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Police & Fire
GUILTY: Jurors Convict Ex-Con Bank Robber, 73, Of Stabbing Albany Man Dead At Bergen Mall GUILTY: Jurors Convict Ex-Con Bank Robber, 73, Of Stabbing Albany Man Dead At Bergen Mall
Guilty: Jurors Convict Ex-Con Bank Robber, 73, Of Stabbing Albany Man Dead At Bergen Mall With his dying breath, an Albany man who was stabbed in the parking lot of a Bergen County shopping mall identified convicted bank robber Augusto Perez as his killer. Jurors in Hackensack needed five hours of deliberation to convict the 73-year-old Perez on Friday, April 5, for stabbing Omar Cruz, 64, to death behind the Ulta Beauty store on the Maywood side of the Bergen Town Center on Feb. 16, 2021. The jury rejected a murder conviction, which required premeditated intent, and instead found Perez, of North Bergen, guilty of aggravated manslaughter, along with hindering apprehension, follo…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
TURF WAR: Bronx Man Charged With Uncle's 2021 Murder In Bangladesh TURF WAR: Bronx Man Charged With Uncle's 2021 Murder In Bangladesh
Turf WAR: Bronx Man Charged With Uncle's 2021 Murder In Bangladesh A man who shot and killed his 72-year-old uncle in Bangladesh three years ago over a long-running land dispute is in federal custody in Manhattan. Ganet Rozario, 52, of the Bronx was ordered held by a federal judge following his arrest for the murder of fellow U.S. citizen Michael Rozario on June 11, 2021. Both men reportedly had gone to an upazila (or section) of the South Asian republic known as Sirajdikhan two months earlier to address a dispute over who owned a piece of land there. An arbitration meeting aimed at a resolution dissolved into conflict between the two men, however, accord…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
100 Animals Rescued, Ex-Con Druglord Charged With Leading Notorious NJ Dogfighting Ring 100 Animals Rescued, Ex-Con Druglord Charged With Leading Notorious NJ Dogfighting Ring
100 Animals Rescued, Ex-Con Druglord Charged With Leading Notorious NJ Dogfighting Ring More than 100 abused canines were rescued and several people seized in a raid on what authorities said was a large-scale nationally-known dogfighting enterprise run by a convicted South Jersey druglord. Two dogs reportedly were found dead in a pit in a rural Maurice River Township homestead that investigators said was the site of a massive operation run by widely-recognized dogfighting breeder, ex-con Bruce "Hollywood" Low Jr., 45. Others arrested include his mother and alleged business partner, Terri Low, 67, and son, dog handler Bryce Low, 20. “Profiting from dogfighting is callous, brut…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
Tree Worker Electrocuted By Power Line In Morris County: Police Tree Worker Electrocuted By Power Line In Morris County: Police
Tree Worker Electrocuted By Power Line In Morris County: Police A tree worker was killed after coming in contact with a power line in Morris County on the afternoon of Thursday, April 4, police said. The worker was at 95 Taylortown Road in Montville when he came in contact with the line around  3:50 p.m., Montville Police Chief Andrew Caggiano said. The Montville Fire Department, Morris County EMS, and Jersey Central Power and Light responded to the scene, Caggiano said. The worker was removed from the tree and taken to Morristown Memorial Hospital where he was pronounced dead, Caggiano said. The identity of the worker is not being released at thi…

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by Cecilia Levine
Police & Fire
AGAIN? Repeat Bergen Offender Busted Trafficking 28,000 Child Sex Images: Prosecutor AGAIN? Repeat Bergen Offender Busted Trafficking 28,000 Child Sex Images: Prosecutor
Again? Repeat Bergen Offender Busted Trafficking 28,000 Child Sex Images: Prosecutor A repeat offender from South Hackensack relapsed following his release from prison by amassing and sharing 28,000 images of child pornography, said authorities who arrested him on Thursday. Corey Barraclough, 33, was released from the Adult Diagnostic Treatment Center in Avenel last October after serving more than 5½ years behind bars. The first 17 months or so were spent in the Bergen County Jail beginning in and the rest in state custody, records show. That's because the Northvale native had been found with more than 2,400 illegal child-porn images -- and was caught chatting online with …

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
CLEARED: Officer Not At Fault In Fatal South Jersey Stolen Motorcycle Crash, Grand Jury Rules CLEARED: Officer Not At Fault In Fatal South Jersey Stolen Motorcycle Crash, Grand Jury Rules
Cleared: Officer Not At Fault In Fatal South Jersey Stolen Motorcycle Crash, Grand Jury Rules UPDATE: A New Jersey police officer did nothing wrong in pursuing a stolen motorcycle whose driver ended up dying in a subsequent crash, a grand jury has ruled. Despite the obvious circumstances, state law and administrative guidelines required New Jersey Attorney Matthew Platkin to investigate the death last April 20 of John R. Nutt, 41, of Mount Laurel because a law enforcement officer was involved. Platkin's office released video last July from both the dashcam of the pursuing officer and the bodycam of a colleague who arrived from the opposite direction after the crash. Also relea…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
NJ Field Hockey Coach Sent Sexually Explicit Texts To 17-Year-Old Girl: Prosecutor NJ Field Hockey Coach Sent Sexually Explicit Texts To 17-Year-Old Girl: Prosecutor
NJ Field Hockey Coach Sent Sexually Explicit Texts To 17-Year-Old Girl: Prosecutor A 39-year-old Flemington field hockey coach was arrested on Thursday, March 28, and charged with sending one of his players, a 17-year-old girl, sexually explicit texts, authorities said. Brett Clay, a travel field hockey coach employed by Centercourt Field Hockey in Mount Olive, exchanged the text messages with the teen, a Bridgewater resident, Somerset County Prosecutor John McDonald said. Clay began sending illicit text messages in late December 2023, at one point offering her money in exchange for her sending him sexually explicit images, said McDonald alongside Chief of Count…

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by Sam Barron
Police & Fire
Cement Truck Rolls On Route 208 Cement Truck Rolls On Route 208
Cement Truck Rolls On Route 208 A driver escaped serious injury Thursday morning after his cement truck rolled onto a divider at an entrance to Route 208 in Fair Lawn. The truck was fully loaded and tipping the scale at 70,000 pounds -- as in: 35 tons -- when it tipped on the ramp to the southbound highway from eastbound Fair Lawn Avenue around 9:30 a.m. April 4, according to a representative for Tanis Concrete who was at the scene. The truck was doing about 20 to 25 miles an hour, the employee of the Fair Lawn-based company said. Fair Lawn police officers who arrived first assisted the 51-year-old driver from Jerse…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
Teaneck Tax Preparer Got $1.43M For Himself, $40M For Clients In COVID Scam: Indictment Teaneck Tax Preparer Got $1.43M For Himself, $40M For Clients In COVID Scam: Indictment
Teaneck Tax Preparer Got $1.43M For Himself, $40M For Clients In COVID Scam: Indictment A Teaneck tax preparer illegally collected $1.43 million for himself and $40 million for clients from the IRS by purposefully exploiting COVID-related credits that neither he nor they were entitled to, a federal indictment alleges. Leon Haynes, 50, was originally arrested on a criminal complaint last July. The investigation leading to the charges continued before a grand jury in Newark. The result: a 55-count indictment for tax evasion, preparing false returns, aggravated ID theft and mail fraud, authorities said. Haynes fraudulently sought more than $150 million from the IRS by claim…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
Trio Nabbed With Thousands Worth Of Designer Clothes, Bags, Anti-Security Device: Lyndhurst PD Trio Nabbed With Thousands Worth Of Designer Clothes, Bags, Anti-Security Device: Lyndhurst PD
Trio Nabbed With Thousands Worth Of Designer Clothes, Bags, Anti-Security Device: Lyndhurst PD Three out-of-towners traveling with thousands of dollars worth of stolen designer clothing and purses were busted by Lyndhurst police after the driver made an illegal turn in a vehicle that was missing both a front license plate and an inspection sticker. Officer Michael Clifford was on patrol in the area of Schuyler and Page avenues when it happened. As Clifford approached the vehicle after stopping it, he saw the rear passenger "remove her jacket and place it over something on the seat next to her," Detective Lt. Vincent Auteri said. She, the driver and a second passenger all said they d…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
'Extremely Difficult' Extrication Ends With Firefighters Freeing Trapped Driver Off Route 17 'Extremely Difficult' Extrication Ends With Firefighters Freeing Trapped Driver Off Route 17
'Extremely Difficult' Extrication Ends With Firefighters Freeing Trapped Driver Off Route 17 HEROES: Waldwick firefighters completed what authorities called an "extremely difficult operation" by freeing a driver whose sedan had crashed in a wooded area off rain-slicked Route 17. The BMW crashed partially down an embankment at the particularly troublesome Sheridan Avenue ramp off the southbound highway around 5:30 a.m. Wednesday, April 3. The single-vehicle collision heavily entrapped the driver, responders said. Waldwick's finest (Rescue 642 and Squad 633) had to contend with the elements, mud on the slope and a heavily damaged vehicle. They safely extricated the driver, who…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
One Arrest Made During Gaza War Protest In Teaneck One Arrest Made During Gaza War Protest In Teaneck
One Arrest Made During Gaza War Protest In Teaneck FOLLOW UP: An Upper Manhattanite was the only person arrested at a large demonstration outside a Teaneck synagogue, authorities said. Pro-Palestinian protestors faced off against Jewish counter-demonstrators during a fundraiser on Monday, April 1, at Congregation Bnai Yeshurun on West Englewood Avenue. The private event featured a representative of ZAKA, a Jewish group that collects body parts and blood for burial at the scenes of accidents and terrorist attacks. After American Muslims for Palestine and Within Our Lifetime announced plans to picket the event, township authorities took the …

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by Jerry DeMarco