Find Your Daily Voice
27°
Supermarket Brawl: Worker At Bergen Shop-Rite Beaten With Chair, Choked Out, Arrest Made
An outside employee on the job at a ShopRite in Rochelle Park beat another with a metal folding chair, then choked him out before fleeing, authorities said.
Leslie A. Mann, 53, grabbed the chair during an argument with a fellow privately contracted employee at the West Passaic Street supermarket, Police Capt. James DePreta said.
Mann, of Riverdale, hit the co-worker over the head with the chair several times, then punched him in the chest, knocking him to the floor, the captain said.
He then choked the victim with his hands until he lost consciousness, DePreta said.
Several co-workers fi…
NY Fugitive Nabbed After Crashing Stolen Car, Running Through Route 4 Traffic: Rochelle Park PD
A fugitive who crashed a stolen car while being chased by Rochelle Park police ran across six lanes of traffic on Route 4 before he was captured in Paramus, authorities said.
Officer Hasan Shah was on Essex Street when he spotted the BMW 5 Series sedan, which had been reported stolen out of New York City, around 8:45 a.m. Tuesday, Aug. 15, Capt. James DePreta said.
The driver, Adonis Padilla, 27, of New York, hit the gas, leading a brief pursuit that ended when he hit a light pole at the eastbound Route 4 entrance ramp from Paramus Road, the captain said Wednesday.
Padilla -- who was …
Police Chase Ends In Stolen Car Arrest Off Route 4
A fugitive who crashed a stolen car while being chased by Rochelle Park police ran across six lanes of traffic on Route 4 before he was captured in Paramus, authorities said.
Officer Hasan Shah was on Essex Street when he spotted the BMW 5 Series sedan, which had been reported stolen out of New York City, around 8:45 a.m. Tuesday, Aug. 15, Capt. James DePreta said.
The driver, Adonis Padilla, 27, of New York, hit the gas, leading a brief pursuit that ended when he hit a light pole at the eastbound Route 4 entrance ramp from Paramus Road, the captain said Wednesday.
Padilla -- who was wante…
Watch: YouTube Video Shows Rapper Assaulting Bergen Shop Rite Worker, Harassing Customers
One way to pretty much guarantee you'll be arrested is to record a crime and post it on YouTube -- in high def, no less. Just ask drill music rapper Nas Ebk.
Nasir Valenzuela, who has produced prank videos that push the limits of legality, joined two accomplices in harassing and intimidating customers and employees at the ShopRite in Rochelle Park while recording it.
Some of their targets laughed it off. At least one seemed intimidated. Others simply ignored them.
One worker, in particular, wasn't having it, though.
The video shows Valenzuela, 19, of the Bronx, snatching the stock cler…
Rochelle Park PD: Drunk Driver Had No License, No Interlock Device, 7-Year-Old Child With Him
A convicted drunk driver had a 7-year-old child without a booster sitting in the back seat and no interlock device when a Rochelle Park police officer stopped him, authorities said.
It was 11 in the morning when Officer Ryan Burke stopped the 2007 Honda on Rochelle Avenue for several violations, Lt. James DePreta said.
Burke approached the vehicle, driven by Paul Bailey, 30, and "immediately detected the odor of alcoholic beverages, while observing an improperly restrained 7-year-old child in the rear seat," the lieutenant said.
Bailey, a Jamaican national living in Paterson, didn't have a…
Stolen Credit Cards, Oxy, $10,000 Seized, Two From NYC Busted By Rochelle Park PD
A Rochelle Park police officer trying to help the occupants of a disabled vehicle found them carrying credit cards in other people's names, oxycodone tablets and $10,000 in tainted cash, authorities said.
Officer Jorge Orihuela went to help after spotting the vehicle in front of the Midland School on Rochelle Avenue around 10 p.m. Monday, April 25, Lt. James DePreta said.
"Nervous behavior and conflicting accounts" from the driver and his passenger made Orihuela suspicious, DePreta said.
After getting consent to search the vehicle, he found the credit cards, drugs and cash, as well as blan…
Traffic Stop Turns Up Loaded Gun In Passenger's Pocket, Rochelle Park PD Says
A passenger wanted on a warrant was carrying a loaded gun in his pocket when an Rochelle Park police officer stopped the sedan he was in, authorities said.
Officer Chris Kiszka stopped the 2004 Toyota Solara driven by Raymond Hood, 30, of Palmerton, PA for several violations on West Passaic Street around 9 p.m. Friday, Rochelle Park Police Lt. James DePreta said.
A computer check turned up the warrant out of Newark, so Hood was taken into custody, DePreta said.
Kiszka, Officer Jorge Orihuela and Detective Brian Cobb police then found the .25-caliber Colt in Hood's front pocket, the lieuten…
Police: Combative Driver Tangles With Officers At Rochelle Park Auto Shop
A BMW owner fought Rochelle Park police after trying to retrieve his disabled car from a local auto body shop, authorities said.
Responding to the call, Sgt. Chris Bermudez and Officer Brian Monico found Erin Andres Espinal, 26, of Brooklyn in a restricted area of the Essex Street shop refusing to leave his 335i, Lt. James DePreta said.
When they asked him to leave, Espinal became combative, tangling with the officers, he said.
Espinal was subdued after a brief struggle, then taken to a local hospital, the lieutenant said.
He was charged with resisting arrest, aggravated assault on police…
Rochelle Park PD: Machete, Crack, Stolen Plates Found, Three Arrested In Stolen Car
A Rochelle Park police officer stopped what turned out to be a stolen car and found a trio carrying a machete, crack and stolen license plates, authorities said.
Officer Chris Kiszka stopped the silver Toyota Corolla, which was missing a front license plate, on Essex Street early Saturday, Lt. James DePreta said.
He immediately spotted a machete sticking out of the rear seat, DePreta said.
Sgt. Jared Shatkin and Officer Todd Starling and Jorge Orihuela joined Kiszka soon after.
The rear license plate didn’t match the vehicle registration number on the Corolla, which has reportedly stolen …
Rochelle Park PD: Newark Man Who Paid For Sex With Underage Girl Gets Beaten, Robbed, Arrested
A Newark man who paid for sex with an underage girl got mugged instead, said Rochelle Park police who took four people into custody -- including him.
An injured Samati Kokou, 36, came running into Fire Department headquarters Saturday night seeking help, Lt. James DePreta said.
He had driven to Central Avenue, he said, where he gave a 16-year-old girl cash in exchange for what he expected would be sex, the lieutenant said.
Instead, two robbers popped up and beat him.
Kokou ran to the Lotz Lane firehouse with injuries to his face, arms and hand, DePreta said.
Meanwhile, the robbers ransa…
Police: Unruly Rehab Patient Hits Rochelle Park Officer In Head With Wheelchair Foot Rest
A rehab patient hit a Rochelle Park police officer in the head with his wheelchair's foot rest, causing an injury, during a disturbance at a local nursing facility, authorities said.
Officers responding to an 8:30 p.m. call Monday of a patient behaving erratically at Alaris Health Facility North tried to calm Michael Malia, 38, of Bloomfield so he could be taken to a hospital, Police Lt. James DePreta said.
Malia, however, "became violent towards staff and the officers," including striking the officer with the foot rest, he said.
Police subdued Malia and took him to New Bridge Medical Cent…
Grandparent Scam: Rochelle Park PD Nabs Bronx Man After Elderly Victim Is Conned Out Of $7,800
Rochelle Park police nabbed a phone scammer from the Bronx who convinced an elderly victim to mail $7,800 in cash that he said was needed to bail out his just-arrested grandson, authorities said.
Posing as a police officer, a caller told the 80-something Washington State resident that his grandson had been arrested, Detective Lt. James DePreta said.
The caller said his son needed $16,800 for bail, then directed him to mail $7,800 to a Rochelle Park address, DePreta said.
Believing it was real, the victim sent the money, the lieutenant said.
He eventually realized it was a scam and called…
Padiddle: Route 17 Stop Produces Gun, Ammo, Rochelle Park PD Says
A Rochelle Park police officer found a handgun after stopping a car driven by an ex-con from Newark on Route 17, authorities said Friday.
Officer Chris Kiszka stopped the gray Infiniti for having a headlight out -- commonly known as a "padiddle" -- among other infractions, shortly after 10 p.m. Thursday, Lt. James DePreta said.
Kiszka immediately detected the odor of pot in the car, then spotted what was a loaded, high-capacity 9mm magazine on the floor, DePreta said.
A subsequent search turned up a loaded 9mm handgun, marijuana and a digital scale, he said.
Rodger Purvis, 47, was taken i…