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Police & Fire
Transformer Catches Fire, Causes Power Outages As Truck Strikes Utility Pole In Warren County Transformer Catches Fire, Causes Power Outages As Truck Strikes Utility Pole In Warren County
Transformer Catches Fire, Causes Power Outages As Truck Strikes Utility Pole In Warren County A transformer caught fire and caused numerous Warren County residents to lose fire as a truck slammed into a utility pole, authorities said. The truck crashed into a utility pole on Route 31 South in White Township on the morning of Friday, August 12, according to the Mountain Lake Fire Company. Route 31 was closed between Route 46 and Pequest Road as crews worked at the scene of the crash, which caused power outages throughout the area, the department said. ⚠️ Route 31 is closed between Route 46 and Pequest Road due to a motor vehicle accident with wires down. Local areas will be wit…

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by Valerie Musson
News
WILD CHASE: Stolen Car Driver With Two Flats Hits Police Car, Parked Vehicles, Flees South WILD CHASE: Stolen Car Driver With Two Flats Hits Police Car, Parked Vehicles, Flees South
Wild Chase: Stolen Car Driver With Two Flats Hits Police Car, Parked Vehicles, Flees South Two thieves led police on a wild stolen car chase through Bergen County on what became two flat front tires. A Little Ferry police cruiser was struck during the pursuit, which began in Ridgefield and went through several towns -- on highways as well as back streets -- before winding up back there. The driver and his passenger were then somehow able to flee south on the New Jersey Turnpike with both the flats and a heavily-damaged front end, police said. Fortunately, no one was injured, Ridgefield Police Chief TJ Gallagher said Thursday. It all began late Wednesday afternoon when the two b…

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by Jerry DeMarco
News
Amazon Truck Topples Traffic Light, Route 46 Jammed For Hours Amazon Truck Topples Traffic Light, Route 46 Jammed For Hours
Amazon Truck Topples Traffic Light, Route 46 Jammed For Hours The rush hour on Route 46 near Teterboro Airport was a mess Monday morning, several hours after an Amazon truck took down a traffic signal, authorities said. The eastbound driver tried to make a U-turn at Huyler Street from the eastbound fast lane when the truck toppled the light on the border of Moonachie and South Hackensack at 1:15 a.m., Moonachie Police Lt. Jeff Napolitano said. A New Jersey Department of Transportation crew arrived around 5 a.m. to begin repairs, Napolitano. This took out the fast lane on both sides of the highway, "adding to the pain of the (morning) commute," the l…

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by Jerry DeMarco
News
Back-To-Back Route 46 Gas Station Robberies Net Band Of Bandits $5,000 Back-To-Back Route 46 Gas Station Robberies Net Band Of Bandits $5,000
Back-To-Back Route 46 Gas Station Robberies Net Band Of Bandits $5,000 SEE ANYTHING? A pair of Route 46 gas station holdups less than a mile and barely five minutes apart netted a group of masked robbers a combined $5,000, authorities said. Five of them pulled into the Exxon station on the eastbound highway in Ridgefield Park in a silver sedan shortly before 4:30 a.m. Sunday, Police Chief Joseph Rella said. All wore hoodies, face coverings and gloves. Although no weapon was shown, one of the robbers held his hand over his jacket pocket, suggesting he had a gun, the chief said. The quintet fled with $3,000 in cash. ANYONE who might have seen something or…

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by Jerry DeMarco
News
HEROES: Ridgefield Park Officers Rescue Trapped Driver In Burning Car HEROES: Ridgefield Park Officers Rescue Trapped Driver In Burning Car
Heroes: Ridgefield Park Officers Rescue Trapped Driver In Burning Car Flames are rapidly spreading as Ridgefield Park police officers furiously try to pull a trapped Fort Lee driver from his burning sedan, dramatic bodycam video shows. An electrical malfunction ignited the front of 55-year-old Christopher Vagnone’s Honda Accord outside Mavis Discount Tire on Route 46 (Winant Avenue) shortly before 2 a.m. Saturday, Police Chief Joseph Rella said. Unable to open the car doors, Sgt. Nicholas Triano retrieved a Halligan bar and smashed the driver’s side window, the chief said. Bodycam footage shows Ridgefield Park police officers pulling a Fort Lee driver f…

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by Jerry DeMarco
News
Smoky Holiday Fire Doused Off Route 46 Smoky Holiday Fire Doused Off Route 46
Smoky Holiday Fire Doused Off Route 46 Firefighters doused a smoky July 4th blaze behind an industrial building in Hasbrouck Heights. Massive plumes of smoke could be seen for miles after the fire broke out in wooden pallets of foam insulation and spread to a section of the building off westbound Route 46 between Routes 17 and 80 near the Hilton Hotel shortly before 8 p.m. No injuries were reported. The Bergen County Prosecutor's Arson Investigations Unit responded to probe the cause. At the scene.Mary Anne Harlow Patterson Bucket loaders were summoned to remove the damaged pallets.  Mutual aid responders either at the sc…

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by Jerry DeMarco
News
Hours-Long Multi-Alarm Warehouse Blaze Doused In Palisades Park Hours-Long Multi-Alarm Warehouse Blaze Doused In Palisades Park
Hours-Long Multi-Alarm Warehouse Blaze Doused In Palisades Park A stubborn multi-alarm fire ravaged a vacant Palisades Park warehouse and spread to another. A firefighter sustained what was characterized as a minor injury in the Fairview Street blaze Saturday just off Grand Avenue down the street from westbound Route 46 in Palisades Park. Firefighters were met by heavy flames that quickly shot through the roof of the primary building shortly before 6 p.m. A firefighter sustained what was characterized as a minor injury in the early-evening Fairview Street blaze just off Grand Avenue in Palisades Park.Damien Danis for DAILY VOICE The blaze went to …

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
Seatbelt Infraction Turns Into Eluding Charge For Warren County Man After Foot Chase: Police Seatbelt Infraction Turns Into Eluding Charge For Warren County Man After Foot Chase: Police
Seatbelt Infraction Turns Into Eluding Charge For Warren County Man After Foot Chase: Police Officers who tried to stop a driver for not wearing a seatbelt on Route 46 ended up initiating a foot chase that ended in another jurisdiction as well as numerous additional charges, they said. Hackettstown Police tried to pull over a car driven by Raul L. Diaz, 57, for failing to wear a seatbelt on Tuesday, June 21, the department said in a release on Wednesday, June 22. Despite officers activating emergency lights and sirens, Diaz failed to stop and instead turned into the parking lot of the North Morris Apartment complex on North Main Street, police said. Diaz, of Independence, then par…

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by Valerie Musson
News
GOTCHA! Ex-Con's Facebook, Instagram Pages Lead To Arrest In Lodi, Elmwood Park Armed Robberies GOTCHA! Ex-Con's Facebook, Instagram Pages Lead To Arrest In Lodi, Elmwood Park Armed Robberies
Gotcha! Ex-Con's Facebook, Instagram Pages Lead To Arrest In Lodi, Elmwood Park Armed Robberies His social profiles helped investigators identify a convicted armed robber as the gunman who they said held up a convenience store in Lodi and pistol-whipped a Chinese restaurant worker during another robbery in Elmwood Park. Michael Stuart, 48, used a revolver to rob a 7-Eleven on Route 46 in Lodi shortly before 2:30 a.m. on April 26, authorities charged. Using the same gun, car and clothing, Stuart held up the Garden China Restaurant on Broadway in Elmwood Park on May 10, exactly two weeks later, a complaint on file in Superior Court in Hackensack says. Stuart, most recently of East Oran…

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by Jerry DeMarco
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Murder Case Cracked: Trio Charged With Lodi Parking Lot Slaying Murder Case Cracked: Trio Charged With Lodi Parking Lot Slaying
Murder Case Cracked: Trio Charged With Lodi Parking Lot Slaying Investigators from Bergen and Passaic counties cracked the March slaying of a 26-year-old Paterson man who was gunned down in the parking lot of a Lodi garden apartment complex. Charged with murder, conspiracy and weapons offenses in the drug-related killing are Giovanni Feliciano, 22, of Garfield, and Jefersson Gonzalez, 21, of Paterson.  Charged with drug and weapons charges is Elvis DeJesus, 24, of Paterson. The victim, John Anthony DeLeon, was struck in a hail of gunfire at the Kennedy Gardens Apartments on Victor Street off Route 46 on March 8, said Bergen County Prosecutor Mark Muse…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
Victim Hospitalized Following Fiery 2-Car Crash In Morris County (PHOTOS) Victim Hospitalized Following Fiery 2-Car Crash In Morris County (PHOTOS)
Victim Hospitalized Following Fiery 2-Car Crash In Morris County (Photos) A trapped victim was extricated and rushed to a nearby hospital following a fiery two-car crash in Morris County, authorities said. The Mountain Lakes Volunteer Fire Dept. responded to the crash — which was initially reported as a car fire — at the intersection of Boulevard and Route 46 around 7:40 p.m. on Tuesday, June 14, the squad said. Upon arrival, the department confirmed a two-car crash with entrapment and worked quickly to rescue the trapped victim. The victim was then rushed to a nearby hospital for treatment of unspecified injuries, the department said. The scene was cleared in…

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by Valerie Musson
News
Clifton Officer Struck On Highway, Fleeing DWI Motorist Charged With Assault With Deadly Weapon Clifton Officer Struck On Highway, Fleeing DWI Motorist Charged With Assault With Deadly Weapon
Clifton Officer Struck On Highway, Fleeing DWI Motorist Charged With Assault With Deadly Weapon A driver was charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon after he hit a Clifton police officer with his car on the shoulder of a highway and then led a pursuit that ended in a crash, authorities said. Officer George Balkjy had stopped a motorcycle on northbound Route 21 near Route 46 around 7 a.m. Tuesday when Luis Villalba, 21, of Paterson tried to pass bottlenecked traffic on the shoulder, Detective Lt. Robert Bracken said. Balkjy stopped the vehicle and was approaching the driver's side when Villalba hit the gas and swerved toward the officer, hitting him in the arm and leg, Bra…

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by Jerry DeMarco