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Tuesday, dec 3
Tag:
Palisades Park, NJ
Police & Fire
Wood-Ridge Man Convicted Again Of Murdering, Torching East Rutherford Grandmother
𝗨𝗣𝗗𝗔𝗧𝗘: Questionable DNA evidence found under the fingernails of a 70-year-old Bergen County woman bludgeoned and burned in her home may have gotten her killer a new trial, but it didn't change the outcome. For a second time, a jury in Hackensack convicted Daniel Rochat on Wednesday of all charges in the brutal September 2012 slaying of real estate agent Barbara Vernieri in her East Rutherford home. Rochat, 48, of Wood-Ridge was originally convicted in June 2017 of beating Vernieri, then pouring gasoline on her and around her home before setting it on fire to cover up the crime scene. Pros…
Police & Fire
Toddler Hospitalized With Serious Burns, PalPark Private Day Care Worker Jailed
A toddler was hospitalized with serious burns that authorities said were sustained at a home that operates as a daycare center in Palisades Park. Ann Zheng, 24, was jailed on child endangerment charges after the toddler was burned at Dearest Angel Child Care, which operates out of a private home on Glen Avenue off East Edsall Boulevard, on Thursday, March 28. Bergen County Prosecutor Mark Musella said his Special Victims Unit was contacted by Palisades Park police. They learned, he said, that Zheng, “while having an assumed responsibility for the child, neglected the child, resulting in th…
Police & Fire
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…
Police & Fire
Illegal Border Crosser Seized By ICE After Punching Local NJ Officer In Face
A Guatemalan national who authorities said crossed the U.S. border illegally was seized by federal agents after he punched a Closter police officer in the face. Emiliano Cotzalo-Santiago, 24, was living in Palisades Park and working on a construction site in Closter when he began walking down the middle of Cedar Lane, obstructing traffic, Police Capt. Vincent Aiello said. This prompted calls to police. Cotzal-Santiago “attacked the first officer that he came in contact with by punching him in the face,” the captain said. A second officer sustained cuts on his hand as they attempted to han…
Police & Fire
10-Year Minimum Awaits Repeat Child Porn Collector Caught With 1,300 Files At Newark Airport
A convicted child porn collector from North Jersey who'd moved to Ecuador after serving his time here is headed to federal prison for at least 10 more years. Christopher Carvajal, 30, most recently of North Bergen, had 900 videos and more than 400 images of child sex -- some of it involving infants or toddlers -- on his iPhone when Homeland Security Investigations seized him at Newark Airport last year. It also contained messages in which Carvajal "discussed his desire for sexual encounters with young children," U.S. Attorney Philip R. Sellinger said. Rather than risk a much more lengthy…
Police & Fire
Luxury NYC High-Rise Manager Stabbed By 2 Robbers Outside PalPark Home
A manager at a luxurious midtown-Manhattan highrise was stabbed in the leg while fighting off two robbers who'd jumped him outside his Palisades Park home Friday night. The victim was losing a lot of blood from a deep gash when borough police arrived shortly after 9 p.m. Nov. 3. The officers applied a tourniquet to the left leg that slowed the bleeding, authorities said. The victim told police he’d just gotten back after celebrating a work milestone in the city when he was attacked from behind while walking from his car to the front door of his East Palisades Boulevard home. The robbers o…
News
Body Of NJ Climber Killed In Avalanche Recovered
The body of a 66-year-old Bergen County man killed by an avalanche last February has been recovered, officials in Washington State said. Yun Park, of Palisades Park, was among three hikers attempting to climb Colchuck Peak on Feb. 19, 2023, Chelan County Sheriff Mike Morrison said. A hiker found Park's body the afternoon of June 23, near the base of Colchuck Peak. Snohomish County Sheriff’s Office Helicopter Rescue Team was contacted for a hoist capable helicopter and accepted the mission. The team responded around 11:15 a.m. Friday, June 23, and the body was turned over to …
Police & Fire
DJ Turned Bank Robber Foiled By Cool Teller, Crime-Fighting Teamwork, PalPark Police Say
Looks like he might not have thought things through. A would-be Palisades Park bank robber from the Bronx was foiled by a composed teller, his own hastiness and forensic science, authorities said on Tuesday, June 20. Daqwaun D. Ralls, a 30-year-old self-employed DJ known as "DJ SonDae," already had a criminal past when he walked into the Shinhan Bank America branch on Broad Avenue on May 31. According to Palisades Park Police Lt. George Beck, Ralls handed the teller a note that said: "No dye packs." It also came with a warning that Ralls had gasoline in a bottle, along with a lighter and …
Schools
These NJ Schools Are Closed, Delayed Due To Snow Tuesday, Feb. 28
The first winter storm of the season is causing a change in plans for New Jersey schools on Tuesday, Feb. 28. Some districts have delayed openings while others are closed completely. Here's a list of which school are closed or delayed for Tuesday, Feb. 28. Check your school/district's website for details. Bedminster: 10: 50 a.m. start Bellville: Delayed Bergen County Tech: Closed Bergenfield: 2-hour delay Bernards: 2-hour delay Bloomfield: Delay Bloomingdale: Closed Bogota: Delayed Butler: Closed Cliffside Park: 10 a.m. start Clifton: Delayed Closter: Delayed Cresskill: Delayed Demarest: …
News
Bergen County Man ID'd As Climber Killed In Washington State Avalanche
Authorities have identified a 66-year-old New Jersey man who was among three people killed in an avalanche in Washington State. Bergen County resident Yun Park, of Palisades Park, was confirmed as being among the dead in an update from the Chelan County Sheriff's Office on Wednesday, Feb. 22. The avalanche happened Sunday afternoon, Feb. 19, in the central Cascade Mountains near Colchuck Lake, located 70 miles east of Seattle. Sheriffs officials said a 56-year-old Maryland man contacted deputies on Monday, Feb. 20 and said that six members of the group he was with had atte…
News
Gunman Who Killed Innocent Young Dad From Garfield Sentenced To 20 Years
A man convicted of killing an innocent young dad from Garfield during a shootout in the parking lot of a Paterson nightclub was sentenced to 20 years in prison. Prosecutors originally pursued murder charges against Ferreie Johnson, 28, of Paterson, but jurors convicted him of reckless manslaughter. That’s because the killing of Parker Sams on March 31, 2018 wasn't intentional, a requirement under the law for it to be considered murder. Johnson had gotten into a dispute with another group at D’Classico Restaurant and Lounge on Ellison Street when he retrieved a gun from his vehicle and open…
News
Municipal Employee Headed To Tree Lighting Hospitalized After Serious Pal Park Crash
A Palisades Park employee headed to the borough Christmas tree lighting narrowly avoided a much worse fate when a driver ran a stop sign and knocked his SUV into a telephone pole, splitting it in two. The employee was towing a light tower to the event at Borough Hall when the female motorist ran the stop sign and rammed the truck on Central Boulevard around 3 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 4, witnesses said. The SUV then slammed into the pole -- with the bottom half crashing directly on top of the municipal vehicle and the top half left dangling from overhead wires. The general service employee was ho…
News
Feds: Ex-Owner, CEO 'Pilfered' $3.9M From Bergen Pharma Company To Fund Lavish Lifestyle
The former founder and CEO of a Bergen County pharmaceutical firm embezzled $3.9 million from the business to help pay credit card charges, property taxes and his kid's private school tuition, an indictment returned by a federal grand jury on Friday says. John Klein, 76, was arrested by federal agents last December. By that point, he'd been sued in federal court by several people with whom he either worked or collected investment money from at Cambridge Therapeutic Technologies in Teaneck, records show. Klein -- now of Tampa, Florida -- "looted and pilfered" the company to fund a "lavish" …
News
Ex-Cons Just Out Of Prison Charged With Carjacking Hackensack Driver In Rochelle Park
Two ex-cons who'd only just been released from prison carjacked a Hackensack driver outside a Rochelle Park supermarket, authorities charged. Anthony Aguilar, 24, of Garfield and Elijah Battle, 25, of Paterson were wearing masks when they accosted the driver and took his Audi in the parking lot of the D-Mart Indian-Asian Farmers Market on Rochelle Avenue around 8 p.m. June 16, they said Friday. The robbers abandoned the vehicle a couple of blocks away and fled in a red Toyota Rav 4 that had been reported stolen out of Paterson, investigators said. The victim sustained minor injuries. Mea…
News
Ridgefield Adult, Juvenile Charged With Arson In Multi-Alarm Palisades Park Warehouse Fire
UPDATE: A vacant warehouse blaze that injured a firefighter in Palisades Park was deliberately set by two Ridgefield residents, authorities charged. Alexander Regalado, 18, was arrested and a juvenile was detained after they were identified as responsible for the multi-alarm Fourth of July weekend fire on Fairview Street off Grand Avenue, Bergen County Prosecutor Mark Musella said. The fire, which ravaged the warehouse and damaged a neighboring building, wasn’t fully extinguished for nearly six hours. Route 46 was closed in both directions at one point because of the thick smoke and a fi…
News
Hours-Long Multi-Alarm Warehouse Blaze Doused In Palisades Park
A stubborn multi-alarm fire ravaged a vacant Palisades Park warehouse and spread to another. A firefighter sustained what was characterized as a minor injury in the Fairview Street blaze Saturday just off Grand Avenue down the street from westbound Route 46 in Palisades Park. Firefighters were met by heavy flames that quickly shot through the roof of the primary building shortly before 6 p.m. A firefighter sustained what was characterized as a minor injury in the early-evening Fairview Street blaze just off Grand Avenue in Palisades Park.Damien Danis for DAILY VOICE The blaze went to …
News
$2 Million Fine For NJ's 'Most Flagrant'
Osha
Violator Upheld By Judge
A Bergen County framing contractor dubbed New Jersey’s "most flagrant violator" of federal workplace safety laws the past decade must pay $2 million in back fines to the government, an administrative law judge has ruled. Juan Quevedo-Garcia, 42, of Palisades Park "deliberately failed to pay the fines and displayed a total disregard for the safety of his workers and for the law," Assistant Secretary of Labor for Occupational Safety and Health Doug Parker said. In doing so, he "continually put workers at risk of serious injuries or worse" at four different job sites in Bergen County, a federa…
News
Captured
! Prisoner Who Escaped From Palisades Park Police HQ Nabbed In Rhode Island
GOTCHA! The manhunt for a purported MS-13 gang member who escaped from Palisades Park police headquarters in handcuffs three days ago ended with his capture in Rhode Island, authorities announced. Working around the clock, Palisades Park police "were right with" Adilson Estrada-Garcia of Cliffside Park when he arrived in Providence to stay with a cousin, Detective Lt. Alex Monteleone said. Members of the US Marshals Rhode Island Violent Fugitive Task Force were notified and nabbed the 24-year-old Guatemalan national without incident at 7:30 a.m. Sunday, March 6, Monteleone said. Estrada-G…
News
Manhunt
: Prisoner Escapes From Palisades Park Police HQ
GOTCHA! The manhunt for a purported MS-13 gang member who escaped from Palisades Park police headquarters in handcuffs three days ago ended with his capture in Rhode Island, authorities announced. Working around the clock, Palisades Park police "were right with" Adilson Estrada-Garcia of Cliffside Park when he arrived in Providence to stay with a cousin, Detective Lt. Alex Monteleone said. Members of the US Marshals Rhode Island Violent Fugitive Task Force nabbed the 24-year-old Guatemalan national without incident at 7:30 a.m. Sunday, March 6, Monteleone said. Estrada-Garcia -- whose fami…
Police & Fire
NJ Woman, 73, Who Gave Infant Fatal Magnesium Dose Has Treated People For Years: Authorities
A 73-year-old Guatemalan national living in Palisades Park who was charged with the death of an 11-month-old baby had allegedly been treating people in the area for years -- including the dead infant's older brother. Elida Medina-Ramos was charged earlier this week with aggravated manslaughter and illegally practicing medicine for giving baby Genesis a fatal dose of magnesium, olive oil and water to treat constipation, court documents show. Enma Medina, 38, who lives across town, took the infant to Medina-Ramos's home last Dec. 7 because the infant was sick, according to an affidavit o…
News
Palisades Park Woman, 73, Charged With Killing Baby
UPDATE: A 73-year-old Guatemalan national living in Palisades Park who was charged with the death of an 11-month-old baby allegedly had been treating people in the area for years -- including the dead infant's older brother. Elida Catalan-Medina was charged earlier this week with aggravated manslaughter and illegally practicing medicine for giving baby Genesis a fatal dose of magnesium, olive oil and water to treat constipation, court documents show. Enma Medina, 38, who lives across town, took the infant to Medina-Ramos's home last Dec. 7 because the infant was sick, according to an affida…
News
East Coast Luxury Car Theft Ring Smashed By PalPark Detectives
What at first seemed like a run-of-the-mill package theft led Palisades Park detectives to an organized theft ring that used bogus IDs to buy high-end luxury cars, authorities said. Jeon Kichul, a 43-year-old Korean national, was arrested last December after Detective David Chun identified him as the porch pirate who swiped a package containing a baseball glove from outside a resident’s home, Capt. Shawn Lee said. Kichul, who was also carrying bogus ID, was released pending further investigation, said Lee, the officer in charge of the department. Chun then learned that Jeon was "part of a …
News
Flawed DNA Test Gets Bergen Man Doing Life For Beating, Burning Woman, 70, New Trial
DNA evidence found under the fingernails of a 70-year-old Bergen County woman bludgeoned and burned in her home wasn’t reliable enough to convict a man who’s now serving a life sentence for her murder, a state appeals court ruled. Daniel Rochat, 46, of Wood-Ridge, has already been moved from New Jersey State Prison in Trenton to the Bergen County Jail in Hackensack in anticipation of a new trial following the Appellate Division ruling. He remains charged with various counts of murder and felony murder, as well as aggravated arson, desecrating human remains, burglary, hindering arrest and f…
News
Feds Charge Bergen Drug Company Owner With Embezzling $3.9M
Federal agents arrested the former chief executive officer and owner of a Bergen County pharmaceutical firm on Monday and charged him with embezzling millions of dollars from the company, authorities confirmed. John Klein, 75, transferred $3.9 million into an account that he tapped, in part, to pay credit cards charges for him and his wife, as well as for his kid's tuition, Acting U.S. Attorney Rachael A. Honig said. Formerly of Alpine and currently living in Palisades Park, Klein has been sued in federal court by several people with whom he either worked or collected investment money from …
News
Fierce Fire Destroys Palisades Park Home
Two firefighters were injured Sunday in a ferocious blaze that destroyed a 96-year-old Palisades Park home. Responders were met by heavy fire and smoke at the West Harwood Terrace home around 1 p.m. They eventually had to go to an exterior operation as flames blew out the roof and through windows. The fire was declared under control around 2:40 p.m. Firefighters had to go to exterior operations at the West Harwood Terrace blaze in Palisades Park.Damien Danis for DAILY VOICE The injuries weren't initially considered serious. Mutual aid responders at the scene or in coverage included f…
News
SWAT
Standoff
: Barricaded Ridgefield Man Seized With Knives, Grenade, Young Daughter In Home
A troubled Ridgefield man was seized after barricading himself in his home with his 12-year-old daughter, authorities said. A Bergen County Regional SWAT team joined local officers during the Maple Avenue standoff, which ended when Osvaldo Salas-Kechichian, 44, was taken into custody shortly before 11 p.m. Sunday, nearly three hours after it began, Ridgefield Deputy Chief Robert Meurer said. His roommate had come to headquarters earlier to report that Salas-Kechichian threw his belongings outside and threatened him with a knife, Meurer said. Salas-Kechichian, who was known to have several …
Police & Fire
SWAT
Raid
: PalPark Parents Charged With Running Drug Mill, 80 Lbs Of Pot, $303,610, Gun Seized
A Palisades Park couple with young children were charged with running a drug mill from their home, said authorities who reported seizing 80 pounds of pot, $303,610 in alleged proceeds and a gun during a raid. David Baez, 36, was stopped and taken into custody after driving away from the Hillside Avenue home that he shares with Massiel Inoa, 28, and their children, Bergen County Prosecutor Mark Musella said. Their children were with Inoa, 28, when detectives and borough police -- backed by a Bergen County Regional SWAT team -- raided the home moments later, Musella said. Members of Musella’…
News
Accused Killer In Palisades Park Stabbing Captured In Maryland
UPDATE: A bus company employee who stabbed and killed a fellow Palisades Park resident fled to Maryland, where he was captured, authorities said. Jose M. Rivera Mes, 29, remained held in the Prince George’s County Jail in Upper Marlboro, MD pending extradition to New Jersey to face murder and weapons charges in Superior Court in Hackensack. Rivera-Mes stabbed Danilo Gonzalez-Flores, 37, with a kitchen knife outside the ShopRite on Roosevelt Avenue shortly after 7 p.m. last Monday, Bergen County Prosecutor Mark Musella said. He'd been gashed so deeply across his stomach that organs were exp…
News
Update
: Accused Killer In Palisades Park Stabbing Captured In Maryland
UPDATE (JULY 31): A bus company employee who stabbed and killed a fellow Palisades Park resident fled to Maryland, where he was captured, authorities said. Jose M. Rivera Mes, 29, remained held in the Prince George’s County Jail in Upper Marlboro, MD pending extradition to New Jersey to face murder and weapons charges in Superior Court in Hackensack. Rivera-Mes stabbed Danilo Gonzalez-Flores, 37, with a kitchen knife outside the ShopRite on Roosevelt Avenue shortly after 7 p.m. last Monday, Bergen County Prosecutor Mark Musella said. He'd been gashed so deeply across his stomach that organ…
News
Cold
CASE
Cracked
: DNA From Soda Can Helps Solve PalPark Business Break-Ins
Palisades Park police cracked a pair of cold-case burglaries after the results of a DNA test on a soda can led them to a familiar face from a neighboring town. Officers responding to a break-in at what was then the Happy Diner on Broad Avenue in 2018 found a damaged and emptied cash register outside the Honey Pig Bossam next door, Detective Sgt. Alex Monteleone said. They contacted the owners of both businesses, one of whom reported finding an iPad and $100 missing – along with a soda can that had been left on a counter, he said. Sgt. Sean Cotrrell secured the can, which was sent to t…
News
Fort Lee Funds Dedicated To Families Displaced In Devastating Apartment Building Fire
UPDATE: A fund established to aid Hurricane Sandy victims will go toward helping families displaced by a fire that destroyed an apartment building near the George Washington Bridge. Two volunteer firefighters were hospitalized with relatively minor injuries in the six-alarm fire on Hudson Terrace in Fort Lee, which ignited Saturday afternoon, continued through the night and collapsed portions of the five-story brick building. Authorities initially feared the worst when a resident was unaccounted for, Mayor Mark Sokolich said, but that tenant apparently is out of the country. The Red Cros…
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