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Police & Fire
Firefighters On Rescue Mission Airlifted After Going Over Falls In Passaic River Firefighters On Rescue Mission Airlifted After Going Over Falls In Passaic River
Firefighters On Rescue Mission Airlifted After Going Over Falls In Passaic River Two Clifton firefighters on a rescue mission in the Passaic River were themselves rescued by a New Jersey State Police helicopter Wednesday afternoon after their boat went over the falls at the Dundee Dam. Both were taken to an area hospital with injuries that weren’t believed to be life-threatening following the treacherous late-afternoon operation on June 28. Contractors apparently were clearing trees at the top of the 20-foot high Dundee Dam -- which dumps tons of water into a lower section of the Passaic River in Garfield -- when their boat got snagged, responders said. Firefighters f…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
HUH? Elmwood Park Teen Comes To Hospital With Gunshot Wound, Authorities Don't Know How, Where HUH? Elmwood Park Teen Comes To Hospital With Gunshot Wound, Authorities Don't Know How, Where
HUH? Elmwood Park Teen Comes To Hospital With Gunshot Wound, Authorities Don't Know How, Where Authorities didn’t seem to know how, when, where or why an Elmwood Park teenager who turned up at St. Joseph’s Medical Center in Wayne with a bullet wound was shot. Who, of course, was also a question. The 18-year-old shooting victim arrived at the hospital via private transportation around 4 a.m. Sunday, June 25. He’d apparently been shot somewhere in Paterson, Passaic County Prosecutor Camelia M. Valdes and Paterson Police Department Officer-In-Charge Isa Abbassi said in a joint release late Monday afternoon. “At this time no crime scene has been located,” the brief release said. It did…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
Garfield Shooting: Repeat Offender From Elmwood Park Charged With Attempted Murder Of JC Man Garfield Shooting: Repeat Offender From Elmwood Park Charged With Attempted Murder Of JC Man
Garfield Shooting: Repeat Offender From Elmwood Park Charged With Attempted Murder Of JC Man UPDATE: Bergen County prosecutor’s detectives seized a repeat offender from Elmwood Park who they said shot a 26-year-old Jersey City man several times in a Garfield shopping center parking lot this past weekend. Joshua Casiano, 29, was already wanted on warrants out of Passaic and Clifton, records show, when investigators said he shot the victim and left him behind the Citizens Bank branch at the Mill Shoppes of Garfield just off River Drive late Sunday, June 18. The victim survived the 11:45 p.m. shooting and was reported by Bergen County Prosecutor Mark Musella to be in stable condition…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
House Fire Doused In Fair Lawn House Fire Doused In Fair Lawn
House Fire Doused In Fair Lawn Firefighters in Fair Lawn quickly doused a destructive house blaze before noon on Wednesday. No injuries were reported in the Kipp Street fire, which Fair Lawn Fire Chief Jacob Mamo said broke out in the kitchen of a 1½-story home just off Plaza Road near the Berdan Avenue exit off northbound Route 208 shortly after 10:30 a.m. June 21. Firefighters had the two-alarm blaze knocked in minutes, then checked for any extension to the attic. The home nonetheless sustained significant damage. Firefighters had the two-alarm blaze on Kipp Street knocked in minutes, then checked for any extensi…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
UPDATE: Garfield Shooting Victim Stable: Bergen Prosecutor UPDATE: Garfield Shooting Victim Stable: Bergen Prosecutor
Update: Garfield Shooting Victim Stable: Bergen Prosecutor UPDATE (June 22): Bergen County prosecutor’s detectives seized a repeat offender from Elmwood Park who they said shot a 26-year-old Jersey City man several times in a Garfield shopping center parking lot this past weekend. Joshua Casiano, 29, was already wanted on warrants out of Passaic and Clifton, records show, when investigators said he shot the victim and left him behind the Citizens Bank branch at the Mill Shoppes of Garfield just off River Drive late Sunday, June 18. The victim survived the 11:45 p.m. shooting and was reported by Bergen County Prosecutor Mark Musella to be in stable…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
Little Ferry Ex-Con Charged With Pistol-Whipping, Robbing Teen Of $10G Cash, $18G Gold Chain Little Ferry Ex-Con Charged With Pistol-Whipping, Robbing Teen Of $10G Cash, $18G Gold Chain
Little Ferry Ex-Con Charged With Pistol-Whipping, Robbing Teen Of $10G Cash, $18G Gold Chain A Little Ferry ex-con was charged with pistol-whipping an Elmwood Park teenager and robbing him of what the victim said was a huge amount of cash and jewelry. The 19-year-old victim had gone to the Washington Avenue home of Anton Pettway, 44, to collect belongings that he'd left behind when his teenage friend -- Pettway's stepson -- was arrested earlier in the day, Police Chief James Walters said. The teen told responding Officers Dominick Verdi, Joseph Montemurro and Dean Steinhilber that Pettway hit him at least a half-dozen times with a gun, took his wallet -- which he claimed held $10,0…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
HIGHWAY ROBBERIES: Masked Trio Terrorizes NJ Gas Station Attendants In Three Counties HIGHWAY ROBBERIES: Masked Trio Terrorizes NJ Gas Station Attendants In Three Counties
Highway Robberies: Masked Trio Terrorizes NJ Gas Station Attendants In Three Counties A trio of armed robbers terrorized gas station attendants in several North Jersey towns overnight Tuesday, taking cash and valuables at gunpoint, authorities confirmed. Information was still coming in as this story was being written. At this point, however, the same three masked bandits are believed responsible for armed robberies in Montclair, at an Exxon station on Route 46 in Elmwood Park and at an Exxon/Tiger Mart on 21st Avenue in Paterson before dawn June 13. They were also tied to a failed holdup at a Wawa in Garfield. Authorities believe the three black suspects dressed all in blac…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
GOTCHA! Organized Couple Busted By Glen Rock Detective After $3,650 CVS Cosmetics Thefts GOTCHA! Organized Couple Busted By Glen Rock Detective After $3,650 CVS Cosmetics Thefts
Gotcha! Organized Couple Busted By Glen Rock Detective After $3,650 CVS Cosmetics Thefts A Glen Rock police detective nabbed an organized pair of thieves -- one from Elmwood Park, the other from Paterson -- who swiped nearly $3,650 worth of cosmetics from a local CVS in separate trips, authorities said. Detective Sgt. James Calaski identified Carla E. Granda-Jara, a 37-year-old resident of the Silk City, and Ricardo E. Campos-Bardales, 42,  following the May 19 and May 24 shopliftings at the Rock Road pharmacy, Police Chief Dean Ackermann said. Calaski arrested Granda-Jara with help from his colleagues in Fair Lawn last Thursday, June 8, the chief said. The sergeant grabb…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
Ex-Con With History Stretching Nearly 40 Years Nabbed In Garfield Nail Salon Break-In Ex-Con With History Stretching Nearly 40 Years Nabbed In Garfield Nail Salon Break-In
Ex-Con With History Stretching Nearly 40 Years Nabbed In Garfield Nail Salon Break-In The phrase "known to police" is an understatement when it comes to Brian Patrick Barone. Barone, 57, of Garfield has a criminal history that dates all the way to 1986, when he was charged with DWI after ramming his car into a utility pole in Washington Township. He also escaped from Northern State Prison in Newark in November 2001 and remained on the lam more than two months, burglarizing a dry cleaner and laundry and stealing a car in Elmwood Park before Paramus police captured him on the roof of what was then the Red Carpet Inn on Route 17. Barone has been arrested dozens of times in var…

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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
Elmwood Park Boarding House Resident, 76, Stabs Roommate, Surrenders To Police Elmwood Park Boarding House Resident, 76, Stabs Roommate, Surrenders To Police
Elmwood Park Boarding House Resident, 76, Stabs Roommate, Surrenders To Police Elmwood Park police convinced a 76-year-old boarding house resident to surrender after he stabbed his roommate during an argument, authorities said. Kenneth Washington remained held in the Bergen County Jail on Monday, May 22, charged with aggravated assault and weapons offenses. Officers who responded to the 5:05 p.m. call on Saturday got the other residents to safety after Washington ran into his room and locked the door, Elmwood Park Police Chief Michael Foligno said. A Bergen County Regional SWAT team was ready but not needed in the end. Foligno's officers talked with Washington, who …

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by Jerry DeMarco