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Police & Fire
Who Was Xavier Contreras? Homeless Laborer ID’d As Fatal Fire Victim At Former Ridgefield B&B Who Was Xavier Contreras? Homeless Laborer ID’d As Fatal Fire Victim At Former Ridgefield B&B
Who Was Xavier Contreras? Homeless Laborer ID’d As Fatal Fire Victim At Former Ridgefield B&B 𝗨𝗣𝗗𝗔𝗧𝗘: A former bed and breakfast in Ridgefield had been leveled by fire when responders found the remains of a man wrapped around a support beam. “He must’ve been alive and trying to hold on when the floor above him collapsed,” said a firefighter who was at the predawn blaze at the former Toddle Inn on Broad Avenue on Wednesday, March 6. Bergen County Prosecutor Mark Musella identified the victim on Friday as 42-year-old Xavier Contreras. An Ecuadoran national, the homeless Contreras sometimes joined the groups of day laborers waiting for passing contractors in nearby Palisades Park, ju…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
UPDATE: Teaneck Woman Remains Hospitalized After Husband’s Suicide Fire Kills 2nd Victim UPDATE: Teaneck Woman Remains Hospitalized After Husband’s Suicide Fire Kills 2nd Victim
Update: Teaneck Woman Remains Hospitalized After Husband’s Suicide Fire Kills 2nd Victim FOR THE RECORD: A Teaneck woman remained hospitalized weeks after her husband ignited a gasoline-fueled fire that killed himself and another woman in their basement apartment. Ranjodh Singh IV, 35, “purposely set fire to himself in the basement apartment” shortly after midnight Feb. 19, Bergen County Prosecutor Mark Musella said last week. “As a result, the fire spread rapidly through the basement and trapped the other two occupants of the apartment,” Musella said. He used an accelerant, the prosecutor said, which responders said was gasoline. Singh died before dawn. Single mom Manjin…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
Westwood Mechanic, 31, Charged With 2007 Child Sex Assaults Westwood Mechanic, 31, Charged With 2007 Child Sex Assaults
Westwood Mechanic, 31, Charged With 2007 Child Sex Assaults A 31-year-old mechanic from Westwood was in his early teens when he sexually assaulted a much younger child, authorities charged. Nicholas Cavaniola is accused of sexually assaulting a pre-teen at least four years younger than him in Westwood twice in April 2007, according to Bergen County Jail records. There's no statute of limitations for criminal sexual assault cases in New Jersey. Prosecutors can bring a one at any point in time. Cavaniola was arrested in Hillsdale on Feb. 28 following an investigation begun by Westwood police and continued by members of Bergen County Prosecutor Mark M…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
Mahwah Man Charged With Physically Abusing Pre-Teen Mahwah Man Charged With Physically Abusing Pre-Teen
Mahwah Man Charged With Physically Abusing Pre-Teen A medical assistant who lives in Mahwah was jailed after authorities said he physically abused a preteen. Martino Desir, 37, was arrested on Monday, March 4, following a call from the state Division of Child Protection and Permanency that he “physically abused a child under the age of 13,” Bergen County Prosecutor Mark Musella said. The prosecutor didn’t elaborate. Desir was charged with child endangerment and sent to the Bergen County Jail, where he remained on Tuesday pending a first appearance in Central Judicial Processing Court in Hackensack. Desir -- who's listed in jail records as …

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
Coach From Lyndhurst Charged With Sexually Assaulting Second Bergen Child Coach From Lyndhurst Charged With Sexually Assaulting Second Bergen Child
Coach From Lyndhurst Charged With Sexually Assaulting Second Bergen Child 𝗨𝗣𝗗𝗔𝗧𝗘: A North Jersey youth strength and conditioning coach who’s already awaiting trial first for a double-fatal car crash in Lodi and then for repeated sex assaults of a child is back in jail. Donald Kumar Davis, 33, of Lyndhurst was charged by detectives with sexually assaulting a second child, Bergen County Prosecutor Mark Musella announced on Monday, March, 4. Davis -- formerly of Nutley -- was previously accused of killing a retired Albanian police chief and a Garfield Walmart manager when he slammed his 2015 Dodge Charger into their car as the immigrant couple as they emerged from t…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
Stock Clerk Charged With Sexually Assaulting Underage Teen In Elmwood Park Stock Clerk Charged With Sexually Assaulting Underage Teen In Elmwood Park
Stock Clerk Charged With Sexually Assaulting Underage Teen In Elmwood Park A stock clerk already awaiting trial on an aggravated assault charge out of Passaic County was arrested by detectives who said he sexually assaulted an underage juvenile multiple times in Elmwood Park. Jaden Vargas, 21, of Paterson allegedly victimized someone who Bergen County Prosecutor Mark Musella said was between 13 and 16 years old at the time. Musella didn't specify a time period and said only that the alleged incidents occurred "in the past." Vargas was arrested in Elmwood Park last Friday, March 1, following a two-week investigation and has remained held in the Bergen Co…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
Teaneck Mom Jailed For Not Reporting Child Sex Crimes: Prosecutor Teaneck Mom Jailed For Not Reporting Child Sex Crimes: Prosecutor
Teaneck Mom Jailed For Not Reporting Child Sex Crimes: Prosecutor A Teaneck woman was jailed for not reporting sexual assaults against two different children, records show. Shanasia Taylor, a 32-year-old warehouse worker, “acted in a manner that would endanger the welfare of a child, specifically by not reporting an act of sexual assault against children,” Bergen County Prosecutor Mark Musella said on Monday, March 4. Criminal records put the time frame of the alleged crimes at May 2022. Taylor, a Paterson native and mother of two, was arrested on Friday and charged by Teaneck police with child endangerment involving sexual conduct. Members of the prosec…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
HOME INVASION: Female Saddle Brook 'Guest' Let Armed Robbers In, Authorities Charge HOME INVASION: Female Saddle Brook 'Guest' Let Armed Robbers In, Authorities Charge
Home Invasion: Female Saddle Brook 'Guest' Let Armed Robbers In, Authorities Charge 𝗨𝗣𝗗𝗔𝗧𝗘: A Saddle Brook home invasion in which a group of thugs from Passaic County took $12,500 in cash, $3,000 worth of jewelry and more at gunpoint was made possible by a female "guest," federal authorities revealed.  Lanasia "Lay" Smith, 24 (top left above), sent ex-con Jancarlos "M" Rodriguez, 23 (bottom right), "a picture of a safe located in the residence" hours before the June 28, 2022 robbery, U.S. Attorney Philip R. Sellinger said. Smith then left the front door unlocked for Rodriguez and two cohorts -- fellow ex-con Jahad "Hadie" Foxworth, 25, and Jamere "Rebels" Dixon, 23 --…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
'Entertainer' Who's Worked With Kids Charged With Sex Crimes In Bergen, Rockland 'Entertainer' Who's Worked With Kids Charged With Sex Crimes In Bergen, Rockland
'Entertainer' Who's Worked With Kids Charged With Sex Crimes In Bergen, Rockland A deejay from Rockland County who’s worked with children in a number of Bergen County towns is facing sex assault charges in both states, Daily Voice has learned. Andrew Villafuerte – aka “Droovy” – 33, of Airmont, NY, is charged with three separate instances of aggravated criminal sexual contact, as well as child endangerment, out of New Milford, NJ, Bergen County Prosecutor Mark Musella said on Friday, March 1. Musella, who described the defendant as an entertainer, said an investigation by his Special Victims Unit and New Milford police found that Villafuerte "had sexually assaulted a ch…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
GOTCHA! Five Charged With Rash Of Bergen Armed Wristwatch Robberies, Stabbing In PalPark GOTCHA! Five Charged With Rash Of Bergen Armed Wristwatch Robberies, Stabbing In PalPark
Gotcha! Five Charged With Rash Of Bergen Armed Wristwatch Robberies, Stabbing In PalPark Authorities have charged five men with robbing three separate victims of wristwatches – stabbing one of them – in two Bergen County towns, thanks to an arrest by Port Authority police. Two of the robberies occurred in broad daylight on River Road in Edgewater last fall, Bergen County Prosecutor Mark Musella said on Friday, March 1. The third included a stabbing in the victim’s driveway in Palisades Park, the prosecutor said. One of two robbers brandished a handgun while a colleague stood lookout when they robbed the first Edgewater victim shortly after 3 a.m. Oct. 24, Musella said. The ro…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
Accused Dealer Charged With Fentanyl-Laced Crack Death Of Jersey City Man At Lyndhurst Hotel Accused Dealer Charged With Fentanyl-Laced Crack Death Of Jersey City Man At Lyndhurst Hotel
Accused Dealer Charged With Fentanyl-Laced Crack Death Of Jersey City Man At Lyndhurst Hotel An accused drug dealer from Bloomfield provided the drugs that killed a user from Jersey City at a Lyndhurst motel, authorities charged. Alberto Delgado, 43, was accused of selling the fentanyl-laced crack that killed 54-year-old Luke Revell after he smoked it at the Winslow Motor Hotel just off eastbound Route 3. Delgado had more than a pound and a half of the drugs in a storage unit when detectives from the Bergen County Prosecutor's Office searched it, according to a complaint on file in Superior Court in Hackensack. They also learned that Delgado had communicated with Revell by ce…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
Rockland Cook Charged With Sexually Assaulting Child In Bergen Rockland Cook Charged With Sexually Assaulting Child In Bergen
Rockland Cook Charged With Sexually Assaulting Child In Bergen A cook from Rockland was arrested this week on charges of sexually assaulting a pre-teen in Bergen County several years ago, authorities said. Bergen County Prosecutor Mark Musella said John Mark Dillon, 60, who currently lives in Piermont, sexually assaulted the youngster at least twice in Northvale, where records show he’d previously lived. The prosecutor didn’t provide dates. Dillon remained held in the Rockland County Correctional Center in New City, pending extradition to New Jersey, following his arrest in Orangeburg on Monday, Feb. 26. He's charged with two counts of aggravated sex…

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by Jerry DeMarco