Hackensack, NJ
News
NJ Releases Hate Crime Totals By Town, Race, More: Guess Which County Had The Most NJ Releases Hate Crime Totals By Town, Race, More: Guess Which County Had The Most
NJ Releases Hate Crime Totals By Town, Race, More: Guess Which County Had The Most Nearly 40% of all hate crimes reported in New Jersey last year were against Blacks, more than the combined total against whites, Jews, Latinos and Muslims, according to State Police crime figures released Tuesday. The town with the most reported bias incidents in 2020 was Lakewood, the figures show. More than half of all reported bias incidents in New Jersey last year involved straight harassment, as opposed to vandalism and other related crimes. More than 13% occurred at schools, parks or playgrounds. The county with the most, overall, was Monmouth. The preliminary data released Tuesday…

SHARE

by Jerry DeMarco
Bethlehem, PA
News
PA Man Arrested After Posting Photos, Videos Participating In Capitol Riots To Facebook PA Man Arrested After Posting Photos, Videos Participating In Capitol Riots To Facebook
PA Man Arrested After Posting Photos, Videos Participating In Capitol Riots To Facebook A Pennsylvania man was arrested for participating in the U.S. Capitol riot after posting photos and videos of himself participating. Andrew Wrigley was arrested in the Middle District of Pennsylvania on Friday. He was charged with knowingly entering or remaining in any restricted building or grounds without lawful authority and violent entry and disorderly conduct on Capitol grounds. A special agent with the U.S. Capitol Police last week received screenshots of Wrigley's Facebook page that show he had posted multiple photographs of himself at the riots, the U.S. Justice Department said. …

SHARE

by Cecilia Levine
Hackensack, NJ
News
Bergen Prosecutor: New Task Force Will Help Build Trust Between Local Police, Citizens Bergen Prosecutor: New Task Force Will Help Build Trust Between Local Police, Citizens
Bergen Prosecutor: New Task Force Will Help Build Trust Between Local Police, Citizens Using one of the most effective tools in crimefighting – the task force -- Bergen County Prosecutor Mark Musella is vowing to foster better communication between local police and the citizens they protect. "We must think differently about policing and how we can best serve our communities," the prosecutor's Chief of Detectives Robert Anzilotti said. Already in place was the BCPO’s Community Affairs Unit, which Anzilotti said has: coordinated presentations for schools and communities groups on topics ranging from the dangers of opioids to Internet safety; fostered relationships with clergy…

SHARE

by Jerry DeMarco
Highland Lakes-Vernon, NJ
Police & Fire
COVID-19: Feds Nab Fleeing Sussex Man Accused Of Pocketing $5.6M Small Biz Pandemic Loan COVID-19: Feds Nab Fleeing Sussex Man Accused Of Pocketing $5.6M Small Biz Pandemic Loan
Covid-19: Feds Nab Fleeing Sussex Man Accused Of Pocketing $5.6M Small Biz Pandemic Loan A Sussex County man who collected $5.6 million in federal COVID-19 pandemic loans that he wasn't entitled to was about to board a flight to Pakistan when federal agents arrested him, authorities said. Azhar Sarwar Rana, 30, of Newton, took the money -- designed to keep struggling small businesses afloat during the pandemic – and invested millions in the stock market, made a payment to a luxury car dealership and sent hundreds of thousands of dollars to accounts in Pakistan, U.S. Attorney Craig Carpenito said. Rana submitted an application for a stimulus loan under the federal Paycheck Prote…

SHARE

by Jerry DeMarco
Middletown, NJ
News
Feds: Wanted Asbury Park Ex-Con Bloods Member Nabbed With Loaded Gun Feds: Wanted Asbury Park Ex-Con Bloods Member Nabbed With Loaded Gun
Feds: Wanted Asbury Park Ex-Con Bloods Member Nabbed With Loaded Gun A gang member from Asbury Park who was paroled earlier this year after spending more than four years in state prison was carrying a loaded gun when police grabbed him on an outstanding warrant, authorities said. Detectives from the Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office were watching along with local police when Lashawn Alford, 27, emerged from his Neptune City apartment and got into the back seat of a car that drove out of the complex, U.S. Attorney Craig Carpenito said. Units moved in quickly and took Alford, a member of the Queen Street II Bloods, into custody, Carpenito said. On the floor…

SHARE

by Jerry DeMarco
Springfield, MA
Police & Fire
Local Landlord Accused Of Exchanging Rent For Sex Faces Federal Lawsuit Local Landlord Accused Of Exchanging Rent For Sex Faces Federal Lawsuit
Local Landlord Accused Of Exchanging Rent For Sex Faces Federal Lawsuit A local landlord is being accused of exchanging coerced sex for rent payments, according to a lawsuit filed by the U.S. Justice Department. Under the U.S. Fair Housing Act, a complaint was filed in the U.S. District Court of Massachusetts on Monday, Dec. 7, that alleges Salazar dos Santos subjected women, tenants of his Chicopee properties, to sexual harassment on multiple occasions going back to at least 2008, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Massachusetts. Dos Santos manages residential rental properties in Chicopee. The properties he manages are owned by two family trusts - at l…

SHARE

by Kristin Palpini
Jersey City, NJ
News
Ex-Workers: Ferry Company Dumped Raw Sewage, More Into Hudson, Manhattan Waterways Ex-Workers: Ferry Company Dumped Raw Sewage, More Into Hudson, Manhattan Waterways
Ex-Workers: Ferry Company Dumped Raw Sewage, More Into Hudson, Manhattan Waterways Two former employees have accused New York Waterway of dumping raw sewage, oil, fuel, batteries and other waste into the Hudson River, Raritan Bay and other waterways surrounding Manhattan “for years.” After issuing dumping complaints to the company, EPA investigators returned weeks later to find ferry bathrooms that were under investigation “either locked or removed entirely,” a federal whistle-blower lawsuit filed by former NY Waterway fuelers and overnight mechanics Rafi Khatchikian and Ivan Torres alleges. “NY Waterway cynically put out-of-order signs on bathrooms and even removed toile…

SHARE

by Jerry DeMarco
Hackensack, NJ
News
Feds Accuse Couple Who Took Over ‘Tiger King’ Park Of Inhumane Animal Treatment Feds Accuse Couple Who Took Over ‘Tiger King’ Park Of Inhumane Animal Treatment
Feds Accuse Couple Who Took Over ‘Tiger King’ Park Of Inhumane Animal Treatment The couple who took over the once-popular “Tiger King” roadside animal park after Joseph “Joe Exotic” Maldonado-Passage went to prison are now in trouble themselves. The U.S. Justice Department announced Thursday that the federal government has taken Jeffrey and Lauren Lowe to court, accusing them and their company of inhumane treatment and improper handling of animals at the Oklahoma zoo. “The Lowes’ failure to provide basic veterinary care, appropriate food, and safe living conditions for the animals does not meet standards required by both the Animal Welfare Act and the Endangered Speci…

SHARE

by Jerry DeMarco
North Hunterdon, NJ
News
NJ COVID-19 Scammer Pocketed $1.8M In Taxpayer-Funded Rescue Loans, Feds Charge NJ COVID-19 Scammer Pocketed $1.8M In Taxpayer-Funded Rescue Loans, Feds Charge
NJ Covid-19 Scammer Pocketed $1.8M In Taxpayer-Funded Rescue Loans, Feds Charge A North Jersey businessman fraudulently secured nearly $2 million in federal COVID-19 pandemic loans he wasn't entitled to, then diverted the money into accounts held by family members, including his young children, federal authorities charged. Rocco A. Malanga, 48, of Hackettstown, “used a variety of false statements to fraudulently obtain approximately $1.8 million in federal COVID-19 emergency relief funds meant for distressed small businesses,” U.S. Attorney Craig Carpenito said Thursday. He then diverted the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) money to “accounts under the control of his …

SHARE

by Jerry DeMarco
Elizabeth, NJ
News
Federal Monitors Stationed At Polling Stations In 2 NJ Counties Federal Monitors Stationed At Polling Stations In 2 NJ Counties
Federal Monitors Stationed At Polling Stations In 2 NJ Counties Federal monitors were stationed in two New Jersey counties to protect voting rights on Election Day. U.S. Justice Department officials on Monday notified officials in Bergen and Middlesex counties that they would be among 44 jurisdictions in 18 states being monitored by representatives of its civil rights division. The monitors focused on compliance with federal voting rights laws, NorthJersey.com reports. National complaints regarding possible violations of federal voting rights were being accepted through the Justice Department's call center at 800-253-3931. Voter fraud was being w…

SHARE

by Cecilia Levine
North Hunterdon, NJ
Police & Fire
Former NJ Corrections Officer Who Had Sex With 3 Inmates Gets 5 Years Behind Bars Former NJ Corrections Officer Who Had Sex With 3 Inmates Gets 5 Years Behind Bars
Former NJ Corrections Officer Who Had Sex With 3 Inmates Gets 5 Years Behind Bars A former New Jersey corrections officer who pleaded guilty to having sex with three inmates at a women's prison was sentenced to five years behind bars and was forced to forfeit his job and pension, authorities said. Ahnwar Dixon, 42, of East Orange, was sentenced Oct. 21 by the Superior Court Judge Angela Borkowski, Acting Hunterdon County Prosecutor Michael J. Williams said. He must serve two years before parole eligibility, authorities said. The U.S Justice Department recently found decades-long sexual abuse at the Edna Mahan Correctional Facility for Women in Hunterdon County,…

SHARE

by Valerie Musson
Hackensack, NJ
News
Feds Charge More Than 300 In U.S. With Violent Crimes ‘Under Guise’ Of Peaceful Protests Feds Charge More Than 300 In U.S. With Violent Crimes ‘Under Guise’ Of Peaceful Protests
Feds Charge More Than 300 In U.S. With Violent Crimes ‘Under Guise’ Of Peaceful Protests More than 300 “violent opportunists” nationwide are being prosecuted federally for crimes committed “under the guise of peaceful demonstrations” against racial injustice, the U.S. Justice Department announced Thursday. They include a saboteur who inadvertently engulfed himself in flames when he poured liquid from a gas can onto three U.S. Supreme Court vehicles in Washington, D.C., the department said in a release. Several defendants “leveraged social media platforms to incite destruction and assaults against law enforcement officers,” the release says. Nearly three dozen defendants are ch…

SHARE

by Jerry DeMarco