Rutherford, NJ
Breaking News
Wood-Ridge Man Convicted Again Of Murdering, Torching East Rutherford Grandmother Wood-Ridge Man Convicted Again Of Murdering, Torching East Rutherford Grandmother Wood-Ridge Man Convicted Again Of Murdering, Torching East Rutherford Grandmother
Wood-Ridge Man Convicted Again Of Murdering, Torching East Rutherford Grandmother 𝗨𝗣𝗗𝗔𝗧𝗘: Questionable DNA evidence found under the fingernails of a 70-year-old Bergen County woman bludgeoned and burned in her home may have gotten her killer a new trial, but it didn't change the outcome. For a second time, a jury in Hackensack convicted Daniel Rochat on Wednesday of all charges in the brutal September 2012 slaying of real estate agent Barbara Vernieri in her East Rutherford home. Rochat, 48, of Wood-Ridge was originally convicted in June 2017 of beating Vernieri, then pouring gasoline on her and around her home before setting it on fire to cover up the crime scene. Pros…

SHARE

by Jerry DeMarco
Cliffside Park-Edgewater, NJ
Breaking News
Sixth Defendant Charged In Armed Edgewater Robbery Being Held In Westchester Sixth Defendant Charged In Armed Edgewater Robbery Being Held In Westchester Sixth Defendant Charged In Armed Edgewater Robbery Being Held In Westchester
Sixth Defendant Charged In Armed Edgewater Robbery Being Held In Westchester 𝗨𝗣𝗗𝗔𝗧𝗘: The broad-daylight holdup of an Edgewater shopper last fall was committed by an armed robbery crew that included a Bronx man who was arrested this week in Westchester, authorities said. Jose A. Santana Torres, 22, and his partners followed the victim from Hudson County to an unidentified shopping center on River Road in last Oct. 24, Bergen County Prosecutor Mark Musella said. Two of them approached the victim and stole a watch at gunpoint while a third member of the crew served as lookout. The robbers then hopped into getaway vehicles driven by companions. The mid-afternoon holdu…

SHARE

by Jerry DeMarco
Fort Lee, NJ
Breaking News
Toddler Hospitalized With Serious Burns, PalPark Private Day Care Worker Jailed Toddler Hospitalized With Serious Burns, PalPark Private Day Care Worker Jailed Toddler Hospitalized With Serious Burns, PalPark Private Day Care Worker Jailed
Toddler Hospitalized With Serious Burns, PalPark Private Day Care Worker Jailed A toddler was hospitalized with serious burns that authorities said were sustained at a home that operates as a daycare center in Palisades Park. Ann Zheng, 24, was jailed on child endangerment charges after the toddler was burned at Dearest Angel Child Care, which operates out of a private home on Glen Avenue off East Edsall Boulevard, on Thursday, March 28. Bergen County Prosecutor Mark Musella said his Special Victims Unit was contacted by Palisades Park police. They learned, he said, that Zheng, “while having an assumed responsibility for the child, neglected the child, resulting in th…

SHARE

by Jerry DeMarco
Fort Lee, NJ
Breaking News
Man, 31, Charged With Sexually Assaulting Pre-Teen In Pal Park Man, 31, Charged With Sexually Assaulting Pre-Teen In Pal Park Man, 31, Charged With Sexually Assaulting Pre-Teen In Pal Park
Man, 31, Charged With Sexually Assaulting Pre-Teen In Pal Park A 31-year-old man living in Palisades Park was charged with sexually assaulting a pre-teen. Jorge Orrego-Garcia “sexually assaulted a juvenile under the age of 13 in Palisades Park…in the past,” Bergen County Prosecutor Mark Musella said on Monday, March 25. Records show that Orrego-Garcia is accused of a pair of alleged sexual assaults in 2021. Detectives from Musella’s Special Victims Unit arrested Orrego-Garcia on Friday. He remained held Monday in the Bergen County Jail, charged with two counts each of sexual assault on a pre-teen and child endangerment through sexual conduct. Althou…

SHARE

by Jerry DeMarco
Fort Lee, NJ
Breaking News
Who Was Xavier Contreras? Homeless Laborer ID’d As Fatal Fire Victim At Former Ridgefield B&B Who Was Xavier Contreras? Homeless Laborer ID’d As Fatal Fire Victim At Former Ridgefield B&B Who Was Xavier Contreras? Homeless Laborer ID’d As Fatal Fire Victim At Former Ridgefield B&B
Who Was Xavier Contreras? Homeless Laborer ID’d As Fatal Fire Victim At Former Ridgefield B&B 𝗨𝗣𝗗𝗔𝗧𝗘: A former bed and breakfast in Ridgefield had been leveled by fire when responders found the remains of a man wrapped around a support beam. “He must’ve been alive and trying to hold on when the floor above him collapsed,” said a firefighter who was at the predawn blaze at the former Toddle Inn on Broad Avenue on Wednesday, March 6. Bergen County Prosecutor Mark Musella identified the victim on Friday as 42-year-old Xavier Contreras. An Ecuadoran national, the homeless Contreras sometimes joined the groups of day laborers waiting for passing contractors in nearby Palisades Park, ju…

SHARE

by Jerry DeMarco
Cliffside Park-Edgewater, NJ
Breaking News
ARSON? Body Found Following Fierce Fire In Ridgefield (UPDATE) ARSON? Body Found Following Fierce Fire In Ridgefield (UPDATE) ARSON? Body Found Following Fierce Fire In Ridgefield (UPDATE)
Arson? Body Found Following Fierce Fire In Ridgefield (Update) 𝗨𝗣𝗗𝗔𝗧𝗘: A former bed and breakfast in Ridgefield had been leveled by fire when responders found the remains of a man wrapped around a support beam. “He must’ve been alive and trying to hold on when the floor above him collapsed,” said a firefighter who was at the predawn blaze at the former Toddle Inn on Broad Avenue on Wednesday, March 6. Bergen County Prosecutor Mark Musella identified the victim on Friday as 42-year-old Xavier Contreras. An Ecuadoran national, the homeless Contreras sometimes joined the groups of day laborers waiting for passing contractors in nearby Palisades Park, jus…

SHARE

by Jerry DeMarco
Ridgefield Park-Hasbrouck Heights, NJ
Breaking News
UPDATE: Arson Investigators Probe Multi-Truck Fire In Ridgefield UPDATE: Arson Investigators Probe Multi-Truck Fire In Ridgefield UPDATE: Arson Investigators Probe Multi-Truck Fire In Ridgefield
Update: Arson Investigators Probe Multi-Truck Fire In Ridgefield 𝗨𝗣𝗗𝗔𝗧𝗘: Investigators were probing the cause of a multi-truck fire in Ridgefield that sent up a column of black smoke visible for miles. No injuries were reported in the three-alarm blaze, which ignited behind the Hanjin warehouse on Railroad Avenue near Pleasantview Avenue shortly before 1 p.m. Sunday, March 3. At least four box trucks and rigs were destroyed or severely damaged. Mutual aid responders either at the scene or in coverage included firefighters from Cliffside Park, Fairview, Leonia, Palisades Park and Ridgefield Park. The County Wide Emergency Response Team also responded. …

SHARE

by Jerry DeMarco
Fort Lee, NJ
Breaking News
GOTCHA! Five Charged With Rash Of Bergen Armed Wristwatch Robberies, Stabbing In PalPark GOTCHA! Five Charged With Rash Of Bergen Armed Wristwatch Robberies, Stabbing In PalPark GOTCHA! Five Charged With Rash Of Bergen Armed Wristwatch Robberies, Stabbing In PalPark
Gotcha! Five Charged With Rash Of Bergen Armed Wristwatch Robberies, Stabbing In PalPark Authorities have charged five men with robbing three separate victims of wristwatches – stabbing one of them – in two Bergen County towns, thanks to an arrest by Port Authority police. Two of the robberies occurred in broad daylight on River Road in Edgewater last fall, Bergen County Prosecutor Mark Musella said on Friday, March 1. The third included a stabbing in the victim’s driveway in Palisades Park, the prosecutor said. One of two robbers brandished a handgun while a colleague stood lookout when they robbed the first Edgewater victim shortly after 3 a.m. Oct. 24, Musella said. The ro…

SHARE

by Jerry DeMarco
Hackensack, NJ
Breaking News
GOTCHA! Band Of Bandits Charged In Back-To-Back Route 46 Gas Station Holdups: Bergen Prosecutor GOTCHA! Band Of Bandits Charged In Back-To-Back Route 46 Gas Station Holdups: Bergen Prosecutor GOTCHA! Band Of Bandits Charged In Back-To-Back Route 46 Gas Station Holdups: Bergen Prosecutor
Gotcha! Band Of Bandits Charged In Back-To-Back Route 46 Gas Station Holdups: Bergen Prosecutor A quartet of disguised New Yorkers tied to holdups on their side of the Hudson committed back-to-back gunpoint robberies of gas station convenience stores just minutes from the George Washington Bridge, authorities charged. The total take: five grand. Rahquan Brooks, 20, and Kevin Ulysses, 19, of the Bronx had two juveniles with them when they drove up to the Exxon station on eastbound Route 46 just before the Overpeck Creek bridge in Ridgefield Park shortly before 4:30 a.m. July 24, 2022, Bergen County Prosecutor Mark Musella said. The silver sedan had been carjacked out of Brooklyn thre…

SHARE

by Jerry DeMarco
Cresskill-Closter, NJ
Breaking News
Illegal Border Crosser Seized By ICE After Punching Local NJ Officer In Face Illegal Border Crosser Seized By ICE After Punching Local NJ Officer In Face Illegal Border Crosser Seized By ICE After Punching Local NJ Officer In Face
Illegal Border Crosser Seized By ICE After Punching Local NJ Officer In Face A Guatemalan national who authorities said crossed the U.S. border illegally was seized by federal agents after he punched a Closter police officer in the face. Emiliano Cotzalo-Santiago, 24, was living in Palisades Park and working on a construction site in Closter when he began walking down the middle of Cedar Lane, obstructing traffic, Police Capt. Vincent Aiello said. This prompted calls to police. Cotzal-Santiago “attacked the first officer that he came in contact with by punching him in the face,” the captain said. A second officer sustained cuts on his hand as they attempted to han…

SHARE

by Jerry DeMarco
Cliffside Park-Edgewater, NJ
Breaking News
Firefighters Battle Frigid Temps To Douse Ridgefield Blaze Firefighters Battle Frigid Temps To Douse Ridgefield Blaze Firefighters Battle Frigid Temps To Douse Ridgefield Blaze
Firefighters Battle Frigid Temps To Douse Ridgefield Blaze Ridgefield firefighters conquered frigid temperatures to quickly snuff a weekend blaze. The two-alarm electrical fire ignited in an attic vent at the single-family Shaler Boulevard home at Lancaster Road shortly before 6:30 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 20, responders said. "They made a great stop," a mutual aid provider said. "It could have been a lot worse, but because of their quick response they were able to knock it down quick." Mutual aid responders included firefighters from Cliffside Park, Fairview, Leonia and Palisades Park, as well as borough police and EMS. No injuries were reported. Jo…

SHARE

by Jerry DeMarco
Jersey City, NJ
Breaking News
10-Year Minimum Awaits Repeat Child Porn Collector Caught With 1,300 Files At Newark Airport 10-Year Minimum Awaits Repeat Child Porn Collector Caught With 1,300 Files At Newark Airport 10-Year Minimum Awaits Repeat Child Porn Collector Caught With 1,300 Files At Newark Airport
10-Year Minimum Awaits Repeat Child Porn Collector Caught With 1,300 Files At Newark Airport A convicted child porn collector from North Jersey who'd moved to Ecuador after serving his time here is headed to federal prison for at least 10 more years. Christopher Carvajal, 30, most recently of North Bergen, had 900 videos and more than 400 images of child sex -- some of it involving infants or toddlers -- on his iPhone when Homeland Security Investigations seized him at Newark Airport last year. It also contained messages in which Carvajal "discussed his desire for sexual encounters with young children," U.S. Attorney Philip R. Sellinger said. Rather than risk a much more lengthy…

SHARE

by Jerry DeMarco