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Police & Fire
Another Tractor-Trailer Crashes Off Route 287 Another Tractor-Trailer Crashes Off Route 287
Another Tractor-Trailer Crashes Off Route 287 A tractor-trailer rolled off Route 287 and down an embankment before dawn Friday. It was another in a series of crashes that has plagued that stretch of highway for years. The System Freight rig out of Jamesburg rolled off the northbound highway near Exit 59 to southbound Route 208 in Oakland at 4:25 a.m., New Jersey State Police Trooper Alejandro Goez said. The right and center lanes remained closed as a pair of heavy-duty wreckers from DeFalco's in Chatham pulled it from the trees after sunrise, he said. Traffic remained backed up for miles past mid-morning. The driver was taken to Ha…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
Cargo Van Barrels Off Route 208, Slams Into Backyard Storage Shed Cargo Van Barrels Off Route 208, Slams Into Backyard Storage Shed
Cargo Van Barrels Off Route 208, Slams Into Backyard Storage Shed An out-of-control cargo van careened off Route 208 and slammed into a backyard storage shed in Wyckoff on Thursday after the driver said she was cut off. The 49-year-old driver from Elizabeth said she was headed south in her 2016 Nissan around noon when another vehicle cut her off, forcing her to “take evasive action to avoid a collision,” Lt. Joseph Soto said. The van barreled 50 feet into the William Way backyard before ramming the storage shed, Soto said. The driver got out, unharmed, he said. Firefighters had to remove parts so a tower could get the van out. The Wyckoff Traffic Burea…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
Driver In Late-Night Route 208 Crash Was Drunk, Franklin Lakes Police Say Driver In Late-Night Route 208 Crash Was Drunk, Franklin Lakes Police Say
Driver In Late-Night Route 208 Crash Was Drunk, Franklin Lakes Police Say A Wanaque driver was drunk when his vehicle rear-ended another on Route 208 in Franklin Lakes late Tuesday, authorities said. The first driver told police that a 2016 Honda driven by Deivy Montalvo of Haskell sped up on his 2019 Jeep Grand Cherokee in the right lane of the northbound highway and he couldn’t get out of the way. Police arrested Montalvo on charges of assault by auto and DWI following an investigation by Sgt. Donald Wilson and Officer David Blum, Capt. John Bakelaar said. The driver of the first vehicle, a 38-year-old Pompton Lakes man, wasn’t seriously injured. The Honda, o…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
Cross-County Stolen Car Chase From Mahwah Through Paramus Ends With Haworth Crash, Arrest Cross-County Stolen Car Chase From Mahwah Through Paramus Ends With Haworth Crash, Arrest
Cross-County Stolen Car Chase From Mahwah Through Paramus Ends With Haworth Crash, Arrest A pre-dawn cross-county pursuit Monday through nearly a dozen towns began in Mahwah, continued through Paramus and ended on a Haworth dead end street when the driver bailed out while the stolen car was moving. The 2014 Honda Accord slammed into a fire hydrant after grazing a cruiser driven by a Haworth police sergeant, who seized the passenger – a self-proclaimed gang member from Newark. The driver fled. It began when a Mahwah police officer began chasing the Honda -- reported stolen out of Linden -- shortly before 1:30 a.m. Monday on Route 287. Paramus Police Officer Michael Mordaga pick…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
Bail Reform: Bergen, Passaic Repeat Offender Charged With Lying In Route 208 Stop Bail Reform: Bergen, Passaic Repeat Offender Charged With Lying In Route 208 Stop
Bail Reform: Bergen, Passaic Repeat Offender Charged With Lying In Route 208 Stop Lying to a police officer might work in certain instances, and only for a while, but not if you’re a repeat offender with a history of arrests in nearly a dozen Bergen and Passaic county towns. Che Muller tried after Oakland Police Officer Bryan Rowin stopped him on Route 208, authorities said. He “provided incorrect personal information” during last week’s stop in a bid to not only hide the warrants out of Glen Rock, Ramsey and Wyckoff, but also the fact that he was driving while suspended, Lt. Christian Eldridge said. Muller, 29,  can be described as "known to police": He has a hist…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
Sedan Driven By Westwood Man, 79, Hits Transformer, Rail, Pole On Route 208 In Franklin Lakes Sedan Driven By Westwood Man, 79, Hits Transformer, Rail, Pole On Route 208 In Franklin Lakes
Sedan Driven By Westwood Man, 79, Hits Transformer, Rail, Pole On Route 208 In Franklin Lakes UPDATE: An out-of-control sedan crashed into a guard rail, transformer and utility pole on Route 208 in Franklin Lakes after it clipped the back of a van, police said Tuesday. The 79-year-old Westwood driver appeared OK but was taken to The Valley Hospital as a precaution after Monday’s crash on the highway’s northbound side near Ewing Avenue, Capt. John Bakelaar said. Neither the 75-year-old van driver nor his passenger -- both from Haledon -- were injured, police said. The driver of the 2019 Subaru Legacy told police he was headed north on Route 208 shortly before 11 a.m. and tried to ch…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
Habitual Mahwah Offenders Charged With Drugs In Glen Rock Route 208 Stop Released Again Habitual Mahwah Offenders Charged With Drugs In Glen Rock Route 208 Stop Released Again
Habitual Mahwah Offenders Charged With Drugs In Glen Rock Route 208 Stop Released Again A pair of 29-year-old habitual offenders from Mahwah were arrested by Glen Rock police on drug charges following a Route 208 stop – and then released soon after being booked into the Bergen County Jail. An officer pulled them over around 1:30 a.m. Saturday for failure to signal what became an unsafe lane change on the northbound highway, Police Chief Dean Ackermann said. Che Muller and Matthew Bourgholtzer were arrested after an open alcohol container, cocaine, suboxone and pot were found, Ackermann said. Traffic summonses also were issued, he said. Both men have documented criminal histo…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
Franklin Lakes PD: Drunk Driver Rear-Ends SUV On Route 208 Ramp, Runs For Home Franklin Lakes PD: Drunk Driver Rear-Ends SUV On Route 208 Ramp, Runs For Home
Franklin Lakes PD: Drunk Driver Rear-Ends SUV On Route 208 Ramp, Runs For Home A drunk driver from Franklin Lakes got out and ran for home after his SUV rear-ended another on a Route 208 exit ramp -- then returned to the scene as police were investigating, authorities said. Brian Hogan, 60, was driving a 2010 Mercedes Benz that struck a 2000 Jeep Grand Cherokee driven by a 21-year-old West Milford man at the stop sign on Ewing Avenue off the northbound highway at 7:40 p.m. Wednesday, according to a police report. Hogan, who police said was following too closely, took off on foot, then “returned to the scene in the middle of the investigation,” the report says. Neithe…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
Wild Glen Rock Stolen Car Chase Goes Down To Paramus, Back Up To Paterson Wild Glen Rock Stolen Car Chase Goes Down To Paramus, Back Up To Paterson
Wild Glen Rock Stolen Car Chase Goes Down To Paramus, Back Up To Paterson A wild overnight pursuit of a vehicle stolen out of Glen Rock made its way south through several towns and then back north before police broke off the chase in Paterson. Glen Rock Police Officer John Tarantino was headed to a call of a burglar trying to break in through the rear of an Abbington Terrace home at 1:40 a.m. Friday when he was passed by a 2014 Subara Crosstrack stolen from a Gramercy Place driveway, Police Chief Dean Ackermann said. “The keys had apparently been left in the Subaru while the owner was moving cars in the driveway the night before,” Ackermann said. The owner also …

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
Hawthorne PD: Erratic SUV Driver Was Under Influence Of Heroin Hawthorne PD: Erratic SUV Driver Was Under Influence Of Heroin
Hawthorne PD: Erratic SUV Driver Was Under Influence Of Heroin Hawthorne police prevented a potential tragedy when they stopped an SUV driver from Dumont who they said was under the influence of heroin. Officers responding to a citizen’s call of an erratic driver pulled over the full-sized 2005 Ford Excursion on southbound Route 208 shortly before 4 p.m. Saturday, Detective Sgt. Matthew Hoogmoed said. The driver, identified as 30-year-old Brendan Jones, was removed from the vehicle when he refused commands to stop trying to hide empty heroin folds, Hoogmoed said. Jones, who had trouble standing, was taken into custody, the sergeant said. On the front…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
Driver Critically Injured When Mustang Rolls, Hits Tree, Catches Fire On Route 208 In Fair Lawn Driver Critically Injured When Mustang Rolls, Hits Tree, Catches Fire On Route 208 In Fair Lawn
Driver Critically Injured When Mustang Rolls, Hits Tree, Catches Fire On Route 208 In Fair Lawn A 28-year-old Englewood driver was hospitalized with severe head and chest injuries after firefighters cut him from an overturned Mustang that struck another vehicle and a tree and caught fire on Route 208 in Fair Lawn. The driver apparently was speeding when he lost control of the 2015 Mustang, which struck a 2010 Ford Fusion driven by a 34-year-old Newark man who wasn't injured, Sgt. Brian Metzler said. The speeding car then left the southbound highway, rolled over and hit the tree just pasts Fair Lawn Avenue around 11:40 p.m. Sunday, Metzler said. Borough firefighters doused a fire in th…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
Hawthorne Police Nab Northbound NY Trio With Nearly 350 Heroin Bags Hawthorne Police Nab Northbound NY Trio With Nearly 350 Heroin Bags
Hawthorne Police Nab Northbound NY Trio With Nearly 350 Heroin Bags A Hawthorne police officer nabbed a northbound New York State trio with 349 bags of heroin that were apparently bought in Paterson, authorities said. The passengers gave conflicting accounts of where they’d been and what they were doing, Police Chief Richard McAuliffe said, adding that officers also smelled burnt marijuana after stopping their 1999 Subaru sedan on northbound Route 208. The driver meanwhile, “stated that he had just dropped a friend off in Paterson and was on his way to Liberty, NY,” the chief said. One of the passengers, identified as Theresa Light, 25, of Liberty, had “a …

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by Jerry DeMarco