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Police: Large-Scale Chilean Burglary Crew Member Caught In Rochelle Park Home, Others Sought Police: Large-Scale Chilean Burglary Crew Member Caught In Rochelle Park Home, Others Sought
Police: Large-Scale Chilean Burglary Crew Member Caught In Rochelle Park Home, Others Sought Police nabbed one Thanksgiving Day burglar inside a Rochelle Park home and were looking for another -- both of whom are believed to belong to a large-scale Chilean break-in crew. Victor Ramirez-Troncoso, 40, had only just arrived in the U.S. on Sunday, Nov. 20, Lt. James M. DePreta said. Officers from Rochelle Park, Paramus and Maywood converged on the Peek Street home after he and another burglar triggered interior motion cameras around 7:30 p.m. on the holiday, Lt. James M. DePreta said. Both were wearing gloves and masks and carrying flashlights, he said. A broken window led Officers B…

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by Jerry DeMarco
News
GOTCHA! Porch Pirate Pinched After Pilfering Package, Rochelle Park Police Say GOTCHA! Porch Pirate Pinched After Pilfering Package, Rochelle Park Police Say
Gotcha! Porch Pirate Pinched After Pilfering Package, Rochelle Park Police Say Porch pirating is in full swing as Christmas draws nearer, say Rochelle Park police who worked with their colleagues in Essex County to nab a suspect from South Jersey. A doorbell camera at a West Oldis Street home captured images of 21-year-old Leandro Malara of Gloucester City snatching a package, Lt. James M. DePreta said. Malara wore a distinctive Adidas-style tracksuit and left his four-door 2018 Maserati -- with stolen license plates--  running out front, he said. Detective Brian Cobb broadcast images of the package thief and was working soon after with his colleagues in Millbu…

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by Jerry DeMarco
News
GOTCHA! Fugitive Captured By Oakland Police After Getaway Driver Splits GOTCHA! Fugitive Captured By Oakland Police After Getaway Driver Splits
Gotcha! Fugitive Captured By Oakland Police After Getaway Driver Splits A fugitive from New York had just left a Bergen County pharmacy with a bag full of stolen merchandise when he found his getaway driver gone -- and police there instead, authorities said. A UPS driver told Oakland police that both men had approached him on the street a short time earlier. One of them showed him a bogus New Jersey identification card in a failed attempt to collect a package, Capt. Timothy Keenan said. What they didn’t know, Keenan said, was that the UPS “is familiar with the actual residents of that address.” The pair sped off in a black Nissan after he refused their reques…

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by Jerry DeMarco
News
UPDATE: Arrest Made In Teaneck Stabbing UPDATE: Arrest Made In Teaneck Stabbing
Update: Arrest Made In Teaneck Stabbing A judge in Hackensack denied the release of a career criminal accused of stabbing another man in Teaneck. Jacob Gibbs, 26, is charged with attempted murder, aggravated assault and illegal weapons possession in the stabbing at the recently opened One500 luxury apartment complex on Teaneck Road shortly before 4 p.m. Nov. 1. Gibbs, who is 6-foot-2 and has dreadlocks, was quickly identified, authorities said. “Detectives following up leads” captured him at a Bogota home the next day, Deputy Police Chief Andrew R. McGurr said. It turned out Gibbs, of Teaneck, was already wanted on warrants out…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
Central Jersey Fire Chief Charged With Theft: Prosecutor Central Jersey Fire Chief Charged With Theft: Prosecutor
Central Jersey Fire Chief Charged With Theft: Prosecutor A Central Jersey fire chief has been charged with theft on accusations he used department funding to buy nearly $2,100 worth of personal items, authorities said. The investigation into Monroe Fire District No. 2 Chief James Carbin III was opened last February, after commissioners noticed financial discrepancies, Middlesex County Prosecutor Yolanda Ciccone said. Taxes were being paid on items, when they were a tax-exempt entity, Ciccone added.  This led to an internal investigation where Carbin, 55, of Clarksburg, was found to have been buying personal items with the fire depa…

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by Cecilia Levine
Police & Fire
Trio Wanted For Depositing Bogus School Board Check For Nearly $29K: Flemington Police Trio Wanted For Depositing Bogus School Board Check For Nearly $29K: Flemington Police
Trio Wanted For Depositing Bogus School Board Check For Nearly $29K: Flemington Police Three suspects are wanted by Flemington Police after allegedly altering and depositing a fraudulent school board check for nearly $29,000. The investigation began Friday, Sept. 9, when officers received a report involving a fraudulent check from the Flemington Raritan School Board, police said in a release on Thursday, Oct. 20. The following month resulted in the issuing of warrants for the arrests of Jabria Jones, 23, Tynell Mantez, 27, and Kadaiyah Stevens-Whitehurst, 23. ALSO SEE: 1 Busted, 3 At Large After Depositing $30K Worth Of Bogus Checks, Flemington Police Say Investigators fou…

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by Valerie Musson
News
One Caught, One Sought In Airbag Thefts: Elmwood Park PD One Caught, One Sought In Airbag Thefts: Elmwood Park PD
One Caught, One Sought In Airbag Thefts: Elmwood Park PD Elmwood Park police arrested a Paterson man after an officer interrupted an overnight airbag theft in a quiet local neighborhood, authorities said. Officer Joshua Rodriguez was patrolling the area of 18th Avenue and East 54th Street when he spotted an unoccupied car on the side of the road with its engine running shortly before 2 a.m., Police Chief Michael Foligno said. Nearby were two men standing on either side of another vehicle. Seeing him, the men shouted to one another and took off on foot, the chief said. Fair Lawn police and a Bergen County sheriff's K-9 unit helped establish a pe…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
Halloween Jacked: Inflatable Decor Stolen From Hackettstown Lawn In Broad Daylight, Police Say Halloween Jacked: Inflatable Decor Stolen From Hackettstown Lawn In Broad Daylight, Police Say
Halloween Jacked: Inflatable Decor Stolen From Hackettstown Lawn In Broad Daylight, Police Say Know anything? Police are seeking clues after a set of Halloween decorations was brazenly stolen from a Hackettstown front lawn in broad daylight. The Jack Skellington inflatable decoration and Halloween light pictured above were stolen from the front lawn of a home on Main Street near West Valley View Avenue sometime between 8:30 a.m. and 10 a.m. on Monday, Oct. 17, Hackettstown Police said in a Facebook post. The decorations have a combined value of around $80, police said. Press Release (10/17/22): Theft of Halloween Decorations The Hackettstown Police Department is seeking inform…

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by Valerie Musson
Police & Fire
4 NJ Police Officers Indicted For Bilking Town For No-Show 'Extra Duty' Assignments: Prosecutor 4 NJ Police Officers Indicted For Bilking Town For No-Show 'Extra Duty' Assignments: Prosecutor
4 NJ Police Officers Indicted For Bilking Town For No-Show 'Extra Duty' Assignments: Prosecutor Four suspended police officers from Central Jersey bilked their town for no-show "extra duty" assignments, authorities said. The Edison Police officers were charged with racketeering, bribery, theft, money laundering and witness tampering, Middlesex County Prosecutor Yolanda Ciccone and Chief Thomas Bryan of the Edison Police Department said on Friday, Oct. 14. They did not say how much taxpayer money was stolen by the former officers. Sergeant Ioannis (John) Mpletsakis, 43, of Edison Township, Patrolman James Panagoulakos, 36, of Jackson Township, Patrolman Gregory&nbs…

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by Jon Craig
News
GOTCHA! Ex-Con Who Took Truck From Lot Off Route 46 Caught Returning For His Ride, Police Say GOTCHA! Ex-Con Who Took Truck From Lot Off Route 46 Caught Returning For His Ride, Police Say
Gotcha! Ex-Con Who Took Truck From Lot Off Route 46 Caught Returning For His Ride, Police Say A fugitive ex-con with a decades-long criminal record was busted again after he was caught on security footage unhooking a tractor from a trailer at an industrial building off Route 46 and driving off with it, authorities said. Moonachie Police Officer Scott Lemongello viewed the footage from a neighboring building on Hollister Road in Teterboro soon after the theft early Sunday, Oct. 9. It showed Christopher Mason, 58, most recently of Morrisville, PA, pulling up in a van, parking and then heading into the lot next door, where he began testing door handles on parked trucks, Police Chief Ri…

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by Jerry DeMarco
News
Mail Thieves Nabbed After Stolen Vehicle Rams Police Car After Chase Through Ramapo Campus: PD Mail Thieves Nabbed After Stolen Vehicle Rams Police Car After Chase Through Ramapo Campus: PD
Mail Thieves Nabbed After Stolen Vehicle Rams Police Car After Chase Through Ramapo Campus: PD UPDATE: Two thieves who’d been swiping deliveries from residents' mailboxes led Mahwah police on a stolen car chase onto the Ramapo College campus before the vehicle struck an officer's cruiser and they were captured, authorities said. Police who responded to a suspicious vehicle report at the Rio Vista development off Campgaw Road and Route 202 shortly before 11:30 a.m. Thursday, Oct. 6, spotted the 2021 Honda Civic, Capt. Guido Bussinelli said. The vehicle had been reported stolen out of New York City the day before, he said. Detective Sgt. Eric Larsen and Officer Brian Joyce tried …

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by Jerry DeMarco
News
Unique Tattoo Makes ID’ing Suspect In Tri-County Crime Spree Simple, Police In North Jersey Say Unique Tattoo Makes ID’ing Suspect In Tri-County Crime Spree Simple, Police In North Jersey Say
Unique Tattoo Makes ID’ing Suspect In Tri-County Crime Spree Simple, Police In North Jersey Say When it comes to distinguishing marks, it's tough to beat an enormous butterfly-skull neck tattoo. It helped police identify an 18-year-old Newark man charged with breaking into homes or vehicles in no fewer than three North Jersey counties. Authorities in Rochelle Park became the latest to charge Zaire Gaskins, with police in even more towns possibly following. ROCHELLE PARK: Gaskins and two accomplices tried taking a BMW from a residence on West Oldis Street on Sept. 18, Police Lt. James DePreta said. When they couldn’t find the keys inside the vehicle, one of them unsuccessfully tried t…

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by Jerry DeMarco