Editor’s note: This section is based on facts provided to Pascack Press weekly by neighborhood police departments. Due to pending court appearances and other variations, the following information should be read in “press time” context.
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PARK RIDGE
‘PSE&G’ scam costs woman $4,000 — A Garfield woman, 37, who works locally in day care is evidently out $4,000 in a scam she reported to police the evening of Dec. 18.
Detectives have been notified of the woman’s complaint, which says that she was contacted by someone identifying himself as Frank Simmons from PSE&G, who then arranged for her to pay a supposed outstanding balance of $4,000 by remitting payment to a convincing website by means of MoneyPak gift cards.
She paid, and later contacted the utility, which confirmed she had been scammed.
She got back in touch with Simmons, who became verbally abusive.
The victim says she did not provide personal information to the man, only the value of the gift cards.
Trespassing at abandoned building persists — In incidents Dec. 15 and 18, police were called to 138 Kinderkamack Road to investigate suspicious acts after workers there reported plywood that had been covering up a window of the vacant building had been removed, and that evidence suggested someone was living inside the building, which is soon to be demolished.
On the morning of Dec. 15, a groundskeeper heard someone from inside the former pet grooming shop and called police.
Sgt. Babcock arrived. Montvale Police Sgt. Newel reported as backup.
The officers found footprints in the fresh snow leading from the building to Kinderkamack Road.
Officer Hoffman arrived and checked the area, including the Park Ridge Train Station, where he encountered a man he is familiar with, sitting on a bench and breathing heavily, as though he had been running.
Hoffman called to him from his patrol car, and the man got up and began to walk briskly away, south toward Broadway.
“I called out to him, which he ignored, and put his cell phone up to his ear as if he was talking to someone,” Hoffman reports.
Hoffman caught up to the man, 21, from Montvale, as did Montvale Officer Kruze, and they stopped him for questioning. When approached he put the phone back into a pocket.
The man’s story was confused, he did not make eye contact, and he gave false facts. He also had entered the abandoned building in a similar manner Dec. 10, Hoffman recalled.
The man’s boots showed more snow on them than seemed reasonable given his current location.
He was taken to the scene, and his boot prints precisely matched tracks left in the snow. He was arrested and taken to headquarters, where he was issued summonses for criminal trespass (a fourth-degree crime) and defiant trespass (a petty disorderly persons offense).
On Dec. 18 police were called back to the address, where plywood had been removed from a window.
A worker provided access to the building, and police investigated. Nobody was found inside, however there was evidence of disarray and habitation: mattresses and clothes, and beer cans were strewn about apartment units.
The midnight tour was briefed and was to conduct premise checks.
Plans reportedly are in the works to help deter unwanted guests.
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WOODCLIFF LAKE
Arrested for DUI, reckless driving — A Heritage Court man who would eventually begin to cry in police custody while describing marital woes was stopped after a brief chase on Woodcliff Avenue shortly after 9 a.m. on Dec. 9.
The man, 36, driving a gray 2016 BMW 328i, reportedly swung a wide right turn at a high rate of speed at Woodcliff Avenue and Werimus Road. He continued accelerating past the officer, who pulled out from the Our Lady Mother of the Church lot to catch and stop him.
The officer caught up to the car on Woodcliff Avenue near Rose Avenue and observed it veering over the double yellow line for several seconds in front of 107 Woodcliff Ave.
The BMW did not immediately pull over, but instead turned right onto Pascack Road.
It stopped at the intersection of Pascack Road and Heritage Court.
The interior of the car smelled strongly of alcohol. The driver’s eyes were watery and bloodshot.
Questioned, the driver told police he’d had two drinks the night before at a friend’s house on Hunter Ridge.
He did not give a definite answer as to where he was coming from or going.
Additional officers arrived, one of whom administered field sobriety tests. It was the officers’ conclusion that the driver had operated his vehicle while under the influence of an intoxicating liquor or drugs.
While he was in rear of the patrol car “his breath filled the car with the odor of an alcoholic beverage,” reads the report in part.
His car was impounded under John’s Law.
At headquarters, he declined to submit to breath tests and was issued summonses over consent to take samples of breath, refusal to submit to a breathalyzer/chemical test, operating under the influence of liquor or drugs, reckless driving, and failure to keep right.
The summonses were answerable at Pascack Joint Municipal Court on Dec. 19.
Because he was highly intoxicated and his wife said she didn’t want their kids to see him in this condition, she told police she did not want him taken home.
He was instead taken by ambulance to New Bridge Medical Center under the Alcohol Treatment Rehabilitation Act, handed off on a stretcher to hospital staff, and checked in.
Police told the man’s father-in-law that once the hospital determined he could be released his family could pick him up. The father-in-law relayed this information to the man’s wife.
New York man charged for drunk driving – A Manilus, N.Y. man, 25, was arrested and charged with careless driving, failure to keep right, failure to possess vehicle insurance card, failure to possess vehicle registration card, operating under the influence of drugs, and open container of alcohol in a motor vehicle following a stop in the early hours of Nov. 23.
Sgt. James Foley reported he was parked at the north lot of the NJ Transit train station when he observed what turned out to be a black 2016 Ford four-door approach the causeway from Broadway at a high rate of speed.
The Ford slid on road debris, nearly hit the guardrail, and crossed the double yellow line.
Foley pursued, and the Ford was still driving at speed toward the bend at Woodcliff Avenue and Mill Road.
The Ford swung from the far left to the far right of the lane and riding on the double yellow lines.
Foley waited for a safer spot to stop the vehicle, just west of Rose Avenue, and the stop proceeded just outside Woodcliff Middle School.
A strong odor of alcoholic beverage emanated from the vehicle.
The driver said he had been coming from the Cornerstone in Hillsdale but had not had anything to drink.
As the passenger exited the vehicle, officers saw a half-full open container of Bud Light in the door pocket.
The car was towed.
The men were taken to headquarters in separate police cars. The stopped driver filled the police car he was in with the odor of alcoholic beverage.
His breath tests came back with a blood alcohol level of 0.19 percent on two occasions, and confirmed.
He was picked up by his father.
Summonses are answerable at Pascack Joint Municipal Court on Jan. 10, 2018.
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RIVER VALE
Warning: Cars stolen; take precautions — Several towns in the Pascack Valley area are again experiencing an increased number of stolen cars. In the vast majority of incidents, the owners left keys and/or key fobs in the vehicle – making the car an easy target for thieves.
Residents are encouraged to always remove key fobs and keys from their vehicles – even when the cars are parked inside a garage. In addition, residents should be sure to remove valuables from their vehicles and remember to lock car doors and activate the alarms where applicable.
As always, residents are asked to remain alert and contact their local police promptly regarding suspicious persons or incidents.