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Police & Fire
VIDEO: Watch Police Officers, K-9s Capture Accused Stolen Taxi Thief In Montvale Backyard VIDEO: Watch Police Officers, K-9s Capture Accused Stolen Taxi Thief In Montvale Backyard
Video: Watch Police Officers, K-9s Capture Accused Stolen Taxi Thief In Montvale Backyard Home surveillance video shows a 21-year-old suspect accused of crashing a stolen taxi in Rockland County being captured in the backyard of a Montvale home. Evan Koulikov remained held Saturday in the Bergen County Jail pending extradition proceedings. He’s charged locally with being a fugitive from justice. Chased by police and a borough homeowner, Koulikov is seen hopping a fence into a Lark Lane backyard, then raising his hands and dropping to his knees when he realizes there’s no escape -- as a swarm of police, including three canines, surrounds him. “His wife said she never saw him ru…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
SWAT Standoff Ends In Upper Saddle River After Drunken Suicidal Man Fires Shot, Points Gun SWAT Standoff Ends In Upper Saddle River After Drunken Suicidal Man Fires Shot, Points Gun
SWAT Standoff Ends In Upper Saddle River After Drunken Suicidal Man Fires Shot, Points Gun An intoxicated, suicidal Upper Saddle River man pointed a gun out the window at SWAT team members before surrendering after a 3½-hour standoff overnight Sunday, authorities said. Family members fled as Christopher Koski, 24, fired a shotgun blast in the house and threw two rifles out the window, Detective Lt. Edward Kane said. A member of the Bergen County Regional Crisis Negotiation Team eventually talked him out, but not before Koski “pointed a loaded handgun out a second-floor window” at the tactical unit, Kane said. Authorities seized several firearms from the home, the lieutenant said…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
Officers From Pascack Valley Towns Get Special 'Micro-Training' On Domestic Violence Incidents Officers From Pascack Valley Towns Get Special 'Micro-Training' On Domestic Violence Incidents
Officers From Pascack Valley Towns Get Special 'Micro-Training' On Domestic Violence Incidents More than 40 police officers from seven Pascack Valley towns attended a special "micro-training" session in River Vale on how to handle domestic violence incidents. Assistant Bergen County Prosecutor Jessica Gomperts, who runs her office’s Domestic Violence Unit, discussed complete and proper investigations. River Vale police were joined by their colleagues from Hillsdale, Montvale, Old Tappan, Park Ridge, Westwood, and Woodcliff Lake. The local venue and succinct nature of “micro-training” -- the first of its kind in the Pascack Valley area -- enabled on- and off-duty officers to atten…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
Online Threat To Park Ridge High School Staffer Brings SWAT Units, Activates Shelter-In-Place Online Threat To Park Ridge High School Staffer Brings SWAT Units, Activates Shelter-In-Place
Online Threat To Park Ridge High School Staffer Brings SWAT Units, Activates Shelter-In-Place An online threat to staff at Park Ridge High School proved unfounded, said authorities who activated a shelter-in-place Thursday as a precaution. All school activities were canceled for the remainder of the day after borough police, assisted by two roving Bergen County Regional SWAT units and their police colleagues from Montvale and Woodcliff Lake, responded, Capt. Joseph Rampolla said. The tactical squad helped escort the students during dismissal, the captain said. An investigation into the source was continuing, he said. Anyone who has information that can help find whoever was r…

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by Jerry DeMarco
News
Mendham Catholic School To Close Mendham Catholic School To Close
Mendham Catholic School To Close This year will be the last for the St. Joseph School in Mendham. A fundraising campaign launched to keep the 56-year-old school open proved to be insufficient, NJ.com reports. Monsignor Joseph Anginoli made the announcement last Friday in a letter. Three Catholic schools that closed in North Jersey last year were St. Catherine of Bologna School in Ringwood, St. Andrew the Apostle School in Clifton and St. Pius X School in Montvale. Enrollment at the Pre-K through 8th grade school for the 2019-20 school year was 75 -- down from this year's rate of 131, NJ.com reports.

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by Cecilia Levine
Police & Fire
Smoky Park Ridge Fire Put Down Smoky Park Ridge Fire Put Down
Smoky Park Ridge Fire Put Down A victim required hospitalization after a smoky fire that began in the kitchen of a Park Ridge home spread to the attic on Sunday, authorities said. Assisting their Park Ridge colleagues at the two-alarm Doxey Drive blaze were firefighters from Hillsdale, Montvale, Westwood and Woodcliff Lake. Tri-Boro Ambulance took the person who required treatment to The Valley Hospital. George C. DeGiovanni took the photo and contributed to this report.

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
Victim Gravely Injured In Montvale GSP Crash Victim Gravely Injured In Montvale GSP Crash
Victim Gravely Injured In Montvale GSP Crash A medical chopper was canceled for a victim who was expected to die following a crash late Friday afternoon on the Garden State Parkway in Montvale, responders said. The vehicle crashed into a guardrail north of the rest area on the southbound side just after 3:30 p.m. Fire and rescue workers quickly removed the unresponsive victim, who had a possible broken arm and severe leg injury, responders said. All southbound traffic from that area was temporarily stopped. An investigation was expected to keep the road closed for an extended period of time. Paramedics from The Valley…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
Authorities: Discarded Cigarette Caused Fire That Killed Montvale Woman, 77 Authorities: Discarded Cigarette Caused Fire That Killed Montvale Woman, 77
Authorities: Discarded Cigarette Caused Fire That Killed Montvale Woman, 77 UPDATE: A fire that killed a 77-year-old Montvale widow in her home last weekend was ignited by a discarded cigarette, authorities said Friday. The blaze that tore through the North Avenue home of Ninette Grannis broke out just before 1 p.m. Sunday. "When the Montvale Police and Fire Departments arrived on the scene, the single-family residence was consumed by heavy fire," Acting Bergen County Prosecutor Dennis Calo said Friday. Grannis "was unaccounted for and presumed to be inside," he said. Her remains were later located, Calo said. "The cause of the fire was determined to be accident…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Lifestyle
When Tragedy Strikes, Montvale Family Unites: This Time, Cancer When Tragedy Strikes, Montvale Family Unites: This Time, Cancer
When Tragedy Strikes, Montvale Family Unites: This Time, Cancer A Montvale family still coming to terms with the sudden and tragic death of their father and husband is now facing even more adversity: Cancer. Eight years after 56-year-old Michael Murphy was killed by his business partner, his son, Justin Wilson, was diagnosed with leukemia. More than $39,000 had been raised as of Thursday morning on a GoFundMe for Wilson, launched by his sister, Caitlin Murphy. "Through all of our losses, we try to maintain a positive attitude," said Murphy, a math teacher at Pascack Valley High School. "My dad would want to be here with Justin, but we know he is there…

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by Cecilia Levine
Police & Fire
UPDATE: Montvale Woman, 77, Dies In House Fire UPDATE: Montvale Woman, 77, Dies In House Fire
Update: Montvale Woman, 77, Dies In House Fire UPDATE: A fire that killed a 77-year-old Montvale widow in her home last weekend was ignited by a discarded cigarette, authorities said Friday. The blaze that tore through the North Avenue home of Ninette Grannis broke out just before 1 p.m. Sunday. "When the Montvale Police and Fire Departments arrived on the scene, the single-family residence was consumed by heavy fire," Acting Bergen County Prosecutor Dennis Calo said Friday. Grannis "was unaccounted for and presumed to be inside," he said. Her remains were later located, Calo said. "The cause of the fire was determined to be accident…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
Again? Mahwah Grandparents With Drug-Dealing History Busted For Selling Oxy, Xanax, More Again? Mahwah Grandparents With Drug-Dealing History Busted For Selling Oxy, Xanax, More
Again? Mahwah Grandparents With Drug-Dealing History Busted For Selling Oxy, Xanax, More Two grandparents busted on similar charges in Rockland County were running an opioid distribution ring in Mahwah, according to police who said they arrested them with Oxycodone, Xanax and DAB for sale – as well as $16,000 in proceeds -- after a raid on their home. Linda Famelico, 61, who has a history of similar arrests in Rockland and Bergen counties, was arrested Friday night at a local restaurant where she works as a delivery person, Police Chief James N. Batelli said. Moments earlier, her husband, 62-year-old Aniello Famelico, was taken into custody during a court-approved search of the…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Schools
Jewish Teacher At North Jersey Catholic HS Alleges Anti-Semitism By Students In Lawsuit Jewish Teacher At North Jersey Catholic HS Alleges Anti-Semitism By Students In Lawsuit
Jewish Teacher At North Jersey Catholic HS Alleges Anti-Semitism By Students In Lawsuit A Jewish math teacher at a North Jersey Catholic high school says he was fired after complaining about students' anti-Semitic behavior against him including etching a swastika into the chalkboard and throwing coins at him, according to a lawsuit he recently filed. Jacob Rabinowitz says he was told by administrators at at Saint Joseph Regional High School in Montvale would not be renewed when he came forward about the way students were treating him -- a month before the notice was required, NorthJersey.com reports. The Archdiocese of Newark, however, said Rabinowitz did not complai…

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by Cecilia Levine