October 20 Morning News
NORTHJERSEY.COM HAS REPORTED THAT ROUTE 17 SOUTHBOUND HAS BEEN SHUT DOWN IN PARAMUS AFTER A WOMAN WAS STRUCK IN A HIT-AND-RUN NEAR WESTFIELD GARDEN STATE PLAZA MONDAY EVENING. PARAMUS POLICE CHIEF ROBERT M. GUIDETTI SAID A 32-YEAR-OLD FEMALE PEDESTRIAN WAS HIT BY A VEHICLE THAT FLED THE SCENE, AND THAT THE HIGHWAY IS CURRENTLY CLOSED FOR THE INVESTIGATION ON THE ACCIDENT. THERE WAS NO IMMEDIATE INFORMATION ABOUT THE WOMAN’S INJURIES. THE NJ DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION ANNOUNCED THAT ALL SOUTHBOUND TRAFFIC WAS BEING DETOURED TO ROUTE 4 AT AROUND 5:30 PM. GUIDETTI EXPLAINED THAT MOTORISTS ARE ADVISED TO SEEK ALTERNATE ROUTES AND AVOID ROUTE 17 SOUTH NEAR THE GARDEN STATE PLAZA UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE.
NORTHJERSEY.COM HAS REPORTED THAT WAYNE TOWNSHIP HAS BEEN ORDERED TO REZONE A PAIR OF LARGE RESIDENTIAL PROPERTIES TO PERMIT 675-700 UNITS, AFTER A JUDGE FOUND THAT ITS HOUSING PLAN DOESN’T COMPLY WITH STATE LAW. JUDGE DARREN DEL SARDO, SITTING IN STATE SUPERIOR COURT IN PATERSON, RULED ON OCTOBER 15TH THAT THE TOWNSHIP HAS 60 DAYS TO REVISE ITS HOUSING PLAN TO ACCOMMODATE REZONING OF THE TWO SITES, WHICH WERE CONTESTED FOR MONTHS. DEL SARDO ALSO RULED THAT OFFICIALS MUST ENACT ORDINANCES TO ALLOW THE HOUSING PROJECTS TO MOVE FORWARD WITHIN ANOTHER 60 DAYS. THE FIRST DISPUTED PROPERTY IS 1982 HAMBURG TURNPIKE, A 16.6-ACRE SITE WHERE MARCH ASSOCIATES CONSTRUCTION INC. PLANS TO BUILD A HOUSING COMPLEX FOR SENIOR CITIZENS, WHICH HAS BEEN ORDERED TO BE REZONED TO ALLOW BETWEEN 375 AND 400 UNITS, INCLUDING AS MANY AS 80 FOR LOW-INCOME FAMILIES. THE SECOND DISPUTED PROPERTY IS 1600 VALLEY ROAD, OWNED BY WILLIAM PATERSON UNIVERSITY, MUST BE REZONED FOR 250 TOWN HOUSES, INCLUDING 50 FOR LOW-INCOME FAMILIES, PLUS A 50-UNIT BUILDING WITH AGE-RESTRICED APARTMENTS RESERVED FOR AFFORDABLE HOUSEHOLDS, WHICH TOLL BROTHERS INC. IS UNDER CONTRACT TO BUY THE 50-ACRE PROPERTY. THE RULING EFFECTIVELY ADOPTS PRIOR RECOMMENDATIONS BY MARK TRONCONE, A RETIRED JUDGE WHO WAS ASSIGNED BY THE COURT TO MEDIATE THE DISPUTES. DEL SARDO SAID THAT THE WAYNE HOUSING PLAN DOES NOT COMPLY WITH THE AMENDED FAIR HOUSING ACT OF MARCH 2024, WHICH PROHIBITS HOUSING DISCRIMINATION BASED ON RACE, NATURAL ORIGIN, RELIGION, SEX, FAMILIAL STATUS, AND DISABILITY.
NJ.COM REPORTED A FIRE AT A HOUSE IN UPPER SADDLE RIVER LAST SPRING WAS INTENTIONALLY SET BY TWO MEN WHO WERE PART OF AN ARSON-FOR-HIRE SCHEME, WHERE THE CAUSE AND ORIGIN OF THE BLAZE WERE INITIALLY RULED UNDETERMINED. THE BERGEN COUNTY PROSECUTOR’S OFFICE SAID IN A STATEMENT MONDAY THAT THE HOUSE, LOCATED ON LAKE ROAD, WENT UP IN FLAMES ON THE AFTERNOON OF MAY 16, 2025. AN INVESTIGATION LED BY BOTH MONMOUTH AND BERGEN COUNTY LATER ALLEGED THAT EMAD E. GERGES, 66, OF UPPER SADDLE RIVER, HIRED TWO MEN FROM RUMSON TO SET FIRE TO THE HOME. THE HIRED MEN, ANTHONY V. COVIELLO, 54, AND JOSEPH VULPIS, 62, ENTERED THE RESIDENCE AND USED AN ACCELERANT AND HOMEMADE IGNITOR TO SET A FIRE IN THE ATTIC. DETECTIVES ARRESTED COVIELLO AT HIS HOME IN RUMSON ON OCT. 2. VULPIS TURNED HIMSELF IN AT THE ENGLISHTOWN POLICE DEPARTMENT THAT SAME DAY. GERGES WAS LATER LOCATED AND ARRESTED IN SADDLE RIVER ON FRIDAY, OCT. 16. COVIELLO AND VULPIS ARE CHARGED WITH ARSON-FOR-HIRE, AGGRAVATED ARSON, CONSPIRACY, ARSON, CRIMINAL MISCHIEF AND FAILURE TO CONTROL OR REPORT A FIRE. GERGES WAS CHARGED WITH ARSON-FOR-HIRE AND CONSPIRACY. ALL THREE MEN WERE RELEASED FOLLOWING THEIR INITIAL COURT APPEARANCES.
NORTHJERSEY.COM REPORTED A WOMAN MANAGED TO ESCAPE HER KIDNAPPER AFTER A SEVEN HOUR ABDUCTION IN THE 2ND WARD SUNDAY OCTOBER 18. POLICE SAID THE WOMAN WAS FOUND AT ABOUT 11:37 P.M. ON OCT. 18 IN THE AREA AROUND SHERWOOD AND CHAMBERLAIN AVENUES. ACCORDING TO POLICE SOURCES, THE VICTIM TOLD AUTHORITIES SHE HAD BEEN ABDUCTED IN HER OWN VEHICLE EARLIER THAT DAY. SHE TOLD INVESTIGATORS SHE WAS ASSAULTED BEFORE ESCAPING FROM HER CAPTOR. THE SUSPECT THEN FLED IN HER VEHICLE, WHERE HE WAS FOUND A SHORT TIME LATER IN A DIFFERENT SECTION OF PATERSON. BECAUSE OF DOMESTIC VIOLENCE CONFIDENTIALITY TERMS, LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICIALS HAVE RELEASED VERY LIMITED INFORMATION ABOUT THE CRIME. THE CHARGES AGAINST THE MAN ARE SIMPLE ASSAULT, AGGRAVATED ASSAULT, MAKING TERRORISTIC THREATS, AND CONTEMPT OF A COURT ORDER. THE CASE REMAINS UNDER INVESTIGATION.