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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…
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…
Doc's Office Manager, BF Got 4,000 Percocet Using Stolen Scripts, Wayne Police Charge
The manager of a North Jersey doctor’s office stole prescription pads that she and her boyfriend used to collect more than 4,000 Percocet from local drugstores, authorities said.
Detectives from the Wayne Police Special Operations Unit zeroed in on Luz Valle, 53, and Javier Sanchez, 48, both of Paterson, after the doctor alerted them to “someone illegally passing prescriptions in the doctor’s name at multiple pharmacies,” Detective Capt. Dan Daly said.
Detective Sgt. James Celentano and Detective Nick Pepe obtained multiple subpoenas and interviewed several people as part of a seven-month i…
Detectives: Leonia Woman's Killer Slipped Out, Then Circled Back When Daughter Woke
A Paterson gang member now charged with killing a Leonia woman in the garden apartment she shared with her daughter ran out when he heard the girl wake up, then circled back as if he was just arriving, investigators said.
Nile Diakos, 35, was recorded on phone calls and in texts admitting that he killed Alicia Arnone by stabbing her in the neck and chest last Saturday, March 26, according to court papers.
Authorities originally charged her former live-in boyfriend, Andrae Daniels of Lodi, with killing Arnone, 35.
But new information emerged that led them to drop murder charges against him…
Murder Shocker: Ex-BF Cleared, Recent Lover Charged With Stabbing Leonia Woman To Death
UPDATE: A Paterson gang member now charged with killing a Leonia woman in the garden apartment she shared with her daughter ran out when he heard the girl wake up, then circled back as if he was just arriving, investigators said.
Nile Diakos, 35, was recorded on phone calls and in texts admitting that he killed Alicia Arnone by stabbing her in the neck and chest last Saturday, March 26, according to court papers.
Authorities originally charged her former live-in boyfriend, Andrae Daniels of Lodi, with killing Arnone, 35.
But new information emerged that led them to drop murder charges aga…
Tears Flow For NJ Mom, Non-Profit Founder Who Fought Fiercely For Kids With Disabilities
North Jersey single mom Joanne Bastante-Howard worked tirelessly for years to help provide critical resources for kids who, like her young son, John, have Down syndrome.
Bastante-Howard, a former advertising and marketing whirlwind, was personally responsible for raising hundreds of thousands of dollars to help obtain critical medical, education and therapeutic services for those in need through the non-profit she founded, America's Special Kidz (A.S.K.).
Parents of children with a wide range of circumstances -- including autism spectrum disorders, cerebral palsy, and mitochondrial disease…