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Essex County Jail, NJ

Security Guard Charged In Deadly Assault At Elizabeth Lounge: Prosecutor Security Guard Charged In Deadly Assault At Elizabeth Lounge: Prosecutor
Security Guard Charged In Deadly Assault At Elizabeth Lounge: Prosecutor A 26-year-old Elizabeth resident was arrested and charged on Friday, July 12, with a deadly assault in 2023, authorities said. In July 2023, Elizabeth police found Jose Lopez suffering from a head injury at the El Monsignor Lounge, Union County Prosecutor William Daniel, Elizabeth Police Director Earl Graves, and Elizabeth Police Chief Giacomo Sacca said. Lopez was taken to a rehabilitation facility where he died in March, authorities said.  Regis Pelegrino Motas was identified as Lopez's assailant, and had been working as a security guard at the lounge at the time of the inciden…
Wood-Ridge Detectives Charge Habitual Hackensack Offender, 19, In Home Burglary Vehicle Theft Wood-Ridge Detectives Charge Habitual Hackensack Offender, 19, In Home Burglary Vehicle Theft
Wood-Ridge Detectives Charge Habitual Hackensack Offender, 19, In Home Burglary Vehicle Theft A 19-year-old habitual offender from Hackensack who's been arrested no fewer than four times in just the past year was back in the Bergen County Jail, although it wasn't certain for how long. Cosmo Pena was released from the Essex County Jail on Thursday, Jan. 4, to the custody of Wood-Ridge police, who'd tied him to the theft of a resident's Mercedes during a home burglary last summer. Pena -- who has racked up recent arrests for offenses including theft, conspiracy, resisting arrest and leading a police chase  -- had been held in Essex County the past few weeks. Wood-Ridge detective…
Newark Rapper Tsu Surf Gets 5 Years, No Parole, For Leadership Role In Armed, Violent Drug Gang Newark Rapper Tsu Surf Gets 5 Years, No Parole, For Leadership Role In Armed, Violent Drug Gang
Newark Rapper Tsu Surf Gets 5 Years, No Parole, For Leadership Role In Armed, Violent Drug Gang Battle rapper Tsu Surf must spend a plea-bargained five years in federal prison for what authorities described as a leadership role in a violent drug-selling Newark street gang. The 32-year-old rapper – whose real name is Rahjon Cox -- was one of 10 reputed members of the Rollin’ 60s Neighborhood Crips charged under federal RICO statutes following a massive North Jersey roundup last year. A total of 42 targets in all were arrested in a series of pinpointed attacks on organized gangs dealing drugs, packing weapons and waging street warfare, federal authorities said at the time. Cox took a d…
Ex-NJ Lawyer Convicted Of Killing GF Dies In Jail On Father's Day Ex-NJ Lawyer Convicted Of Killing GF Dies In Jail On Father's Day
Ex-NJ Lawyer Convicted Of Killing GF Dies In Jail On Father's Day James Ray III, the Montclair lawyer convicted of killing Angela Blesdoe, the mother of his 6-year-old daughter, died in jail just days before he was due for sentencing, Daily Voice has learned. Ray, 60, was found unconscious in his cell at the Essex County Jail on Father's Day around 6 p.m., the New York Times says citing James Troisi, the vice president of the union that represents the jail’s supervisors.  "We have confirmed that James Ray that has died, though the cause and manner are not known," said Robert Florida, spokesman for the Essex County Prosecutor’s Office. "An a…
Montclair State Junior Who Collected Child Porn Got Kids To Send Sex Vids, Authorities Charge Montclair State Junior Who Collected Child Porn Got Kids To Send Sex Vids, Authorities Charge
Montclair State Junior Who Collected Child Porn Got Kids To Send Sex Vids, Authorities Charge Investigators who arrested a student at Montclair State University for collecting child porn made a frightening discovery after raiding his dorm room, authorities said. The MSU junior from Burlington County had contacted underage children online using a bogus identity, then engaged them in sexually explicit chats – and even had some send him videos of them pleasuring themselves, they said. Keyon Luff, 21, of Edgewater Park, was arrested by state Division of Criminal Justice detectives assisted by Montclair State police during a raid of his on-campus dorm room last week, New Jersey Attorney …
Essex Jail Officer, GF Stung By FBI In Scheme To Smuggle In Tobacco, Cell Phones: Feds Essex Jail Officer, GF Stung By FBI In Scheme To Smuggle In Tobacco, Cell Phones: Feds
Essex Jail Officer, GF Stung By FBI In Scheme To Smuggle In Tobacco, Cell Phones: Feds A corrections officer and his girlfriend were busted for smuggling tobacco and cellphones into the Essex County Jail from a source who turned out to be an undercover FBI agent, federal authorities said. Efrin Wade, 34, and Yairisa Lizardo, 29, both of Jersey City, accepted $14,000 for the illegal acts and apparently were counting on another $30,000 when they were busted, U.S. Attorney for New Jersey Philip Sellinger said following their arrests on Tuesday, March 14. Wade, who’d worked as a corrections officer at the Essex County Correctional Facility (ECCF) in Newark since February 2020, be…
IN COLD BLOOD (UPDATE): Trio Charged With Killing Kidnapped Newark Man Alongside Route 80 IN COLD BLOOD (UPDATE): Trio Charged With Killing Kidnapped Newark Man Alongside Route 80
IN Cold Blood (Update): Trio Charged With Killing Kidnapped Newark Man Alongside Route 80 UPDATE: Three Newark men have been charged by New Jersey State Police with shooting and killing a fellow Brick City resident and leaving his body alongside Route 80. Two of them – William Dixon, 24, and Nishir Rios-Figueroa, 30 – were already in custody in connection with other crimes, State Police said on Tuesday. They captured the third, Mustafa Manns, 28, in Newark. The trio had abducted the victim, 27-year-old Quadree “Pee” Burch, in early August and driven him to Allamuchy Township, 20 or so miles from the Pennsylvania state line, the NJSP said in a March 14 release. They shot and ki…
Driver Left Man For Dead In NJ Roadway Then Reported Car As Stolen: Police Driver Left Man For Dead In NJ Roadway Then Reported Car As Stolen: Police
Driver Left Man For Dead In NJ Roadway Then Reported Car As Stolen: Police Just hours after hitting a man with her car and leaving him for dead in the streets of New Jersey, the driver who police say was at fault registered her vehicle as stolen and spent months hiding from police. Chayla McCray, 22, of Avenel, was arrested and charged in the Aug. 29, 2022 death of 63-year-old Jose Bonilla on Dec. 29, police in Rahway said. McCray was behind the wheel of a dark-colored Nissan Altima when she struck Bonilla on St. George's and West Inman avenues around 3 a.m. Aug. 29, Rahway Police Director Jonathan Parham said. Bonilla was pronounced dead at the scene and, later …
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…
GOTCHA! Gunman Who Carjacked Couple Captured Thanks To Police Drone: NJ Authorities GOTCHA! Gunman Who Carjacked Couple Captured Thanks To Police Drone: NJ Authorities
Gotcha! Gunman Who Carjacked Couple Captured Thanks To Police Drone: NJ Authorities A gunman who carjacked a couple waiting to pick up food outside an Elizabeth restaurant was captured by police thanks to a Newark police drone that followed their Mercedes to Jersey City, authorities said. Rahmel Belle, 22, of Jersey City, and another man were both wearing masks when they got out of a car behind the couple on Morris Avenue around 7:30 p.m. this past April 23, Acting New Jersey Attorney General Matthew J. Platkin said. Pointing a grey handgun with a laser at them, Belle ordered the victims out of the Mercedes and took their keys, cellphones and other valuables – as well as $…
Linden Man Sexually Assaulted Boy, 2 Girls, Woman: Prosecutor Linden Man Sexually Assaulted Boy, 2 Girls, Woman: Prosecutor
Linden Man Sexually Assaulted Boy, 2 Girls, Woman: Prosecutor A 35-year-old Linden man was ordered detained pending pending disposition after his arrest for sexually assaulting a boy, two girls and a woman, authorities announced. An investigation into Johan A. Osorno began last month, when the Linden Police Department notified he sexually assaulted the two children, Union County Prosecutor William A. Daniel said. During the investigation, police learned Osorno had also molested a now-adult female when she was a minor between 2018 and 2020, according to Assistant Prosecutor Bryan Tiscia, who is prosecuting the case.  A woman was al…
Man Who Crashed Stolen Wyckoff Porsche Ran Car Theft Trafficking Ring Out Of Newark: Police Man Who Crashed Stolen Wyckoff Porsche Ran Car Theft Trafficking Ring Out Of Newark: Police
Man Who Crashed Stolen Wyckoff Porsche Ran Car Theft Trafficking Ring Out Of Newark: Police A 19-year-old man from Irvington has been arrested for allegedly running an auto theft trafficking ring in Newark, authorities said.  Through various investigative means, it was learned that the suspect was responsible for trafficking twelve cars totaling over one million dollars, New Jersey State Police said. On March 20, troopers from the New Jersey State Police Troop ‘B’ Totowa Station were notified that a Porsche Cayenne was stolen out of Wyckoff Township. During the investigation, troopers received live updates from Porsche through the Global Positioning System (GPS) and loc…
Parolee Wearing Monitoring Bracelet Nabbed In NJ Consignment Shop Burglary Spree, Police Say Parolee Wearing Monitoring Bracelet Nabbed In NJ Consignment Shop Burglary Spree, Police Say
Parolee Wearing Monitoring Bracelet Nabbed In NJ Consignment Shop Burglary Spree, Police Say GOTCHA! A parolee from Montclair burglarized a Closter consignment shop -- among others -- and later stole a resident’s vehicle while wearing a GPS monitoring bracelet, authorities said. Quamir S. Hodges, 24, was also linked to burglaries in at least three other New Jersey towns during a joint investigation that included a special State Police unit, Detective Lt. Vincent Aiello said. Surveillance video at the consignment shop on Closter Dock Road shows Hodges ransacking the store, snatching several high-end bags, after pulling up with an accomplice in a silver Dodge Charger on Aug. 8, 2021,…
Murder, Kidnapping Indictment Returned Against NJ Man Accused Of Killing Ex-GF, Abducting Son Murder, Kidnapping Indictment Returned Against NJ Man Accused Of Killing Ex-GF, Abducting Son
Murder, Kidnapping Indictment Returned Against NJ Man Accused Of Killing Ex-GF, Abducting Son UPDATE: The next step in the high-profile prosecution of an East Orange man accused of killing his former girlfriend and kidnapping their young son this summer was taken when a Union County grand jury indicted him on murder and other charges, authorities said. The six-count indictment returned by grand jurors in Elizabeth also charges Tyler Rios, 27, with desecrating the remains of 24-year-old Yasemin Uyar of Rahway after killing her. Authorities began searching for Uyar and Sebastian Rios on July 8 after he didn’t show up for daycare and she didn't arrive for scheduled work shifts. Tyler…
NJ Landlord Faces Sex Crimes Against 7 More Tenants, Total Climbs To 20 NJ Landlord Faces Sex Crimes Against 7 More Tenants, Total Climbs To 20
NJ Landlord Faces Sex Crimes Against 7 More Tenants, Total Climbs To 20 A New Jersey landlord federally accused of demanding sexual favors from tenants in exchange for rent relief is facing additional charges against seven new alleged victims, bringing the total to 20, authorities said Thursday. Joseph Centanni was charged with five additional counts of second-degree sexual assault and seven additional counts of fourth-degree criminal sexual contact, Acting Union County Prosecutor Lyndsay V. Ruotolo and Elizabeth Police Department Chief Giacomo Sacca and Director Earl Graves said. The 74-year-old Mountainside resident -- who owns hundreds of residential rental …
Police: Driver, 21, Leads Wild North Jersey Pursuit After Officers Interrupt 20-Car Drag Race Police: Driver, 21, Leads Wild North Jersey Pursuit After Officers Interrupt 20-Car Drag Race
Police: Driver, 21, Leads Wild North Jersey Pursuit After Officers Interrupt 20-Car Drag Race A 21-year-old driver lead police on a wild pursuit across North Jersey after police interrupted what appeared to be a 20-car race on Route 80, authorities said. Police responded to at the Route 80 entrance ramp on New Maple Avenue in Montville, where nearly 20 luxury vehicles were arriving, apparently getting ready to race around 12:15 a.m. Jan. 3, Fairfield Police Chief Anthony Manna said. While several of the cars drove off as police showed up, a grey Dodge Charger struck a 2020 Mazda MX5, then fled down the eastbound side of the highway, Manna said. Police recognized the Charger driver …
Port Authority PD: Man Who Assaulted, Abducted Companion At Newark Airport Captured After Crash Port Authority PD: Man Who Assaulted, Abducted Companion At Newark Airport Captured After Crash
Port Authority PD: Man Who Assaulted, Abducted Companion At Newark Airport Captured After Crash Port Authority police captured a driver who they said assaulted a companion at Newark Airport, sped off with her and her friend in his SUV and then crashed. The incident began Thursday afternoon at the Terminal B arrivals area, Port Authority Media Relations Deputy Director Amber Greene said. Jason Strong, 30, of Staten Island, assaulted a woman, then sped off with her and her friend in the Cadillac SRX, which crashed along Meeker Avenue in Newark, Greene said. The 6-foot, 180-pound Strong -- who already was wanted on warrants -- took off on foot and was quickly captured, she said. Partic…