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Pissed-Off Retiree Who Fired Shots Over Bergen Neighbor's 'Loud' Parties Gets 364 Days In Jail Pissed-Off Retiree Who Fired Shots Over Bergen Neighbor's 'Loud' Parties Gets 364 Days In Jail
Pissed-Off Retiree Who Fired Shots Over Bergen Neighbor's 'Loud' Parties Gets 364 Days In Jail UPDATE: A retired defense contractor who admitted firing several shots from a handgun outside his Carlstadt home because of a neighbor's "loud parties and noise" must spend a plea-bargained 364 days in the Bergen County Jail. David Knoll, who had no previous history of trouble, had been suffering from depression exacerbated by COVID-19 isolation when he squeezed off three shots into the air in early May, defense attorney Brian Neary told a judge in Hackensack on Friday. Knoll, 62, for his part, told the judge he didn't intend to kill or frighten anyone with the .22-caliber handgun but reali…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
Call Involving Man Covered In His Own Feces Earns Wood-Ridge Officers Statewide Recognition Call Involving Man Covered In His Own Feces Earns Wood-Ridge Officers Statewide Recognition
Call Involving Man Covered In His Own Feces Earns Wood-Ridge Officers Statewide Recognition The Wood-Ridge officers who responded to a call involving unwanted party the night of Nov. 19, 2020 had every right to use force. The 41-year-old subject had just smeared his own feces on his ex-girlfriend's home, then began yelling that he was COVID positive, police said. He was uncooperative. Irrational. To put it simply, he was out of his mind, officers said. But the five officers and one dispatcher handled the situation calmly, with patience and compassion. And within 45 minutes, had convinced the man to climb into the ambulance on his own for medical evaluation.  The Wood-Ridge resp…

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by Cecilia Levine
Police & Fire
'All We Heard Was Screaming': Off-Duty Officers, EMT Rescue 3 Victims From Turnpike Crash 'All We Heard Was Screaming': Off-Duty Officers, EMT Rescue 3 Victims From Turnpike Crash
'All We Heard Was Screaming': Off-Duty Officers, EMT Rescue 3 Victims From Turnpike Crash An off-duty police officer, two corrections officers and an EMT rescued three victims trapped inside of an SUV that overturned on the NJ Turnpike Sunday afternoon in Newark. NJ Corrections Officer and Wood-Ridge firefighter Dan O'Beirne was riding his motorcycle on the northbound side of the highway when he noticed the crash near Newark Airport around 3:30 p.m. Driving in his personal vehicle behind him was Wood-Ridge Officer Mark Torsiello, who had Rutherford volunteer EMT Walter Rogers with him. Behind them was NJ Corrections Officer Chris Araujo. "We saw Danny suddenly switch …

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by Cecilia Levine
News
Police: Carlstadt Resident Who Fired Shots Outside Home Was Annoyed By Loud Music, Noise Police: Carlstadt Resident Who Fired Shots Outside Home Was Annoyed By Loud Music, Noise
Police: Carlstadt Resident Who Fired Shots Outside Home Was Annoyed By Loud Music, Noise UPDATE: A Carlstadt resident who fired several shots from a handgun outside his home apparently was pissed about a neighbor's "loud parties and noise," authorities said Tuesday. David Knoll had no history of arrests before Sunday, when police took him into custody for firing three to five shots "in the direction of people and property" across the street from his Division Avenue home, Detective Sgt. John Cleary said. A caller who reported the shots told police the 62-year-old engineer was reloading the black handgun, Cleary said. Responding borough officers -- backed up by colleagues from …

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by Jerry DeMarco
News
Police: Carlstadt Resident Who Fired Shots Outside Home Was Annoyed By Loud Music, Noise Police: Carlstadt Resident Who Fired Shots Outside Home Was Annoyed By Loud Music, Noise
Police: Carlstadt Resident Who Fired Shots Outside Home Was Annoyed By Loud Music, Noise UPDATE: A Carlstadt resident who fired several shots from a handgun outside his home apparently was pissed about a neighbor's "loud parties and noise," authorities said Tuesday. David Knoll had no history of arrests before Sunday, when police took him into custody for firing three to five shots "in the direction of people and property" across the street from his Division Avenue home, Detective Sgt. John Cleary said. A caller who reported the shots told police the 62-year-old engineer was reloading the black handgun, Cleary said. Responding borough officers -- backed up by colleagues from s…

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by Jerry DeMarco
News
Drunken Ex-Con Fights Police Over Gun On Route 17 After Hit-Run Victim Follows Him From NYC Drunken Ex-Con Fights Police Over Gun On Route 17 After Hit-Run Victim Follows Him From NYC
Drunken Ex-Con Fights Police Over Gun On Route 17 After Hit-Run Victim Follows Him From NYC Hasbrouck Heights police had to fight a combative ex-con to get a gun away from him after he was followed to a Route 17 gas station by the victim of a hit-and-run crash in Washington Heights, authorities said. A drunken Jamel McCaskill, 44, also had $20,000 in banded cash in his totaled car, police said after Friday night's arrest. McCaskill was known to authorities, having been shot by a rival gang member in Harlem six years ago. The case made international headlines after the sentencing judge told the shooter: "Black lives don’t matter to black people.” A caller told Hasbrouck Heig…

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by Jerry DeMarco
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Bergen Teacher's Stalker Slashed Tire, Yelled ‘School Shooter!’ Police Charge Bergen Teacher's Stalker Slashed Tire, Yelled ‘School Shooter!’ Police Charge
Bergen Teacher's Stalker Slashed Tire, Yelled ‘School Shooter!’ Police Charge A Wood-Ridge man was charged with stalking a schoolteacher after police said he slashed the tire of a man he believed she was involved with and drove around her former neighborhood shouting “school shooter!” Francis R. Lucas III, 32, remained in police custody at Bergen New Bridge Medical Center in Paramus on Saturday, more than a week after he was arrested, records show. Police got 911 calls from residents on April 1 that a man had been driving around Avalon at Wesmont Station shouting the threats. Following a license plate check, Sgt. Joseph Rutigliano Jr. and Officers Joseph Vitko…

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by Jerry DeMarco
News
Wood-Ridge Officers Clear Way For Newborn's Arrival Wood-Ridge Officers Clear Way For Newborn's Arrival
Wood-Ridge Officers Clear Way For Newborn's Arrival The sound of a newborn baby’s cry was music to the ears of two Wood-Ridge police officers who arrived moments after he did. Directed by new dad Michael Jackson to a second-floor bathroom where his wife had just given birth shortly before 3 a.m., Officers Roberto Cangialosi and Michael Mueller detected a heartbeat. Aleksandra "Sasha" Jackson had told them she “woke up with some pain in her back and abdomen” and “went into the bathroom thinking she was possibly suffering from minor intestinal pains,” Cangialosi said. Then the baby’s head crowned. Cangialosi said he and Mueller “began cleani…

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by Jerry DeMarco
News
Community Shaken As Young Moonachie Firefighter, Port Authority Tunnel And Bridge Agent Dies Community Shaken As Young Moonachie Firefighter, Port Authority Tunnel And Bridge Agent Dies
Community Shaken As Young Moonachie Firefighter, Port Authority Tunnel And Bridge Agent Dies Shock mixed with sadness and grief as news spread of the unexpected death of a young Bergen County first responder. Christopher Kucan, 24, of Wood-Ridge, worked as a tunnel and bridge agent with the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey at the Lincoln Tunnel. He was also an EMT with the Moonachie First Aid and Rescue Squad. "We are all at a complete loss for words," a Port Authority co-worker and fellow member of the fire service said. Those in both aspects of Kucan's life called him still young with great potential, one who had a heart of gold and "would drop everything to help a fri…

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by Jerry DeMarco
News
Teaneck Accountant Charged With Embezzling $1.2M From Local Classroom Furniture Company Teaneck Accountant Charged With Embezzling $1.2M From Local Classroom Furniture Company
Teaneck Accountant Charged With Embezzling $1.2M From Local Classroom Furniture Company An accountant from Teaneck embezzled $1.2 million from a Wood-Ridge company that makes classroom furniture, authorities said following his arrest Thursday. Manuel “Mendy” Goldring, 27, worked as a comptroller for Academia Furniture when he stole the money from checks, PayPal transfers and Amazon purchases, Bergen County Prosecutor Mark Musella said. Goldring, who lives in the Teaneck Gardens garden apartment complex, reportedly worked for Academia from Oct. 2015 to February 2020 before returning to accounting. Musella’s detectives charged him money laundering, theft, impersonation, false …

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
UPDATE: Wood-Ridge Police ID Boy, 17, As Hit-Run Driver Who Side-Swiped Police Cruiser UPDATE: Wood-Ridge Police ID Boy, 17, As Hit-Run Driver Who Side-Swiped Police Cruiser
Update: Wood-Ridge Police ID Boy, 17, As Hit-Run Driver Who Side-Swiped Police Cruiser A 17-year-old Wood-Ridge boy was behind the wheel of a speeding sedan that side-swiped a borough police cruiser and kept going, authorities said Saturday. The boy came to police headquarters accompanied by his mother Friday night after learning that authorities had identified him through surveillance video and interviews, Detective Sgt. Matt Mueller said. Police were writing several summons stemming from Thursday's incident while considering possible eluding charges, he said.  The teen wrote in an email to Daily Voice that he was the driver and that he "did nothing near speeding …

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
UPDATE: Wood-Ridge Boy, 17, Charged As Wrong-Way Mercedes Driver Who Side-Swiped Police Cruiser UPDATE: Wood-Ridge Boy, 17, Charged As Wrong-Way Mercedes Driver Who Side-Swiped Police Cruiser
Update: Wood-Ridge Boy, 17, Charged As Wrong-Way Mercedes Driver Who Side-Swiped Police Cruiser A 17-year-old Wood-Ridge boy was behind the wheel of a speeding sedan that side-swiped a borough police cruiser and kept going, authorities said Saturday. The boy came to police headquarters accompanied by his mother Friday night after learning that authorities had identified him through surveillance video and interviews, Detective Sgt. Matt Mueller said. He was receiving several summons stemming from Thursday's incident as detectives considered possible eluding charges.  The teen said in an email to Daily Voice that he was the driver and that he "did nothing near speeding off...…

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by Jerry DeMarco