Paramus, NJ
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
Paterson, NJ
Police & Fire
Ex-Con Charged By FBI With Igniting Explosive Outside Passaic County ATM Ex-Con Charged By FBI With Igniting Explosive Outside Passaic County ATM
Ex-Con Charged By FBI With Igniting Explosive Outside Passaic County ATM A career criminal from Passaic County who's been busted dozens of times in North Jersey in just the past few years used an explosive device to damage an ATM, federal authorities charged. Nicolas Torres, 41, of Passaic, has amassed a lengthy rap sheet over much of his adult life, mostly involving business break-ins that local police and county prosecutors have dealt with. This time, though, the FBI's got him. Torres was captured on surveillance video igniting the device in front of the Chase Bank ATM on North 6th Street in Prospect Park in the early morning hours of July 5, 2022, U.S. Attor…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Hackensack, NJ
Police & Fire
Maywood House Fire Doused Maywood House Fire Doused
Maywood House Fire Doused Firefighters participating in a mutual aid drill in Paramus on Sunday rushed to Maywood to douse a genuine blaze. The fire had ignited in a 1½-story Cape Cod-style wood-frame home at 30 Grove Avenue -- around the corner from Maywood's fire HQ -- around 11:30 a.m. March 24.The first firefighters at the scene were met by heavy heat, smoke and flames on both floors. They had the fire under control within 90 minutes.  No injuries were reported. Mutual aid responders at the scene or in coverage included firefighters from Hackensack, Paramus, Rochelle Park, Lodi, Fair Lawn, Garfield, Saddl…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Garfield-Lodi, NJ
Police & Fire
Garfield Garage Blaze Doused Garfield Garage Blaze Doused
Garfield Garage Blaze Doused Garfield firefighters doused a Sunday morning garage blaze. It was going pretty good when they got to the March 10 fire, but they contained it to the one-story two-car garage behind a Market Street home. No injuries were reported. Mutual aid at the scene and in coverage was provided by fellow firefighters from Saddle Brook, Clifton, Elmwood Park, Lodi, Maywood, Passaic and Rochelle Park. Damien Danis for DAILY VOICE Damien Danis for DAILY VOICE

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by Jerry DeMarco
Paramus, NJ
Police & Fire
One Ulta Thief Barricades Himself In Local Home, Another Strikes 3X In 10 Days: Maywood PD One Ulta Thief Barricades Himself In Local Home, Another Strikes 3X In 10 Days: Maywood PD
One Ulta Thief Barricades Himself In Local Home, Another Strikes 3X In 10 Days: Maywood PD Maywood police captured a repeat offender from Lyndhurst who’d barricaded himself in the basement of a local resident’s home after shoplifting from the Ulta store at the Bergen Town Center, authorities said. The arrest of Brendan Hunt, 46, comes amid an escalating epidemic of thefts from Ulta stores nationwide – including in Paramus, Montvale and throughout New Jersey. Hunt bolted out an emergency exit with a shopping basket full of stolen fragrances shortly after 10:30 a.m. Thursday, Feb. 29, Maywood Detective Sgt. William Phayre said Friday. Officer Alana Luna spotted Hunt running south …

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by Jerry DeMarco
Hackensack, NJ
Events
Live From Hackensack It's Saturday Night: Sketch Comedy Teams Battle For 'Bragging Rights' Live From Hackensack It's Saturday Night: Sketch Comedy Teams Battle For 'Bragging Rights'
Live From Hackensack It's Saturday Night: Sketch Comedy Teams Battle For 'Bragging Rights' Two sketch comedy troupes are set to do battle in Hackensack and only one can be declared the winner. "Bragging Rights Sketch Comedy" is performing at the Hackensack Performing Arts Center on Saturday, Feb. 3 from 9 p.m. to 10:30 p.m. The brainchild of Matt Algozzini, a Maywood resident, the show will feature two teams, the red team and blue team, performing comedy skits, with the audience picking the winner. Algozzini has been running the show for eight years, running monthly shows in New York and touring nationally. The performers also rep the Garden State. Aside from Algozzini, Juan Carl…

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by Sam Barron
Rutherford, NJ
Schools
Fate Of $49.2 Bond — With $29M Option — For Bergen County High School Determined By Taxpayers Fate Of $49.2 Bond — With $29M Option — For Bergen County High School Determined By Taxpayers
Fate Of $49.2 Bond — With $29M Option — For Bergen County High School Determined By Taxpayers One growing Bergen County high school is proposing a $49.2 million bond that would fund new construction and renovations, two years after a $55 million proposal was shot down by voters. Becton Regional High School serves students from East Rutherford, Carlstadt, and Maywood. Residents of East Rutherford and Carlstadt will vote on the proposed bond on March 12. Maywood, who in 2020 for the first time sent 340 of its students to BRHS, will not be voting but will contribute financially through its tuition contract if the bond is approved. The new BRHS proposal is comprised of three parts, and…

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by Cecilia Levine
North Hunterdon, NJ
Schools
NJ School Closings: These Districts Have Early Dismissals Ahead Of Snow Storm NJ School Closings: These Districts Have Early Dismissals Ahead Of Snow Storm
NJ School Closings: These Districts Have Early Dismissals Ahead Of Snow Storm School districts across New Jersey have begun announcing schedule changes for Friday, Jan. 19, ahead of the second snow storm of the week. Parts of the state could see up to six inches of snow, expected to begin falling between 4 a.m. and 7 a.m. Friday, the National Weather Service said. The following districts have early dismissals: Cranford Dumont Franklin Lakes Hackensack Hanover Park Regional HS Lyndhurst Marlboro Maywood Millburn Mountainside North Arlington Oradell Parsippany-Troy Hills Pompton Lakes Rockaway Roselle Park Scotch Plains-Fanwood Totowa Warren Watchung/Watchung Hills R…

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by Cecilia Levine
Hackensack, NJ
Police & Fire
Maywood House Fire Doused Maywood House Fire Doused
Maywood House Fire Doused Residents, responders and the family cats made it out OK as Maywood 's bravest doused a house fire. The blaze ignited in the rear of the 1½-story wood-frame house at the corner of Palmer and Coolidge avenues shortly before 7:30 p.m. Friday, Jan. 13. Rochelle Park's fire chief was the first on scene, immediately followed by his Maywood colleagues. Mutual aid was provided by firefighters from Hackensack, Rochelle Park and Saddle Brook at the scene and from Garfield, Lodi and Paramus in coverage. The fire was declared under control within a half hour. No injuries were reported to any respon…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Hackensack, NJ
Police & Fire
Hotel Heroin Dealer With Young Kids Had 'Brick' Of Smack: Rochelle Park PD Hotel Heroin Dealer With Young Kids Had 'Brick' Of Smack: Rochelle Park PD
Hotel Heroin Dealer With Young Kids Had 'Brick' Of Smack: Rochelle Park PD A convicted drug dealer had two young children with him when a pair of Rochelle Park detectives caught him selling heroin at a hotel just off the Garden State Parkway, authorities said. Detectives Sgt. Jared Shatkin and Nick Mercoun were joined by a team of officers as Ricardo Murdock, 31, of Paterson did business in the parking lot of the Ramada By Wyndham at the Route 160 exit off the northbound parkway, Capt. James DePreta said. They seized Murdock, who was carrying Ecstasy and drug proceeds, and a male buyer, the captain said. Murdock has a rap sheet, mostly involving drugs, that stret…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Ridgefield Park-Hasbrouck Heights, NJ
Police & Fire
FIREBALL (UPDATE): Gas Tanker Flips From One Side Of Route 17 To Other, Dealership Destroyed FIREBALL (UPDATE): Gas Tanker Flips From One Side Of Route 17 To Other, Dealership Destroyed
Fireball (Update): Gas Tanker Flips From One Side Of Route 17 To Other, Dealership Destroyed In nothing short of a miracle, no serious injuries were reported after a gas tanker truck exploded into a huge fireball on Route 17 Monday morning. A used car dealership and many of its two dozen or so vehicles were destroyed in the five-alarm blaze after the truck and a passenger vehicle collided near the U-turn at the White Castle on the highway's southbound side in Hasbrouck Heights at 5:43 a.m. Jan. 8. The force flipped the tanker over the divider into the northbound lanes, Fire Chief Mike Greco said at the scene. (Justin Derevyanik took the photo at the top of this story. See his vide…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Lyndhurst, NJ
Politics
Unofficial Results Of Bergen County Mayoral Elections (DEVELOPING) Unofficial Results Of Bergen County Mayoral Elections (DEVELOPING)
Unofficial Results Of Bergen County Mayoral Elections (Developing) The results of Bergen County's 38 mayoral races are rolling in. Votes were being counted in real time on the Bergen County elections website.  Here is the vote count for the mayoral races as of 8 a.m. Wednesday, Nov. 8, according to the county's election result website. ** NOTE: This is a developing story. Totals are not final ** Bergenfield:  Arvin Amatorio (D)* — 100% of votes Bogota (replacing Claudia Lopez): Mary Ellen Murphy (D) — 54% Daniele Fede (R) — 46% Carlstadt: Lorraine Joewono (D) — 22% Robert J. Zimmerman (R)* — 77% Cliffside Park: Thomas Calabrese (D)* —…

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by Cecilia Levine