Northern Highlands, NJ
Police & Fire
Bergen Dad, Son Busted Again, This Time In $2.5M Jersey Shore ‘Fix-and-Flip’ Scheme Bergen Dad, Son Busted Again, This Time In $2.5M Jersey Shore ‘Fix-and-Flip’ Scheme
Bergen Dad, Son Busted Again, This Time In $2.5M Jersey Shore ‘Fix-and-Flip’ Scheme It seemed state and federal prosecutors had thrown all they could at a Bergen County father and son for a series of multi-million-dollar investment scams. But state authorities announced a new indictment against both men on Monday, Nov. 6. This time, George Bussanich, Sr., 65, of Park Ridge, and George Bussanich, Jr., 43, of Upper Saddle River, are charged with defrauding investors and mortgage lenders out of more than $2.5 million through a “fix and flip” investment scam involving Jersey Shore real estate. Victims believed they were funding the purchase, renovation, and resale of four…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Saddle Brook-Elmwood Park, NJ
Police & Fire
Police Were Justified Killing Fugitive Who Shot Woman In Elmwood Park, Grand Jury Finds Police Were Justified Killing Fugitive Who Shot Woman In Elmwood Park, Grand Jury Finds
Police Were Justified Killing Fugitive Who Shot Woman In Elmwood Park, Grand Jury Finds UPDATE: Police were justified in killing an armed ex-con wanted for shooting a New Milford woman in Elmwood Park, a grand jury has found. James Allandale, 61, immediately opened fire on officers who found him at the Knights Inn Pinebook on Route 46 in Montville this past New Year's Eve. He was shot and killed in the exchange of gunfire. Allandale -- whose real name is James Allan -- became the target of an intense manhunt after he shot Cynthia Greco of New Milford at 113 Lincoln Avenue shortly before 5:30 p.m. Dec. 27, 2022. The home is owned by Allandale's girlfriend, Lisa Dolack, who …

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by Jerry DeMarco
Edison, NJ
Police & Fire
NJ Woman, 72, Indicted For Using Dead Caregiver's Info To Keep Collecting Insurance Payments NJ Woman, 72, Indicted For Using Dead Caregiver's Info To Keep Collecting Insurance Payments
NJ Woman, 72, Indicted For Using Dead Caregiver's Info To Keep Collecting Insurance Payments A 72-year-old New Jersey woman used phony timesheets and a bogus bank account from a dead caregiver to fraudulently collect insurance payments for long-term care from him, state authorities charged. Leoncia Hutchinson of Metuchen deposited the payments from the Continental Casualty Company into a dedicated account, then slid the funds back into her own, an indictment returned by a grand jury in Trenton alleges. For six months, Hutchinson treated the man’s death as “a moneymaking opportunity,” New Jersey Attorney General Matthew J. Platkin said in announcing the indictment on Wednesday, Nov.…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Cherry Hill, NJ
Police & Fire
South Jersey Man Killed Himself, Officer Who Fired Weapon Only Grazed Him, Grand Jury Finds South Jersey Man Killed Himself, Officer Who Fired Weapon Only Grazed Him, Grand Jury Finds
South Jersey Man Killed Himself, Officer Who Fired Weapon Only Grazed Him, Grand Jury Finds UPDATE: A Cherry Hill police officer who fired his service weapon at a man who’d just shot himself in a private home last year did nothing wrong, a state grand jury has found. The single shot fired by Officer Jared Fox only grazed Joseph S. Bestic Jr., 63, on Oct. 11, 2022, according to New Jersey Attorney General Matthew J. Platkin. Officers had been called to conduct a welfare check at the home on Chapel Avenue West, the attorney general said. Bestic allowed them in and soon after grabbed a gun and shot himself, Platkin said. He was later pronounced dead at the scene. Platkin’s Office …

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by Jerry DeMarco
Paterson, NJ
Politics
Paterson Council Prez, Wife, Campaign Chief Charged In Hare-Brained Scheme To Steal Election Paterson Council Prez, Wife, Campaign Chief Charged In Hare-Brained Scheme To Steal Election
Paterson Council Prez, Wife, Campaign Chief Charged In Hare-Brained Scheme To Steal Election State authorities announced a bunch of new election fraud charges on Wednesday against Paterson’s council president along with allegations against his wife and campaign manager, as well. Alex Mendez, 48, has been awaiting trial in a case, stemming from 2020 council races, that has undergone a series of one delay after another. The contests were conducted entirely by mail-in ballots as COVID was spreading. The new charges involved what the attorney general described on Oct. 25 as a hare-brained plot to steal ballots from mailboxes outside people’s homes, toss out those that didn’t vote for…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Jersey City, NJ
Police & Fire
HERO: Jersey City Officer Justified In Gunning Down Suspect Who Shot Woman, Grand Jury Finds HERO: Jersey City Officer Justified In Gunning Down Suspect Who Shot Woman, Grand Jury Finds
Hero: Jersey City Officer Justified In Gunning Down Suspect Who Shot Woman, Grand Jury Finds UPDATE: A heroic Jersey City police officer was justified in gunning down a man who'd just deliberately shot a woman in the chest during a domestic dispute, a state-mandated review by a grand jury has found. Officers responding to a 911 call just before midnight May 24, 2022 found city resident Joseph Robertson, 59, crossing Communipaw Avenue at the corner of West Side Avenue with the female victim. Video recorded at the scene shows the officers approaching Robertson and ordering him to drop a gun he was carrying. Robertson instead grabs the woman, puts her in a headlock and points th…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Paterson, NJ
Police & Fire
UPDATE: Moped Driver Killed In Paterson Crash While Fleeing Totowa PD Identified UPDATE: Moped Driver Killed In Paterson Crash While Fleeing Totowa PD Identified
Update: Moped Driver Killed In Paterson Crash While Fleeing Totowa PD Identified UPDATE: Two men on a speeding moped are seen spinning through the air and crashing to the pavement -- ultimately killing the driver -- when they ram the side of a vehicle in Paterson during a police chase, horrific video released by state authorities shows. Pursued by Totowa police, the gas-powered scooter driven by David Lucero, 28, of Paterson was racing north on McBride Avenue along Pennington Park on Sept. 20, 2023 when the driver of an oncoming Lexus sedan made a left in front of him. The moped slammed into the side of the vehicle, knocking both riders nearly 10 feet into the air over …

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by Jerry DeMarco
Paterson, NJ
Police & Fire
Summer Shootings In Paterson Plummet Amid NJ Police Takeover Summer Shootings In Paterson Plummet Amid NJ Police Takeover
Summer Shootings In Paterson Plummet Amid NJ Police Takeover Facts don't lie. Attorney General Matthew J. Platkin promised a reduction in crime in Paterson following the second-ever state takeover of a local police department in New Jersey's history. So far, he's delivering. Between Memorial Day and Labor Day -- a time when America's cities ordinarily suffer the most violence -- shootings in the Silk City plummeted by 41.2% compared with the same period last year, state officials reported. In that time, Paterson has also had the fewest summer shooting victims in five years, they said. Reported robberies decreased by nearly 38%. Aggravated assault…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Vineland, NJ
Police & Fire
UPDATE: South Jersey Ex-Con Who Shot NJSP Detective Gets 28 Years Without Parole UPDATE: South Jersey Ex-Con Who Shot NJSP Detective Gets 28 Years Without Parole
Update: South Jersey Ex-Con Who Shot Njsp Detective Gets 28 Years Without Parole An ex-con was sentenced to 28 years in prison without parole for shooting a New Jersey State Police detective during an ambush. Tremaine Hadden, 30, of Bridgeton, was one of three men who opened fire on NJSP Detective Richard Hershey as he investigated a home invasion at the Harding Woods mobile home park in the Salem County town of Pittsgrove on April 25, 2020. Five women had been accused of forcing their way into a trailer and assaulting the owner – breaking a rib and lacerating a lung -- while stealing her iPhone. Sometime after Hershey arrived, a hostile group of 15 people connected t…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Newark, NJ
Police & Fire
Student Shared Homemade Child Porn Via Montclair State Internet: NJAG Student Shared Homemade Child Porn Via Montclair State Internet: NJAG
Student Shared Homemade Child Porn Via Montclair State Internet: Njag UPDATE: A Montclair State University junior who was arrested for collecting child porn used the school's Internet connection to post videos of children pleasuring themselves that he'd convinced them to make by posing as a woman, authorities charged. The allegation is among new details that emerged from an indictment returned against Keyon Luff, 21, of Edgewater Park in Burlington County by a state grand jury in Trenton. Daily Voice reported Luff's initial arrest this past May.  Armed with a court-approved warrant, state Cybercrime Bureau/Internet Crimes Against Children investiga…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Edison, NJ
Police & Fire
Detective Justified In Shooting Knife-Wielding Man At NJ Apartment Complex, Grand Jury Finds Detective Justified In Shooting Knife-Wielding Man At NJ Apartment Complex, Grand Jury Finds
Detective Justified In Shooting Knife-Wielding Man At NJ Apartment Complex, Grand Jury Finds UPDATE: A Middlesex County sheriff’s officer was justified in shooting a knife-wielding man who charged at him outside an apartment complex in Plainsboro, a grand jury has found. Four other officers firing Tasers couldn't disarm an agitated Atiba Lewis, 45, as he advanced on them at the Crest at Princeton Meadows Apartment Complex off Plainsboro Road on Feb. 16, 2022, video from the scene shows. The standoff ended when Lewis rushed Detective Phillip Nguyen. Despite the circumstances, state law required a grand jury review of the incident. The presentation by prosecutors included eight vi…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Middletown, NJ
Police & Fire
UPDATE: New Details Emerge In 'White Lives Matter' Attack On Asbury Church Concert Crowd UPDATE: New Details Emerge In 'White Lives Matter' Attack On Asbury Church Concert Crowd
Update: New Details Emerge In 'White Lives Matter' Attack On Asbury Church Concert Crowd A Toms River man made several social media posts recounting how he threw smoke bombs and shot bear spray at the attendees of an Asbury Park church's anti-racism concert while shouting "White lives matter, too," according to an indictment returned by a state grand jury. The allegations are among new details that emerged with the release of the indictment against Nicholas G. Mucci, 28, who was arrested five weeks after the Jan. 27 attack at the Trinity Episcopal Parish on Asbury Avenue.Search warrants executed at Mucci’s home turned up an AR-style assault rifle, several large-capacit…

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by Jerry DeMarco