NJ: 2020 Traffic Deaths Increased During COVID-19 NJ: 2020 Traffic Deaths Increased During COVID-19
NJ: 2020 Traffic Deaths Increased During Covid-19 Even though COVID-19 took countless vehicles off the road, the number of fatal crashes in New Jersey – and throughout the country -- actually increased last year, authorities announced Tuesday. We all know why. Even though fewer people drove, those who did took more risks and were involved in more deadly collisions, New Jersey Attorney General Gurbir S. Grewal said. Irresponsible driving led to a 5% increase in fatal crashes statewide last year, to 552 from the year before, State Police reported. This comes at a time when traffic volumes were drastically reduced because of stay-at-home ord…
This One Rivals Madoff: $1.8B Ponzi Scheme Victimizes Hundreds Of NJ Investors, Authorities Say This One Rivals Madoff: $1.8B Ponzi Scheme Victimizes Hundreds Of NJ Investors, Authorities Say
This One Rivals Madoff: $1.8B Ponzi Scheme Victimizes Hundreds Of NJ Investors, Authorities Say Hundreds of New Jersey investors were among those scammed in a $1.8 billion Ponzi scheme that authorities said was orchestrated by a trio of partners in a Manhattan-based advisory firm who projected an “aura of success” while hemorrhaging losses. Instead of securing returns for clients, the founder and CEO of GPB Capital Holdings, David Gentile, and his associates used investments to cover shortfalls and pay for private jets, a Ferrari and other personal luxuries, New Jersey Attorney General Gurbir S. Grewal said. Victims from the Garden State alone pumped more than $70.4 million into the s…
Three Prison Officers Charged Criminally In Vicious Beating Of Inmates At NJ Women’s Prison Three Prison Officers Charged Criminally In Vicious Beating Of Inmates At NJ Women’s Prison
Three Prison Officers Charged Criminally In Vicious Beating Of Inmates At NJ Women’s Prison One of three correctional police officers charged with severely beating and pepper-spraying inmates at New Jersey’s notorious women’s prison last month punched one of them in the face 28 times, state authorities said Thursday.  And it was all caught on video, they said. Sgt. Amir Bethea, Sgt. Anthony Valvano and Officer Lisando “Luis” Garcia were all charged with official misconduct for what Attorney General Gurbir S. Grewal described as a vicious and unrelenting attack on several inmates at the Edna Mahan Correctional Facility for Women in Hunterdon County beginning shortly before mid…
Released Video Shows Fatal Newark Police Shooting Released Video Shows Fatal Newark Police Shooting
Released Video Shows Fatal Newark Police Shooting Home surveillance video shows a South Orange man being shot and killed by a Newark police detective after rushing the officer. Captured from across the street, the video released this week by state Attorney General Gurbir S. Grewal shows Carl Dorsey III, 39, running at Detective Rod Simpkins as the plainclothes investigator got out of the passenger side of an unmarked police vehicle just after midnight on New Year’s Day. The pair collide and spin around, as Simpkins shoots Dorsey with his service weapon as he falls backwards. SEE: Dorsey Shooting The video is the only footage of the fatal…
All For $20,000: New Brunswick Meter Reader Who Took Bribes To Cut Bills Gets 5 Years In Prison All For $20,000: New Brunswick Meter Reader Who Took Bribes To Cut Bills Gets 5 Years In Prison
All For $20,000: New Brunswick Meter Reader Who Took Bribes To Cut Bills Gets 5 Years In Prison A former New Brunswick Water Department meter reader who took payoffs to help reduce customers’ water bills by as much as 90% was sentenced Friday to five years in state prison. Guillermo Quinones, 51, of Somerset joins two former co-workers who also got five-year state prison terms: Joseph DeBonis, a 58-year-old former senior account clerk from Toms River, and William Ortiz, 59, of North Brunswick, a former meter reader. Their scheme “cost the city hundreds of thousands of dollars,” said Thomas Eicher, director of the state Office of Public Integrity and Accountability. Ten residents accu…
Mayors Rejected Bribe Attempts By Fired Bergen Sheriff's Department Head, Report Says Mayors Rejected Bribe Attempts By Fired Bergen Sheriff's Department Head, Report Says
Mayors Rejected Bribe Attempts By Fired Bergen Sheriff's Department Head, Report Says UPDATE: A department head who was fired from the Bergen County Sheriff’s Office picked the wrong guys when he tried bribing one former and one current North Jersey mayor, according to a published report. Omid Bayati, 39, was charged with trying to bribe a senior official at the Passaic Valley Sewerage Commission to advance his career after taking a job there, state authorities announced Wednesday. Former Fair Lawn Mayor John Cosgrove, who was appointed to the commission in 2019, later told New Jersey Globe that he was the official. SEE: Official wears wire after sewerage commissioners…
Passaic Sewerage Commission Employee From Bergen Charged With Bribing Senior Official Passaic Sewerage Commission Employee From Bergen Charged With Bribing Senior Official
Passaic Sewerage Commission Employee From Bergen Charged With Bribing Senior Official UPDATE: A department head who was fired from the Bergen County Sheriff’s Office picked the wrong guys when he tried bribing one former and one current North Jersey mayor, according to a published report. Omid Bayati, 39, was charged with trying to bribe a senior official at the Passaic Valley Sewerage Commission to advance his career after taking a job there, state authorities announced Wednesday. Former Fair Lawn Mayor John Cosgrove, who was appointed to the commission in 2019, later told New Jersey Globe that he was the official. SEE: Official wears wire after sewerage commissioners repo…
NJ Police Officer’s Widow Kept Collecting Survivor Payout After Remarrying, Indictment Charges NJ Police Officer’s Widow Kept Collecting Survivor Payout After Remarrying, Indictment Charges
NJ Police Officer’s Widow Kept Collecting Survivor Payout After Remarrying, Indictment Charges The widow of a New Jersey police officer continued collecting more than $268,000 in pension benefits for nearly a decade after she remarried, state authorities charged. Sandra VonScheven, 44, of Hamilton began collecting spousal survivor benefits in 2001 from the pension of her deceased husband, who’d been a retired municipal police officer, state Attorney General Gurbir S. Grewal said. Surviving spouses are entitled to the benefit under the Police and Firemen’s Retirement System. Survivor benefits continue for life or until that person remarries. The state Division of Pensions and Benefi…
Authorities ID Man Killed In Newark Police-Involved Shooting As South Orange Resident Authorities ID Man Killed In Newark Police-Involved Shooting As South Orange Resident
Authorities ID Man Killed In Newark Police-Involved Shooting As South Orange Resident Authorities on Tuesday identified a man killed in a police-involved shooting in Newark just minutes into the new year as a South Orange resident. Carl Dorsey III, 39, was taken following the shooting near Woodland Avenue and South 11th Street to University Hospital in Newark, where he was pronounced deceased at 1:37 a.m., state Attorney General Gurbir S. Grewal said. Officers were responding to a shots-fired call when they encountered Dorsey, responders said at the time, adding that a gun was recovered at the scene. Grewal said Tuesday that an officer fired a 9mm service wea…
Paterson Police Getting Body Cams Paterson Police Getting Body Cams
Paterson Police Getting Body Cams Paterson police will become the latest New Jersey crime fighters to wear body cameras, authorities said Monday. Officers will wear the cameras on their uniforms or “outermost garment" during criminal investigations, motor vehicle stops, witness interviews in criminal investigations, searches, civil disorder, use of force and constructive authority, transporting prisoners, making arrests and conducting protective searches for weapons. Mayor Andre Sayegh said the move, following a directive from state Attorney General Gurbir S. Grewal, "will allow for greater transparency in the police depar…
AG: 39-Year-Old Man Shot, Killed By Newark Police Officer AG: 39-Year-Old Man Shot, Killed By Newark Police Officer
AG: 39-Year-Old Man Shot, Killed By Newark Police Officer A 39-year-old man was shot and killed by a Newark police officer on New Year's Eve, state authorities said. The incident occurred near South 11th Street and Woodland Avenue just after midnight, State Attorney General Gurbir S. Grewal said. The man and the officer's identities were temporarily being withheld. State law requires such the Attorney General's Office conduct an investigation when a person’s death "occurs during an encounter with a law enforcement officer acting in the officer’s official capacity or while the decedent is in custody," Grewal said.
UPDATE: Suspect Slashes Clifton Officer, Stabs Himself In Confrontation At Route 3 HoJos UPDATE: Suspect Slashes Clifton Officer, Stabs Himself In Confrontation At Route 3 HoJos
Update: Suspect Slashes Clifton Officer, Stabs Himself In Confrontation At Route 3 HoJos UPDATE: A man slashed a Clifton police officer in the face, then stabbed himself in the chest as a SWAT team closed in on him Sunday at a Route 3 Howard Johnson's, authorities said. Authorities later identified him as Antwan Whitlock, 35, of Union Township. Whitlock remained hospitalized at St. Joseph's Regional Medical Center in Paterson as of Jan. 5. The officer was treated at St. Joe's before being released. SEE: Man Who Slashed Clifton Officer, Stabbed Himself At Route 3 HoJos ID'd It began when three Clifton officers responded to a report of a guest having "mental health crisis" at …