A Few Clouds 20°
Schools
Fort Lee Chemistry Teacher Harassed Student With Sickle Cell Anemia: Lawsuit Fort Lee Chemistry Teacher Harassed Student With Sickle Cell Anemia: Lawsuit
Fort Lee Chemistry Teacher Harassed Student With Sickle Cell Anemia: Lawsuit The Fort Lee Board of Education is facing a lawsuit from a student's mom alleging her daughter was harassed by her high school chemistry teacher after correcting her lesson about sickle cell anemia, which she was diagnosed with. The civil complaint last month in Hackensack Superior Court by Tyrene Gibson says Suzanne Keefe bullied student "AGT" (Gibson's daughter) and the district failed to investigate the complaints. AGT transferred to Paramus Catholic High school where she is a rising senior. Gibson told Daily Voice that the district violated her daughter's rights under New Jer…

SHARE

by Cecilia Levine
Police & Fire
Community Devastated By Sudden Death Of Popular Mahwah Firefighter, 49 Community Devastated By Sudden Death Of Popular Mahwah Firefighter, 49
Community Devastated By Sudden Death Of Popular Mahwah Firefighter, 49 He was considered a solid man, a great dad, a reliable firefighter – which is why so many were as saddened as they were shocked to hear Monday that Mahwah firefighter Giovanni Pertuz had died. Township fire officials were preparing an official release about the death of the popular "Gio" Pertuz, the 49-year-old president of Co. 2 and proud married father of two. “Loved his kids. A great dad,” a colleague said. “We’re all a bit devastated.” A Hackensack native, Pertuz owned Master Fire and Electric on Franklin Turnpike in Mahwah, which installed, service and inspected fire alarm …

SHARE

by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
3 Charged With Shoplifting From Fair Lawn CVS All Had Arrest Warrants, Police Say 3 Charged With Shoplifting From Fair Lawn CVS All Had Arrest Warrants, Police Say
3 Charged With Shoplifting From Fair Lawn CVS All Had Arrest Warrants, Police Say Three people arrested on shoplifting charges at the Fair Lawn CVS on the same day were all wanted by police on warrants.  The first incident took place on July 4 when Fair Lawn Police responded to the CVS at 18-35 River Road for a report of two men who had fled the store without paying for items, said Fair Lawn Police Sgt. Brian Metzler. While investigating the theft, Officer Stephen Buskiewicz approached two men matching the description on East 23rd Street in Paterson, but they fled on foot until eventually captured, Metzler said. Those captured included Sergei Derunets, 28, of Hackensack…

SHARE

by Kathy Reakes
Police & Fire
Hackensack PD: Philadelphia Man Had Pot, $137K In Suspected Drug Cash In Jeep Hackensack PD: Philadelphia Man Had Pot, $137K In Suspected Drug Cash In Jeep
Hackensack PD: Philadelphia Man Had Pot, $137K In Suspected Drug Cash In Jeep Hackensack police officers seized more than $137,000 in cash and marijuana from a Philadelphia man during a motor vehicle stop, authorities said. On Friday, July 13, members of the Hackensack Police Narcotics Division pulled over Jose Diaz-Velez, 38, on Hudson Street, Captain Peter Busciglio said. The officers found marijuana and cash suspiciously packaged inside of his white Jeep Liberty, the captain said.  Diaz-Velez was charged him with one count of transporting or possessing property and possession of marijuana, and transported to the Bergen County Jail, Busciglio said.

SHARE

by Cecilia Levine
Police & Fire
Police ID Three Men Caught With 13 Firearms In Target Shooting Bust Police ID Three Men Caught With 13 Firearms In Target Shooting Bust
Police ID Three Men Caught With 13 Firearms In Target Shooting Bust Police have released the identities of three men from New Jersey who they said were busted with more than a dozen guns while firing them in broad daylight in Rockland County. Shortly before 3 p.m. on Sunday, July 8, police in Ramapo received a report from the Village of Suffern Police Department that officers had found three men who were allegedly target shooting on Creelman Road in Hillburn. The three men were found to be in possession of alleged illegal handguns and rifles, which violate the NY SAFE Act. In total, seven handguns, six rifles, high-capacity magazines, ammunition and marijua…

SHARE

by Zak Failla
Police & Fire
Kids OK After Mini-Cooper Rear-Ends School Bus On Route 4 In Hackensack Kids OK After Mini-Cooper Rear-Ends School Bus On Route 4 In Hackensack
Kids OK After Mini-Cooper Rear-Ends School Bus On Route 4 In Hackensack A group of youngsters on a school bus involved in a multi-vehicle crash Monday morning on westbound Route 4 in Hackensack were hospitalized as a precaution, responders said. None of the children on the White Plains Bus Company vehicle out of Westchester appeared seriously injured but were being taken to Hackensack University Medical Center to be completely checked out. It wasn't immediately clear where the youngsters are from. The driver of the Mini-Cooper, part of which slid under the school bus, was hospitalized with serious injuries, responders said.  Two occupants of a minivan that hi…

SHARE

by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
Franklin Lakes German Shepherd Owner Charged With 14 Animal Cruelty Counts Franklin Lakes German Shepherd Owner Charged With 14 Animal Cruelty Counts
Franklin Lakes German Shepherd Owner Charged With 14 Animal Cruelty Counts A 55-year-old Franklin Lakes woman with a history of similar trouble was served with a host of animal cruelty complaints after more than a dozen German Shepherds were removed from her home, authorities said. The 14 dog were in varying health and living conditions, Acting Bergen County Prosecutor Dennis Calo said, when animal control officers removed them from the Haddon Place home-turned-dog kennel of Danielle Weitz and her husband, Robert.  Borough officials also deemed the house uninhabitable. "I'm not interested in this call," Robert Weitz said Tuesday night before hanging up …

SHARE

by Cecilia Levine
Police & Fire
Herd Of German Shepherds Removed From Franklin Lakes Couple's Home Herd Of German Shepherds Removed From Franklin Lakes Couple's Home
Herd Of German Shepherds Removed From Franklin Lakes Couple's Home UPDATE: A 55-year-old Franklin Lakes woman with a history of similar trouble was served with a host of animal cruelty complaints after more than a dozen German Shepherds were removed from her home, authorities said. The 14 dog were in varying health and living conditions, Acting Bergen County Prosecutor Dennis Calo said, when animal control officers removed them from the Haddon Place home-turned-dog kennel of Danielle Weitz and her husband, Robert. Borough officials also deemed the house uninhabitable. "I'm not interested in this call," Robert Weitz said Tuesday night before hang…

SHARE

by Jerry DeMarco & Cecilia Levine
News
SEEN HER? Ridgefield Park Mom Missing Since May 22 SEEN HER? Ridgefield Park Mom Missing Since May 22
Seen HER? Ridgefield Park Mom Missing Since May 22 A 35-year-old Ridgefield Park mom who suffers from mental health disorders has been missing since last month. Erin Stack was last seen around 4 p.m. on May 22 in Paterson, where she took a photo with a friend and then said she was going to file paperwork for housing at Eva's Village, her mom Lori Stack said. Stack last saw her daughter earlier that day on E. 18th Street, where she accompanied her to Walgreens, she said. Stack had been living with her grandparents and prior to that at local homeless shelters, most recently in Hackensack. Lori Stack, who believes her daughter may be in an a…

SHARE

by Cecilia Levine
News
U.S. Navy Fighter Jets Rattle Bergen County U.S. Navy Fighter Jets Rattle Bergen County
U.S. Navy Fighter Jets Rattle Bergen County If you heard three alarmingly loud planes fly over your house around 9:30 p.m. Wednesday, you weren't the only one. It wasn't clear where they came from or where they're headed, but the trio of U.S. Navy fighter jets touched down at Teterboro Airport. Dozens of Bergen County residents in Maywood, Paramus, Emerson, Hackensack and elsewhere asked one another whether those were, in fact, fighter jets screaming over their homes. The planes will be departing again on Friday at an unknown time, authorities said. In December, the Teterboro Airport Noise Abatement Advisory Committee (TANAAC) voted …

SHARE

by Cecilia Levine
Police & Fire
West Nyack Couple Busted With 60 Bags Of Heroin In NJ, Police Say West Nyack Couple Busted With 60 Bags Of Heroin In NJ, Police Say
West Nyack Couple Busted With 60 Bags Of Heroin In NJ, Police Say A West Nyack couple was carrying 60 bags of heroin when they were stopped on a local highway, police in New Jersey said. Glen Rock Officer T.J. Graziani pulled the car over on southbound Route 208 for not maintaining a lane and having no visible rear license plate just before 11:30 p.m. Thursday, Police Chief Dean Ackermann said. The passenger, 44-year-old Shawn R. Landau, tried giving police a bogus name “in an attempt to evade arrest on active warrants that were issued by the Elmwood Park and Paterson Municipal Courts,” Ackermann said. Both he and the driver – Erin Davey, 43 – were taken…

SHARE

by Jerry DeMarco
Sports
Hackensack Horse Didn't Win Derby But Trainer's Other Colt Made History Hackensack Horse Didn't Win Derby But Trainer's Other Colt Made History
Hackensack Horse Didn't Win Derby But Trainer's Other Colt Made History The same trainer who coached Hackensack's American Pharoah to the 2015 Kentucky Derby finish line just made history again. This time, it was trainer Bob Baffert's pre-race, undefeated favorite Justify (5-2) who went on to win the 144th Kentucky Derby Saturday reversing the Apollo Curse -- with only three races under his belt. Hall of Famer Baffert also trained racehorse Solomini, of Hackensack's Zayat Stables, LLC -- owned by a Teaneck family -- who finished 10th this year at Churchill Downs. Three-year-old Justify's win made him the first horse without a race as a 2-year-old to win the an…

SHARE

by Cecilia Levine