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Police & Fire
$10K Reward Offered In Murder Case Of Newark Grandmother $10K Reward Offered In Murder Case Of Newark Grandmother
$10K Reward Offered In Murder Case Of Newark Grandmother The Essex County Sheriff's Office is offering a $10,000 reward for  information leading to the arrest and conviction of the person or people responsible for killing a Newark grandmother on her front porch. Debra Derrick, 63, was shot on the front porch of a home on the 200 block of Lehigh Avenue, while celebrating her late twin sister around 8 p.m. on March 11, the Essex County Prosecutor's Office previously said. Authorities would like to speak to the two young men in the photographs above in connection with Debra Derrick's shooting death.Essex County Prosecutor's Office Essex County S…

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by Cecilia Levine
News
Newark Barbershop Robber Shot In Face By Off-Duty Officer Headed To Fed Pen Newark Barbershop Robber Shot In Face By Off-Duty Officer Headed To Fed Pen
Newark Barbershop Robber Shot In Face By Off-Duty Officer Headed To Fed Pen Philip Hedgespeth picked the wrong barbershop to rob when the man in the chair turned out to be an off-duty Newark police officer who shot him in the face. Now the ex-con is headed back behind bars -- only this time it's for a federal stretch of more than nine years. Hedgespeth, 45, must serve out the entire plea-bargained sentence: Unlike in the state prison system, federal convicts don’t get parole. Hedgespeth was wearing a hoodie when he walked into the Cache Barbershop on Orange Street, pointed a handgun and demanded cash from an employee and off-duty city officer getting a haircut on…

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by Jerry DeMarco
News
Feds: Ex-Con Shot Two Victims Five Days Apart In Newark Feds: Ex-Con Shot Two Victims Five Days Apart In Newark
Feds: Ex-Con Shot Two Victims Five Days Apart In Newark Surveillance video shows one of two shootings that federal authorities say were committed by a Newark ex-con who was caught with a loaded gun and 626 heroin folds. The victims were shot five days apart last August by Antoine Hawkins, a 31-year-old repeat offender with an extensive criminal record, Acting U.S. Attorney Rachael A. Honig said. Police nabbed Hawkins a month later and found him carrying a 9mm Springfield Armory XDM pistol loaded with 19 rounds, the U.S. attorney said. A warranted search of his home turned up the heroin, as well as three 9mm magazines, she said. Hawkins, who ha…

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by Jerry DeMarco
News
NJ Man Gets 25 Years For Sexually Assaulting 8-Year-Old Girl & Filming It NJ Man Gets 25 Years For Sexually Assaulting 8-Year-Old Girl & Filming It
NJ Man Gets 25 Years For Sexually Assaulting 8-Year-Old Girl & Filming It A 35-year-old New Jersey man was sentenced to 25 years without parole in state prison for sexually assaulting an 8-year-old girl and recording it. Diego Ayala, of Newark, admitted to the acts when pleading guilty, and will be required to serve the his sentence pursuant to the Jessica Lunsford Act, Acting Essex County Prosecutor Theodore N. Stephens, II, said. Ayala, who was sentenced by Superior Court Judge Christopher S. Romanyshyn, will be required to register under Megan's Law. Arrested in 2018, Ayala pleaded guilty to two counts of first-degree aggravated sexual assault …

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by Cecilia Levine
Police & Fire
Jersey City Man, 22, Accused Of Stabbing Newark Dad, 60, To Death Jersey City Man, 22, Accused Of Stabbing Newark Dad, 60, To Death
Jersey City Man, 22, Accused Of Stabbing Newark Dad, 60, To Death A Jersey City man was charged with murder in the Newark stabbing of his 60-year-old dad, authorities said Tuesday. Phillip Jennings was found on the second floor of his Oration Street home by Newark officers performing a wellness check around 12:40 p.m. April 2, Acting Essex County Prosecutor Theodore N. Stephens, II said. He was pronounced dead at the scene, said Stephens alongside Newark Public Safety Director Brian A. O’Hara. Noah Jennings has been charged with one count of murder, one count of unlawful possession of a weapon and one count of possession of a weapon for an unla…

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by Cecilia Levine
Police & Fire
Trio Nabbed In Newark Homicide Trio Nabbed In Newark Homicide
Trio Nabbed In Newark Homicide Three men have been charged in the March 9 shooting death of a 22-year-old Newark men after their SUV was stopped by police in Irvington, authorities said. Tyshon Armour, 19, of Newark; Reynold Henderson, 18, of Irvington; and Isaad S. Jackson, 20 of Newark, were charged with murder, conspiracy to commit murder, possession of a weapon for an unlawful purpose and unlawful possession of a weapon, Acting Essex County Prosecutor Theodore N. Stephens, II said. Police responding to reports of a shooting on St. Paul Avenue found Dedric Bracey, 22, with multiple gunshot wounds around 4 p.m. on…

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by Cecilia Levine
Police & Fire
Longtime Newark Public Safety Director Anthony F. Ambrose To Retire Longtime Newark Public Safety Director Anthony F. Ambrose To Retire
Longtime Newark Public Safety Director Anthony F. Ambrose To Retire Longtime Newark Public Safety Director Anthony F. Ambrose will retire in March after 34 years on the force. Ambrose's final day in the division will be on March 31, Mayor Ras J. Baraka said. “When I appointed Director Ambrose as Public Safety Director, I knew that his leadership, work ethic, integrity and love for our city is what we needed to fulfill my vision of combining police, fire, and emergency management into one department,” Baraka said. “His service to the City of Newark has been paramount. I appreciate all that he has given, and I hope for nothing but the best in his retirement…

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by Cecilia Levine
News
Released Video Shows Fatal Newark Police Shooting Released Video Shows Fatal Newark Police Shooting
Released Video Shows Fatal Newark Police Shooting Home surveillance video shows a South Orange man being shot and killed by a Newark police detective after rushing the officer. Captured from across the street, the video released this week by state Attorney General Gurbir S. Grewal shows Carl Dorsey III, 39, running at Detective Rod Simpkins as the plainclothes investigator got out of the passenger side of an unmarked police vehicle just after midnight on New Year’s Day. The pair collide and spin around, as Simpkins shoots Dorsey with his service weapon as he falls backwards. SEE: Dorsey Shooting The video is the only footage of the fatal…

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by Jerry DeMarco
News
Outgoing U.S. Attorney For NJ Praises Work Of Newark Public Safety Director Outgoing U.S. Attorney For NJ Praises Work Of Newark Public Safety Director
Outgoing U.S. Attorney For NJ Praises Work Of Newark Public Safety Director On his final day as the top federal law enforcer in New Jersey, U.S. Attorney Craig Carpenito took time to praise Newark Public Safety Director Anthony F. Ambrose, calling him a "national treasure." Carpenito cited Ambrose's "exceptional contributions to cooperative law enforcement" in New Jersey. “Through his leadership, we have benefited from an unprecedented level of cooperation and proactive participation in our efforts to suppress crime in the great city of Newark," the U.S. attorney said from his office in Newark. Over the past five years, he said, Ambrose has "transformed the Newark…

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by Jerry DeMarco
News
Diverse Group Of Immigrants, Scholastic Athletes, Transfers Among New Paramus Police Officers Diverse Group Of Immigrants, Scholastic Athletes, Transfers Among New Paramus Police Officers
Diverse Group Of Immigrants, Scholastic Athletes, Transfers Among New Paramus Police Officers Three immigrants and several former scholastic athletes are among 10 men who officially became Paramus police officers this week. Here’s a little bit about them: Born in New York City, Jamie Takahashi is a longtime borough resident who was graduated from Paramus High School and went on to earn a bachelor’s degree in economics from Syracuse University. Takahashi, who speaks both Korean and Japanese,  was then was commissioned into the New York Army National Guard as a transportation officer and is a first lieutenant and executive officer with the 719th Composite Truck Company in Manhat…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
Newark Police Helicopter Tracks 4 Teens Riding In Stolen Lexus, Man With Loaded Handgun Newark Police Helicopter Tracks 4 Teens Riding In Stolen Lexus, Man With Loaded Handgun
Newark Police Helicopter Tracks 4 Teens Riding In Stolen Lexus, Man With Loaded Handgun Four teenagers ages 15 and 16 driving in a stolen Lexus were taken into custody with help from the Newark police helicopter, authorities said. It began around 8:30 p.m. Monday, when officers in NPD1 -- the Newark police helicopter -- spotted a Lexus driving carelessly on Bergen Street near Avon Avenue, Newark Public Safety Director Anthony F. Ambrose said. The Lexus was stolen from Sayre Street, and was stopped by police on the ground, with direction from NPD1 officers, authorities said. The juveniles got out of the car and ran until officers arrested them, police said. Two 15-year-o…

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by Cecilia Levine
Police & Fire
Feds: Judge Orders Newark Ex-Con Caught With Loaded Gun, 626 Heroin Folds Held Feds: Judge Orders Newark Ex-Con Caught With Loaded Gun, 626 Heroin Folds Held
Feds: Judge Orders Newark Ex-Con Caught With Loaded Gun, 626 Heroin Folds Held A judge ordered that a Newark ex-con remain in federal custody after Essex County prosecutor’s detectives said they found a loaded gun in his pocket and 626 heroin folds in his apartment. Antoine Hawkins, a 31-year-old repeat offender with an extensive criminal record, also had three illegal ammunition magazines in his apartment, U.S. Attorney Craig Carpenito said. Prosecutor’s detectives approached Hawkins earlier this week while investigating a shooting from last month, Carpenito said. As they spoke with him, they noticed “what appeared to be the imprint of a firearm on Hawkins’s jacket,…

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by Jerry DeMarco