Highland Lakes-Vernon, NJ
Police & Fire
Fire Tears Through Sussex County Strip Mall Fire Tears Through Sussex County Strip Mall
Fire Tears Through Sussex County Strip Mall A fire broke out at Acme Plaza in Wantage on Sunday. The blaze started around 9:40 a.m. at a dry cleaning business in the Route 23 strip mall and was under control by 10:30 a.m., New Jersey State Police said. A Chinese restaurant, U.S. Post Office location and pizza shop in the mall had flames shooting out them in a video posted to social media. Some of the business sustained minor smoke and water damage, police said. The Sussex Fire Department, Lakeland Emergency Squad and Glenwood Pochuck Volunteer Ambulance Corps responded. The blaze that started around 9:40 a.m. at a dry cleaning…

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by Cecilia Levine
Parsippany-Troy Hills, NJ
Obituaries
Community Rallies For Orphaned Kids Whose Dad Died In Route 23 Riverdale Crash Community Rallies For Orphaned Kids Whose Dad Died In Route 23 Riverdale Crash
Community Rallies For Orphaned Kids Whose Dad Died In Route 23 Riverdale Crash Six years after their mother's unexpected death, a pair of sisters from Sussex County are dealing with the unimaginable: The sudden loss of their father. The girls found out last week that their father, Robert Murray, 51, of Highland Lakes, was the victim of the horrific Route 23 crash in Riverdale. Murray's current girlfriend -- a single mom of one (now three) -- has selflessly become the guardian for his 12- and- 14-year-old daughters, family told Daily Voice. More than $17,000 had been raised for Murray's girls as of Monday on a GoFundMe page. "These young ladies have had the hard…

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by Cecilia Levine
Parsippany-Troy Hills, NJ
News
Man Dies In Route 23 Riverdale Crash, Prosecutor Says Man Dies In Route 23 Riverdale Crash, Prosecutor Says
Man Dies In Route 23 Riverdale Crash, Prosecutor Says A man was killed in a multi-vehicle crash on Route 23 in Riverdale Tuesday, authorities said. A witness reported seeing a body covered by a sheet following the crash, involving a car, dump truck and possibly another truck at 11:10 a.m. The Morris County Prosecutor's Office confirmed the adult male's death in the incident but did not release his identity. The crash occurred at the southbound side of the highway at Windbeam Road and remains under investigation, police said. Anyone with information about this incident is encouraged to contact the Morris County Prosecutor’s Office Major Crime…

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by Cecilia Levine
Paterson, NJ
Police & Fire
Police: Construction Workers Stop Drunk Driver Going Wrong Way On Route 23 In West Milford Police: Construction Workers Stop Drunk Driver Going Wrong Way On Route 23 In West Milford
Police: Construction Workers Stop Drunk Driver Going Wrong Way On Route 23 In West Milford Construction workers prevented a tragedy when they stopped a drunk pickup truck driver who was headed the wrong way on Route 23, West Milford police said. The employees took the key from Dillon Hoffman, 23, of Hawthorne after stopping his southbound Chevy in the northbound construction lanes around 11 p.m., they said. Hoffman was arrested for DWI after failing standard field sobriety tests, police said after the Sept. 20 incident. He was also charged with driving the wrong-way on a one-way road and later released to a friend pending an appearance in West Milford Municipal Court, they said.

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by Jerry DeMarco
Paterson, NJ
Police & Fire
Authorities: Pedestrian Struck, Killed By FedEx Truck On Route 23 In Wayne Still Not ID'd Authorities: Pedestrian Struck, Killed By FedEx Truck On Route 23 In Wayne Still Not ID'd
Authorities: Pedestrian Struck, Killed By FedEx Truck On Route 23 In Wayne Still Not ID'd More than a day after a man was struck and killed by a FedEx truck on Route 23 in Wayne, authorities hadn't yet been able to identify him. The victim was pronounced dead at St. Joseph's Regional Medical Center shortly before 10:30 a.m. Thursday, a little over a half-hour after he was struck on the highway's northbound side near Black Oak Ridge Road, authorities said Friday. The body was later taken to the state Regional Medical Examiner's Office in Newark for an autopsy -- and, hopefully, positive identification, Passaic County Prosecutor Camelia M. Valdes and Wayne Police Chief Jack McNiff…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Paterson, NJ
Police & Fire
GOTCHA! Accused Wayne Bank Robber, 69, Captured In Little Falls, Suspected In Pequannock Holdup GOTCHA! Accused Wayne Bank Robber, 69, Captured In Little Falls, Suspected In Pequannock Holdup
Gotcha! Accused Wayne Bank Robber, 69, Captured In Little Falls, Suspected In Pequannock Holdup Local police captured a Little Falls man who they said robbed a Wayne bank hours earlier -- and is suspected in another bank job last Thursday in Pequannock. With help from the FBI and the Passaic County Sheriff's Office, Wayne detectives captured 69-year-old Philip Mcgrantham at the corner of Main Street and Lincoln Avenue as he returned home in a rented Nissan Altima that a law enforcement source told Daily Voice was used in Monday morning's holdup of a TD Bank branch on Valley Avenue. Mcgrantham, who previously lived in Paterson and Jersey City, was charged with first-degree robbery and…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Paterson, NJ
Police & Fire
UPDATE: Accused Wayne Bank Robber, 69, Captured In Little Falls, Suspected In Pequannock Holdup UPDATE: Accused Wayne Bank Robber, 69, Captured In Little Falls, Suspected In Pequannock Holdup
Update: Accused Wayne Bank Robber, 69, Captured In Little Falls, Suspected In Pequannock Holdup Local police captured a Little Falls man who they said robbed a Wayne bank hours earlier -- and is suspected in another bank job last Thursday in Pequannock. With help from the FBI and the Passaic County Sheriff's Office, Wayne detectives captured 69-year-old Philip Mcgrantham at the corner of Main Street and Lincoln Avenue as he returned home in a rented Nissan Altima that a law enforcement source told Daily Voice was used in Monday morning's holdup of a TD Bank branch on Valley Avenue. Mcgrantham, who previously lived in Paterson and Jersey City, was charged with first-degree robbery and…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Parsippany-Troy Hills, NJ
Police & Fire
Route 23 Bank Robbed Route 23 Bank Robbed
Route 23 Bank Robbed A robber with what witnesses said appeared to be a fake beard robbed a Pequannock bank on Thursday. No weapon was shown in the 10:45 a.m. holdup at the Wells Fargo branch on southbound Route 23 in the township's Pompton Plains section, authorities said. ** UPDATE: Authorities are seeking a man with a possibly-fake beard who they say robbed a Route 23 Morris County bank Thursday. ** The robber, who witnesses said had a painted beard, demanded money from the teller before fleeing with the undisclosed amount that was handed over, Pequannock police said. Around the same time, police converged…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Parsippany-Troy Hills, NJ
Police & Fire
Man Gave Note Soliciting Prostitution, $100 To Franklin McDonald's Drive-Thru Worker, PD Says Man Gave Note Soliciting Prostitution, $100 To Franklin McDonald's Drive-Thru Worker, PD Says
Man Gave Note Soliciting Prostitution, $100 To Franklin McDonald's Drive-Thru Worker, PD Says A Hardyston man was taken into custody after handing a note soliciting prostitution, $100 and marijuana to a McDonald's worker in the drive-through window, authorities said. Nearly $18,000, five pounds of pot and other drugs and paraphernalia were seized from Terrence O'Leary's home on Sept. 11 following the execution of a search warrant two days after the Route 23 McDonald's incident, Franklin police said. O'Leary was arrested at his home on charges relating to drugs and prostitution, and released pending a court appearance, the NJHerald says.

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by Cecilia Levine
West Milford, NJ
Police & Fire
Police ID Pedestrian, 28, Struck On Route 23 In West Milford Police ID Pedestrian, 28, Struck On Route 23 In West Milford
Police ID Pedestrian, 28, Struck On Route 23 In West Milford Authorities on Thursday said they didn’t know the condition of a 28-year-old Hewitt man who was struck by a sedan on Route 23 the night before. Joseph Lanzo was airlifted to Morristown Medical Center after being struck just after 9:30 p.m. near the Grasshopper Irish Pub on the northbound highway near Cross Road. Artem Samsonov, 27, of Pinebrook, was behind the wheel of the 2013 Lexus that struck Lanzo – and was, in turn, rear-ended by a 2014 Ford Escape driven by a 57-year-old Oak Ridge woman, Sgt. Anthony Parrello said. A landing zone was set up for AirMed One at the Paradise Kroll School…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Parsippany-Troy Hills, NJ
Lifestyle
Lotto Ticket Sold In Butler Will Split $1M Jackpot Lotto Ticket Sold In Butler Will Split $1M Jackpot
Lotto Ticket Sold In Butler Will Split $1M Jackpot A Butler QuickChek sold a winning lottery ticket that will split the million-dollar jackpot three ways. Each ticket from the June 20 Jersey Cash 5 drawing is worth $342,957. The winning numbers were: 09, 12, 16, 32 and 42 and the XTRA number was: 03.  The three tickets were sold at: Middlesex County: 19 Express, 1949 Route 35, South Amboy; Morris County: Quick Chek #162, 1435 Route 23 S., Butler; and Passaic County: C-Town Supermarket, 444 20th Ave., Paterson.

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by Cecilia Levine
Highland Lakes-Vernon, NJ
News
Attorney: Driver In Gas Station Crash That Killed 3 Didn't Know Heroin Was Laced With Fentanyl Attorney: Driver In Gas Station Crash That Killed 3 Didn't Know Heroin Was Laced With Fentanyl
Attorney: Driver In Gas Station Crash That Killed 3 Didn't Know Heroin Was Laced With Fentanyl The drugged Sussex County driver accused of killing a father, son and gas station attendant in a fiery Route 23 crash didn't know that his heroin was laced with fentanyl, his lawyer said. Defense attorney John Latoracca said if the case goes to trial he'll argue that Jason Vanderee was passed out behind the wheel because of the fentanyl, News12 reports. Vanderee, 29, of Vernon, said he doesn't remember the February crash. Jon Warbeck and his son, Luke, both of Lincoln Park, were getting gas the morning of Feb. 19 when the speeding Honda Pilot with an overdosed Vanderee behind the wheel lit…

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by Cecilia Levine