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Towering Burglar Breaks Into Same Edgewater Business A Second Time, Police Charge Towering Burglar Breaks Into Same Edgewater Business A Second Time, Police Charge
Towering Burglar Breaks Into Same Edgewater Business A Second Time, Police Charge A North Bergen ex-con gave new meaning to the term “repeat offender” when he burglarized a business in Edgewater that he’d been busted for breaking into just weeks earlier, authorities said. Richard C. Medina, 57, took an undisclosed amount of cash from the Edgewater Plaza business at 725 River Road after breaking the glass of a side door shortly before 1:30 a.m. Jan. 22, Police Chief Donald Martin said. Detectives who reviewed security video instantly recognized him, the chief said. They’d arrested the 6-foot-5-inch repeat offender for burglarizing the same business last Dec. 30, he said.…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
Treasurer Stole $29K From NJ Baseball Club: Prosecutor Treasurer Stole $29K From NJ Baseball Club: Prosecutor
Treasurer Stole $29K From NJ Baseball Club: Prosecutor He’s out. A Green Brook man is facing charges in Somerset County for allegedly stealing tens of thousands of dollars from his local baseball club over the course of several years. John Brault, 42, the treasurer for the Green Brook Baseball Club in his hometown, has been arrested and charged “in relation to acts of thefts by deception” between July 2018 and May 2022 in Green Brook Township, officials announced. Somerset County Prosecutor John McDonald said that in May last year, his office’s Special Investigations Unit was tipped off to suspected theft by the treasurer of the baseball club,…

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by Zak Failla
Police & Fire
Paterson Man Found Guilty Of Slamming Elderly Resident Into Concrete Breaking Ribs, Collarbone Paterson Man Found Guilty Of Slamming Elderly Resident Into Concrete Breaking Ribs, Collarbone
Paterson Man Found Guilty Of Slamming Elderly Resident Into Concrete Breaking Ribs, Collarbone A 30-year-old man from Paterson has been found guilty of slamming an elderly man into the pavement, breaking his ribs and collarbone, authorities said. Walter A. Williams was found guilty on Monday, Feb. 6, after a jury trial, according to Passaic County Prosecutor Camelia M. Valdes. The jury returned guilty verdicts on charges of second-degree aggravated assault and third-degree theft from a person, the prosecutor said. He faces up to 10 years in New Jersey State Prison, she said. He was being held in the Passaic County Jail pending his sentencing on April 25.  According …

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by Jon Craig
Police & Fire
NJ Dance Studio Owner Stole $6K From PA School District: Report NJ Dance Studio Owner Stole $6K From PA School District: Report
NJ Dance Studio Owner Stole $6K From PA School District: Report A New Jersey dance studio owner is facing charges after failing to pay more than $6,300 to a Pennsylvania school district from whom she was renting facilities for practices, LehighValleyLive reports. Charissa Poklikuha, 42, of Stewartsville, and the owner of 5-6-7-8 Dance, was charged with two counts of felony theft filed by the Nazareth Area School District Police Department, charging documents show. In addition to failing to pay for the auditorium rental and IT/custodial work, Poklikuha failed to return emails, phone calls and letters, according to LVL citing police papers. She …

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by Cecilia Levine
News
Undercover Unit Busts Burglars Hitting Fort Lee Shoppers' Cars Undercover Unit Busts Burglars Hitting Fort Lee Shoppers' Cars
Undercover Unit Busts Burglars Hitting Fort Lee Shoppers' Cars Two members of a Queens burglary crew who've been hitting Fort Lee shopping centers were hard at work when an undercover team of police caught them in the act, authorities said. Plainclothes Anti-Crime Unit officers and detectives have been keeping an eye on Plaza West on Bergen Boulevard amid a rash of thefts of purses from shopping carts and vehicles there and at Linwood Plaza, Capt. Edward Young said. They were secretly watching when a BMW X5 that had been flagged in a previous burglary pulled into a parking spot in the Plaza West lot around 4 p.m. Dec. 22, the captain said. The vehicle…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
NJ Apartment Complex Manager Was Renting Some Units On Her Own, Pocketing Cash: Prosecutor NJ Apartment Complex Manager Was Renting Some Units On Her Own, Pocketing Cash: Prosecutor
NJ Apartment Complex Manager Was Renting Some Units On Her Own, Pocketing Cash: Prosecutor A Somerset County property manager was renting out apartments without her boss's knowledge and pocketing the "rent" for herself, authorities claim.  Yessica Gonzalez, 44, of Ewing, is held at the county lockup on multiple charges of theft and forgery related to the scam that Prosecutor John P. McDonald says she ran for years.  From 2019 to 2022, investigators say Gonzalez was "leasing" units at the Montgomery Township property where she worked without actually informing her employer about the new tenants.  Prosecutors say she forged the property owner's name on the leasing d…

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by Mac Bullock
News
Bogota Woman Jailed Twice For Assaulting BF, Once With Her Car Bogota Woman Jailed Twice For Assaulting BF, Once With Her Car
Bogota Woman Jailed Twice For Assaulting BF, Once With Her Car A Bogota woman was jailed after police said she knocked her boyfriend down with her car, making it the second time in several weeks that she was charged with assaulting him. Stephany C. Perez-Galarraga, 32, grabbed the victim's cell phone and ran to her Mercedes Benz C30 during an argument between the two at his home before dawn Monday, Dec. 26, Bogota Police Sgt. Geoffrey Cole said. Her boyfriend chased after Perez-Galarraga but was knocked down by her vehicle as she sped off, leaving him with scrapes and bruises, the sergeant said. He was treated at Holy Name Medical Center in Teaneck be…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
Burglar Stole Items From Central Jersey Family's Safe: Prosecutor Burglar Stole Items From Central Jersey Family's Safe: Prosecutor
Burglar Stole Items From Central Jersey Family's Safe: Prosecutor A 42-year-old man from Irvington has been arrested for stealing from a family's safe in Watchung, authorities said. Randolph C. McLeod was charged with burglary, theft and several other charges. The theft occurred about 1:30 a.m. on Tuesday, Dec. 6 on Johnston Drive, according to Somerset County Prosecutor John P. McDonald, Somerset County Prosecutor’s Office Chief of County Detectives John W. Fodor and Watchung Borough Police Chief Andrew Hart. Police observed evidence of forced entry at the residence and learned that the victim responded home to numerous items missing from a safe in…

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by Jon Craig
News
Treasurer Of Mahwah Grade School Parents Group Charged With Theft Treasurer Of Mahwah Grade School Parents Group Charged With Theft
Treasurer Of Mahwah Grade School Parents Group Charged With Theft The now-former treasurer of a Mahwah grade school parents group is accused of pocketing funds raised by the organization. Kerry Stumbo, 50, is charged with theft by unlawful taking from the Lenape Meadows Elementary School's Home School Organization (HSO) while she was treasurer. Stumbo "used the organization's debit card...for personal expenses (Verizon, Gas Stations, Starbucks. ACME, ShopRite, and CVS)," a complaint on file in Superior Court in Hackensack alleges. "Additionally the suspect wrote a check to herself from the organization in the amount of $1,500," it says. Neither the comp…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
Felony ID Theft Charges For NJ Man With 7 Verizon iPads In Lehigh Valley Delivery Scheme: PD Felony ID Theft Charges For NJ Man With 7 Verizon iPads In Lehigh Valley Delivery Scheme: PD
Felony ID Theft Charges For NJ Man With 7 Verizon iPads In Lehigh Valley Delivery Scheme: PD A Passaic County man who was found with seven iPads during a delivery scheme involving a bogus Verizon customer service rep in the Lehigh Valley area was arrested and charged with felony identity theft and several other offenses, authorities said. Officers responding to a fraudulent activity report on the 1800 block of Felicity Lane in Lower Saucon Township met with a victim around 5:50 p.m. on Wednesday, Nov. 30, the department said. The victim told police that she had received a Verizon package in the mail with an Apple IPad Pro that had been fraudulently purchased through her Verizon acc…

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by Valerie Musson
Police & Fire
Wanted Driver Barrels Stolen Jeep Through Morris County Intersection, Hits Car, Lands On Lawn Wanted Driver Barrels Stolen Jeep Through Morris County Intersection, Hits Car, Lands On Lawn
Wanted Driver Barrels Stolen Jeep Through Morris County Intersection, Hits Car, Lands On Lawn A Warren County man wanted for theft and burglary was on Fentanyl when he barreled a stolen Jeep through a stop sign, struck another car, ran through a fence, landed on a Morris County lawn, and later lied to police about his identity, authorities charged. Florham Park Police responded to the crash at the intersection of Brooklake and Crescent Roads just after 2 a.m. on Saturday, Nov. 26, the department said. A 37-year-old Washington Township man ran a stop sign, struck the right-of-way vehicle, and crashed through a fence before disabling on a resident’s lawn, police said. The driver — wh…

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by Valerie Musson
News
Police: Large-Scale Chilean Burglary Crew Member Caught In Rochelle Park Home, Others Sought Police: Large-Scale Chilean Burglary Crew Member Caught In Rochelle Park Home, Others Sought
Police: Large-Scale Chilean Burglary Crew Member Caught In Rochelle Park Home, Others Sought Police nabbed one Thanksgiving Day burglar inside a Rochelle Park home and were looking for another -- both of whom are believed to belong to a large-scale Chilean break-in crew. Victor Ramirez-Troncoso, 40, had only just arrived in the U.S. on Sunday, Nov. 20, Lt. James M. DePreta said. Officers from Rochelle Park, Paramus and Maywood converged on the Peek Street home after he and another burglar triggered interior motion cameras around 7:30 p.m. on the holiday, Lt. James M. DePreta said. Both were wearing gloves and masks and carrying flashlights, he said. A broken window led Officers B…

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by Jerry DeMarco