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Monday, dec 23
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Union City, NJ
Police & Fire
Two Football Coaches Among 6 Dead In Newark Wreck (
Update
)
The New Jersey high school football community is mourning the loss of two Hudson Catholic coaches who were among six people killed in a fiery crash in Newark over the weekend, officials said. Jersey City Mayor Steven Fulop confirmed in a statement on X that two of the victims were Hudson Catholic football coaches. They were later identified as head coach Lamar McKnight and assistant coach Brad Cunningham, according to various news outlets and high school sports teams. McKnight, a Jersey City native, took over as Hudson Catholic’s head coach last December. A standout athlete at Lincoln High …
Lifestyle
Venezuelan Immigrant Builds Dream Life Photographing Dream Homes In New Jersey
Finding a better life in the U.S. was not a guarantee for Edwing Hernandez when he immigrated with his wife from Venezuela in 2012. But it was a possibility. He had $3,000 in his pocket, and a simple dream. "For me at that moment, [my dream] was to be in a safe country with freedom of speech and be able to live and have my basic needs covered," said Hernandez, 34, of Union City. For years, Hernandez worked physically-demanding jobs and long hours, sometimes 14 a day, commuting two hours to and from work, for only $8 an hour. Life would get a whole lot harder before it would get easier fo…
News
NJ Supermarket Celebrates Selling $1.13B Mega Millions Ticket: 'Thrilled For This Community'
A Jersey Shore supermarket celebrated selling the ticket that earned someone the largest lottery jackpot in the Garden State's history. The New Jersey Lottery said the winning Mega Millions ticket was purchased at ShopRite Wine & Spirits on Route 66 in Neptune. The jackpot reached $1.13 billion in the drawing on Tuesday, Mar. 26. The NJ Lottery held a news conference at the grocery store to formally announce the lucky ticket on Wednesday, Mar. 27. "I used to live in Neptune," said NJ Lottery executive director James Carey. "I live right down the street right now in Monmouth County…
Lifestyle
Hudson County Favorite Son Bobby Cannavale Praised In Garden State-Centric Dramedy 'Ezra'
Actor Bobby Cannavale has a heartwarming New Jersey-based film premiering this spring that those who've seen it predict could be one of his best. In "Ezra," the pride of Hudson County plays Max, a stand-up comedian from the Garden State who lives with his father, portrayed by Robert De Niro. Max pursues his career while trying to co-parent his 11-year-old son with ex-wife (and Cannavale's real-life partner) Rose Byrne. Max lands a gig on Jimmy Kimmel's show in Hollywood, but the plane fare isn't comped. So he and young Ezra -- who has autism -- embark on a life-changing cross-country trip …
Police & Fire
Update
: One Dead, Two Wounded In Jersey City's First Homicide Of '24: Prosecutor
UPDATE (March 27): A Hoboken man was charged with murder and aggravated assault in a triple shooting in Jersey City earlier this month. Authorities confirmed on Wednesday, March 27, that Joseph Del Valle, 36, was arrested by members of the Hudson County Prosecutor’s Office Homicide Unit the day before. He remained held in the Hudson County Correctional Facility along with a second accused gunman, Francisco Salcedo, 42, of Jersey City, they said. City resident Christoph Terrero Marte, 33, was gunned down on Jordan Avenue off Mercer Street near McGinley Square shortly before 6:30 a.m. …
Police & Fire
Wild
Pursuit
: Car Thief Pulled From Frigid Meadowlands Creek Is Violent Career Criminal
UPDATE: A Union City man who jumped into a frigid Meadowlands creek during a dramatic police chase is an ex-con with nearly 50 arrests in no fewer than five North Jersey counties over the past 35 years. Career criminal Gregory Calvo, 53, is the very embodiment of the phrase “known to police.” He's been convicted nearly two dozen times in Bergen, Hudson, Passaic, Morris and Essex counties since 1989 – for offenses that include robbery, theft, burglary, drug dealing, domestic violence and aggravated assault -- and has been in and out of state prison and county jails since that time only to be…
Politics
Sen. Cory Booker Says Bob Menendez Should Resign
Senator Cory Booker has joined the chorus of New Jersey politicians calling for Sen. Bob Menendez's resignation after Menendez and his wife were indicted on federal bribery charges last week. Booker said the trust and faith New Jerseysians had in Menendez have been shaken in light of the recent indictments, which he called "shocking" and said were "hard to reconcile with the person I know." "Senator Menendez fiercely asserts his innocence and it is therefore understandable that he believes stepping down is patently unfair," Booker said. "I believe this is a mistake. "Stepping down is not a…
Police & Fire
Democratic Senator Bob Menendez Indicted On Federal Bribery Charges
Democratic U.S. Sen. Robert Menendez of New Jersey was indicted Friday on federal corruption charges that include allegations of him secretly supporting the government of Egypt and trying to influence U.S. prosecutors' case against Bergen County real estate magnate Fred Daibes. Mendendez, 69, who's chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, made several moves in exchange for bribes, some of which were passed to his wife, Nadine Arsianian, a sweeping indictment unsealed on Sept. 22 alleges. A staggering array of charges were brought by the grand jurors in the Southern District of N…
Police & Fire
SEE
Anything
? Hit-Run Driver Seriously Injures Teens Riding Motorized Scooter On NJ Turnpike
Two teens riding on a motorized scooter on the New Jersey Turnpike were seriously injured when they were struck by a vehicle that fled the scene, State Police said. Authorities turned to the public for help identifying the hit-and-run vehicle. The 16-year-old scooter driver from Jersey City had an 18-year-old girl from Union City as his passenger when they were struck in the northbound lanes in Ridgefield Park shortly after 12:30 a.m. Thursday, Sept. 7, NJSP Sgt. Charles Marchan said. The fleeing vehicle might have been a white Ford transit van, the sergeant said. Dealing with the teen dr…
Police & Fire
Hudsonite Who Got Mail-Order Fentanyl From Mexico Gets Two Years, No Parole, In Federal Prison
A Hudson County man who had mail-order fentanyl from Mexico shipped to his home was sentenced Thursday to a month short of two years in federal prison. Miguel Polanco, 31, must serve out just about all of the 23-month plea-bargained sentence because there's no parole in the federal prison system. Polanco became the focus of an investigation after U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents intercepted the package from Mexico City on its way to his Union City apartment, U.S. Attorney Philip R. Sellinger previously said. Polanco had watched a how-to video sent to him by a conspirator on h…
News
NY Dealer Gets 11 Years, No Parole, For Moving Fentanyl, Meth, Coke By The Pound Into NJ
A dealer who admitted flooding four North Jersey counties with massive quantities of fentanyl, meth and coke is headed to federal prison for more than a decade. Juan Carlos Merced Moreno, 45, of Manhattan must serve out just about all of his plea-bargained 11-year sentence because there's no parole in the federal prison system. Moreno and his partners operated a fentanyl mill in Washington Heights that supplied traffickers in New Jersey with at least 25,000 pills that were distributed throughout the Garden State, U.S. Attorney for New Jersey Philip R. Sellinger said. Authorities disco…
Weather
These Maps Show Realtime Smoke, Air Quality As Canadian Wildfires Rage
Can't tell if it's smoke or cloudy skies above? The following realtime configurations and air quality maps won't have you guessing anymore. A realtime configuration from Fire Smoke Canada — the Canadian portal for information about wildland fire weather and smoke — shows exactly where each of the more than 150 wildfires are raging and predicts roughly how heavy the smoke will be and where. The New York Times, meanwhile, has a similar smoke forecast map that indicates light, medium, or high levels of smoke from the fires, based on the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. The rea…
Police & Fire
Accused $550,000 Mortgage Fraud Schemer From Bergen Already Had A History, Records Show
Gerrmaioud Chape was no stranger to police and prosecutors in Bergen County. So it wasn’t surprising to some when county prosecutors charged him with stealing $525,000 from unwitting investors through mortgage fraud. Chape, 43, already had a petty criminal history that included arrests for speeding, shoplifting and drugs when Bogota police charged him in 2015 with pocketing $40,000 that a Colombian brother and sister saved to come to America. The money was supposed to be a down payment on a mortgage for the siblings’ new home, authorities said at the time, but Chape used it instead on pers…
News
Noriega Nominated For NJ Supreme Court
Michael Noriega, a Union County resident, has been nominated to be the newest justice on the New Jersey Supreme Court. Gov. Phil Murphy formally announced Noriega's nomination on Monday, May 15. Noriega, who was born in Weehawken, will be replacing Justice Barry Albin, who reached the mandatory retirement age. Noriega, who was raised in Union City and lives in Fanwood, is Murphy's fourth appointment to the bench. Noriega, 45, is a partner at Bramnick, Rodriguez, Grabas, Arnold, and Mangan, based in Clifton, working as a defense and immigration attorney. Noriega also spent five years as…
News
Njsp
,
Nypd
Recover 100 Handguns, 200 Mags Stolen From North Jersey Railyard, Nab Hudson Woman
A North Bergen storage unit rented by a Union City woman held 100 brand-new 9mm handguns and 200 large-capacity magazines that were stolen from a railyard in Hudson County on their way from the Northeast to the Deep South, authorities said. New Jersey State Police and the NYPD, assisted by federal agents, recovered the cache and arrested Claudine Kammo, 43, who they said was planning to sell the firearms and LCMs. The shipment had been stolen during the transfer from a tractor-trailer to a railroad car headed to a Louisiana wholesaler from a gun importer in Vermont, New Jersey Attorney Gene…
News
Hudson County Man Admits Getting Kids, Dad To Send Homemade Porn That He Shared On Social
A Union City man admitted getting two underage victims and a pedophile dad in the Dominican Republic to send him homemade child porn that he then shared on social media, federal authorities said. Posing as a teenage boy, Ramon Zelaya, 36, used an Instagram account to persuade a minor to send him a "revealing" photo, then used that to "entice, threaten, and coerce" the victim into sending him sexually explicit videos and other images, U.S. Attorney Philip R. Sellinger said. Zelaya also conspired with an unidentified individual in the Dominican Republic on Facebook to sexually abuse that pers…
News
Feds: Hudsonite Nabbed Accepting Mail-Order Fentanyl From Mexico Pleads Out
A Hudson County man admitted accepting mail-order fentanyl destined for New Jersey’s streets that shipped to his home from Mexico, federal authorities said. Miguel Polanco, 31, even watched a how-to video on how to handle the shipment, U.S. Attorney for New Jersey Philip R. Sellinger said following a plea hearing in Newark on Wednesday, Feb. 15. Polanco became the focus of an investigation after U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents intercepted the package from Mexico City on its way to his Union City apartment, Sellinger said. He had previously received a video from a conspirator “exp…
News
Dealer Admits Role In Major Ring That Moved Fentanyl, Meth, Coke By The Pound Into NJ From NYC
One of three Manhattan men accused of flooding four North Jersey counties with massive quantities of fentanyl, meth and coke admitted his role in the organization, authorities said. Juan Carlos Merced Moreno, 45, and his partners operated a fentanyl mill in Washington Heights that supplied traffickers in New Jersey with at least 25,000 pills that were distributed throughout the Garden State, U.S. Attorney for New Jersey Philip R. Sellinger said. And that wasn't all. Authorities discovered the operation during what began as an investigation into the Hudson County crew, which flooded the str…
News
Ex-Con Dog Walker Had Pound Of Cocaine, Assault Rifle, More In Turnpike Stop: Bergen Prosecutor
An ex-con dog walker from Hudson County had more than a pound of cocaine, an assault rifle and multiple high-capacity magazines in an electronically operated secret compartment of his SUV when he was stopped near the Meadowlands, authorities said. Detectives with the Bergen County Prosecutor's Narcotic Task Force stopped a 2009 Toyota Rav4 driven by Mervin Menier, 50, of Union City for speeding on the New Jersey Turnpike in Carlstadt this past Tuesday, Oct. 18. The investigators had been tipped off by the DEA that Menier was “transporting bulk shipments” of drugs and cash int…
Police & Fire
NJ Husband Surrenders In Crash That Killed Wife, Passenger In CT: Police
A New Jersey man has been charged in connection with a double-fatal Connecticut crash that killed his wife and another passenger last summer in Connecticut, authorities said. Juan Fernandez, 38, of Union City, surrendered to police on Wednesday, Aug. 17, and was charged with two counts of negligent homicide, among other charges in connection with the crash on Friday, Aug. 13, 2021, in Middlesex County, on Route 15 in Woodbridge. Fernandez was behind the wheel of a Honda Accord that had seven people, including five people in the backseat, when he drove straight into a tree traveling at more …
News
Pedestrian Struck, Killed In Fort Lee By SUV Driven By Union City Motorist
A 33-year-old pedestrian was struck and killed in Fort Lee by an SUV driven by a Union City motorist, authorities said. Mark Williams of Paterson was struck by the southbound 2016 Porsche Cayenne on Lemoine Avenue at Washington Avenue, just north of the George Washington Bridge, around 9:45 p.m. Wednesday, Fort Lee Police Capt. Edward Young said. Responding officers immediately began CPR on the unresponsive victim, who was taken to Holy Name Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead soon after, the captain said. The female driver, also 33 years old, stopped immediately and remained at …
News
Fast Play Ticket Worth $41K Sold In Hudson County
One lucky player purchased a ticket for the $5 Jersey Jackpot Fast Play game. They won $41,105, which is 50% of the Progressive Jackpot. Fast Play Progressive tickets are sold at any retailer and offer a fast way for players to see if their ticket is a lucky winner. The winning ticket was sold at K & R Food Corp, 1723 Summit Ave., Union City, in Hudson County.
News
Hero
: Englewood Cliffs Officer Rescues Assault Victim, Assailant Jailed
An Englewood Cliffs police officer rescued an assault victim, then subdued her assailant with help from backups, authorities said. The victim fled to safety after Officer Marc Krapels came upon the assault on Johnson Avenue while on patrol, Detective Lt. Ronald Waldt said. Waldt and Officer Regan assisted in arresting Angel Ballesteros, 31, of Union City after he became combative, the lieutenant said. Additional units from Englewood arrived as Ballesteros was taken into custody, he said. One officer sustained a minor injury but refused treatment, Waldt said. A Superior Court judge in Hac…
News
NJ Man Tried Sneaking 30 Pounds Of Cocaine Through MD Airport In Electric Wheelchair: Feds
A high-rolling New Jersey man was dealt a bad hand after being busted by federal officials in a Maryland airport attempting to traffic more than 30 pounds of cocaine into the country. Union City, NJ resident Gabriel Ruiz, 34, was arrested by members of the Maryland Transportation Authority Police Department when investigators called his bluff and seized cocaine that was concealed inside his electric wheelchair at the Baltimore Washington International Thurgood Marshal Airport. Ruiz was busted on Monday, June 20, and charged with state felony narcotics importation and possession charges on…
News
Popular Paterson Barbershop Fronted For After-Hours Club Run By Trinitarios, Authorities Charge
SEX, DRUGS AND JELLY ROLL: A popular Paterson clip joint was a front for an after-hours club run by Trinitario gang members that sold cocaine, sex and hookah, city authorities said following the arrests of eight people during a raid. Security guards allowed fellow armed Trinitarios into the illegal club at the JMT Barbershop on East 18th Street, which opened at 3 a.m. and closed at 10 a.m., Public Safety Director Jerry Speziale said. "Staff” at the club sold cocaine while the owners and managers directed prostitution on the premises and outside the club, sold alcohol without a license and p…
Police & Fire
NJ Man Bound, Tortured Ex For 6 Hours Days After Prison Release: Prosecutor
A 43-year-old man has been convicted of kidnapping an ex-romantic partner, bound him with duct tape, strangled him and forced him to take sleeping pills with alcohol — just hours after being released from jail, authorities in Essex County said. The jury remained deadlocked on the charge of attempted murder against James Pilotti, 43, of Union City, who was ultimately convicted of several other charges including strangulation on a domestic violence victim, weapon offenses, assault and more, Acting Essex County Prosecutor Theodore N. Stephens, II said. The horrifying act took p…
News
West New York Killer Brutally Beat Inmate For Latin Kings 'Hit Squad,' Indictment Charges
A convicted killer from West New York sent a fellow inmate to the hospital with a severe head injury as part of a deal with a prison "hit squad" run by a Latin Kings leader, authorities said. Daniel Balbuena, 29, carried out the beating in exchange for an assault on a rival of the Gran Familiar Mexicana gang by hit squad members, an indictment returned by a grand jury in Trenton alleges. Authorities last year charged Frank “Lafay” Blake of Hillside and several other current and former shank-armed inmates with an assault at New Jersey State Prison in Trenton, as well as with plans to carry …
News
Hudson County Man Enticed Minors To Send Him Homemade Porn Pics, Video, FBI Charges
A Hudson County man was arrested by the FBI after he enticed two underage children to create and send him porn photos and videos of themselves, federal authorities charged. Erick Solis, 25, "used a social media application to engage with two underage victims in sexually explicit conversations," U.S. Attorney Philip R. Sellinger said Thursday. He then "instructed both victims to take sexually explicit photographs and videos of themselves and send them to him," Sellinger said. At least one of them complied, the U.S. attorney said. Solis, who's recently lived in Union City and Weehawken, was…
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