Paterson, NJ
Police & Fire
Prosecutor: Clifton Man Threatened New Paterson Police Chief Over His Race, Religion Prosecutor: Clifton Man Threatened New Paterson Police Chief Over His Race, Religion
Prosecutor: Clifton Man Threatened New Paterson Police Chief Over His Race, Religion Paterson’s first Muslim police chief wasn’t in the job long when he became the target of texted threats from a 28-year-old Clifton man because of what authorities said are his race, religion and nationality. Stefan Keco was arrested and charged after being identified by Paterson detectives following the threats to Police Chief Ibrahim “Mike” Baycora, Public Safety Director Jerry Speziale Jr. said. Keco "sent threatening text messages to Chief Baycora with the purpose to intimidate him because of the chief's religion, race and national origin," Passaic County Prosecutor Camelia Valdes said …

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by Jerry DeMarco
Paterson, NJ
Police & Fire
VIDEO: Roof Collapses In House Fire, Paterson's Bravest 'Save Neighborhood,' Mayor Says VIDEO: Roof Collapses In House Fire, Paterson's Bravest 'Save Neighborhood,' Mayor Says
Video: Roof Collapses In House Fire, Paterson's Bravest 'Save Neighborhood,' Mayor Says Paterson firefighters “saved a neighborhood” when they doused a blaze that collapsed the rear of a vacant building late Monday and spread to an adjoining building, Mayor Andre Sayegh said. No injuries were immediately reported in the four-alarm fire, which broke out around 10 p.m. in the first-floor rear of a vacant 2½-story mixed-use building on Rosa Parks Boulevard. Flames quickly rushed up through the building, collapsing the rear roof. The fire spread to a three-story, multi-family house next door, displacing 10 people, authorities said. The Passaic County prosecutor’s arson unit was …

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by Jerry DeMarco
Paterson, NJ
Lifestyle
Can You Recognize These Paterson Shops On Set Of 'West Side Story'? Can You Recognize These Paterson Shops On Set Of 'West Side Story'?
Can You Recognize These Paterson Shops On Set Of 'West Side Story'? Vintage cars and actors in retro clothing swarmed embellished Paterson's streets for the filming of Steven Spielberg's "West Side Story." The area near City Hall resembles 1950s New York City the week of Aug. 19 -- with makeup artists on stand-by, ready to rush in at any moment to fix a smudge in the humid, 90-degree weather. New Jersey's own Bruce Springsteen popped by for a visit. "The filming of 'West Side Story' is really enhancing Paterson's image and improving our downtown economy," Mayor Andre Sayegh said.  Mayor Andre Sayegh and Bruce Springsteen on the set of "West Side Story…

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by Cecilia Levine
Paterson, NJ
Police & Fire
FEDERAL CASE: Ex-Paterson Police Officer Admits Beating, Robbing Suspects, Ordinary Citizens FEDERAL CASE: Ex-Paterson Police Officer Admits Beating, Robbing Suspects, Ordinary Citizens
Federal CASE: Ex-Paterson Police Officer Admits Beating, Robbing Suspects, Ordinary Citizens A now-former Paterson police officer is headed to federal prison for at least 2½ years after admitting Tuesday that he beat and robbed suspects as well as ordinary citizens. Frank Toledo, 30, is one of seven rogue officers that the U.S. government has recently helped the city police department remove from its ranks, authorities in Paterson said. Toledo pleaded guilty Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Newark to conspiring to violate citizens’ civil rights in the Silk City as part of a deal with federal prosecutors that will bring him a shorter prison sentence than if he’d been convicted at a…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Paterson, NJ
Police & Fire
All-Out ‘Hot Spots’ Blitz Nets Paterson Police 14 Arrests, 988 Tickets, $6,700 In Drug Money All-Out ‘Hot Spots’ Blitz Nets Paterson Police 14 Arrests, 988 Tickets, $6,700 In Drug Money
All-Out ‘Hot Spots’ Blitz Nets Paterson Police 14 Arrests, 988 Tickets, $6,700 In Drug Money Several Paterson police squads united for an all-out blitz that in only eight hours produced 14 arrests, 988 motor vehicle summonses and the seizure of a combined 66 bags of cocaine and pot, along with $6,700 in drug proceeds, authorities said. Throughout that entire time, they said, the city streets were quiet. Participating in the “Crime Suppression Detail,” from 10 p.m. Saturday to 4 a.m. Sunday, were officers from the police department’s Special Investigations Division, Emergency Response Team, Narcotics Unit and Traffic Unit. “Designated violent crime ‘Hot Spots’ throughout the c…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Paterson, NJ
Police & Fire
'Crusade' Continues: 16,000 Heroin Bags Seized, $25,400 Confiscated In Paterson Raid 'Crusade' Continues: 16,000 Heroin Bags Seized, $25,400 Confiscated In Paterson Raid
'Crusade' Continues: 16,000 Heroin Bags Seized, $25,400 Confiscated In Paterson Raid Paterson narcotics detectives seized a whopping 16,000 individually packaged folds of heroin – along with $25,400 in suspected drug cash -- during on ongoing series of raids, this time in what’s considered a quiet area of the city near Bunker Hill. A tipster led them to the second-floor apartment in the tidy two-family home on East 18th Street, where city Police Director Jerry Speziale said drugs were distributed to other dealers through the city – delivered in an older-model Buick Lacrosse. The detectives stopped the Buick on Wednesday, then raided the home around 8:30 p.m. Wednesday, Spez…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Paterson, NJ
Police & Fire
Three Hospitalized On Their Own, One Transported After Stabbing/Slashing Outside Paterson Bar Three Hospitalized On Their Own, One Transported After Stabbing/Slashing Outside Paterson Bar
Three Hospitalized On Their Own, One Transported After Stabbing/Slashing Outside Paterson Bar Three men and two women fled the scene of a stabbing/slashing overnight Saturday outside a Paterson nightspot, witnesses told police. None of the injuries was considered life-threatening, although one victim was stabbed in the kidney area during the attack just after 3 a.m. on the corner of McBride and Glover avenues near the Woodland Park border, responders said. By sheer luck, members of a private ambulance crew were passing by at the time and rendered aid before police and city EMS arrived. Three of the victims got to St. Joseph’s Regional Medical Center on their own, responders said. …

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by Jerry DeMarco