Fair 63°
Police & Fire
NJ Teacher Who Posed As Woman To Lure 70 Boys Into Sending Him Nudes Gets 17½ Years: Feds NJ Teacher Who Posed As Woman To Lure 70 Boys Into Sending Him Nudes Gets 17½ Years: Feds
NJ Teacher Youth Coach Child Porn Boys Nude Videos Feds UPDATE: It's a measure of how despicably and disgustingly a former Union County grade-school teacher and youth soccer coach from Morristown abused dozens of boys he'd met online that a plea bargain got him "only" 17½ years in federal prison. Steven Brooks, 37, must serve at least 85% of the negotiated sentence handed down in federal court in Newark on Thursday, April 18, for posing as a woman to lure at least 70 underage boys into sending him nude photos and videos. That means he'll be in his early 50s before he'll be eligible to experience freedom again. FBI agents who investigated Brooks…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
Feds: NJ Longshoreman Gets 2½ Years For Ducking Taxes On $2.5M Of Income Feds: NJ Longshoreman Gets 2½ Years For Ducking Taxes On $2.5M Of Income
Feds: NJ Longshoreman Gets 2½ Years For Ducking Taxes On $2.5M Of Income A Port Newark mechanic who was convicted of ducking taxes on $2.5 million of income was sentenced to nearly 2½ years in federal prison. Jonathan Michael, 55, of Springfield had filed returns and paid his taxes without fail for decades, the U.S. Department of Justice said in a release. In 2014, however, he gave his employer in the machine shop at the Port Newark Container Terminal a bogus W-4 form, claiming that he was exempt from any federal income tax withholding from his pay, federal authorities said. The IRS notified Michael in 2016 that he wasn't entitled to exempt status, but he wrote…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
Police ID Woman, Montclair Officer Wounded In Shootout (UPDATE) Police ID Woman, Montclair Officer Wounded In Shootout (UPDATE)
Police ID Woman, Montclair Officer Wounded In Shootout (Update) Authorities have identified the alleged gunman and released details in a police-involved shooting Monday in Montclair. Maryann Swain, 39, a township resident, struck Montclair Police Officer Michael J. Medrano, 33, in the shoulder on the 100 block of Forest Street around 1:10 p.m. Monday, April 15, Essex County Prosecutor Theodore N. Stephens, II said. Medrano and other officers were responding to the scene on reports of an armed person and "were met with gunfire," Stephens said. Another Montclair officer returned fire, striking Swain, who suffered non-life-threatening injuries and wa…

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by Cecilia Levine
Police & Fire
Shooting At Notorious Paterson Street Corner Wounds Out-Of-Towner, 42 Shooting At Notorious Paterson Street Corner Wounds Out-Of-Towner, 42
Shooting At Notorious Paterson Street Corner Wounds Out-Of-Towner, 42 Another shooting at one of Paterson’s most dangerous street corners sent a 42-year-old Newark man to the hospital. Shots rang out at Godwin Avenue and Carroll Street shortly after 10:30 p.m. Monday, April 15. As officers were arriving at the scene, a private vehicle was taking the victim to St. Joseph’s University Medical Center with non-fatal gunshot wounds, Passaic County Prosecutor Camelia M. Valdes and Paterson Police Department Officer-In-Charge Isa Abbassi said in a joint release Tuesday. Valdes and Abbassi didn’t say whether any suspects had been arrested or identified.

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
GOTCHA! Fleeing Car Thief, 16, Captured By Paramus PD With Assist From Law Enforcement Partners GOTCHA! Fleeing Car Thief, 16, Captured By Paramus PD With Assist From Law Enforcement Partners
Gotcha! Fleeing Car Thief, 16, Captured By Paramus PD With Assist From Law Enforcement Partners Paramus police captured a 16-year-old Newark boy after he'd popped the ignition cylinder on an SUV parked in the owner's driveway. Officers Slavko Bajovic and Ryan Cottrell were responding to a call from the owner of the Bullard Road home when they saw the teen run from the 2017 Hyundai Tucson to a Sonata parked nearby shortly before 6 a.m. Sunday, April 14, Police Chief Robert Guidetti said. Guidetti's officers got help establishing a perimeter from a Bergen County Sheriff's K-9 unit and police from Bergenfield, River Edge and Rochelle Park police, Guidetti said. Bajovic found the Sonata …

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
Man Who Punched Police Officers Breaking Up Brawl In Newark Captured 2 Days Later: Cops Man Who Punched Police Officers Breaking Up Brawl In Newark Captured 2 Days Later: Cops
Man Who Punched Police Officers Breaking Up Brawl In Newark Captured 2 Days Later: Cops A 31-year-old man has been arrested for punching police officers breaking up a brawl in Newark, authorities said. Khalil Cuttino, of Phillipsburg, had been wanted for aggravated assault on police officers in connection with the Friday, April 12 incident, and was taken into custody on Sunday, April 14, Newark Public Safety Director Fritz G. Fragé said. Officers responded to the 300 block of Clinton Avenue for a man with a handgun around 5:10 p.m. Friday, where a large crowd had gathered, Frage said. A male in the crowd, later identified as Cuttino, struck two officers with closed fists…

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by Cecilia Levine
Police & Fire
Crooked Cardio Doc Admits Pocketing $2 Million In Health Insurance Ripoffs Crooked Cardio Doc Admits Pocketing $2 Million In Health Insurance Ripoffs
Crooked Cardio Doc Admits Pocketing $2 Million In Health Insurance Ripoffs The owner and sole medical provider of a Middlesex County medical practice admitted in federal court that he pocketed nearly $2 million in a long-running series of blatant health insurance scams. Dr. Fazal Panezai, a 76-year-old cardiologist from Morganville, at one point submitted claims for a single day's worth of visits to his Matawan-Aberdeen Heart & Medical Center in May 2022 that totaled 27.9 hours, U.S. Attorney Philip R. Sellinger said. Hei also billed health insurance providers more than $80,000 for office visits when he was out of the country, the U.S. attorney said. Panezai …

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
Duo Accused Of Carjacking Takeout Customer In Newark Face Federal Prosecution Duo Accused Of Carjacking Takeout Customer In Newark Face Federal Prosecution
Duo Accused Of Carjacking Takeout Customer In Newark Face Federal Prosecution Two repeat offenders charged with carjacking a customer waiting for a pickup order outside a Newark restaurant are now in federal custody and aren't going anywhere. The victim was pumping air into the front passenger tire on Dec. 9, 2023 when the pair arrived in a 2015 Lexus that had been stolen from outside a Wawa on Route 34 in Wall Township. Arraqeeb Williams-Cook, 23, of East Orange, got into the driver's seat of the victim's car, then pulled a gun, U.S. Attorney for New Jersey Philip R. Sellinger said. As the victim ran into the restaurant to call for help, ex-con Washir Singleta…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
Car Thief Confronted By Wyckoff Homeowner Turns Out To Be 14-Year-Old Garfield Boy Car Thief Confronted By Wyckoff Homeowner Turns Out To Be 14-Year-Old Garfield Boy
Car Thief Confronted By Wyckoff Homeowner Turns Out To Be 14-Year-Old Garfield Boy A would-be car thief who fled a Wyckoff driveway after the new BMW X5’s owner confronted him turned out to be a 14-year-old boy from Garfield, authorities said. The teen hopped into a waiting Dodge Charger that was trailed by a Nissan Rogue, both of which sped from Atwood Place early one late-March morning, Wyckoff Police Lt. Joseph Soto said. Sgt. Ryan Noon tried stopping the Rogue but had to terminate the pursuit because of safety concerns, Soto said. Detective Sgt. Michael DeMaio took it from there, identifying the boy with help from Newark police who’d stopped the Charger, the lieutena…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
140 Shopping Carts Stolen From Rochelle Park ShopRite: Man, 77, Younger Pal Busted 140 Shopping Carts Stolen From Rochelle Park ShopRite: Man, 77, Younger Pal Busted
140 Shopping Carts Stolen From Rochelle Park ShopRite: Man, 77, Younger Pal Busted A 77-year-old Cuban national and a middle-aged accomplice from Newark were arrested after 140 shopping carts were stolen from the Rochelle Park ShopRite over the course of two weeks, authorities said. The carts began vanishing from the parking lot of the West Passaic Street supermarket on March 27, Rochelle Park Police Capt. James M. DePreta said.By early this week, 140 were gone, the captain said. Total value: $28,000 (or $200 per).  Reviewing surveillance video with supermarket security, Rochelle Park Detective Sgt. Jared Shatkin and Detective Nick Mercoun identified a distinctive r…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
Newark Teen, Grandmother Busted: Guns, Ammo Seized After Secaucus Car Burglary Arrest Newark Teen, Grandmother Busted: Guns, Ammo Seized After Secaucus Car Burglary Arrest
Newark Teen, Grandmother Busted: Guns, Ammo Seized After Secaucus Car Burglary Arrest Police who nabbed a Newark teen for a car burglary in Secaucus ended up seizing both him and his grandmother after finding three handguns and 400 rounds of ammunition at their home, authorities said. Secaucus police originally charged Malahki E. Issac, 18, with burglary and theft for the vehicle break-in and released him last month. A deeper dive by members of the department’s Anti-Crime Unit led them to even more serious offenses, Police Chief Dennis Miller said. After obtaining an arrest warrant, the detectives scoop up Isaac on Springfield Avenue in Newark on Thursday, April 4. Members…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
ICE Seizes Turkish National Charged With Sexually Assaulting Drive-Share Passenger In Fair Lawn ICE Seizes Turkish National Charged With Sexually Assaulting Drive-Share Passenger In Fair Lawn
ICE Seizes Turkish National Charged With Sexually Assaulting Drive-Share Passenger In Fair Lawn ICE agents took custody of a 33-year-old ride-share driver from Turkey after he was jailed on charges of sexually assaulting a female passenger in Fair Lawn. Ahmet Yusuf Aydemir sexually assaulted the woman “while she was a passenger in his vehicle” on Wednesday, April 3, Bergen County Prosecutor Mark Musella said. He didn’t specify which ride-share service, however. Aydemir, a Turkish national who's been living in Garfield, was arrested on Thursday and charged with sexual assault and criminal sexual contact charges, records show. He was sent to the Bergen County Jail -- but he didn’…

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by Jerry DeMarco