Passaic County Prosecutor’s Office charge auxiliary police officers with misconduct www.privateofficer.com

 

PATERSON NJ May 18 2012 — Prosecutors have charged two members of Paterson’s Office of Emergency Management with official misconduct in connection with their response to a fatal motorcycle accident.

The Passaic County Prosecutor’s Office said Thursday that Juan Martinez, 30, of Paterson, and Jonathan Lopez, 29, of Hackensack, have been arrested on several charges.

Prosecutors say the two auxiliary police officers were driving an OEM vehicle in Paterson on April 17 and following behind a motorcycle at a distance of 100 feet or less while improperly activating the siren.

Prosecutors allege that Martinez and Lopez then witnessed the motorcycle crash on North 1st Street and did not stop to render aid or contact police or their superiors.

The driver of the motorcycle, 31-year-old Randolph Waddy of Paterson, died from his injuries.

It is not immediately clear who is representing the defendants.

Passaic County Technical Institute security officer charged with hit-and-run crash that killed two pedestrians www.privateofficer.com

 

CLIFTON NJ April 6 2012 — Investigators arrested a man suspected in a hit-and-run crash that killed two pedestrians, police said.

Jason Askew, 42, of Paterson, was arrested Wednesday in the March 17 crash that killed Jhasleidy Benjumea-Bastidas, 28, of Passaic, and Jose Fernandez-Minaya, 35, of Brooklyn. He is in Passaic County Jail on $250,000 bail, said Sgt. Michael Bienkowski of the Clifton police department’s traffic unit.

Investigators tracked down Askew’s Cadillac Escalade, which they suspect was the vehicle that hit the two at Route 46 and 7th Street.

Askew was charged with two counts of leaving the scene of a fatal accident, two counts of endangering a victim, tampering with evidence and hindering apprehension, authorities said.

The date of his arraignment and his lawyer’s name were not immediately available. Askew works as a security guard for Passaic County Technical Institute and is employed with the U.S. Postal Service in Teterboro.

The victims’ families seemed relieved when told that someone had been arrested in the crash, Bienkowski said.

Benjumea-Bastidas had two young children, a son and a baby girl. Fernandez-Minaya was buried in the Dominican Republic, where his family originates.

They were struck shortly before 4 a.m. that Saturday morning. Benjumea-Bastidas and Fernandez-Minaya were in the eastbound lane of Route 46 near Seventh Street when they were struck.

Police said Benjumea-Bastidas and Fernandez-Minaya and two other companions were driving home from a bar. Benjumea-Bastidas had been arguing with her boyfriend and asked the driver to let her out. As she walked toward her car her boyfriend followed and argument continued, police said.

Fernandez-Minaya left the car and tried to calm the couple down, police said. At some point, the boyfriend returned to the car and began to park it in a gas station lot when a passing car hit Benjumea-Bastidas and Fernandez-Minaya without stopping, police said.

Men who swiped $20,000 worth of Gucci and Prada purses nabbed in the act www.privateofficer.com

 

Paramus NJ Feb 19 2012 An accused thief and getaway driver who swiped nearly $20,000 worth of Gucci and Prada purses from the Garden State Plaza were caught in the act at the Short Hills Mall and arrested, Paramus police said today.
The crime spree began on Jan. 6, when 34-year-old Christopher Apolito of West Paterson snatched five purses worth more than $18,000, ran from the Gucci store at the Paramus mall and hopped into a waiting car driven by Johnathan Monet, 24, of Paterson, Police Capt. Kenneth R. Ehrenberg said.

Alert store employees gave police descriptions of Apolito and the vehicle, Ehrenberg said.

The pair return to the mall on Jan. 25, this time with Apolito going into Neiman Marcus, snatching a $1,600 Prada handbag and again fleeing in the waiting car.

Paramus Detective Sgt. Robert Olive and Detective Joseph McNair identified the pair and issued a statewide alert.

Last Thursday, Millburn police arrested both men committing what they said was a similar theft.

Both are being held in the Essex County Jail, Apolito on $20,000 bail and Monet on $5,000, pending resolution of the charges there. They will then be turned over to authorities from Paramus.