Garfield-Lodi, NJ
Breaking News
Live Wire Fire Damages Lodi Home Live Wire Fire Damages Lodi Home Live Wire Fire Damages Lodi Home
Live Wire Fire Damages Lodi Home Fire from a downed powerline extended to a Lodi home and a stretch of plastic fence. No injuries were reported in the fire on Passaic Street at Charles Street around 8:30 p.m. Monday, March 28. The first floor sustained minor damage. Hasbrouck Heights, Saddle Brook, Wallington and Wood-Ridge firefighters assisted. Part of the fence melted, as well, in the Lodi fire.Damien Danis for DAILY VOICE Passaic Street was temporarily closed at Charles Street.Jo Fehl for DAILY VOICE

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by Jerry DeMarco
Cresskill-Closter, NJ
On Your Side
Colombian Chef, Old Friend Bring Taqueria To Closter Colombian Chef, Old Friend Bring Taqueria To Closter Colombian Chef, Old Friend Bring Taqueria To Closter
Colombian Chef, Old Friend Bring Taqueria To Closter A Colombian chef and her former colleague have opened a taqueria in Bergen County. Aura Montoya and Gregory Michelson came up with the idea for their taqueria just before the COVID-19 pandemic.  They continued coming up with recipes during the lockdown, but as soon as they had the green light, they set off to Mexico to get an idea of what they wanted El Taco Bar to be. All they knew is that they wanted their Closter shop to be authentic. View this post on Instagram A post shared by el Taco Bar (@el_tacobar) "We wanted to make Mexican stree…

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by Cecilia Levine
Rutherford, NJ
Breaking News
Rideshare Driver Charged With Setting Early-Morning Arson Fire At Bergen County Pizzeria Rideshare Driver Charged With Setting Early-Morning Arson Fire At Bergen County Pizzeria Rideshare Driver Charged With Setting Early-Morning Arson Fire At Bergen County Pizzeria
Rideshare Driver Charged With Setting Early-Morning Arson Fire At Bergen County Pizzeria GOTCHA! A rideshare driver from Carlstadt was charged with setting a fire in the basement of a Wood-Ridge pizzeria that investigators said had multiple points of origin. Majd Abdallah, a 27-year-old Jordanian national, was arrested following an investigation into the Feb. 21 blaze, which broke out in a common basement area below Emilia Romagna Pizza & Ristorante on Valley Boulevard shortly before 8 a.m., Bergen County Prosecutor Mark Musella said. He’s charged with several counts of aggravated arson and burglary, Musella said. No injuries were reported were in the two-alarm blaze. Fir…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Northern Highlands, NJ
Breaking News
GOTCHA! Trio Of Broad-Daylight Car Thieves Captured In Saddle River, With Help, Following Crash GOTCHA! Trio Of Broad-Daylight Car Thieves Captured In Saddle River, With Help, Following Crash GOTCHA! Trio Of Broad-Daylight Car Thieves Captured In Saddle River, With Help, Following Crash
Gotcha! Trio Of Broad-Daylight Car Thieves Captured In Saddle River, With Help, Following Crash Three car thieves from Newark were captured thanks to a Saddle River resident who suspected something sinister, along with force-multiplying officers from neighboring towns who responded instantly, authorities said. Car thefts not only have skyrocketed recently throughout New Jersey the past few months -- they also occur during the day now, all because of new rules that prevent police pursuits. What local law enforcement officers can rely on, however, are their colleagues and their citizens. This played out in Saddle River -- an affluent suburban town off Route 17 near the New York State b…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Ridgefield Park-Hasbrouck Heights, NJ
Breaking News
Fire Doused In Basement Of Downtown Wood-Ridge Shops Fire Doused In Basement Of Downtown Wood-Ridge Shops Fire Doused In Basement Of Downtown Wood-Ridge Shops
Fire Doused In Basement Of Downtown Wood-Ridge Shops Working sprinklers prevented a potential disaster when a fire broke out in downtown Wood-Ridge. Local authorities didn't immediately disclose a possible cause of the two-alarm Valley Boulevard blaze, which broke out in a common basement area below Emilia Romagna Pizza & Ristorante around 8 a.m. Monday. They did, however, alert the Bergen County Prosecutor's Arson Investigations Unit after allegedly finding separate points of ignition. No injuries were reported. Carlstadt, Little Ferry, Lodi and Moonachie firefighters provided mutual aid.

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by Jerry DeMarco
Garfield-Lodi, NJ
Breaking News
UPDATE: Fierce Fire Ravages Lodi Home UPDATE: Fierce Fire Ravages Lodi Home UPDATE: Fierce Fire Ravages Lodi Home
Update: Fierce Fire Ravages Lodi Home A family of four was burned out of their Lodi home by a fierce, fast-moving fire. The Christopher Street blaze at the corner of Charlton Avenue instantly went to two alarms after breaking out shortly before 12:30 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 17. The fire raced through the 2½-story wood-frame home near Route 46, forcing firefighters out before the roof collapsed. No serious injuries were immediately reported. Mutual aid responders included firefighters from Hackensack, Hasbrouck Heights, Wallington and Wood-Ridge. 50 Christopher Street, LodiRobin DeWitt Aquino 50 Christopher Street, LodiRob…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Rutherford, NJ
Breaking News
Pedestrian, 64, Struck, Killed In East Rutherford Pedestrian, 64, Struck, Killed In East Rutherford Pedestrian, 64, Struck, Killed In East Rutherford
Pedestrian, 64, Struck, Killed In East Rutherford A 64-year-old pedestrian died after he was struck by a minivan in East Rutherford, authorities confirmed. A 46-year-old Wood-Ridge man was driving the 2019 Honda Odyssey that struck the victim from Irvington on Hackensack Street near Paterson Avenue shortly after 6:30 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 13, Deputy Police Chief Phillip Taormina said. EMS and ALS were requested, responded and took the victim to Hackensack University Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead. East Rutherford detectives and their colleagues from the Bergen County Prosecutor's Fatal Accident Investigations Unit were investiga…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Rutherford, NJ
Breaking News
Flawed DNA Test Gets Bergen Man Doing Life For Beating, Burning Woman, 70, New Trial Flawed DNA Test Gets Bergen Man Doing Life For Beating, Burning Woman, 70, New Trial Flawed DNA Test Gets Bergen Man Doing Life For Beating, Burning Woman, 70, New Trial
Flawed DNA Test Gets Bergen Man Doing Life For Beating, Burning Woman, 70, New Trial DNA evidence found under the fingernails of a 70-year-old Bergen County woman bludgeoned and burned in her home wasn’t reliable enough to convict a man who’s now serving a life sentence for her murder, a state appeals court ruled. Daniel Rochat, 46, of Wood-Ridge, has already been moved from New Jersey State Prison in Trenton to the Bergen County Jail in Hackensack in anticipation of a new trial following the Appellate Division ruling. He remains charged with various counts of murder and felony murder, as well as aggravated arson, desecrating human remains, burglary, hindering arrest and f…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Franklin Township, NJ
Weather
NOR'EASTER: New Jersey Towns With The Least & Most Snow NOR'EASTER: New Jersey Towns With The Least & Most Snow NOR'EASTER: New Jersey Towns With The Least & Most Snow
NOR'Easter: New Jersey Towns With The Least & Most Snow New Jerseyans on Saturday afternoon began digging out of the second snowstorm this month. Some had a only few inches to shovel away -- others, feet. Here's a look at snow totals (in inches) from across the state, according to the National Weather Service. Wayne: 3.3 Asbury: 3.5 Verona/Montclair: 4 Hewitt: 5.1 Chatham: 6.3 Bergenfield: 6.9 Wood-Ridge: 7.2 North Brunswick: 8.3 Elizabeth: 8.5 Evesham: 10 inches Hammonton: 10 inches Cape May Harbor: 13 Holmdel: 14 Jackson: 14.1 Eatontown: 14.2 Avalon: 15 inches Little Egg Harbor: 18 inches Linwood: 19 inches Bayville: 21 Expect cold and blus…

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by Cecilia Levine
Ridgefield Park-Hasbrouck Heights, NJ
Breaking News
Former Rockland Owner Of Failed Nursing Homes In NJ, 11 Other States Charged In $39M Tax Dodge Former Rockland Owner Of Failed Nursing Homes In NJ, 11 Other States Charged In $39M Tax Dodge Former Rockland Owner Of Failed Nursing Homes In NJ, 11 Other States Charged In $39M Tax Dodge
Former Rockland Owner Of Failed Nursing Homes In NJ, 11 Other States Charged In $39M Tax Dodge An insurance broker from Rockland County who ran a failed nationwide network of nearly 100 nursing homes from an office over a Bergen County pizzeria ducked nearly $39 million in payroll taxes, a federal indictment unsealed on Monday alleges. Joseph Schwartz, 62, was arrested at his Suffern home last Thursday. A federal judge in Newark released him to home confinement hours later, with conditions, pending trial. Then came the unsealing announcement on Monday, also out of Newark. Schwartz’s Skyline Healthcare LLC amassed 95 nursing homes in 11 states nationwide in less than two years – incl…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Rutherford, NJ
Breaking News
Somewhere In The Swamps Of Jersey: Pursuers Collar Fleeing BMW Thieves In Marshes Near MetLife Somewhere In The Swamps Of Jersey: Pursuers Collar Fleeing BMW Thieves In Marshes Near MetLife Somewhere In The Swamps Of Jersey: Pursuers Collar Fleeing BMW Thieves In Marshes Near MetLife
Somewhere In The Swamps Of Jersey: Pursuers Collar Fleeing BMW Thieves In Marshes Near MetLife A posse of local, county and state law enforcement officers captured three teens who’d bolted into the Meadowlands marshes off the New Jersey Turnpike after they blew a tire on a stolen BMW during a pursuit. Hasbrouck Heights police issued an alert to area law enforcement around noon Saturday after the owner happened to spot the red 320i sedan, which had been stolen from outside his Lodi home two days earlier, Carlstadt Deputy Police Chief Thomas Cox said. The owner followed the vehicle as it headed south on Terrace Avenue / Hackensack Street toward Wood-Ridge, Cox said. Just up the road …

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by Jerry DeMarco
Ridgefield Park-Hasbrouck Heights, NJ
Breaking News
Sports Car Totaled In Bergen Garage Fire Sports Car Totaled In Bergen Garage Fire Sports Car Totaled In Bergen Garage Fire
Sports Car Totaled In Bergen Garage Fire UPDATE: Firefighters doused a Friday night garage fire off Route 17 in Wood-Ridge that totaled a performance sports car. The call came in from Hackensack Street off Anderson Avenue a minute before 6 p.m. Firefighters cut their way into the detached garage and extinguished the blaze, which destroyed a later-model red Dodge Viper -- some models of which carry price tags well over $100,000. No injuries were reported or cause immediately determined. Fire officials were investigating. Mutual aid responders included firefighters from Carlstadt, Hasbrouck Heights, Little Ferry, Lodi, Moonachie a…

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by Jerry DeMarco