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Four Caught, One Sought In Brutal Stabbing Death Outside Garfield Bar
Authorities who’ve charged four men with the brutal murder of a man outside a Garfield bar last month turned to the public for help finding a fugitive gang member from Pennsylvania who sources said repeatedly stabbed the victim in the chest.
Ricky “Angel” Vargas, 35, of East Stroudsburg, PA, and his four companions confronted Richard Franceschi, 31, of Hawthorne outside JoJo's Bar & Grill on Monroe Street before dawn this past Feb. 4, Bergen County Prosecutor Mark Musella said.
Vargas had a knife and co-defendant Jayson William Rivera, 23, also of East Stroudsburg, had a handgun, the pr…
Ex-Con Kidnapper Gets 43 Years, No Parole, For Rape, Arson, Assault Rampage Through NJ, NY, PA
UPDATE: An ex-con who kidnapped and raped his ex-girlfriend in Pennsylvania, then torched a used car dealership in Paterson and rammed a stolen SUV into police cars at both ends of the George Washington Bridge was sentenced to 43 years in federal prison.
Luis Figueroa, 42, first took a plea deal from the government that called for him to serve 26 years in a federal penitentiary.
Then he abruptly withdrew his plea, took his chances with a trial – and lost.
Federal jurors in Newark convicted Figueroa in May 2022 of kidnapping, criminal sexual abuse, illegal gun possession and assaulting…
Undercover Fentanyl Bust Nets Mom, Son, Others In Poconos: DA
Four people are in police custody — including a mother and her son — after Monroe County authorities say they tried to sell fentanyl to an undercover police officer.
All four were arrested on Monday, April 10 following a months-long investigation that culminated with a controlled drug buy in Stroudsburg, said Monroe County District Attorney E. David Christine, Jr. in a statement.
Those charged are:
Zachary Herbst, 26, of East Stroudsburg
Sheila Conway, 45, of Saylorsburg
Justin Conway, 41, of Saylorsburg
Robert Sampson, 46, no fixed address
Justin Conway, 41, of Saylorsburg, and Ro…
Mom Found Burned Dead In Vacant Lot Had Been Staying In Poconos Weeks Before Her Killing
Known for 30 years as the "Girl with the Scorpion Tattoo," the unidentified victim found brutally murdered on Staten Island now has a name, and it turns out she'd been staying in the Poconos during the weeks leading up to her death, authorities said.
Christine Belusko of Clifton was handcuffed, strangled, beaten and burned in a Staten Island lot, the Richmond County District Attorney’s Office said. In the weeks leading up to her killing, she had been staying at a Mount Airy Lodge near Mount Pocono, PA, authorities said.
Now, investigators hope to find Belusko's daughter, Christa N…
Woman Instructed To Shoot Paterson Victim Misses, 2 Charged With Attempted Murder: Prosecutor
A Pennsylvania woman and a Newark woman have both been charged with attempted murder after one handed the other a gun, instructing her to shoot at a 31-year-old female victim who was not struck over the weekend in Paterson, authorities said.
It started sometime before 3:40 a.m. on Sunday, Nov. 6 near Wait and Wood streets in Paterson, when Abriyah Griffin, 25, of Newark, gave 31-year-old Lakenya Griffin, of Minersville, PA, the gun and told her to shoot the victim, Passaic County Prosecutor Camelia M. Valdes said.
Lakenya fired the weapon but missed the victim, who fled the scene — fol…
DMV Imposter Dupes Victims Out Of $1,500 To $2,000 Each, More Pawns Possible, Lodi PD Says
A con artist impersonating a DMV employee took dozens of unsuspecting customers for a ride, fleecing them out of tens of thousands of dollars, before Lodi police put the brakes on the heartless scheme, authorities said.
Mohammad A. Aburomi, 61, actually had his victims meet him at the agency's offices in Lodi and Wayne, where he promised to help them cut the line for payments of $1,500 to $2,000 each, investigators found.
"He had a two-way radio and all the garb, including a black shirt that identified him as a DMV worker," Lodi Police Sgt. Dominic Miller said. "He even had applications tha…
Hudson Man Kidnaps, Sexually Abuses Mentally Impaired Woman, Shoves Her From Car: Authorities
A Kearny man kidnapped a mentally incapacitated Paterson woman he’d met online, had sex with her in his car, a nearby park and his apartment, then shoved her out of the vehicle when he realized her family was following him, authorities charged.
A four-month manhunt ended when Horus G. Nunez-Velazquez, 35, was captured in Pennsylvania, Passaic County Prosecutor Camelia M. Valdes and Paterson Police Chief Ibrahim M. Baycora said in a joint announcement on Friday.
Nunez-Velazquez “met the (32-year-old) woman online, picked her up from her residence and took her to a nearby park and subsequentl…
Man Found Guilty In Murder Of Berks County Air Force Veteran
A 29-year-old man was found guilty in the murder of a Berks County air force veteran, authorities said.
Raphael E. Perez-Rodriguez, of Paterson, NJ, was convicted by a jury Thursday, April 20, of first-degree murder, burglary, robbery, and related charges in the killing of 76-year-old Dennis Fink, the Berks County DA's Office said.
Perez-Rodriguez fatally stabbed Fink at his Bern Township home on July 17, 2020, prosecutors said.
His sentencing is scheduled for Friday, April 22.
Perez-Rodriguez had already been serving time for a 2020 incident in Reading in which he sho…
