TRIBUTE: Fair Lawn Police Officer Mary Ann Collura’s brother, two sisters and other friends, loved ones and colleagues watched with pride this afternoon as a portrait of the slain veteran was hung in a borough courtroom as part of this year’s 11th annual remembrance service at the Municipal Building.

Patricia Snyder, Linda Hughes and Paul Collura joined nearly 75 people in honoring Collura, who was gunned down on the grounds of the Van Riper Ellis Broadway Baptist Church on River Road after coming to the aid of a fellow officer trying to arrest a murderous ex-con a decade ago.

Then, as today, it was Holy Thursday.

PHOTO: Courtesy DOUGLAS HABER

Fair Lawn Police Chief Glen Cauwels made opening remarks, and a blessing was given by Fair Lawn Detective David Boone, who is also a minister at Van Riper Ellis.

“As time goes by, it doesn’t get any less emotional for us,” Boone later told CLIFFVIEW PILOT.

The gold-framed portrait, which had been at PBA headquarters, was hung behind the dais in the council chambers by the Fair Lawn Police Honor Guard as the attendees observed a moment of silence.

VIDEO by DOUGLAS HABER

“Today isn’t just a day to remember her sacrifice but to remember what she did for each and every one of us,” fellow Officer Michael O’Brien told CLIFFVIEW PILOT. “So much has been left inside of us because of what she’s done.”

O’Brien recalled a time when ne was riding bikes with a friend in a wooded area when he was 15.

Police had been having trouble with some undesirables in the area, and Collura stopped them both.

“She checked us out until she knew that we were good to go,” he said, laughing. “I saw her a few days later, and she said, ‘Weren’t you …?’

“She may have been stern with us, but she had a heart of gold.”

PHOTO: Courtesy DOUGLAS HABER

Time has only strengthened memories of Collura, an 18-year veteran who was Fair Lawn’s first female police officer and a shining light throughout the community.

Her badge number, 136, is a familiar sight around town and beyond.

Collura was respected, admired and loved. Her commendation file contained a letter citing her professionalism from a motorist she’d ticketed.

She has a street, a rifle range and a post office, among other locations, named after her.

A lifelong borough resident, Collura attended William Paterson College.

She was so dedicated to public service that she nearly joined the Army before volunteering with the borough’s police reserves.

Three years later, she was in uniform with the Fair Lawn Police Department.

“I wanted to be on the road, taking it as it comes,” Collura once said, explaining her reason for becoming an officer.

PHOTO: Courtesy DOUGLAS HABER

The words still haunt those who loved her, many who still visit her grave in George Washington Memorial Park.

A Clifton colleague was chasing a speeding ex-con on Route 46 when the pursuit headed into Fair Lawn.

Collura was on her way when the driver — a 23-year-old drug dealer from Passaic named Omar Marti — lost control of his car, which ended up on the lawn of the church.

Marti tried to run, but the Clifton officer tackled him and was trying to pepper-spray him when Collura arrived.

Marti, desperate not to go back to prison, pulled a gun and fired, hitting Collura twice.

He then shot the other officer, got behind the wheel of Collura’s cruiser and drove over her while speeding off.

She was only 43.

Investigators from the Bergen County Prosecutor’s Office traced Marti to a town just outside Tampa, Fla., where he was killed in a shootout with area sheriff’s officers.

Today’s remembrance began with the “Pledge of Allegiance” before the portrait by Michael Malzone of Pompton Lakes was hung. It closed with many singing “God Bless America.” Also played was a song written in Collura’s honor called “The Ultimate Sacrifice.”

Boone read a poem, “Thank You, Officer,” that speaks to the day-to-day love, caring and consideration shown by the most dedicated public servants. He also quoted from President Kennedy’s 1961 “ask not what your country can do for you” inaugural address.

“That was Mary Ann,” Boone told CLIFFVIEW PILOT. “She embodied that. She cared for so many people. That’s why we still care so much for her.”

TOP PHOTO: Courtesy FAIR LAWN P.O. MICHAEL O’BRIEN

FLPBA #67

YOU READ IT HERE FIRST: A car burglary in Allendale led to the capture of a fugitive wanted in connection with an international ring that stole and carjacked luxury vehicles in New Jersey and New York and shipped them to West Africa, where they sold for significantly more than the U.S. sticker price.

Abdur Abdullah, 32, of Irvington was on the FBI’s Most Wanted list and was being sought by the New Jersey State Police as part of a takedown earlier this year in which 140 cars were recovered and more than $8 million seized.

State authorities said he acted as a street-level fence for the ring.

A witness Wednesday afternoon called Allendale police after seeing Abdullah in the driver’s seat of a 2014 BMW parked in a garage, attempting to steal it,  Sgt. Terrence Lawler said.

Abdullah took off after she saw him, the woman told police.

Surrounding departments were notified and, moments later, Saddle River police stopped a grey Dodge Charger with two occupants, Lawler said.

The driver, 27-year-old Attallah Ahmad, of Irvington was charged with being an accomplice to burglary and criminal attempt. She posted $10,000 bail yesterday and was released from the Bergen County Jail.

Abdullah, meanwhile, was turned over to state authorities. He’s charged in Allendale with burglary, criminal attempt and providing false information to police — for giving police a fake name that was corrected through fingerprinting.

Abdullah was wanted for his part in an auto theft and carjacking crime ring taken down by the NJ State Police in “Operation Jacked.” He was also wanted by police in Pittsburgh.

The NJSP arrested more than two dozen people following a 10-month investigation involving the state Division of Criminal Justice and assisted by the Port Authority of New York & New Jersey Police, ICE Homeland Security Investigations and a dozen other agencies.

Charges include racketeering, carjacking and money laundering, among other counts, with bails ranging from $100,000 to $1 million.

The ring targeted high-end vehicles – particularly luxury SUVs – made by Land Rover, Mercedes Benz, BMW, Honda, Porsche, Jaguar and Aston Martin, and operated in Bergen, Essex, Morris, Middlesex, Monmouth and Union counties, acting NJ Attorney General John J. Hoffman said.

Of the roughly 160 vehicles recovered, 140 were found at ports — among them, Port Newark, Port Elizabeth and Howland Hook Seaport in Staten Island, N.Y.

Twenty-seven of the recovered vehicles had been taken in carjackings — a majority of which involved a gun or other weapon — while the others were stolen from various locations where the thieves were able to steal them with one or more of their electronic keys or key fobs, which are critical to the resale value of the cars, he said.

Some of the crews targeted victims by bumping their cars from behind, getting them to stop and get out to exchange insurance information, Hoffman said.

They then stole the cars either by force — or simply jumping in and driving off if the key was left in the ignition, he said.

Thefts also occurred at car washes and at airports, where drivers left cars running at terminals while unloading luggage.

Cars were stolen from manufacturers as they sat on carrier-trailers in lots, and other times from car dealerships.

Valets at restaurants and other businesses were held up, so the thieves could ransack key boxes.

They also scouted wealthy neighborhoods for unlocked high-end cars that had a key fob left in the glove box.

And, finally, some wrote bum checks to buy the cars from new and used car dealers.

The crews ordinarily stored — or “cooled off” — freshly stolen cars for awhile in hospital parking garages, long-term parking garages, residential backyards, warehouses and private storage garages to make sure they weren’t equipped with tracking devices that could draw police to them, Hoffman said.

Once a vehicle was sufficiently “cooled,” it was moved to a fence, he said.

The stolen cars typically moved through at least two levels of fences before reaching their ultimate destinations, authorities said.

Carjackers and thieves, who worked in “theft crews,” typically were paid $4,000 to $8,000 per vehicle by street-level fences, who sold cars up the chain to higher-level fences, Hoffman said. Fences often used “wheel men” to drive the vehicles to different spots while prices were being negotiated, they said.

Shippers then loaded the cars into containers, which were taken to various ports for transport by ship to West Africa, he said.

Although most of the cars where shipped overseas, some were sold in New Jersey, New York, Delaware, Connecticut and Massachusetts, Hoffman said.

“This ring we took down was a double threat,” he said. “Its members committed carjackings that put the public in grave danger, while at the same time, through their fencing and shipping operations, they created demand that motivated others to commit carjackings.

“We hit them hard from both ends, completely dismantling their operations.”

BEYOND BERGEN: A truck driver devised a contraption that allowed him to pull a strap to lift up his license plate as he passed through a tollbooth without paying, in an attempt to avoid getting caught on camera, Port Authority police said.

PAPD Officer Ed Benenati spotted the gizmo in action and stopped 33-year-old Eric Mark Bonhommer at the Goethals Bridge yesterday afternoon.

The 1977 Freightliner had no cargo, the authority’s Joseph Pentangelo said.

As it rolled through the toll lane in Elizabeth, he said, the front license plate “swung up.”

Courtesy PORT AUTHORITY PD

Benenati followed the truck and pulled it over, after which Bonhommer “admitted that he had pulled the plate up to avoid the toll,” Pentangelo said.

The plate was on a hinge, with a strap threaded through a rubber tube that snaked through the truck body to the driver’s cabin near the steering column, he said.

Bonhommer hurriedly tried to remove it, “destroying the elaborate contraption,” once he knew he was caught, Pentangelo said.

He said Bonhommer told Benenati that he “pulled the plate because he didn’t know his EZPass balance.”

PAPD police impounded the truck, which Pentangelo said belongs to a relative of Bonhommer’s, and arrested him on charges of theft and tampering with evidence.

IMAGES: Courtesy PORT AUTHORITY PD

ONLY ON CVP: An undercover investigation by the Bergen County Prosecutor’s Narcotic Task Force led to the seizure of more than 25 pounds of pot, an undisclosed amount of anabolic steroids and $500,000 in cash, along with the arrests of four people.

Luis A. Cordero (also known as “Jersey”), Johathan R. Murray (aka “Red”), Luis J. Rojas-Jimenez (“Gato”) and Nastassia Samadzelkava were arrested after drug buys in Paramus, Hoboken and Lakewood between the beginning of July 2012 and December of last year, records show.

Cordero and Roja-Jimenez, of Costa Rica, were charged in connection with an Oct. 18 deal in Paramus and a Nov. 1 incident in Lakewood, both last year, according to court records.

Cordero and Samadzelkava, a Belarus national, were charged with two counts of posssessing Oxymethelone with the intent to sell the drug.

All four are charged with conspiracy to possess marijuana with the intent to sell the drug and with transporting ill-gotten cash.

YOU READ IT HERE FIRST: Garfield police said they caught a 15-year-old boy with a BB gun that looks similar to a Beretta model after a tipster said he showed the weapon tucked into his waistband.

Officers responding to Cambridge and Van Winkle avenues yesterday afternoon found the white teen in the gray hoodie, as described by the witness, Detective Capt. Darren Sucorowski said.

He was with three other teens, the captain said.

The boy was taken into custody after officers found him carrying a loaded .177-caliber Daisy Powerline 340, Sucorowski said.

The Powerline seized is similar to the larger gun shown in the photo above. It is similar in appearance to the Beretta 92FS, also depicted in the photo (smaller).

The boy was released to a parent pending a hearing on a juvenile delinquency complaint of unlawful weapons possession in the Family Division of Superior Court in Hackensack, the captain said.

UPDATE: A Bergen County Police Department officer remained in critical condition after being rushed in “full trauma” to Hackensack University Medical Center following a crash on Route 46 in Lodi around 1:20 a.m.

• YOU READ IT HERE FIRST: A Lodi math teacher and athletic coach was drunk when his car rammed into a Bergen County Police Department SUV on Route 46 in Lodi overnight, critically injuring Officer Daniel Breslin, Bergen County Prosecutor John L. Molinelli said this morning. READ MORE ….

The driver of the vehicle that slammed into 39-year-old Daniel Breslin’s SUV at high speed “fled on foot but was apprehended a short time later by Lodi PD,” Bergen County Police Capt. James Mullin said early this morning.

Breslin “received serious injuries and was entrapped in his patrol vehicle,” Mullin said. “After being extricated from the vehicle he was transported to HUMC.”

The car nearly t-boned the police cruiser, hitting it at a high rate of speed, emergency responders at the scene told CLIFFVIEW PILOT.

“The rear driver’s side door was in the middle of the seat,” one said.

Hasbrouck Heights and Garfield rescue squads responded, along with Lodi police, firefighters and EMS, Bergen County Police, NJSP and other area departments.

The highway was temporarily closed in both directions near the scene in front of the Brake-O-Rama Goodyear, along a strip of auto parts stores on both sides of the busy highway.

Breslin, a married father of two, is a former South Hackensack Police Officer who was laid off for budgetary reasons and hired by the BCPD in 2010.

The Bergen County Prosecutor’s Office Fatal Accident Investigation Unit is handling the case, Mullin said.

CVP PHOTOS: Kevin Teel

YOU READ IT HERE FIRST: A Lodi math teacher and athletic coach was drunk when his car rammed into a Bergen County Police Department SUV on westbound Route 46 in Lodi overnight, critically injuring Officer Daniel Breslin, Bergen County Prosecutor John L. Molinelli said this morning.

Breslin (photo, right) sustained a “significant head injury” and was brought to surgery with a skull fracture and bleeding after a CAT scan was done following the 1:50 a.m. crash, Molinelli said. He also reportedly suffered broken ribs.

BCPD Officer Daniel Breslin

“He underwent surgery this morning and is in critical condition,” the prosecutor said.

Breslin, 39, had stopped his SUV to block traffic from hitting another county police car stopped on the right shoulder in front of the Enterprise Rent-A-Car because fellow Officer Frank Canaje was having radio problems, Molinelli said.

He parked his vehicle parallel to Canaje’s and was talking with him when the SUV was rammed from behind by a black, four-door 2012 Ford Fusion, Molinelli said.

He identified the driver as 36-year-old Michael Ettz of Long Valley Road.

“After the impact, Officer Canaje radioed his headquarters of the crash and removed Ettz from his vehicle,” the prosecutor said. “Ettz was brought to an area off the roadway where he then fled on foot north behind the businesses and into a nearby neighborhood.

“He was apprehended in the backyard of 6 Christopher Court by Sgt. Michael LaRosa of the Lodi Police Department,” Molinelli said.

Both Breslin and Ettz — who is married to a Leonia middle schoolteacher — were taken to HUMC via ambulance.

Ettz, who sustained minor injuries, remained hospitalized in the custody of the Bergen County Prosecutor’s Office and the Lodi PD.

Bergen County police charged Ettz with aggravated assault, DWI assault by auto, leaving the scene of a crash with serious bodily injury, hindering apprehension and obstruction.

He was issued summosnes for DWI, reckless driving, failing to yield to an emergency vehicle.

Breslin, a married father of two, is a former South Hackensack Police Officer who was laid off for budgetary reasons and hired by the BCPD in 2010.

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CVP BROKE THE STORY soon after the crash: Bergen County Police Department officer critical, driver arrested, following Route 46 crash in Lodi

PHOTOS above, top: ANDREW McDONALD

CLIFFVIEW PILOT PHOTOS: Kevin Teel

YOU SAW IT HERE FIRST: A driver was hospitalized with injuries that weren’t considered life-threatening this afternoon after a BMW SUV collided with a Honda Civic and rolled over in Closter.

The driver of the BMW and two passengers were already out when emergency responders arrived at the Closter Dock Road crash scene at 3:25 p.m.

The Honda driver was removed on a backboard and was taken to Hackensack University Medical Center.

Closter police, firefighters and rescue squad responded, along with Alpine police.

Closter Dock Road was closed from Piermont to Anderson avenues.

YOU READ IT HERE FIRST: The 76-year-old mother of a Bergen County Sheriff’s officer and a retired Carlstadt police detective was killed in a fast-moving, smoky fire that swept through her single-family home this morning.

The Carlyle Court blaze erupted just after 9:15 a.m. and quickly raced through the house, witnesses and responders told CLIFFVIEW PILOT. The victim, Dolores Bellina, was trapped inside.

“A police officer tried to get in the front door, but the smoke was too heavy,” an emergency responder said. “We weren’t sure at first if she was in there.”

An arcing live wire made the task even more troublesome for firefighters.

Bellina’s son, Anthony, was with the police department for 20 years before retiring in 2010. Her husband died in 2007.

Her grandson, also named Anthony, currently is a patrol officer with the police department, and was working the desk when this morning’s fire call came in.

The emergency responders included the Moonachie and Wood-Ridge rescue teams, along with local police and firefighters and an East Rutherford engine.

The Bergen County Prosecutor’s Arson squad and the sheriff’s Bureau of Criminal Identification were at the scene.

SHOUT OUT: Hackensack firefighters and their families celebrated their 35th year of the Muscular Dystrophy Association’s “Fill the Boot Drive” by hittting the street yesterday and raising $4,000.

It was an “all hands” operation for more than two dozen on- and off-duty members of Hackensack Professional Firefighters IAFF Local 2081 and Hackensack Professional Fire Officers IAFF Local 3172, accompanied by their loved ones.

They also had a special visit from Kaitlin Spreen, one of their local MDA representatives and a summer camp attendee.

Fireman/ MDA Coordinator Timmy Rice asked Kaitlin if she was ready for this year’s camp.

She said she was so excited, “I follow a count clock on my phone.”

120 days to go, she said.

The firefighters have another boot drive set for Labor Day weekend, in tandem with the MDA’s annual telethon.

They’re hoping to reach their fundraising goal of $10,000, which will be used towards MDA research, medicine, muscle therapy, and the much anticipated summer camp.

PHOTOS: Courtesy TIMMY RICE

This year marks the 60th anniversary of the International Association of FireFighters efforts in filling the boot for the MDA.

The Bergen County Police Department and its PBA had special Easter messages today. And a former co-worker had some good news.

“Thank you for the outpouring of support and prayers. We have reason to believe that it is working,” Capt. James Mullin said, on behalf of the department.

“Although PO Breslin continues to fight for his life, we are encouraged by evidence that PO Breslin is staying strong,” Mullin said.

Inset: BCPD OFFICER DANIEL BRESLIN
(Crash PHOTO: CLIFFVIEWPILOT.COM)

Meanwhile, PBA Local #49 President Vincent Sileo wrote:

“I’d like to take a moment to thank all of our Brothers and Sisters in Law Enforcement, Fire Fighters, EMS personnel, Elected Officials, Family and Friends, News Media and the public for the tremendous amount of support that has been shown to our member Police Officer, Daniel Breslin, to his personal family and the family of the Bergen County Police Department.

“We have asked for prayers and your generous support continues to pour in to assist our needs,” Sileo said. “I am proud to report that your prayers are being heard and every little bit of positive news helps to keep our thoughts alive of a recovery.”

Breslin, a former South Hackensack police officer who joined the BCPD in 2010, sustained a severe head injury, a fractured skull and broken ribs that collapsed a lung. Yet some officers who’ve visited him this weekend at Hackensack University Medical Center said they’ve come away optimistically hopeful.

“Danny had some slight improvement today,” South Hackensack Deputy Police Chief Robert Licamara said this afternoon. “[His doctor] is pleased.”

“He’s such a great guy,” a municipal police officer from another department who visited Breslin told CLIFFVIEW PILOT. “And he’s tough, too. If anyone can pull through, it’s Danny.”

YOU READ IT HERE FIRST: A Lodi math teacher and athletic coach posted $150,000 bail and was released from borough headquarters on a variety of criminal charges following what Bergen County Prosecutor John L. Molinelli said was a drunk driving crash on westbound Route 46 overnight that critically injured BCPD Officer Daniel Breslin. READ MORE ….

UPDATE: A Bergen County Police Department officer remained in critical condition after being rushed in “full trauma” to Hackensack University Medical Center following a crash on Route 46 in Lodi around 1:20 a.m. READ MORE ….

It didn’t draw the 500 or more attendees that organizers hoped, but a “smoke in” on the steps of the Statehouse in Trenton to celebrate “National Weed Day” this afternoon went off without a bust.

The “4/20 at Noon” march and rally in support of state Sen. Nicholas Scutari’s marijuana legalization bill was organized by Ed Forchion — also known as NJ Weedman.

It came at the end of a march from the city train station that included a stop at the federal courthouse and included several of the 150 or so who turned out lighting up joints and eating pot brownies.

READ: Bergen judge grants son of reggae great Peter Tosh one-week furlough for Jamaica concert

It included an inflated dummy with a blue shirt, pants, a tie and the fact of Gov. Chris Christie taped onto the head next to a sign that read: “Kids Who Need Medical Marijuana Live in Colorado or Die in New Jersey” and featured a photo of a girl who moved to Colorado from New Jersey next to one who died here last year.

New Jersey State Police kept watch over the proceedings, but no arrests were made.

Attendees included the progeny of two deceased reggae greats — Makeda Marley and  Jawara McIntosh, Peter Tosh’s son, who is awaiting trial for having 65½ pounds of pot in his car during a Mahwah traffic stop last June.

He performed his father’s song “Legalize It.”

“There are just too many medical reports and medical professionals who believe in the medicinal benefits of marijuana to ignore the big government push to limit access,” McIntosh — also known as Tosh 1 — told CLIFFVIEW PILOT last week.

“The only ones who should fear it are the pharmaceutical companies whose medicines rarely work, or work with enormous side effects,” he said.

Ed Forchion (NJ Weedman) COURTESY: Jason Arnold

Forchion — who wore a Christ-like crown of thorns adorned with imitation marijuana leaves — spoke of the disproportionate number of minorities who are jailed or imprisoned because of pot use or possession.

“On this family day (of Easter), think of how many people are in a cage due to a plant,” he told the crowd.

Forchion is serving a staggered 270-day jail sentence separated by days of release for treatment of cancerous tumors in his legs. He said he will move to California, where medical marijuana is legal.

Researchers have cited the effectiveness of marijuana in dealing with nauseau and pain, said Ken Wolski, director of the Coalition for Medical Marijuana of New Jersey.

“So many people are suffering needlessly” he said.

Sunday’s rally was one of several held nationwide.

The “4/20″ counterculture holiday — in both the U.S. and Canada — stems from a group of San Rafael, California teenagers calling themselves the Waldos who began using the term in 1971 as a code for their meeting time while on a search for an abandoned cannabis crop they’d heard about.

They never found the herb, but the term took root. It soon became associated with pot smoking, in general, before sprouting into an annual national observance — publicized in large part by followers of the Grateful Dead.

McIntosh has been free since posting a $200,000 cash bond in December. Two months ago, a judge in Hackensack granted him a one-week furlough so he could perform at a concert in Kingston, Jamaica, as part of Reggae Month there.

Makeda Marley, Jawara McIntosh (COURTESY: Jason Arnold)

McIntosh, 34, didn’t have a license — and had open bottles of booze on the front seat — when his rental car was stopped for recklessly cutting off other motorists on Route 17, Mahwah police said in June.

A group called Cannibas Patriots Unite (CPUnite.org) says McIntosh was arrested for “driving while dread[locked]” and called him the world’s “most important political prisoner.”

The California/Colorado non-profit group contends that McIntosh is accused of possessing an “herb” that in 20 states, including New Jersey, is considered to have medicinal value.

For those who follow the African-based spiritual ideology known as Rastafari, pot is a sacrament — “whether it be a stick or a ton,” the group adds.

“One crucial element of this mission is to make it very clear to the world that arrests for cannabis are politically motivated and are not based on science or legitimate social needs,” CPUnite said in a statement following his bail hearing.

ONLY ON CVP: An Ohio man who admitted his role in a Fort Lee black-market gun deal could be out of prison in 16 months after being sentenced in Hackensack.

Fort Lee police arrested Gary L. Workman, 24, and another Colombus, Ohio man with three handguns — a 9mm FMK, a Jiminez .380-caliber and a Charter Arms Undercover 38 Special — in August 2012.

Workman, who had a history of minor offenses, pleaded guilty to possessing the weapons in return for a five-year state prison sentence and a year’s probation after his release.

A fourth-degree charge of possession of body armor-piercing bullets was dropped as part of the plea deal.

Presiding Superior Court Judge Liliana DeAvila-Silebi sentenced Workman on April 11 to five years in prison, with parole eligibility in August 2015.

ABOVE: The type of guns involved in the sale: 9mm FMK, Jiminez .380-caliber, Charter Arms Undercover .38 Special

PUBLIC SAFETY: Lyndhurst police the next several months will be out enforcing laws requiring motorists to stop for pedestrians – only they won’t be in uniform.

Officers are going undercover as decoys crossing streets in an effort to catch violators – but, more importantly, to educate both drivers and pedestrians themselves, Capt. John Valente said this morning.

Under state law, motorists must stop for pedestrians in marked crosswalks. Violators face fines of up to $200 fine, two points off their driver’s licenses points, 15 days community service and insurance surcharges.

At the same time, the law specifically states that “no pedestrian shall suddenly leave a curb or other place of safety and walk or run into the path of a vehicle which is so close that it is impossible for the driver to yield.”

Pedestrians are also required to “obey pedestrian signals and use crosswalks at signalized intersections.”

Violators can be fined $54.

Although New Jersey has seen traffic deaths decline, the number of pedestrian struck – and killed – continues to grow, authorities say.

YOU READ IT HERE FIRST: Six people from Passaic County illegally collected nearly $79,000 in insurance benefits by staging a crash in which a van collided with a large sedan, an indictment returned by a grand jury in Trenton alleges.

Olivares R. Liberato-Cohen, 45, of Passaic, drove the Dodge Caravan, containing three other people into a Dodge Avenger that contained a driver and passenger on April 25, 2009, the indictment says.

In the Caravan were 26-year-old Jonathan Damian and 29-year-old Harold Gross, as well as Jenny Encarnacion, 33, of Paterson, it says.

In the Avenger, it says, were Ariel Ballista, 27, of Passaic, and an indicted co-conspirator who wasn’t named — and, presumably, is cooperating with authorities.

According to the indictment, Liberato-Cohen was helped by the sixth defendant, 35-year-old Husayn Encarnacion of Paterson, in recruiting his wife, Jenny. Liberato-Cohen recruited the rest, it says.

After the crash, Liberato-Cohen, Ballista, Gross, Damian, and Jenny Encarnacion all “visited certain designated medical providers and submitted, or caused to be submitted, claims to Mercury Insurance Group and Plymouth Rock Assurance (formerly Twin Lights Insurance Company), which insured the automobiles and/or individuals involved in the staged accident,” the indictment alleges.

They then collected $78,829 in medical reimbursement payments and bodily injury settlements, it says.

Acting Attorney General John J. Hoffman cited the “domino effect” such fraud has on New Jersey drivers.

“By staging these types of accidents and engaging in fraudulent conduct, the participants in these schemes drive up the cost of automobile insurance in this state,” he said.

Arrested last week, the defendants were charged in the April 10 indictment with conspiracy, insurance fraud and theft by deception. The Encarnacions also were both charged with hindering.

Jenny Encarnacion and Gross also were charged with false swearing.

The investigation into this case was the result of a prior investigation into staged automobile accidents that occurred in Passaic County, Hoffman said. Charges against Liberato-Cohen in that separate indictment are pending, he said.

According to Hoffman:

“Deputy Attorneys General Bradford Muller and Michael Locke, Lt. Frederic Moore, Sgt. Weldon Powell, Det. Janessa Jones, and Det. Cortney Lawrence coordinated the investigation. Analyst Bethany Schussler assisted in the investigation. Additional investigative assistance was provided by Det. Grace Rocca and Det. Trainee Suzanna Lopez.

“Acting Insurance Fraud Prosecutor Chillemi also thanked the Special Investigation Units from Mercury Insurance Group and Plymouth Rock Assurance, in particular Michelle Miller of Plymouth Rock Assurance, as well Michael Mullane from the Division of Taxation for their assistance in the investigation.”

YOU READ IT HERE FIRST: Fair Lawn police said they caught a 52-year-old car burglar carrying a sack of booty — including cellphones, jewelry and GPS units — as he pedaled his bike toward Paterson overnight.

Terrence Vaughn of Paterson was grabbed near the Morlot Avenue Bridge by Fair Lawn Officers Stephen Buskiewicz, Luis Vasquez, Donald MacIsaac and Joseph Mecionis — with help from the Bergen County Sheriff’s K-9 Unit, at 3 a.m. yestrday after a resident reported seeing a strange man in a Bush Place driveway, police said.

On him he had two GPS units, two cellphones, two pearl necklaces, as well as a silver ring and necklace, a gold watch, a pair of earrings, a coin holder with change, loose change and several bills, Sgt. Brian Metzler said.

He also had a flashlight and a hypodermic needle, Metzler said.

The vehicles burglarized were parked in driveways on Bush Place and Bellair Avenue, the sergeant said.

Vaughn was charged with eight counts of burglary, seven of theft and two of drug paraphernalia possession. He was being bheld on $50,000 bail in the Bergen County Jail.

Vaughn also has warrants out of Mercer County and Lawrence Township.

UPDATE: Officer Daniel Breslin “continues to fight for his life but he is more stable today,” Bergen County Police Chief Brian Higgins said today.

“The medical team at Hackensack University Medical Center is amazing and are giving PO Breslin the best possible care,” Higgins said. “What little information is relayed to us is encouraging.”

“The support for PO Breslin and the sincere concern for his condition is very much appreciated,” the chief added. “We are united with so many of you in holding out hope that [he] Breslin survives this ordeal.

“Thank you for your continued prayers and support. When there is any significant information we will share but right now it appears that we must wait and pray and hope.”

Breslin, a former South Hackensack police officer who joined the BCPD in 2010, remained in a coma this morning.

He sustained a severe head injury, a fractured skull and broken ribs that collapsed a lung after his marked vehicle was struck on Route 46 in Lodi before dawn Saturday by a car driven by a Lodi High School teacher and coach who authorities said was drunk.

Those who visited Breslin this weekend at Hackensack University Medical Center told CLIFFVIEW PILOT that they’ve come away optimistically hopeful.

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RELATED:

The Bergen County Police Department & its PBA had special Easter messages today. And a former co-worker had some good news. READ MORE ….

YOU READ IT HERE FIRST: A Lodi math teacher and athletic coach posted $150,000 bail and was released from borough headquarters on a variety of criminal charges following what Bergen County Prosecutor John L. Molinelli said was a drunk driving crash on westbound Route 46 overnight that critically injured BCPD Officer Daniel Breslin. READ MORE ….

UPDATE: A Bergen County Police Department officer remained in critical condition after being rushed in “full trauma” to Hackensack University Medical Center following a crash on Route 46 in Lodi around 1:20 a.m. READ MORE ….

YOU READ IT HERE FIRST: Fair Lawn police charged a ShopRite cart collector with taking $330 in cash, a bank card and checkbook from a lost pocketbook that they said he found.

The victim came to police headquarters after midnight on Friday and said she realized she left the pocketbook in her shopping cart at the River Road supermarket.

The woman also told police the cart collector — identified as 21-year-old Jonathan Encarnacion — denied having seen it when she asked him.

Officer Luis Vasquez responded and found the pocketbook in a row of collected carts — missing the valuables, Sgt. Brian Metzler said this afternoon.

He and Officer Peter Federico went to Encarnacion’s house, where the told them that he took the cash and tossed the remaining valuable over a fence next to the supermarket, Metzler said. That where officers found them, the sergeant said.

Encarnacion was released pending a hearing on charges of theft of lost of mislaid property.

ONLY ON CVP: A Paterson ex-con was sentenced to six years in prison today for heading an operation that resold more than $150,000 worth of goods that it bought at Macy’s, Bloomingdale’s, Neiman Marcus, Sears and other Bergen County stores with bogus credit cards.

“You have quite a record,” Superior Court Judge Edward A. Jerejian told 33-year-old Shontera Jennings this morning. “Over 42 juvenile arrests.”

TV viewers know Jennings from the MSNBC show “Lockup,” shot at the Bergen County Jail in Hackensack.

Her adult criminal history stretches back more than a decade and includes aggravated assaults on police officers, jail records show.

After pleading guilty to trafficking in personal identification, Jennings skipped the original sentencing March 7, then surrendered last Wednesday. Under this morning’s sentence, she won’t be eligible for parole for two years, under this morning’s sentence.

Jennings bought personal finance information on nearly six dozen mortgage and refinancing applicants from an employee with a Paterson company that archives customer files a lending corporation, authorities said.

That man, 49-year-old Kyle Davis, is still awaiting trial in connection with the case. He remains free on $100,000 bail.

The investigation, dubbed “Operation Unauthorized User,” determined that the victims “had recently refinanced or applied for mortgages” through the company, Bergen County Prosecutor John L. Molinelli said at the time.

Jennings applied for and obtained credit cards created with the victims’ information and then recruited “unauthorized buyers” to use the numbers on those cards, Molinelli said.

Detectives from various police departments obtained records and began interviewing potential witnesses, the prosecutor said. They also reviewed surveillance video from the various stores that showed the purchasers in action, he said.

Using the “Account Look-Up” method, the buyers accessed the victims’ credit accounts and then showed a driver’s license or other photo ID to prove they were listed on those accounts, Molinelli said.

Some of the victims went to police after receiving bills from, among others, Comenity Bank (which services Annie Sez, Victoria’s Secret, Lane Bryant and other stores), Macy’s, Bloomingdale’s, Saks 5th Avenue, Neiman Marcus, Kohl’s, Lowe’s, Sears, and more, the prosecutor said.

Others received mail from the stores congratulating them on new accounts they hadn’t opened.

STORY / PHOTOS: Mary K. Miraglia, CLIFFVIEW PILOT Courthouse Reporter

Detectives in Saddle Brook got the ball rolling after contacting Molinelli’s investigators following identity theft complaints.

A multi-jurisdictional Identity Theft Task Force was then formed, including police from:

• Englewood;
• Franklin Lakes;
• Ho-Ho-Kus;
• Midland Park;
• Montvale;
• Bernards Township;
• Chester Township;
• Saddle Brook;
• Saddle River;
• Upper Saddle River;
• Morris County Prosecutor’s Office;
• North Haledon;
• Paterson

UPDATE: The family of critically injured Bergen County Police Officer Daniel Breslin thanked everyone this afternoon for “all the love and concern” and asked that people focus more on him and his recovery than on details of the crash at the hands of a man who authorities said was drunk.

Family members also extended a special thank you for “the endless assistance the BCPD has offered [the] family.”

Breslin “continues to stay strong and fight hard,” Bergen County Police Capt. James Mullin said. “While he is still in critical condition he has responded positively to treatment.”

Mullin also released a statement this afternoon from the family, which said:

“The outpouring of support from multiple communities, friends, organizations and agencies has been greatly appreciated. Danny is a dedicated father; husband, brother, son, uncle, nephew, cousin, and friend to all. He embodies all of the qualities of a genuine role model and dutiful community leader in all facets of his life.

“While many news reports and articles have focused on the details of the accident and individual [who] caused this horrific event,” its adds, “the family asks that everyone shift all of their focus on efforts of prayer for a full recovery of this loving, dedicated man.

“Through this time of misfortune, their family has experienced the best in people. They choose to accentuate the positive during this period.

“They are truly humbled by the kindness of people locally and globally. The widespread assistance and encouragement for their beloved Danny has been a true indication of how he has carried himself throughout his life.

“Danny is always the first person to run to help a friend or family member in time of need. The constant presence of physical support, emails, phone calls, and prayers are nothing short of amazing.

“They are hopeful that Dan will face this situation with the same resolute determination by which he has handled himself in all areas of life.

“They are confident that the variety of support has and will continue to shine glimmers of light on Danny and turn this dim situation bright.

“Officer Breslin’s family would like to especially thank the medical teams at Hackensack University Medical Center that have been tirelessly working to make strides in all of the right directions.

“While they would like to recognize the tremendous response of all police forces in the area, they would like to specifically express their deepest gratitude to the Bergen County Police Department.

“The BCPD has reinforced their belief that there are true heroes in this world.

“The efforts of the BCPD have been commendable beyond words.”

RELATED:

UPDATE: Officer Daniel Breslin “continues to fight for his life but he is more stable today,” Bergen County Police Chief Brian Higgins said today. READ MORE ….

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UPDATE: The Bergen County Police Department & its PBA had special Easter messages today. And a former co-worker had some good news. READ MORE ….

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YOU READ IT HERE FIRST: A Lodi math teacher and athletic coach posted $150,000 bail and was released from borough headquarters on a variety of criminal charges following what Bergen County Prosecutor John L. Molinelli said was a drunk driving crash on westbound Route 46 overnight that critically injured BCPD Officer Daniel Breslin. READ MORE ….

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UPDATE: A Bergen County Police Department officer remained in critical condition after being rushed in “full trauma” to Hackensack University Medical Center following a crash on Route 46 in Lodi around 1:20 a.m. READ MORE ….