CLICK HERE FOR MORE: Photos by Brett M. Dzadik
SHOUT OUTS: Photographer Brett Dzadik produced a gallery of photos from today’s Veterans Day celebration in River Edge.
CLICK ABOVE OR BELOW for the full show.
CLICK HERE to go to Brett’s Fire Photos 
(http://www.brettsfirephotos.com)
SHOUT OUT: Two Fort Lee police dogs are getting ballistic vests thanks to a nationwide fundraising campaign.
The “Occasions” campaign for Groupon Grassroots produced $335,000 in conjunction with the non-profit Vested Interest in K9s Inc. to buy the vests for 350 law enforcement dogs nationwide, Fort Lee Police Capt. Robert Zevits said.
The campaign requested a simple $10 tax-deductible donation “to purchase ballistic vests for our four-legged crime fighters, who put their lives on the line for the community and their partner,” Zevits said.
Vested Interest is providing the body armor in memory of Pittsburgh K9 Rocco, who died in the line of duty this past January. All of the vests bear his name.
The campaign raised $155,537 in just one week, immediately providing vests for 163 law enforcement dogs in 30 states, Zevits said.
Fort Lee police have two K9 teams.
There’s Greener and his partner, Officer Richard Hernandez, both of whom completed Patrol and Narcotics Detection School in 2008.
Greener has assisted other municipalities and the DEA with searches, leading to the seizures of hundreds of pounds of drugs, more than $2 million in counterfeit cash and the siezure of 30 or so vehicles.
Greener also has made six apprehensions, including two burglars, and is assigned to the Emergency Services Unit (ESU), which handles high-risk search warrants.
Ajax, meanwhile, is the department’s newest addition, having completed Narcotics Scent Detection School with his partner, Officer John Reuter, this year.
They’re currently attending Patrol School, Zevits said, after which Ajax will join Reuter in the ESU.
Within his first month on the road, Ajaz “has assisted with numerous narcotics investigations, as well as assisting with locating an electronically-operated compartment hidden within a motor vehicle,” the captain said.
“With this gift, the K9s who put their lives on the line every day to protect the community will have the same protection as their handlers and all police officers,” he said.
NOTE: Vested Interest in K9s, Inc. is a 501c (3) in East Taunton, MA, established in 2009, that has provided 1,125 bullet- and stab-protective vests and other assistance to dogs of law enforcement and related agencies in 40 states. Each vest costs $950 and has a 5-year warranty.
LEARN MORE/BECOME A SPONSOR: Vested Interest in K9s
SHOUT OUT: A Fair Lawn community has rallied to the aid of a family of five whose home was destroyed by fire last week.
Neighbor Laura Sabatello began by collecting clothing, toiletries, cash and gift certificate for the family. Neighbors, friends and even strangers took to social media to coordinate their efforts.
A GoFundMe account was established. CLICK HERE:
The mother works in the infant delivery unit at Hackensack University Medical Center and the father for PC Richard and Sons.
They have three boys — two of whom attend Fair Lawn High School and one who goes to Bergen Tech.
“The home is destroyed. Their spirits are crushed,” wrote Patricia Fackina Cormack, who established the donation page. “They escaped with the clothes on their backs and not even shoes on their feet.”
“They are temporarily living in a hotel until they can find a rental in Fair Lawn,” Sabatello added.
Last Thursday’s blaze began as a dryer fire and quickly shot up the walls of the 30th Street residence. Although firefighters had it tamed within a half-hour, it flared and blew through the roof again, collapsing it.
Sabatello, who lives across the street, said she was inspired to help because of the generosity she received from neighbors and friends following major surgery in September. Meals and gift cards dropped off at her house made life easier for her and her husband when it was time to eat, she said.
“They are a wonderful family,” she said of her neighbors. “I decided to pay it forward and help them out the way I was helped.”
YOU can help, too.
CLICK HERE: GoFundMe account
PHOTO: Jen Haber
SHOUT OUT: The Bergen County Police Chiefs Association and Foundation took their annual gift-giving to local veterans to another level today, donating more than $1,500 in gift cards and cash through the Alfred J. Thomas Home for Veterans in Garfield and the county TRACERS Program.
For years, the chiefs have collected food and clothing to be donated to veterans in need.
“This year we felt that the veterans could be better served through a gift card program,” Bogota Police Chief John Burke told CLIFFVIEW PILOT. “We believe it’s the least we could do for the cover of freedom and way of life these veterans have provided — and continue to provide – for all of us.”
Burke is at far left in the photo above with (l. to r.): Bogota VFW Post #5561 Commander Alex Hernandez, Richard Sdaul of Bergen County TRACERS, Al Hermann of Bogota VFW Post #5561, Karen Kreitz (Program Coodinator, Alfred J. Thomas Home for Veterans), Emerson Police Chief Donald Rossi (Bergen County Police Chiefs Foundation Chairman), Claudia Coffreda (Alfred J. Thomas Home for Veterans) and Garfield Police Chief Kevin Amos.
Community Hope’s Alfred J. Thomas Home for Veterans is an 8-bed transitional housing program for homeless veterans recovering from mental illness and/or substance abuse. Services include transitional housing for up to two years, case management and counseling, employment assistance and training, on-site computers, links to community resources, transportation and more.
Tracers — named for military glow-in-the-dark ammo — aims to end homelessness for veterans in Bergen County. Volunteers work to locate homeless veterans and connect them with community-based and VA sponsored programs and benefits, among other resources.
Donations are used to supply bus tickets to jobs, assist in preparing the veteran for employment, and to fill-in gaps in the service delivery system.
It also has an eight-bed transitional home in Garfield.
PHOTO: Courtesy BERGEN COUNTY POLICE CHIEFS ASSOCIATION
SHOUT OUT: Bergen County Sheriff Michael Saudino’s Community Outreach Unit is participating in this year’s annual Thanksgiving Turkey Drive sponsored by the Center for Food Action.
The unit hopes to help the CFA meet this year’s goal of providing Thanksgiving meals to 11,200 neighbors in need by collecting 300.
Sheriff’s officers will pick up the turkeys next Thursday and Friday, Nov. 20-21.
Donated turkeys must be frozen.
TO SCHEDULE A PICKUP: (201) 336 3540 / or Officer Aret Yesiltepe: (201) 602-9845
SHOUT OUT: One of two New Jersey centers to help citizens enroll for coverage under the federal Affordable Care Act opened in Cliffside Park yesterday.
Assistance is free and bilingual representatives are available at the centers, operated by SRA International, which provides IT solutions and professional services to government organizations.
Hours are 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Friday and 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturday at the Cliffside Park center at 596 Anderson Avenue (see map, below).
You can schedule an appointment or walk in.
PHONE: (201) 414-0465
Email: enroll_njnorth@sra.com
Facebook: www.facebook.com/enrollnorthernnj
Twitter: @NJNorth_EAC
The center has 52 “assisters” fluent in no fewer than 13 languages and certified to answer questions, address concerns and help enroll citizens in qualified health plans through Healthcare.
The Enrollment Assistance Centers are operated under contract with the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
Open enrollment for government-sponsored healthcare runs through Feb. 15, but you must be enrolled by Dec. 15 to have coverage effective Jan. 1.
Attending yesterday’s grand opening of the Cliffside Park center were U.S. Rep. Bill Pascrell, HHS Regional DIrector Jackie Cornell-Becelli, Chaim Lazarus of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, borough Council President Thomas Calabrese and Council members Donna Spotto, Bernie Fontana and Larry Bongard, among others.
UPDATE: The fact that Passaic police told a local newspaper that a body found floating in the Passaic River today COULD be that of a missing Wallington man amounts to nothing without official confirmation.
What is known is that the family of 61-year-old Marian Kolodziej — who spoke with authorities after this afternoon’s discovery — won’t be able to try and identify the body until tomorrow, when an autopsy will be conducted by the Bergen County Medical Examiner, CLIFFVIEW PILOT has learned.
At that point it also will officially be determined whether foul play was or appeared to be involved.
As of 10:30 tonight, county Prosecutor John L. Molinelli wasn’t addressing the matter.
A purely Polish speaker, Kolodziej was wearing a three-quarter-length black coat, gray slacks and a dark dress shirt when his image was caught on security cameras at the Sports Bar Inn on the corner of 8th and South streets in Passaic at 1 a.m. Sunday, authorities said.
He had no phone or identification with him and has no known health issues, they said.
SHOUT OUT: Fair Lawn police are accepting applications for their 2015 Citizen Police Academy.
Free and open to borough residents 18 and older, the academy will be held Tuesday nights beginning Feb. 5.
It will include classes about gang awareness, firearm awareness and safety, self-defense, fraud awareness and investigations, juvenile concerns, drug awareness and investigations, traffic safety, RADAR familiarization, motor vehicle stops, search and seizure, domestic violence and crime prevention, Sgt. Brian Metzler said.
The academy class will also become familiarized with the different emergency services in Fair Lawn and will be visiting the Bergen County Jail and the Bureau of Criminal Investigation, both overseen by the county sheriff, he said.
Class size is limited to 30 students and background investigations will be conducted before an applicant is accepted, Metzler said.
Applications can be picked up at Fair Lawn Police Headquarters, 8-01 Fair Lawn Avenue.
INFO: Officer Gerard Graziano, Community Policing Division: (201) 794-5365
SHOUT OUT: You have a week left to help Benjamin’s Hope 4 The Future by enjoying a meal at Buffalo Wild Wings in Secaucus to raise funding for pediatric cancer research — and you can start with the Giants-Dallas game tonight.
Either show the flier below from your phone or print it and present it at the restaurant and the foundation will receive 10% of the proceeds on your food and beverages, including alcohol.
There are no time or day restrictions and you can use it more than once.
Linda and Richard Venezia are the driving force behind Benjamin’s Hope 4 the Future foundation — named for their first-born son, who was 13 when he died AML leukemia in December 2012, nine months after he was diagnosed.
The 501(c)3 organization has helped families in need, raised funds for research and established an annual scholarship for young community volunteers.
“Childhood cancer is not that rare,” the Venezias said.
Money for research, unfortunately, is.
“Only 4% of funding is allocated to pediatric cancer research, and only two new drugs for children have been developed within the 20 years,” the couple said.
The Venezias received Benjamin’s leukemia diagnosis in late March, 11 days after his 13th birthday, when he was admitted to the hospital with a white cell count over 219,000.
* * * * * *
• 1 in 330 children are diagnosed with cancer;
• 1 in 5 children will die;
• 3 in 5 will develop secondary longterm side effects;
• Childhood cancer receives only 4% of the NCI budget for cancer research;
• Cancer is the leading cause of death by disease in children;
• Only 2 new pediatric cancer drugs has been developed in over 20 years.
* * * * * *
He was later diagnosed with Acute Myeloid Leukemia (AML), a high-risk disease that’s difficult to treat.
After several rounds of ineffective chemotherapy, Benjamin had a bone marrow transplant that November. He was determined to graduate from 8th grade, but he didn’t make it to Christmas.
“Mom, my body aches,” he said to his mother after doctors sent him home to die. 
Among the many life-shattering lessons for the Venezias, they said, was the fact that Benjamin was being treated for “a very aggressive cancer that standard drugs do not cure.
“A computer system chose our sons treatment plan, not his doctors, not his parents but a random selection made by a computer program,” they added. “As luck would have it, the computer system chose the standard treatment plan, leaving the clinical trial he was participating in pretty useless.
“We now are left to wonder whether the outcome could have been different had Benjamin been chosen for the alternate treatment which offered a different drug. We struggle to understand how our society could or would allow life and death decisions to be made by a computer system.”
The Venezias blame no one for Benjamin’s death.
“The lack of pediatric cancer drugs for AML killed our son. The lack of funding for pediatric cancer killed our son,” they said. “It is very frustrating to know that children are treated with adult drugs. It is frustrating to know that as a parent your hands are tied.
“We live in a world where the impossible is possible,” the Venezias said, “yet we still have no cure for cancer and thousands of children die from cancer every year.
“We cannot continue to avoid funding pediatric cancer research and need to start developing new drugs that actually cure cancer,” they said. “We need to fight for our children.”
You can join the Venezias in their fight to turn the tide.
GO TO: BenjaminsHope4TheFuture.org
SHOUT OUT: Doing even better than they’d hoped, Bergen County Sheriff Michael Saudino’s Community Outreach Unit brought 380 donated turkeys from this year’s annual Thanksgiving Turkey Drive to the Center for Food Action’s Saddle Brook location today.
The unit set a target of 300 turkeys to help the CFA meet this year’s goal of providing Thanksgiving meals to 11,200 neighbors in 90 communities throughout North Jersey.
Each meal will include a turkey, a roasting pan and fresh fruit and vegetables, as well as canned and boxed goods such as cranberry sauce, cornbread mix and stuffing, center officials said.
Sheriff’s officers collected turkeys from police, businesses, government employees and others, BCSO spokesman Joseph Hornyak said.
Bergen County Sheriff’s Officer Aret Yesiltepe (photo, center) and Saudino (right) were joined in Saddle Brook this morning by Deputy Police Chief (and Mayor-elect) Robert White (left) and Freeholder (and Bergen County Executive-elect) Jim Tedesco (second from left), among others.
SHOUT OUT: Paramus Police Detective Dmitriy Mazur, who was shot in the right hip and lower left leg while working an undercover drug investigation in the parking lot of the Garfield Walmart earlier this year, was awarded the New Jersey State PBA Gold Valor Award this weekend.
PBA members who gathered at the Pines Manor in Edison on Saturday cited Mazur for his bravery in helping protect the lives of his fellow officers while on loan to the Bergen County Prosecutor’s Narcotic Task Force.
The 10-year veteran was sitting in the driver’s seat of a county undercover vehicle with one of the targets for what was supposed to be a $400 pot buy on April 22 when Rafael Vasquez walked up to the car window and pointed a gun at him, authorities said.
“Give me everything you have,” Vasquez told Mazur before firing into the car twice, Bergen County Prosecutor John L. Molinelli said at the time.
Seven backup officers then converged on the car, shooting Vasquez in the arm and leg.
Molinelli said he believes the trio set up the officer, who they thought was a local pot dealer.
“It was an average street drug buy,” the prosecutor said. “Narcotics, even in this county, is a dangerous practice.”
Mazur was released from Hackensack University Medical Center a few days later.
Vasquez — also known as “King Lucifer” — posted $2 million bail on May 8, a little over two weeks after the incident, and was released from the Bergen County Jail. He’s charged with attempted murder, aggravated assault, robbery, violating parole and weapons offenses, including being an ex-con possessing a firearm.
Two other men who authorities said were involved in the shooting — Melvin Guzman of Garfield, 19, and 22-year-old Patrick Morel of Clifton — remained held in the county jail on $550,000 bail each..
They’re charged with aggravated assault, assault with a deadly weapon and two weapons possession charges — one for its use against a law enforcement officer.
PHOTO (l. to r.): NJSPBA Delegate Detective Glenn Pagano, Deputy Police Chief Robert Guidetti, NJSPBA VP Marc Kovar, Detective Dmitriy Mazur, NJSPBA President Patrick Colligan. Police Chief Kenneth Ehrenberg, PBA President Detective Michael Cebulski
* * * * * *
RELATED:
YOU READ IT HERE FIRST: CLIFFVIEW PILOT has learned that Rafael Vasquez plea-bargained his way out of a pair of attempted murder charges to lesser counts in Passaic County. As a result, he spent only three months behind bars before being released, despite a history of violent crime. READ MORE….
YOU SAW IT HERE FIRST: A Paterson man accused of shooting a Paramus police officer during an undercover operation in Garfield last week was brought to court in Hackensack today handcuffed to a wheelchair amid heightened security and a large police turnout. READ MORE….
THANKSGIVING SHOUT OUT: An 8-year-old Hasbrouck Heights girl with severe cerebral palsy had one of her fondest holiday wishes granted with a visit from a female New Jersey state trooper who served in Iraq. Yet it was the trooper who insisted that she was most grateful.
“She has such an inspiring story, so much more than I can even describe,” Trooper Alina Spies told CLIFFVIEW PILOT this afternoon.
Giulianna Moore beamed through the day that trooper spent with her, her mother, Pasqualina, her two sisters — 10-year-old Angelina and 2½-year-old Isabella — and other family members.
“Her mother described it as love at first site,” Spies said.
“She’s an amazing and inspiring girl, and she has a wonderful family,” she said. “They give so much to Make a Wish and to other children in need. They’re beautiful inside and out.”
Giulianna’s grandfather had written to the State Police seeking support for Walk for Wishes, which last month raised $36,889 for the little angel. Spies brought the family plenty more.
Giulianna, who’s wheelchair-bound and requires a feeding tube and constant assistance, always wanted to meet a female trooper.
She got that, as well as a combat veteran.
Spies, who joined the State Police after leaving the military in 2008, gave Giulianna a letter from NJSP Supt. Col. Rick Fuentes, along with a colonel’s challenge coin, a State Police patch, an NJSP t-shirt, a teddy bear and items from the youngster’s favorite movie, “Frozen.”
“Lina has always told her girls they can be whatever they want,” Spies said. “She told me the visit made a difference in their lives, because I’m living proof.
“It made a difference to me, too,” she told CLIFFVIEW PILOT. “It made my holiday season even greater. I walked away from there with an entirely new outlook on life.
“I aboslutely love being a state trooper,” Spies said. “Our job isn’t easy, but moments like that make the sacrefices worth it.
“I look forward to see them again — and I will. This wasn’t a onetime visit. Giulianna and her family are very special to me.”
Lina Moore holds her niece, while NJ State Trooper Alina Spies holds Isabella, Angelina stands behind Giulianna (PHOTOS: Courtesy NEW JERSEY STATE POLICE)
SHOUT OUTS: A trio of local dance students were awarded $500 grants each by the The Dancer’s Dream Fund Inc. of Paramus.
The 501(c)(3) non-profit organization launched its pilot awards program at its home studios earlier this month Reyshelle Rodriguez of North Bergen (from Viibe in Ridgefield), Jessica Pagano of Paramus (from Maryann’s School of Dance in Paramus) and Alexandra Williams of Creskill (from Dance Dimensions in New Milford)with grantees .
“The children were selected through a nomination & application process,” Dancer’s Dream Fund President Monica Byrne said. “Their commitment to give back, to work hard in school, and to be kind, caring individuals are all requirements to receive the grant money.”
The Dancer’s Dream Fund was launched in April by four dance moms who wanted to give back to their community. It accepts corporate sponsors.
“Basically we raise money through holding events, various fundraising programs and direct donations,” said Byrne. “We are in the process of creating a few different programs, along with direct scholarship awards”
INFO: www.dancersdreamfund.org
Meet the grantees (courtesy The Dancer’s Dream Fund)
Reyshelle (The ViiBe Dance Center, Ridgefield) was nominted by her teacher and classmates for Student of the Month in May 2014 and received The Citizenship Award in recognition of her exemplary behavior and valuable services rendered to her school. She volunteers for various charitable efforts, including the North Bergen Emergency Relief Program. Reyshelle helps collect food donations for the program, which helps families in need throughout the township.
Alexandra (Dance Dimensions, New Milford), known as Allie, is a straight-A student who’s been awarded “Student of the Week” several times by school administrators and teachers. She assists preschool-2nd graders at her home studio
Jessica (Mariann’s School of Dance, Paramus) does a lot of volunteer work, including being an active Girl Scout for 7 years, working with special needs children and actively participating in her parish. She also works with Camp Snowflake, The Butterfly Ball & Julia’s Butterflies (a local organization that helps families with sick children).
SHOUT OUT: Washington Township’s volunteer firefighters launched their popular Christmas tree sale yesterday.
The firefighters boast a wide variety of trees — from 9 a.m. to 9:30 p.m. — until Christmas Eve at their Washington Avenue headquarters.
Also available are wreaths (1-5 feet), grave blankets and other Christmas accessories — along with plenty of netting and twine — as well as metal tree stands and disposal skirts.
Photos with Santa will be taken on Saturday, Dec. 13, from noon to 3 p.m.
There’s also a complimentary BBQ from noon-3 p.m. every Saturday and Sunday.
As an entirely volunteer organization, the Washington Township Fire Department depends on donations. The firefighters, as a result, are dedicated to offering value to those looking for anything from the dense, traditional Balsam, the versatile old-fashioned Douglas or the strong-branched Fraser, to a a four- or five-foot high “Charlie Brown” tree.
The firefighters will also provide the muscle to make sure your tree is loaded properly onto your vehicle.
SHOUT OUT: No one attending a “Friendsgiving” dinner seemed to quite know how to react as smoke from a kitchen stove fire quickly filled an Edgewater condo, so Whitney Rodriguez of Lodi began throwing their clothes and other belongings into the hallway, then grabbed a towel and oven mitt and tried to beat back the flames.
By the time a firefighter got Rodriguez out of the Avalon apartment off River Road, the smoke had burned her throat and vocal cords.
All that the 33-year-old former ambulance worker cared about was that the fire was snuffed and none of her loved ones was hurt.
Unable to eat, talk or swallow comfortably since Saturday night’s scare, Rodriguez continued receiving gifts, visitors and well wishes this morning at Englewood Hospital and Medical Center as she recovered from thermal burns to her nose and throat.
Whitney Rodriguez
“Every Hero Needs Flowers” reads a balloon in an arrangement delivered to her room yesterday.
“I might be a hero,” wrote Rodriguez, who has asthma, “but I’m far from invincible….My vocal cords are a mess. I still can’t breathe too well. I’m on oxygen and bed rest — and no talking.”
And this at a time when Rodriguez has plenty to say about how we all prepare ourselves for the possibility of a fire or other emergency.
Although others were unsure what to do when the stove fire erupted, “I used to be an EMT,” Rodriguez told CLIFFVIEW PILOT. “Luckily I work well under pressure.
“The smoke was so dark,” she wrote in an online conversation. “I couldn’t believe how quickly the flames started to engulf the top of the stove.
“Before we knew it, the smoke had us all choking.
“I started trying to get my friends and kids out,” Rodriguez told CLIFFVIEW PILOT, “but people were trying to get dressed. Some were crying or screaming. They weren’t responding to me.
“So I grabbed people’s coats and shoes and began throwing them out into the hall.
“I managed to get a group of people out, then I went back inside and started yelling for my friend to call 911,” she added, “but she was just running around. So I started throwing THEIR stuff into the hallway.
“The smoke was so thick by this time, you had to get down low so you could see. I asked where the fire extinguisher was, but no one could answer me.
“I threw some more stuff into the hallway, then went back inside and woke up my friend’s boyfriend and told him what was happening. Then I tossed out some of his stuff. He got the hint.
“My friend came back and tried to get me out, but I couldn’t hear the fire department coming and I was afraid that the apartment might just go up.
“So I turned off the gas and tried moving things off the stove and out of the oven. I could barely see,” Rodriguez said. “Then I started beating the fire with a towel in one hand and a pot holder in the other.
“I couldn’t breathe, but I must have been running on adrenaline. I wanted to leave, but I couldn’t. I ran to the back again to make sure that everyone was out.”
Damage was confined to the kitchen.
Firefighters were later ventilating the unit when one of them checked on Rodriguez.
“At first I didn’t want to go to the hospital,” she told CLIFFVIEW PILOT, “but I couldn’t talk and I could feel my throat burning down and deep.”
Those attending to her at EHMC contacted their counterparts at St. Barnabas Hospital in Livingston.
“Since my throat wasn’t swollen shut or blistering, I was stable,” Rodriguez said.
“I couldn’t talk, I could barely breathe but I didn’t need to be intubated.
“By that time my friends were at the hospital thanking me for saving their lives and their kids’ lives — and, of course, saving the turkey,” she typed with a smile.
“I have thermal burns to my throat and nose my vocal chords are inflamed and my carbon monoxide levels are high due to the smoke inhalation. But I’m here. I’m lucky.”
Rodriguez is also intent on getting an important message across.
“People need emergency plans,” she wrote. “They need to know where the nearest fire extinguisher is. They need to have their own in the apartment.
“DO NOT GET DRESSED IN A BURNING APARTMENT.”
Imagine it, Rodriguez added: People you love all in one space that is suddenly on fire.
Imagine it, because it happens, she said.
“I’m so grateful that my friends and their kids are OK because you never know,” she wrote. “And the outpouring of well wishes has been amazing.
“But, really, I wish I could sit down each person I care about and ask them, ‘What’s YOUR plan to stay alive?’ “
SHOUT OUTS: A trio of Bergen County sheriff’s officers were officially promoted yesterday — one to lieutenant and two to sergeant — all filling previously vacated positions, Sheriff Michael Saudino said this afternoon.
New Lt. Lewis Morrell has been with the sheriff’s office 24 years and previously oversaw a robust warrant squad as Detective Bureau supervisor. Morell also led a group of local volunteers who participated in the Louisiana recovery after Hurricane Katrina. He also was president of PBA Local 134 for 12 years.
New Sgt. Thomas Braney, who will be assigned to the Homeland Security/Operations Unit, also began his law enforcement career in 1990, spending 13 years as a corrections officer and becoming a sheriff’s officer in 2003. He is a co-founder of the Project Lifesaver program, which provides a rapid response for those with special needs to reduce the potential for serious injury.
New Sgt. Shaun Mathew — who began his law enforcement career in 2004 as a corrections officer and five years later became a sheriff’s officer in the warrant unit — has extensive training and experience in fugitive apprehension, narcotics investigations and interviewing. Mathew also will be assigned to Homeland Security/Operations.
Saudino congratulated the trio.
“I am grateful for the work that they have put in and for the services they provide to Bergen County residents,” the sheriff said.
SHOUT OUTS: A trio of Waldwick police officers are being honored next week for saving the life of an 87-year-old resident who’d suffered a heart attack.
Sgt. Tom Dowling and Officers Dave Passaretti and Officer Kyle Moore used CPR and an automated external defibrillator to revive the Moore Avenue resident on May 7.
He was then taken to The Valley Hospital in Ridgewood before spending some time in a rehabilitation facility, Lt. Douglas Moore said this morning.
“The officers were unaware of the ultimate outcome after he was taken to the hospital,” Moore said. “But Sgt. Dowling recently stopped by the house and was greeted at the door by the man — who is alive and well.”
He was expected to attend this Tuesday’s Mayor and Council meeting for the presentation of life-saving awards to the officers.
SHOUT OUTS: Two Tenafly police officers rescued a victim suffering a heroin overdose in a residence last night, in the department’s first Narcan save.
Lt. Ralph Lawrance and Sgt. Nicholas Roux found the 23-year-old man unconscious, unresponsive and having difficulty breathing just before 10:30 p.m., Capt. Michael deMoncada told CLIFFVIEW PILOT this afternoon.
Roux administered two doses of Narcan, and the man quickly regained consciousness as his breathing improved, deMoncada said.
The Tenafly Volunteer Ambulance Corps took him to Englewood Medical Center, where he was recovering.
A PUBLISHER WRITES: No one organizes a rally or a march when police resolve a deadly threat without anyone getting hurt, so it was nice to see an awards ceremony last night for a quartet of Ridgewood police officers and a Glen Rock cop working as an EMT who swiftly and safely disarmed and subdued a troubled 55-year-old man who pulled a knife on them.
Officers were called to the Chestnut Street home of James Brown on Nov. 18 by a maintenance worker who was having a dispute with him.
Brown cooperated at first, agreeing to go to the hospital for a psychiatric evaluation, they said.
Then he suddenly pulled a weapon the size of a Swiss Army knife.
Acting quickly, the group snatched the knife and subdued him. Brown, who was taken to Bergen Regional Medical Center, was charged with aggravated assault on a police officer, resisting arrest and weapons offenses.
“It’s a testament to the caliber of officers we have and the training they receive,” Ridgewood Police Chief John Ward (above, second from left) told CLIFFVIEW PILOT.
The village Combat Cross recipients:
Ridgewood Sgt. Brian Pullman
Ridgewood Detective Peter Youngberg
Ridgewood Officer Rosario Vaccarella
Ridgewood Officer Raymond Tarino
Glen Rock Officer Murray Yang
Vaccarella and Tarino were cut, though not severely, as they and their colleagues risked their own personal safety to quell the threat without violence, Detective Lt. Forest A. Lyons noted.
Jerry DeMarco
CLIFFVIEW PILOT
Publisher/Editor
Courts have held that the use of deadly force is authorized in situations even less dangerous than the one these officers faced.
For nearly 30 years, the court-approved standard distance at which someone holding a knife is deemed a potential deadly threat is 21 feet.
In other words: In the time it takes an officer to recognize that someone is charging him with an “edged” weapon, pull his service weapon and fire two rounds at center mass, the average assailant can cover a distance of 21 feet (“charging” being the operative word here).
Know how fast that is in real time?
The quickest can make it in 1.27 seconds.
Even lumberers can cover the distance in 2½ seconds.
Brown was much, much closer. And he wasn’t standing still.
The “reasonable standard” established by the U.S. Supreme Court in Graham v. Connor clearly would have protected these officers had they made a different choice.
That they didn’t is the headline here.
As Lyons noted: “This was an extremely dangerous incident that was handled exceptionally well by all involved. These officers put their own personal safety at risk to restrain a party that was extremely disturbed and hostile toward all parties present.
“Their actions were indicative of their excellent abilities as police officers and their high regard for all members of the public’s safety,” the lieutenant wrote, in recommending all four for the Combat Cross.
How about we have a demonstration of our gratitude for the work these and other officers do every day? Maybe enough of us can create a crowd so large that we block traffic.
We could do it monthly — or even weekly.
Shoot — we get enough people, we can do it every day.
Would make a great message for today’s youth and inject some much-needed balance into this runaway distorted-truths PR campaign against law enforcement.
While we’re at it, we can make a suggestion to those who would bash our protectors — be they newspaper types, misguided college students or the opportunists whose lives are so miserable that they try to tear down our most valued institutions.
Next time their kid’s head is stuck in a fence or they find their money missing — or, better yet, when they hear a noise downstairs in the middle of the night — don’t dial 911. Call a newspaper reporter or editor instead. Call Larry Hamm and his People’s Organization for Progress. Call Al Sharpton.
Then let me know how that works out.
PHOTO: CLIFFVIEW PILOT Senior Correspondent Boyd A. Loving / L to R: Glen Rock Police Chief Frederick Stahman, Ridgewood Police Chief John Ward, Ridgewood Mayor Paul Aronsohn, Ridgewood PD Sergeant Brian Pullman, Detective Peter Youngberg, Officer Raymond Tarino, Glen Rock PD Patrol Officer Murray Yang
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A PUBLISHER WRITES: A media report this weekend that the state attorney general has “launched” an investigation into the September shooting of an ex-con who tried to ram police with a stolen SUV in Rutherford after crashing during a chase is somewhat disingenuous. READ MORE….
SHOUT OUT: Sunny, comfortable weather is forecast for tomorrow’s third annual Wood-Ridge PBA Local #313 Toy Drive for infants to young teens.
All gifts will go to Big Brothers, Big Sisters.
Along with new, unwrapped toys and other gifts, police will be accepting gift cards from Toys R Us, Wal-Mart, Target, KMart and Game Stop.
Refreshments will be served.
The event runs from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the borough police garage, 85 Humboldt St., and is co-sponsored by the Italian American Police Society of NJ.
