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Police & Fire
NJ Attorney General Takes Over Warren County Prosecutor's Office As Pfeiffer Abruptly Retires NJ Attorney General Takes Over Warren County Prosecutor's Office As Pfeiffer Abruptly Retires
NJ Attorney General Takes Over Warren County Prosecutor's Office As Pfeiffer Abruptly Retires New Jersey Attorney General Matthew Platkin took over the Warren County Prosecutor's Office after apparently forcing the man who held the job to retire amid a state ethics probe. Platkin announced on Friday, April 5, that he'd replaced James Pfeiffer "effective immediately" with a highly-respected deputy, Anthony Picione, whom he called "a native son of Warren County and a career prosecutor and public servant who has dedicated his career to the public good and rooting out corruption." Platkin has yet to disclose why the move was made. A spokesman said it resulted from an investigation by&n…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
Jersey Shore Mayor's Son Who Bought $7.6M Worth Of Real Estate Ducked $2M In Taxes, Feds Charge Jersey Shore Mayor's Son Who Bought $7.6M Worth Of Real Estate Ducked $2M In Taxes, Feds Charge
Jersey Shore Mayor's Son Who Bought $7.6M Worth Of Real Estate Ducked $2M In Taxes, Feds Charge A Jersey Shore mayor's son who owed the IRS $2 million never paid it -- and instead bought $7.6 million worth of real estate, federal authorities said following his arrest. Matthew Tucci, 51, of West Long Branch, collected $11.4 million in tax refunds from the country of Denmark for pension plans that he'd established there for friends, acquaintances, and relatives, an indictment returned by a grand jury in Trenton says. Rather than put the money into respective bank accounts that he'd created for the pension plans, Tucci "deposited the funds in five accounts held by five nominee compa…

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by Jerry DeMarco
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
Police & Fire
TURF WAR: Bronx Man Charged With Uncle's 2021 Murder In Bangladesh TURF WAR: Bronx Man Charged With Uncle's 2021 Murder In Bangladesh
Turf WAR: Bronx Man Charged With Uncle's 2021 Murder In Bangladesh A man who shot and killed his 72-year-old uncle in Bangladesh three years ago over a long-running land dispute is in federal custody in Manhattan. Ganet Rozario, 52, of the Bronx was ordered held by a federal judge following his arrest for the murder of fellow U.S. citizen Michael Rozario on June 11, 2021. Both men reportedly had gone to an upazila (or section) of the South Asian republic known as Sirajdikhan two months earlier to address a dispute over who owned a piece of land there. An arbitration meeting aimed at a resolution dissolved into conflict between the two men, however, accord…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
100 Animals Rescued, Ex-Con Druglord Charged With Leading Notorious NJ Dogfighting Ring 100 Animals Rescued, Ex-Con Druglord Charged With Leading Notorious NJ Dogfighting Ring
100 Animals Rescued, Ex-Con Druglord Charged With Leading Notorious NJ Dogfighting Ring More than 100 abused canines were rescued and several people seized in a raid on what authorities said was a large-scale nationally-known dogfighting enterprise run by a convicted South Jersey druglord. Two dogs reportedly were found dead in a pit in a rural Maurice River Township homestead that investigators said was the site of a massive operation run by widely-recognized dogfighting breeder, ex-con Bruce "Hollywood" Low Jr., 45. Others arrested include his mother and alleged business partner, Terri Low, 67, and son, dog handler Bryce Low, 20. “Profiting from dogfighting is callous, brut…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
Tree Worker Electrocuted By Power Line In Morris County: Police Tree Worker Electrocuted By Power Line In Morris County: Police
Tree Worker Electrocuted By Power Line In Morris County: Police A tree worker was killed after coming in contact with a power line in Morris County on the afternoon of Thursday, April 4, police said. The worker was at 95 Taylortown Road in Montville when he came in contact with the line around  3:50 p.m., Montville Police Chief Andrew Caggiano said. The Montville Fire Department, Morris County EMS, and Jersey Central Power and Light responded to the scene, Caggiano said. The worker was removed from the tree and taken to Morristown Memorial Hospital where he was pronounced dead, Caggiano said. The identity of the worker is not being released at thi…

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by Cecilia Levine
Police & Fire
AGAIN? Repeat Bergen Offender Busted Trafficking 28,000 Child Sex Images: Prosecutor AGAIN? Repeat Bergen Offender Busted Trafficking 28,000 Child Sex Images: Prosecutor
Again? Repeat Bergen Offender Busted Trafficking 28,000 Child Sex Images: Prosecutor A repeat offender from South Hackensack relapsed following his release from prison by amassing and sharing 28,000 images of child pornography, said authorities who arrested him on Thursday. Corey Barraclough, 33, was released from the Adult Diagnostic Treatment Center in Avenel last October after serving more than 5½ years behind bars. The first 17 months or so were spent in the Bergen County Jail beginning in and the rest in state custody, records show. That's because the Northvale native had been found with more than 2,400 illegal child-porn images -- and was caught chatting online with …

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
CLEARED: Officer Not At Fault In Fatal South Jersey Stolen Motorcycle Crash, Grand Jury Rules CLEARED: Officer Not At Fault In Fatal South Jersey Stolen Motorcycle Crash, Grand Jury Rules
Cleared: Officer Not At Fault In Fatal South Jersey Stolen Motorcycle Crash, Grand Jury Rules UPDATE: A New Jersey police officer did nothing wrong in pursuing a stolen motorcycle whose driver ended up dying in a subsequent crash, a grand jury has ruled. Despite the obvious circumstances, state law and administrative guidelines required New Jersey Attorney Matthew Platkin to investigate the death last April 20 of John R. Nutt, 41, of Mount Laurel because a law enforcement officer was involved. Platkin's office released video last July from both the dashcam of the pursuing officer and the bodycam of a colleague who arrived from the opposite direction after the crash. Also relea…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
NJ Field Hockey Coach Sent Sexually Explicit Texts To 17-Year-Old Girl: Prosecutor NJ Field Hockey Coach Sent Sexually Explicit Texts To 17-Year-Old Girl: Prosecutor
NJ Field Hockey Coach Sent Sexually Explicit Texts To 17-Year-Old Girl: Prosecutor A 39-year-old Flemington field hockey coach was arrested on Thursday, March 28, and charged with sending one of his players, a 17-year-old girl, sexually explicit texts, authorities said. Brett Clay, a travel field hockey coach employed by Centercourt Field Hockey in Mount Olive, exchanged the text messages with the teen, a Bridgewater resident, Somerset County Prosecutor John McDonald said. Clay began sending illicit text messages in late December 2023, at one point offering her money in exchange for her sending him sexually explicit images, said McDonald alongside Chief of Count…

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by Sam Barron
Police & Fire
Serial NJ Church Vandal Takes It One Step Further: Arson, Cops Say Serial NJ Church Vandal Takes It One Step Further: Arson, Cops Say
Serial NJ Church Vandal Takes It One Step Further: Arson, Cops Say A 42-year-old Verona man with a history of vandalizing a Catholic church in Verona was charged with intentionally setting a fire there  on Thursday, April 4, authorities said. At 3:33 a.m., Verona police responded to Our Lady of the Lake Roman Catholic Church on Lakeside Avenue and observed a heavy smoke condition, Essex County Prosecutor Theodore N. Stephens, II and Verona Police Chief Christopher Kiernan said. Firefighters were called to the scene and quickly extinguished the blaze, authorities said. An investigation determined the fire was started deliberately and arrested…

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by Sam Barron
Police & Fire
Cement Truck Rolls On Route 208 Cement Truck Rolls On Route 208
Cement Truck Rolls On Route 208 A driver escaped serious injury Thursday morning after his cement truck rolled onto a divider at an entrance to Route 208 in Fair Lawn. The truck was fully loaded and tipping the scale at 70,000 pounds -- as in: 35 tons -- when it tipped on the ramp to the southbound highway from eastbound Fair Lawn Avenue around 9:30 a.m. April 4, according to a representative for Tanis Concrete who was at the scene. The truck was doing about 20 to 25 miles an hour, the employee of the Fair Lawn-based company said. Fair Lawn police officers who arrived first assisted the 51-year-old driver from Jerse…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
Teaneck Tax Preparer Got $1.43M For Himself, $40M For Clients In COVID Scam: Indictment Teaneck Tax Preparer Got $1.43M For Himself, $40M For Clients In COVID Scam: Indictment
Teaneck Tax Preparer Got $1.43M For Himself, $40M For Clients In COVID Scam: Indictment A Teaneck tax preparer illegally collected $1.43 million for himself and $40 million for clients from the IRS by purposefully exploiting COVID-related credits that neither he nor they were entitled to, a federal indictment alleges. Leon Haynes, 50, was originally arrested on a criminal complaint last July. The investigation leading to the charges continued before a grand jury in Newark. The result: a 55-count indictment for tax evasion, preparing false returns, aggravated ID theft and mail fraud, authorities said. Haynes fraudulently sought more than $150 million from the IRS by claim…

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by Jerry DeMarco