A Few Clouds 75°
Police & Fire
GOTCHA! Boy, 15, Robbed Of Bicycle At Knifepoint Outside Walmart, Garfield PD Stings Suspect GOTCHA! Boy, 15, Robbed Of Bicycle At Knifepoint Outside Walmart, Garfield PD Stings Suspect
Gotcha! Boy, 15, Robbed Of Bicycle At Knifepoint Outside Walmart, Garfield PD Stings Suspect Garfield police pulled a clever sting to capture a Dominican national who they said pulled a knife on a 15-year-old boy and robbed him of a bicycle that the youngster had arranged to sell him through Facebook. Cristopher Rosario, 18, of Bloomfield, met the boy in the parking lot of the Walmart on Passaic Street, then threatened him with a silver knife before fleeing on the bicycle towards Passaic shortly after 8:30 p.m. last Thursday, June 1, Capt. Mario Pozo said. The youngster had gone there after Rosario agreed on Facebook Marketplace to buy the bike for $850, the captain said. Garfield…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Schools
Passaic Preschool Celebrates 130 Years Passaic Preschool Celebrates 130 Years
Passaic Preschool Celebrates 130 Years In 1893, Grover Cleveland was president. The Montreal Hockey Club won the first Stanley Cup. And Children's Day Preschool and Family Center first opened its doors. The Passaic preschool recently celebrated its 130th anniversary in its historic building at 104 Jefferson St. Children's Day first opened on March 29, 1893 and moved into its current building in 1905. Children's Day was first started by the children of immigrant millworkers from Central, Eastern and Western Europe. Today it mainly serves Latin immigrants.  "It's really incredible," Laurel Snyder, the board chair of Children…

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by Sam Barron
Police & Fire
Passaic Ex-Con Hits Criminal Trifecta In Clifton Stop Passaic Ex-Con Hits Criminal Trifecta In Clifton Stop
Passaic Ex-Con Hits Criminal Trifecta In Clifton Stop An ex-con from Passaic ended up charged with a trio of significant offenses in a single traffic stop. Brian Deleon, 24, was driving a stolen 2020 Lexus wagon and carrying a defaced handgun loaded with hollow-point bullets when Clifton police stopped him on Sunday, June 3, Detective Police Lt. Robert Bracken said. Items used to sell drugs were spotted in the vehicle, leading to a search that found Deleon carrying the weapon, the lieutenant said. Deleon remained held Tuesday in the Bergen County Jail, charged with possessing a defaced handgun, possessing a firearm as a convicted felon and po…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
CHOPPED: Passaic, Bergen Garages Doubled As Destinations For Stolen Vehicles, Authorities Say CHOPPED: Passaic, Bergen Garages Doubled As Destinations For Stolen Vehicles, Authorities Say
Chopped: Passaic, Bergen Garages Doubled As Destinations For Stolen Vehicles, Authorities Say A group of towing and mechanic business owners in Bergen and Passaic had a lucrative moonlighting operation going before New Jersey State Police shut them down, authorities said. Workers at the off-hour chop shops in Paterson, Passaic and Elmwood Park altered stolen vehicles for resale and disassembled others to be sold as parts, state authorities said on Friday, June 2. Fourteen people in all were arrested during quick-strike raids last week by the NJSP, assisted by the Passaic County Sheriff’s Office, Paterson police and several other local, county and federal law enforcement agencies. R…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
Roof Collapses In Clifton House Fire Roof Collapses In Clifton House Fire
Roof Collapses In Clifton House Fire UPDATE: The roof of a Clifton home collapsed during a fire on Saturday that brought arson investigators. The two-alarm blaze -- three bells for coverage -- ignited shortly before noon May 27 and quickly spread through the home on dead-ended Lynn Drive. Firefighters went defensive once the roof began collapsing, then returned to an offensive attack soon after. No injuries were reported. The two-alarm blaze -- three bells for coverage -- ignited shortly before noon May 27 and quickly spread through the Lynn Drive home.Victor Scrivens for DAILY VOICE A preliminary cause wasn't given. A …

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
NJ Rapper Fetty Wap Sentenced To 6 Years For Running Drugs NJ Rapper Fetty Wap Sentenced To 6 Years For Running Drugs
NJ Rapper Fetty Wap Sentenced To 6 Years For Running Drugs Paterson rapper Fetty Wap caught something of a break on Wednesday. A federal judge sentenced the platinum-selling rapper – whose real name is William Junior Maxwell II – to six years in federal prison on May 24 for his role in a drug-trafficking ring that flooded part of New Jersey and Long Island with cocaine, heroin, fentanyl and crack. Maxwell had been charged with conspiring to transport more than 100 kilos of the drugs there from the West Coast. Rather than risk the potential consequences of a trial, he took a deal from the government, pleading guilty in U.S. Eastern District Court …

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
.44 Magnum Recovered From Violent Ex-Con Shot By Passaic Police: Prosecutor .44 Magnum Recovered From Violent Ex-Con Shot By Passaic Police: Prosecutor
.44 Magnum Recovered From Violent Ex-Con Shot By Passaic Police: Prosecutor UPDATE: A violent ex-con who’d fired several shots into the air from a .44 Magnum was brought down by a Passaic police officer last week after he pointed the powerful pistol at the officer's partner, authorities said. Jason Urban, 42, of Passaic was carrying the revolver made famous by Clint Eastwood’s character in the movie “Dirty Harry” when officers responding to a call of shots fired at Lackawanna Place and Passaic Avenue near the city train station found him shortly before 6:30 p.m. May 10, they said. Urban “fired several rounds from the handgun into the air,” Passaic County Prosecuto…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
One Home Ravaged, Another Severely Damaged By Unforgiving Paterson Fire One Home Ravaged, Another Severely Damaged By Unforgiving Paterson Fire
One Home Ravaged, Another Severely Damaged By Unforgiving Paterson Fire Two firefighters were injured and at least two residents required medical attention from a fast-moving blaze Tuesday afternoon that ravaged one Paterson home and severely damaged another. Responders had assistance from neighbors who helped get some of the residents to safety after the fire ignited on the second floor of one of several wood-frame, multi-family homes on Knickerbocker Avenue around 1 p.m. May 16. Flames spread to a neighboring home, but firefighters limited the damage.  The three-alarmer was declared under control around 4:45 p.m. A bulldozer and other heavy equipment was br…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
Patrol Units Damaged As Boy, 15, Tops 100MPH In Clifton Police Pursuit Through Several Towns Patrol Units Damaged As Boy, 15, Tops 100MPH In Clifton Police Pursuit Through Several Towns
Patrol Units Damaged As Boy, 15, Tops 100MPH In Clifton Police Pursuit Through Several Towns A 15-year-old stolen car thief damaged two Clifton police vehicles while failing to elude his pursuers, authorities said. A police chase had passed through Passaic, Nutley, East Rutherford and Secaucus – with speeds exceeding 100 miles an hour -- before heading back to Clifton, where a chain-reaction crash occurred, Detective Lt. Robert Bracken said. Officer Mohammed Rayyan was the first to spot the 2021 Ford Bronco on southbound Route 21 near Ackerman Avenue shortly after 7:30 p.m. Monday, May 15. The driver of the vehicle, which had been reported stolen out of Woodland Park earlier in t…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
GOT 'EM! Teens From Elizabeth Nabbed After Ransacking Vehicles At Clifton Condo Complex GOT 'EM! Teens From Elizabeth Nabbed After Ransacking Vehicles At Clifton Condo Complex
GOT 'EM! Teens From Elizabeth Nabbed After Ransacking Vehicles At Clifton Condo Complex A crew of late-morning teenage car burglars who infiltrated a Clifton condo development were caught in Passaic, authorities said. Officers responding to calls from Evergreen at Clifton at Main Avenue and Felton Boulevard began checking local streets shortly before noon Saturday, May 13, Detective Lt. Robert Bracken said. Sure enough, they spotted all four black-hooded suspects in the area of Brook and Dakota streets in Passaic. The teens, all from Elizabeth, apparently were carrying valuables stolen from vehicles at Evergreen that had been left unlocked. Jayden Alzate, 19, and three j…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
Teen Driver, Passenger Switch Seats In Moving Vehicle During Clifton Pursuit Teen Driver, Passenger Switch Seats In Moving Vehicle During Clifton Pursuit
Teen Driver, Passenger Switch Seats In Moving Vehicle During Clifton Pursuit Two teenage drivers switched seats in a stolen vehicle while it was moving in a Clifton police pursuit, authorities said. Officer Mohammed Rayyan was on patrol on northbound Route 21 when he began following the 2018 Hyundai occupied by three juveniles shortly before 6:30 p.m. Sunday, May 14, Detective Lt. Robert Bracken said. The vehicle had been reported stolen out of Passaic days earlier, he said. The teens made it to Paterson, where "the driver and front seat passenger switched positions while the vehicle was continuing in motion," Bracken said. The driver then sped off and a pursuit b…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
Lodi Man Busted In Theft Of Snow Plow From New Milford School District Lodi Man Busted In Theft Of Snow Plow From New Milford School District
Lodi Man Busted In Theft Of Snow Plow From New Milford School District A Lodi man who authorities said has a thing for snow plows was arrested by New Milford police. Enzo Russo, 56, is also being eyed in similar thefts in Bergen and Passaic, they said. The snow plow in question in New Milford was taken from the local Board of Education while it was parked on school property, Police Capt. Kevin Van Saders said. Police recovered the snow plow and arrested Russon on Friday, May 12, Van Saders said. Russo remained held on Saturday in the Bergen County Jail, charged with theft, criminal trespass, criminal mischief and possession of burglary tools. Records show f…

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by Jerry DeMarco