Paterson, NJ
News
Disgraced Ex-Paterson Officer Charged With Assault Of Second Defenseless Suspect Disgraced Ex-Paterson Officer Charged With Assault Of Second Defenseless Suspect
Disgraced Ex-Paterson Officer Charged With Assault Of Second Defenseless Suspect A former Paterson police officer already awaiting trial for beating one suspect over the head with a flashlight has been charged with doing it to another. Spencer Finch, 46, of Mahwah, broke a victim’s nose, knocked out two of his teeth and chipped another outside a Quick’s Food Store on Dec. 22, 2018, an indictment returned by a grand jury in Paterson alleges. In a subsequent use-of-force report, Finch said he was arresting the robbery suspect when he “became belligerent with police and shouted profanities,” Passaic County Prosecutor Camelia M. Valdes said in announcing the indictment on W…

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by Jerry DeMarco
West Milford, NJ
News
Judge Refuses Release Of West Milford Security Salesman Charged With Sexually Assaulting Woman Judge Refuses Release Of West Milford Security Salesman Charged With Sexually Assaulting Woman
Judge Refuses Release Of West Milford Security Salesman Charged With Sexually Assaulting Woman A judge refused to release a security company salesman from West Milford who’s charged with sexually assaulting a township woman. Austin Hopler sexually assaulted the woman -- who, like him, is 25 -- following an event at a local home last June 6, Passaic County Prosecutor Camelia M. Valdes and West Milford Township Police Chief James Devore alleged in a joint release. Hopler was arrested last Monday, Jan. 9, following an investigation by township police and members of the prosecutor’s Special Victims Unit, they said. The six-year U.S. Marine Corps veteran – who’d been stationed at Fort Di…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Paterson, NJ
News
Convicted Killer, Fellow Ex-Con Charged With Gunning Down Paterson Man, Wounding Companion Convicted Killer, Fellow Ex-Con Charged With Gunning Down Paterson Man, Wounding Companion
Convicted Killer, Fellow Ex-Con Charged With Gunning Down Paterson Man, Wounding Companion A man who was killed and a woman who was with him were shot by two Paterson ex-cons, one of whom recently served nearly a decade for slaying an aspiring rapper and the other who was tracked down in Virginia, authorities announced. Shaquan Winstead, 28, and David “Scrappy” Armfield, 31, are both charged with first-degree murder in the Oct. 1 shooting death of Briheem Nero, 42, of Paterson at what may well be the city’s deadliest street corner. An unidentified 49-year-old woman who was with Nero was shot in the arm, for which Winstead and Armfield are charged with attempted murder. They’re a…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Paterson, NJ
News
UPDATE: Wild Stolen Car Chase Ends In Paterson With Struggle, Gunshot, Prosecutor Confirms UPDATE: Wild Stolen Car Chase Ends In Paterson With Struggle, Gunshot, Prosecutor Confirms
Update: Wild Stolen Car Chase Ends In Paterson With Struggle, Gunshot, Prosecutor Confirms A Paterson police officer’s gun accidentally discharged during the arrest of a repeat offender from Sussex County after he led officers on a wild stolen car chase, authorities said. It took three days for Passaic County Prosecutor Camelia M. Valdes to confirm the incident from Monday night, Jan. 9. Members of the city’s Street Crimes Unit had tried to stop the vehicle around 9 p.m., but the driver kept going, Valdes said in a release. They pursued the vehicle down Katz Avenue into Haledon and then back into Paterson, says the release, issued shortly before 5 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 12. Office…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Paterson, NJ
News
STABBED TO DEATH: Clifton Man Charged With Killing Cousin STABBED TO DEATH: Clifton Man Charged With Killing Cousin
Stabbed TO Death: Clifton Man Charged With Killing Cousin A 25-year-old Clifton man is charged with stabbing his 22-year-old cousin to death on New Year’s Eve. Motasem Ramadan fought with police who arrested him following the fatal stabbing at a home across the street from a city elementary school around 7:30 p.m. Saturday, authorities said. Officers responding to the two-family home on Van Cleve Avenue near School No. 12 found Waleed Ramadan with multiple stab wounds to his neck and face, Passaic County Prosecutor Camelia M. Valdes and Clifton Police Chief Thomas Rinaldi said in a joint release. Waleed (photo below) was pronounced dead a short …

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by Jerry DeMarco
Paterson, NJ
News
‘John Doe’ Shot Dead In Paterson ‘John Doe’ Shot Dead In Paterson
‘John Doe’ Shot Dead In Paterson Authorities were trying to identify a man shot dead on a Paterson street corner. The victim was shot in the head and arm at the intersection of North Main and Arch streets around 9:45 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 29, they said. He was pronounced dead at the scene, Passaic County Prosecutor Camelia M. Valdes and Acting Paterson Police Chief Bert Ribeiro said. They classified it as a homicide – Paterson’s 22nd of the year -- but didn't say whether any suspects had been arrested or identified. The gun was recovered, police at the scene said.

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by Jerry DeMarco
Paterson, NJ
News
Metal Detection Begins At Paterson High Schools After Seizure Of 3 Guns, Four Teens Metal Detection Begins At Paterson High Schools After Seizure Of 3 Guns, Four Teens
Metal Detection Begins At Paterson High Schools After Seizure Of 3 Guns, Four Teens Officials began screening students entering John F. Kennedy High School in Paterson following an incident late last week in which a trio of loaded guns were seized and the armed teens taken into custody. The hand-held metal-detecting wandings will continue indefinitely at all city high schools, Paterson Schools Supt. Eileen F. Shafer announced on Monday, Dec. 19. Additional city police officers will also patrol the grounds, she said. “The safety of our students and staff is our top priority, and we are working to make sure that no one is able to bring an unauthorized weapon onto school pro…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Paterson, NJ
News
Paterson School Shooting Threats: Loaded Guns Found On Three Teens, One Of Them 15 Paterson School Shooting Threats: Loaded Guns Found On Three Teens, One Of Them 15
Paterson School Shooting Threats: Loaded Guns Found On Three Teens, One Of Them 15 A trio of teens were all found armed with loaded guns after a brawl broke out at JFK High School in Paterson and two juveniles threatened to shoot up the place, authorities said. Officers stationed at the school separated the students and found one of them, a 17-year-old, carrying a handgun, Passaic County Prosecutor Camelia M. Valdes and Acting Paterson Police Chief Bert Ribeiro announced Sunday, Dec. 18. A 14-year-old involved in the Friday morning hallway brawl was seized after he was “overheard by responding officers threatening to commit a shooting in the school,” they said in a prepar…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Paterson, NJ
News
One Dead In Route 3 Crash, Authorities Confirm One Dead In Route 3 Crash, Authorities Confirm
One Dead In Route 3 Crash, Authorities Confirm A driver who was killed in a chain-reaction crash on Route 3 was identified as a 46-year-old Kearny resident. A BMW X3 had become disabled and was stopped on the westbound Passaic River Bridge in Clifton when it was struck by a Subaru Impreza driven by Karen Garcia shortly before 5 a.m. last Thursday, Dec. 15. Garcia's Impreza was then broadsided by an oncoming Toyota Prius, Passaic County Prosecutor Camelia M. Valdes and Clifton Police Chief Thomas Rinaldi said in a joint release on Monday, Dec. 19. Garcia, who was extricated by firefighters, was later pronounced dead at Hackensack Unive…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Paterson, NJ
News
Paterson Man Charged With Illegally Touching Girl, 15 Paterson Man Charged With Illegally Touching Girl, 15
Paterson Man Charged With Illegally Touching Girl, 15 A Paterson man illegally touched a 15-year-old girl, authorities charged. Kenyatta Lighty, 44, was sent to the Passaic County Jail following his arrest last Friday, Passaic County Prosecutor Camelia M. Valdes announced on Monday, Dec. 12. Members of her Special Victims Unit charged Lighty with two counts each of fourth-degree criminal sexual contact and third-degree child endangerment for two separate incidents in July 2021 and July 2022, the prosecutor said.

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by Jerry DeMarco
Paterson, NJ
News
Passaic Man, 19, Shot Dead In Clifton Passaic Man, 19, Shot Dead In Clifton
Passaic Man, 19, Shot Dead In Clifton A 19-year-old Passaic man was shot dead in Clifton before dawn Monday, authorities confirmed. Ariel Henriquez was brought to St. Joseph’s University Medical Center with a gunshot wound via private vehicle shortly before 4 a.m. Dec. 12, Passaic County Prosecutor Camelia M. Valdes and Clifton Police Chief Thomas Rinaldi said. He was pronounced dead a short time later, they said in a joint release. Police who responded to the location of the shooting “discovered evidence of a crime scene" near the corner of Kulick Street and Central Avenue, Valdes and Rinaldi said in the brief release. They…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Paterson, NJ
News
Passaic County Pedophile Who Tried To Get Victim To Change Story Gets 30 Years Without Parole Passaic County Pedophile Who Tried To Get Victim To Change Story Gets 30 Years Without Parole
Passaic County Pedophile Who Tried To Get Victim To Change Story Gets 30 Years Without Parole UPDATE: A convicted pedophile from Clifton must spend the next 30 years in prison before he’ll be eligible for parole for sexually assaulting a child over the course of several years. Alfredo Hernandez-Sanchez, 36, was convicted by jurors in Paterson this past April of first-degree aggravated sexual assault, as well as sexual assault, aggravated criminal sexual contact and child endangerment. Investigators from the Passaic County Prosecutor’s Office seized Hernandez-Sanchez after being alerted by Clifton police in June 2018. The victim, who was 15 at the time, “reported being sexually abus…

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by Jerry DeMarco