrepo “was subsequent…

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by Jerry DeMarco
News
PARTY TIME: NJ Park Police Union Prez Accused Of Running Up $160,000 Tab On Members' Dime PARTY TIME: NJ Park Police Union Prez Accused Of Running Up $160,000 Tab On Members' Dime
Party Time: NJ Park Police Union Prez Accused Of Running Up $160,000 Tab On Members' Dime A former New Jersey park police union chief indulged himself on the members’ dime, spending $160,000 in dues on dinners at upscale restaurants, airfare and out-of-state trips unrelated to the local's business, authorities charged. Chris Smith, 48, of the Warren County town of Hope, “will now pay his dues,” Thomas Eicher, executive director of the New Jersey Office of Public Integrity and Accountability, said after a grand jury returned an indictment charging him with theft. Smith tapped the funds of two unions he led in a “continuous theft scheme” between 2014 and 2019, when Smith was presi…

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by Jerry DeMarco
News
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…

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by Jerry DeMarco