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Police & Fire
Bayonne Detectives Sting Staten Island Man Selling Stolen Cars On Facebook Marketplace: Police Bayonne Detectives Sting Staten Island Man Selling Stolen Cars On Facebook Marketplace: Police
Bayonne Detectives Sting Staten Island Man Selling Stolen Cars On Facebook Marketplace: Police A Staten Island man was off to the races selling stolen cars on Facebook Marketplace when Bayonne detectives put the brakes on the operation, authorities said. Using bogus identification, Devonte A. Thomas, 23, recently raked in $26,650 that police know about as “Alazim Olasupo Odu, selling a 2013 Infiniti and two Hondas from 2019 and 2020, Bayonne Police Capt. Eric R. Amato said. One of the victims called police after crossing paths with Thomas while looking for another car, the captain said. After quickly confirming that the car Thomas was selling had been stolen out of Newark, detective…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
Man Who Drove 12 Pounds Of Heroin, Fentanyl All The Way From Cali Busted In Bergen County: Feds Man Who Drove 12 Pounds Of Heroin, Fentanyl All The Way From Cali Busted In Bergen County: Feds
Man Who Drove 12 Pounds Of Heroin, Fentanyl All The Way From Cali Busted In Bergen County: Feds A California man was minutes from a dropoff after driving more than a dozen pounds of fentanyl and heroin cross country to New Jersey when he was stopped in Fort Lee for running a stop sign, authorities said. Timothy Alan Blank, 54, of Reseda, CA, made it 2,800 miles before Fort Lee police pulled his SUV over in Englewood Cliffs north of Sylvan and Myrtle avenues last Friday, March 8, according to a federal complaint. A Bergen County Sheriff's K-9 directed officers to the trunk, where it says they found the five kilos wrapped in five bricks. Blank collected the wrapped $195,000 of heroin a…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
'GHOST TAGS': Massive Crackdown On License Plate Fraud Begins At GWB, Lincoln Tunnel 'GHOST TAGS': Massive Crackdown On License Plate Fraud Begins At GWB, Lincoln Tunnel
'Ghost Tags': Massive Crackdown On License Plate Fraud Begins At GWB, Lincoln Tunnel A massive campaign to identify and seize "ghost plate" vehicles roared from the starting line with 73 impounds, 282 summonses and eight arrests at the Lincoln Tunnel and George Washington and Triborough bridges, authorities announced on Tuesday. Port Authority police seized plates and vehicles from 30 motorists at the Lincoln and the GWB while issuing 142 summonses, sources there told Daily Voice. They also impounded three vehicles responsible for more than $700,000 in unpaid tolls and fees -- including more than $130,000 tied to a single New Jersey company, Green Brothers Logisti…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Sports
Manasquan's Bid To Overturn HS Basketball Playoff Loss Denied By NJ Education Dept. Manasquan's Bid To Overturn HS Basketball Playoff Loss Denied By NJ Education Dept.
Manasquan's Bid To Overturn HS Basketball Playoff Loss Denied By NJ Education Dept. A Jersey Shore high school boys basketball team appears to only have one desperation heave left after a referee error cost it a trip to a state championship game. The state Department of Education denied an appeal from the Manasquan School District to postpone the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association (NJSIAA) Group 2 state championship game. The district's attorneys mentioned the decision in an emergency court filing on Friday, Mar. 8. The title game between Camden High School and Newark Arts High School is scheduled for noon on Saturday, Mar. 9. It'll be held at …

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by Chris Spiker
Police & Fire
FEDS: Hawthorne Dad Takes Plea Deal, Admits Trafficking Child Porn FEDS: Hawthorne Dad Takes Plea Deal, Admits Trafficking Child Porn
Feds: Hawthorne Dad Takes Plea Deal, Admits Trafficking Child Porn 𝗨𝗣𝗗𝗔𝗧𝗘: A 50-year-old father from Hawthorne admitted that he trafficked child porn, federal authorities said. Edward M. O’Hagan “used one of his email accounts to send video files containing images of child sexual abuse to himself,” U.S. Attorney Philip R. Sellinger said. O'Hagan, Sellinger said, "also used two email addresses to create accounts on an encrypted file storage platform that was used to upload or create files containing images of child sexual abuse." Investigators who arrested O'Hagan last May "recovered hundreds of images and videos depicting child sexual abuse" on his electr…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Lifestyle
Major Music, Comedy Stars Performing Across NJ At 2024 North To Shore Festival Major Music, Comedy Stars Performing Across NJ At 2024 North To Shore Festival
Major Music, Comedy Stars Performing Across NJ At 2024 North To Shore Festival Major musicians and comedians will perform across New Jersey in an arts festival unique to the Garden State, officials said. The North to Shore Festival will return in 2024 for its second year in Asbury Park, Atlantic City, and Newark, the state announced in a news release on Thursday, Mar. 7. Hundreds of thousands of people attended the three-city, three-week event in June 2023. Despite many events being free, the first edition of North to Shore generated $7.6 million in ticket sales. "Our inaugural North to Shore Festival was the beginning of a proud, new annual tradition that bring…

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by Chris Spiker
Police & Fire
'BUST OUT': Dual US, Greek Citizen Living In Bergen Charged With $2.8M Bank Fraud 'BUST OUT': Dual US, Greek Citizen Living In Bergen Charged With $2.8M Bank Fraud
'Bust OUT': Dual US, Greek Citizen Living In Bergen Charged With $2.8M Bank Fraud A dual U.S. and Greek national with a home in Bergen County orchestrated a classic debit card "bust out" scheme that fleeced a half-dozen banks out of $2.8 million, federal authorities charged. Dino Koutsogiannis, 57, of Fairview, and some unidentified cronies played the long game, U.S. Attorney for New Jersey Philip R. Sellinger said. They began by opening bank accounts for two bogus companies that Koutsogiannis created in Florida -- called Vegan Vacation and Orlando Dinos -- according to a federal complaint filed in Newark. Koutsogiannis was the only officer or director of the shell comp…

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by Jerry DeMarco
News
Get Loud! Two Cities In NJ Named Noisiest Cities In America Get Loud! Two Cities In NJ Named Noisiest Cities In America
Get Loud! Two Cities In NJ Named Noisiest Cities In America You might need to speak up when you're in these New Jersey cities. Jersey City and Newark made the top 5 on a new list of the noisiest cities in America, compiled by Steel Guard Safety Products. Jersey City ranked 3rd, while Newark was 4th. New York City and Chicago topped the list. "There’s no way around it – Jersey City is often one big traffic jam," Steel Guard said. With 3,139 cars commuting per square per day, Jersey City was one of the higher scoring cities for traffic noise, Steel Guard said. And while Jersey City's public transportation earns plaudits for being environmental friend…

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by Sam Barron
Police & Fire
North Jersey Man, 65, Admits Sharing Horrific Child Sex Videos, Including One Of Girl Under 5 North Jersey Man, 65, Admits Sharing Horrific Child Sex Videos, Including One Of Girl Under 5
North Jersey Man, 65, Admits Sharing Horrific Child Sex Videos, Including One Of Girl Under 5 𝗨𝗣𝗗𝗔𝗧𝗘: A video of a girl believed to be 3 to 5 years old astride a shirtless, bearded tattooed man was among the evidence that apparently convinced a North Jersey retiree to plead guilty in federal court to trafficking child pornography, records show. The clip was among 65 videos and 250 images that Gaetano Lapegna, 65, had collected of "prepubescent children engaged in sexual acts with adults and other children," an agent with U.S. Homeland Security Investigations Newark cited in a complaint. Lapegna, of Sussex County, shared many of them with what turned out to be HSI agents, the complai…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
$400K In Stolen Starlink Terminals Found In NJ Garage: 'Largest SpaceX Fraud Recovery To Date' $400K In Stolen Starlink Terminals Found In NJ Garage: 'Largest SpaceX Fraud Recovery To Date'
$400K In Stolen Starlink Terminals Found In NJ Garage: 'Largest SpaceX Fraud Recovery To Date' A 35-year-old Newark man was arrested after authorities said he bought hundreds of SpaceX Starlink terminals using stolen credit cards. Kelvin Rodriguez-Moya used a home on Roxboro Road in Lawrence Township to store some of the 675 terminals, which he would then load into a vehicle a transport to North Jersey, Lawrence Township Police Lt. Kevin Reading said. After surveillance was conducted on the home, police stopped Rodruiguez-Moya and recovered 223 terminals, which were confirmed to have been stolen, Reading said. The 675 stolen terminals are valued at $400,000, authorities said. Rodru…

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by Cecilia Levine
Police & Fire
RECOGNIZE THEM? Pair Photo'd In NYC Tied To Thefts Of BMWs From Glen Rock Driveway RECOGNIZE THEM? Pair Photo'd In NYC Tied To Thefts Of BMWs From Glen Rock Driveway
Recognize Them? Pair Photo'd In NYC Tied To Thefts Of BMWs From Glen Rock Driveway 𝗨𝗣𝗗𝗔𝗧𝗘: Authorities have tied the theft of two BMWs from the same Glen Rock home to two men recorded on a parking garage surveillance camera on the other side of the Hudson River. The 2024 X5 and 2023 X1 were both swiped from the driveway of a Greenway Road residence after the thieves forced open a rear window and took the key fobs – which were hanging on hooks near the front door – as well as wallets just before dawn last Nov. 17, Glen Rock Police Chief Dean Ackermann said. Both vehicles were tracked on Route 20 heading towards Newark, the chief said. The thieves tried using the resident’…

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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