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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
Georgia Fugitive Found Bleeding In Backyard Shooting, 4 Men In Custody: Police Georgia Fugitive Found Bleeding In Backyard Shooting, 4 Men In Custody: Police
Georgia Fugitive Found Bleeding In Backyard Shooting, 4 Men In Custody: Police Four Newark men including two with prior arrests were arrested after a man was shot in Union Township on Monday, April 8, authorities said. Quazir Robinson, 18, Dabson Fofana, 21, Yaleem Prothro, 23 and Mecca Latham, 23 have all been charged with aggravated assault and numerous weapons offenses in the shooting of a 44-year-old man in the backyard of a home at  Carnegie Place near Laurel Avenue, Union Township police said in a release. The victim was found having suffered a gunshot wound to his thigh and graze wound to his arm, and was profusely bleeding while lying on the ground …

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by Sam Barron
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
Police & Fire
Teaneck Tax Preparer Got $1.43M For Himself, $40M For Clients In COVID Scam: Indictment Teaneck Tax Preparer Got $1.43M For Himself, $40M For Clients In COVID Scam: Indictment
Teaneck Tax Preparer Got $1.43M For Himself, $40M For Clients In COVID Scam: Indictment A Teaneck tax preparer illegally collected $1.43 million for himself and $40 million for clients from the IRS by purposefully exploiting COVID-related credits that neither he nor they were entitled to, a federal indictment alleges. Leon Haynes, 50, was originally arrested on a criminal complaint last July. The investigation leading to the charges continued before a grand jury in Newark. The result: a 55-count indictment for tax evasion, preparing false returns, aggravated ID theft and mail fraud, authorities said. Haynes fraudulently sought more than $150 million from the IRS by claim…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
Trio Nabbed With Thousands Worth Of Designer Clothes, Bags, Anti-Security Device: Lyndhurst PD Trio Nabbed With Thousands Worth Of Designer Clothes, Bags, Anti-Security Device: Lyndhurst PD
Trio Nabbed With Thousands Worth Of Designer Clothes, Bags, Anti-Security Device: Lyndhurst PD Three out-of-towners traveling with thousands of dollars worth of stolen designer clothing and purses were busted by Lyndhurst police after the driver made an illegal turn in a vehicle that was missing both a front license plate and an inspection sticker. Officer Michael Clifford was on patrol in the area of Schuyler and Page avenues when it happened. As Clifford approached the vehicle after stopping it, he saw the rear passenger "remove her jacket and place it over something on the seat next to her," Detective Lt. Vincent Auteri said. She, the driver and a second passenger all said they d…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
'Ruthless' Brick City Brims Druglord From Montclair Convicted Of Three Murders, More 'Ruthless' Brick City Brims Druglord From Montclair Convicted Of Three Murders, More
'Ruthless' Brick City Brims Druglord From Montclair Convicted Of Three Murders, More The leader of a notorious Essex County street gang that dominated the region's drug trade was convicted by a federal jury of three murders, among other counts, authorities said. Michael Healy, 43, of Montclair, "ruthlessly ordered murders so that he could protect his narcotics operation and continue to sell large quantities of dangerous [drugs],” U.S. Attorney Philip R. Sellinger said after federal jurors in Newark returned their verdicts on Wednesday, April 3. Healy "recruited men to kill someone he thought was an informant, and even when they killed the wrong person – a bystander – he ord…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Sports
Dan Hurley Reflects On Jersey City Lessons, Dad's 'Tough Love' Before NCAA Final Four Dan Hurley Reflects On Jersey City Lessons, Dad's 'Tough Love' Before NCAA Final Four
Dan Hurley Reflects On Jersey City Lessons, Dad's 'Tough Love' Before NCAA Final Four Dan Hurley is never shy when telling people what he learned growing up in Jersey City has helped him reach the top of the college basketball world. The UConn men's head basketball coach has led the Huskies to back-to-back Final Fours for the first time in program history.  UConn's dominant run to Glendale, AZ, was capped off with a second-half avalanche of points in the Huskies' 77-52 win over Illinois in the Elite Eight on Saturday, Mar. 30. And the Hurley family is a basketball dynasty in the Garden State, started by Dan's father Bob Hurley Sr. at the now-closed St. Anthony High Sch…

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by Chris Spiker
Police & Fire
Woman's Throat Sliced In Cliffside, Man Charged With Attempted Murder Woman's Throat Sliced In Cliffside, Man Charged With Attempted Murder
Woman's Throat Sliced In Cliffside, Man Charged With Attempted Murder A woman narrowly escaped death when a man slit her throat in a horrific domestic assault during a gathering in Cliffside Park, authorities said. Ernesto Lara Rojo, a 49-year-old Cuban national who lives in West New York, was charged with attempted murder, aggravated assault and weapons offenses and sent to the Bergen County Jail early Monday evening, April 1. ICE immediately issued a detainer on Rojo so he can be brought before a federal immigration judge in Newark to determine his residency status in the United States, jail records show. Rojo was with a group of people in an apartment jus…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
Ridgewood Contractor Who Ducked Taxes On $3.27 Million Charged In 18-Count Indictment: Feds Ridgewood Contractor Who Ducked Taxes On $3.27 Million Charged In 18-Count Indictment: Feds
Ridgewood Contractor Who Ducked Taxes On $3.27 Million Charged In 18-Count Indictment: Feds A Bergen County contractor avoided taxes on $3.275 million in income over six years through a scheme that the IRS sniffed out, federal authorities said. John Constantino, 67, of Ridgewood, ended up stiffing the government out of $682,735 in corporate and personal income taxes, U.S. Attorney for New Jersey Philip Sellinger said. As sole owner and president, Constantino took steps to conceal both his personal income and assets and those of his fireproofing and painting business between 2017 and 2022, the U.S. attorney said. For starters, Constantino used a false address on his driver’s licen…

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by Jerry DeMarco