Newark, NJ
Police & Fire
Police ID Body Found In Creek At East Orange Park Police ID Body Found In Creek At East Orange Park
Police ID Body Found In Creek At East Orange Park A 68-year-old man was found dead at a park in East Orange on Thursday, Dec. 7, authorities said. Frank Vergilio's body was found in a creek at Watsessing Park around 5:40 p.m., Acting Essex County Prosecutor Theodore N. Stephens, II and the Essex County Sheriff’s Office said. Vergilio was pronounced dead approximately two hours later. A pending autopsy will determine his cause of death. The investigation is active and ongoing. No arrests have been made. Anyone with information is asked to contact the Essex County Prosecutor’s Office tips line at 1-877-TIPS-4EC or 1-877-…

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by Cecilia Levine
Elizabeth, NJ
Police & Fire
Ex-Cons Nabbed In Elizabeth Taxi Driver Shooting Sent To Federal Prison Ex-Cons Nabbed In Elizabeth Taxi Driver Shooting Sent To Federal Prison
Ex-Cons Nabbed In Elizabeth Taxi Driver Shooting Sent To Federal Prison One ex-con was sentenced to a plea-bargained 8½ years in federal prison and another a little more than seven -- both without parole -- for shooting a taxi driver during a late-night robbery in Elizabeth. City police nabbed Naeem Jackson, 24, of East Orange, and Walter Williams-Lang, 22, of Elizabeth, but the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Newark took the case because of the government’s ability to secure much harsher penalties than under state law. There's also no parole in the federal prison system, which means both men must serve out their entire terms. Jackson and Williams-Lang were wearing …

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by Jerry DeMarco
Newark, NJ
Police & Fire
Pair Convicted Of Armed Robbery At Fried Chicken Joint: Prosecutors Pair Convicted Of Armed Robbery At Fried Chicken Joint: Prosecutors
Pair Convicted Of Armed Robbery At Fried Chicken Joint: Prosecutors Two men were recently found guilty of robbing a customer at gunpoint at a Kennedy Fried Chicken in Irvington in 2022, authorities said. On Jan. 19, Ricotson Dolisca, a 35-year-old Irvington resident and Gary Rhymes, a 37-year-old East Orange resident were caught on video taking a customer's wallet, phone and clothes at gunpoint inside the eatery, Acting Essex County Prosecutor Theodore N. Stephens, II said. The pair were arrested soon after the robbery and found to possess the victim's property and a firearm, Stephens said. Dolisca and Rhymes were convicted of first degree robbery and…

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by Sam Barron
Newark, NJ
Police & Fire
Police ID Roselle Woman Shot Dead In East Orange Police ID Roselle Woman Shot Dead In East Orange
Police ID Roselle Woman Shot Dead In East Orange A 35-year-old Roselle woman was fatally shot in East Orange in the early morning of Wednesday, Nov. 15, authorities said. At 12:55 a.m., East Orange police responded to a shooting on the 100 block of Springdale Avenue and found Janill Perez suffering from multiple gunshot wounds, Acting Essex County Prosecutor Theodore N. Stephens, II said.  She was transported to University Hospital where she was pronounced dead at 1:40 a.m., Stephens said alongside East Orange Police Chief Phyllis Bindi. The investigation is active and ongoing and no arrests have been made, Stephens and Bindi s…

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by Sam Barron
Elizabeth, NJ
Police & Fire
Three Car Burglars Apprehended: Summit PD Three Car Burglars Apprehended: Summit PD
Three Car Burglars Apprehended: Summit PD Three people were arrested after breaking into a vehicle and stealing items on Thursday, Nov. 2, Summit police said. At 5:14 p.m., police responded to Blackburn Place after a resident their purse and two mobile phones were taken from an unlocked Toyota Highlander parked in the driveway., officers said. Detectives traced one of the phones to a location on Route 22 in Union Township, police said and were able to apprehend the suspects. Washir Singletary, a 38-year-old Newark resident, Rahmir Singletary, a 21-year-old Newark resident, and Jaylin Harper, a 22-year-old East Orange resident were …

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by Sam Barron
Newark, NJ
Police & Fire
Man Fatally Struck By Hit-And-Run Vehicle: Irvington PD Man Fatally Struck By Hit-And-Run Vehicle: Irvington PD
Man Fatally Struck By Hit-And-Run Vehicle: Irvington PD Bernard Jones, a 70-year-old East Orange man was fatally struck by a vehicle in Irvington on Saturday, Oct. 28, authorities said. At 10:07 p.m., police responded to Clinton Avenue and Linden Avenue after being alerted to the crash, Acting Essex County Prosecutor Theodore N. Stephens, II and Irvington Police Director Tracy Bowers said. Jones was transported to Newark Beth Israel Medical Center where he was soon pronounced dead, Stephens and Bowers said. The driver of the vehicle fled the scene, Stephens and Bowers said. The investigation is active and ongoing and no arrests have be…

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by Sam Barron
Newark, NJ
Police & Fire
Three-Time NJ Bank Robber Who Held Up Cellphone Store After Release Gets 27½ Years This Time Three-Time NJ Bank Robber Who Held Up Cellphone Store After Release Gets 27½ Years This Time
Three-Time NJ Bank Robber Who Held Up Cellphone Store After Release Gets 27½ Years This Time An ex-con from Essex County who robbed an East Orange cellphone store after he'd just served 13½ years for holding up banks in Fair Lawn, Clifton and Belleville is headed back to federal prison for more than twice as much time. Kenneth Graham, who has diabetes, received a “compassionate release” into home confinement in November 2020 after serving 13½ years of a 17-year sentence for the trio of bank holdups. Graham, 50, of Newark, had been free all of two months, authorities said, when he walked into a Boost Mobile store in downtown East Orange and announced a robbery in the middle of the a…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Newark, NJ
Police & Fire
East Orange Teen Arrested For Verona Carjacking: Police East Orange Teen Arrested For Verona Carjacking: Police
East Orange Teen Arrested For Verona Carjacking: Police A 16-year-old East Orange boy was arrested and charged on Saturday, Oct. 14 with carjacking a woman in her driveway in Verona last month, authorities said. On Sunday, Sept. 24, a Floyd Road resident was approached by three men who demanded her car keys and proceeded to punch her in the head and face, knocking her to the ground, police said.  Officers spotted the suspects in the area of Bloomfield Avenue and Mount Prospect Avenue and pursued them into West Orange, police said. Officers eventually terminated the pursuit due to the conditions and the suspect's reckless driving, p…

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by Sam Barron
Mahwah-Ramsey, NJ
Police & Fire
Teen Thieves In Stolen Car Bail Out On Garden State Parkway, Nabbed By Mahwah, Paramus Police Teen Thieves In Stolen Car Bail Out On Garden State Parkway, Nabbed By Mahwah, Paramus Police
Teen Thieves In Stolen Car Bail Out On Garden State Parkway, Nabbed By Mahwah, Paramus Police A trio of teenagers bailed out of a stolen car on the Garden State Parkway during an overnight chase and were quickly captured by police from Mahwah and Paramus. Mahwah Police Officer Brian Doolittle was on pro-active patrol in the township’s Scotch Hills area when he spotted the 2023 Honda Civic moving slowly along McIntosh Drive shortly after 2 a.m. Tuesday, Oct. 10, Capt. Guido Bussinelli said. An instant license plate check showed the Civic had been reported stolen out of Orange on Sept. 29, Bussinelli said. Doolittle called for backups and activated his vehicle’s overhead lights, the …

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by Jerry DeMarco
Newark, NJ
Police & Fire
Gang Member Admits Planning Murder, Committing Gunpoint Robbery: NJ Feds Gang Member Admits Planning Murder, Committing Gunpoint Robbery: NJ Feds
Gang Member Admits Planning Murder, Committing Gunpoint Robbery: NJ Feds A member of the Rollin’ 60s Neighborhood Crips gang admitted his role in planning a murder and robbing a victim at gunpoint, federal authorities said. Federal prosecutors used the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) law to charge Tre Byrd, 22, and dozens of other reputed gang bangers rounded up by a collection of crime-fighting “supergroups.” Byrd, they said, belonged to the Rollin’ 60s Neighborhood Crips – a violent drug-selling gang -- for seven years. He was in on planning the rubout of a rival who was shot dead in March 2019 in Irvington, then more than a year later r…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Newark, NJ
Police & Fire
Police Pursuit Ends In Overturned Vehicle, Arrests: Newark PD Police Pursuit Ends In Overturned Vehicle, Arrests: Newark PD
Police Pursuit Ends In Overturned Vehicle, Arrests: Newark PD Two vehicles attempted to outrun Newark police on Wednesday, Sept. 13, resulting in two arrests and an overturned vehicle, authorities said. At 10:47 a.m., police observed a Chevy Impala at Madison Avenue and S. 16th Street wanted in a shooting investigation, Newark Public Safety Director Fritz Fragé said. Police attempted to pull the vehicle over nearby, but the driver refused and a pursuit began, Fragé said. The vehicle made it to the Garden State Parkway in East Orange before striking a curb and and a Newark police vehicle, Fragé said. A male suspect was arrested at the scene a…

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by Sam Barron
Newark, NJ
Police & Fire
Bullets Fly Through Windows Of Church Pastor's Newark Home Leaving Him With Punctured Lung Bullets Fly Through Windows Of Church Pastor's Newark Home Leaving Him With Punctured Lung
Bullets Fly Through Windows Of Church Pastor's Newark Home Leaving Him With Punctured Lung An East Orange church pastor is recovering after reportedly being struck by a stray bullet while sitting on the couch of his Newark home. Timothy Huff's grandson on a GoFundMe said two people fired shots into his home, striking Huff in the chest around 2 a.m. Thursday, Aug. 24. "Of the shots, a singular bullet struck through my grandfather’s chest; shattering his sternum, puncturing his lung, and damaging his kidney and heart," the campaign says.  "He is a well known philanthropist and a loved husband, father, grandfather, and pastor in his community at Green Pastures Missionary Bapti…

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by Cecilia Levine