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Police & Fire
GOTCHA! Five Charged With Rash Of Bergen Armed Wristwatch Robberies, Stabbing In PalPark GOTCHA! Five Charged With Rash Of Bergen Armed Wristwatch Robberies, Stabbing In PalPark
Gotcha! Five Charged With Rash Of Bergen Armed Wristwatch Robberies, Stabbing In PalPark Authorities have charged five men with robbing three separate victims of wristwatches – stabbing one of them – in two Bergen County towns, thanks to an arrest by Port Authority police. Two of the robberies occurred in broad daylight on River Road in Edgewater last fall, Bergen County Prosecutor Mark Musella said on Friday, March 1. The third included a stabbing in the victim’s driveway in Palisades Park, the prosecutor said. One of two robbers brandished a handgun while a colleague stood lookout when they robbed the first Edgewater victim shortly after 3 a.m. Oct. 24, Musella said. The ro…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
Man Held Sexually Abused Woman Captive At Gunpoint In Hackensack Home: Police Man Held Sexually Abused Woman Captive At Gunpoint In Hackensack Home: Police
Man Held Sexually Abused Woman Captive At Gunpoint In Hackensack Home: Police A car salesman was arrested by Hackensack police after he held a woman he’d sexually abused captive at gunpoint, authorities said. Christopher Baboolal, 29, was seized without incident at the Poplar Avenue home where the victim had been held against her will, said Hackensack Police Capt. Michael Antista, the officer in charge of the department. They recovered a gun – for which Baboolal didn’t have a permit -- and a high-capacity magazine, which is also illegal in New Jersey, the captain said. Colleagues from neighboring Ridgefield Park brought the woman to city police headquarters, Antista…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
Jersey City Man Convicted Of Stabbing Woman To Death In Her Apartment Jersey City Man Convicted Of Stabbing Woman To Death In Her Apartment
Jersey City Man Convicted Of Stabbing Woman To Death In Her Apartment UPDATE: Jurors in Jersey City convicted a local man of stabbing a city woman dead in her apartment 5½ years ago. Ishmeal "Rico" Coleman, 46, of the Salem Lafayette Gardens housing complex was found guilty of murder and multiple weapons offenses in the Aug. 12, 2018 stabbing death of Takeela Wilson, 38, in her home in the 300 block of Forrest Street. People who knew both of them identified Coleman in a photo array, authorities said. Police sat on Wilson’s car, then grabbed Coleman when he approached it carrying the keys. Assistant Hudson County Prosecutor Najma Rana secured the guilty verd…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
Paramus Man Who Stabbed Dad Dead Tried Burning Body To Destroy Evidence, Detectives Say Paramus Man Who Stabbed Dad Dead Tried Burning Body To Destroy Evidence, Detectives Say
Paramus Man Who Stabbed Dad Dead Tried Burning Body To Destroy Evidence, Detectives Say UPDATE: A Paramus man who’d just stabbed his father to death dragged the body to a bathroom and tried to set it on fire last week as part of an attempt to conceal what he’d done, authorities said. Melvin Thomas repeatedly stabbed his father, 61-year-old Manuel Thomas, in the chest with a kitchen knife on Valentine’s Day, a criminal complaint says. He then dragged the bloody corpse to a bathroom where he tried igniting it with a lighter, according to the complaint filed by Paramus Police Detective Justin Sicari. “This attempt failed,” the detective wrote. Melvin Thomas wiped off the bloody…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
Paterson Man Charged With Murder In Shooting Death Of Victim From Union City Paterson Man Charged With Murder In Shooting Death Of Victim From Union City
Paterson Man Charged With Murder In Shooting Death Of Victim From Union City A Paterson man was charged with murder after police responding to a report of a robbery found a shooting victim from Hudson County, authorities said. A witness directed officers to a house at 258 East 21st Street, off 19th Avenue where they found Logan Gonzalez, 33, of Union City with gunshot wound in his back shortly after 10:30 p.m. Friday, Feb. 16. Gonzalez was taken to St. Joseph’s University Medical Center, where Passaic County Prosecutor Camelia M. Valdes and Paterson Police Department Officer-In-Charge Isa Abbassi said he was pronounced dead. They didn’t give the time. Valdes and A…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
Paramus Murder: Man Stabbed Dad Dead, Left Him In Home Two Days, Sources Say Paramus Murder: Man Stabbed Dad Dead, Left Him In Home Two Days, Sources Say
Paramus Murder: Man Stabbed Dad Dead, Left Him In Home Two Days, Sources Say UPDATE: A Paramus man who’d just stabbed his father to death dragged the body to a bathroom and tried to set it on fire last week as part of an attempt to conceal what he’d done, authorities said. Melvin Thomas repeatedly stabbed his father, 61-year-old Manuel Thomas, in the chest with a kitchen knife on Valentine’s Day, a criminal complaint says. He then dragged the bloody corpse to a bathroom where he tried igniting it with a lighter, according to the complaint filed by Paramus Police Detective Justin Sicari. “This attempt failed,” the detective wrote. Melvin Thomas wiped off the b…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
New Trial: NJ Man Convicted Again For Murder Of Wheelchair-Bound Roommate New Trial: NJ Man Convicted Again For Murder Of Wheelchair-Bound Roommate
New Trial: NJ Man Convicted Again For Murder Of Wheelchair-Bound Roommate A 59-year-old Essex County man faces up to life in prison after he was convicted of killing his wheelchair-bound roommate for the second time on Thursday, Jan. 25, authorities said. A witness told police they saw Edwin Andujar holding a bloodied knife while standing over Thomas Parent in his wheelchair at 26 Wallace St., in 2014, Acting Essex County Prosecutor Theodore Stephens, II said.  Parent was suffering from multiple stab wounds to his abdomen and back and a gash on  his arm, Stephens said. When police arrived, Andujar told said, "I stabbed him, I couldn't take it anym…

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by Sam Barron
Police & Fire
Fugitive Hunted In 'Bling Bishop' Robbery Killed By US Marshals In NJ Hotel Shootout Fugitive Hunted In 'Bling Bishop' Robbery Killed By US Marshals In NJ Hotel Shootout
Fugitive Hunted In 'Bling Bishop' Robbery Killed By US Marshals In NJ Hotel Shootout 𝗕𝗥𝗘𝗔𝗞𝗜𝗡𝗚 𝗡𝗘𝗪𝗦: A fugitive wanted for robbing a "bling" bishop from Bergen County during an online service was killed by U.S. Marshals Wednesday afternoon during a shootout at a Route 1 hotel, federal sources confirmed. Ex-con Shamar Leggette was the subject of a manhunt following the infamous 2022 gunpoint robbery of "Bling Bishop" Lamor Whitehead of Paramus during a live-streamed church service in Brooklyn. Leggette, 41, of Brooklyn, also shot a man in Providence, RI last September, authorities there said. Members of the U.S. States Marshals Service NY/NJ Regional Task Force, assisting th…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
UPDATE: Man Charged In Paterson Stabbing Surrenders To City PD UPDATE: Man Charged In Paterson Stabbing Surrenders To City PD
Update: Man Charged In Paterson Stabbing Surrenders To City PD A man wanted for stabbing a fellow Paterson resident earlier this month surrendered to city police, authorities said. Stanley Londono, 40, was charged with attempted murder, among other counts, in connection with the Jan. 9 stabbing of a 39-year-old city man on Sherman Avenue near Henry Street shortly after 7 p.m., they said. The victim survived his wounds. Londono, meanwhile, turned himself in on Monday, Jan. 22, Passaic County Prosecutor Camelia M. Valdes and Paterson Police Department Officer-in-Charge Isa Abbassi said in confirming the noontime surrender. They didn’t address the suspe…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
HARDCORE AT 21: Paterson Ex-Con Charged In Separate Shootings After Prison Release HARDCORE AT 21: Paterson Ex-Con Charged In Separate Shootings After Prison Release
Hardcore AT 21: Paterson Ex-Con Charged In Separate Shootings After Prison Release A 21-year-old ex-con from Paterson who’s already spent three years behind bars had been free all of four months when he shot someone, then shot someone else while police searched for him this week, authorities charged. A SWAT team led a raid that ended a brief standoff at an Essex Street apartment in Paterson with Memphis Morales on Friday, Jan. 12, they said. Morales was previously convicted of a 2020 shooting and was incarcerated for three years before being released from New Jersey State Prison last May. Three months later, Morales shot a 34-year-old Secaucus man during a Sept. 17 robbe…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
Likely Prison Return Awaits DWI Ex-Con Who Clifton PD Says Had Gun Likely Prison Return Awaits DWI Ex-Con Who Clifton PD Says Had Gun
Likely Prison Return Awaits DWI Ex-Con Who Clifton PD Says Had Gun An ex-con faces a likely return to prison after Clifton police said they caught him with a gun. The new year was four hours old when police got the call of a man with a gun in the area of Cliff Hill Road and Long Hill Drive, Lt. Robert Anderson said. They arrived as an apparent disturbance was ending and people were leaving, he said. Still there, behind the wheel of a Mercedes SUV with the engine running, was city resident William Christmas, 35, the lieutenant said. He'd apparently been drinking, Anderson said. Christmas refused to participate in field sobriety tests and was taken into c…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
Christmas Eve Murder: Son Charged With Killing Dad In Morris County Christmas Eve Murder: Son Charged With Killing Dad In Morris County
Christmas Eve Murder: Son Charged With Killing Dad In Morris County A Morris County son is accused of killing his dad on Sunday, Dec. 24, authorities said. Kyle Meyer, 33, is believed to have killed his dad, 61-year-old Gregory Meyer, was found dead in the home the two shared around 1:15 p.m. on Old Denville Road in Boonton Township, Morris County Prosecutor Robert Carroll said. Kyle was found in Paterson around 9 p.m., Carroll said alongside Chief of Detectives Robert McNally, Morris County Sheriff James Gannon, and Boonton Township Police Chief Thomas Cacciabeve. Kyle was charged with murder and weapons offenses and lodged in the Morris County …

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by Cecilia Levine