PUBLIC SAFETY: River Vale police more than doubled the amount of expired and unused medications disposed in its Project Medicine Drop box last year.

The 705 pounds brought in — more than a third of a ton — represented a 125% increase over the 312 pounds collected in 2013, the department’s first year with the program instituted by the New Jersey Division of Consumer Affairs.

“Prescription drug abuse has become an alarming issue in New Jersey and beyond,” Police Chief William Giordano said. “We are proud to provide this resource as a means to help safeguard our residents and the community at large.”

More than 100 police departments, sheriff’s offices and State Police barracks have the secure drop boxes, allowing citizens to dispose of prescription drugs anonymously, no questions asked, any time of day.

The venture has been a huge success, state officials say.

“We are seeing [a] strong and growing demand from New Jersey residents who understand the potential dangers posed by unused medications, and who wish to dispose of them safely and securely,” Acting Attorney General John J. Hoffman said last fall.

Fair Lawn police announced their participation today.

That gives Bergen 16 Project Medicine Drop locations, more than any other county in the state, Bergen County Prosecutor John L. Molinelli said (Ocean County is second, with 11; Monmouth has eight).

This is because of a “deep commitment” on the parts of the county Department of Health Service and Municipal Alliance Program, its Office of Alcohol and Drug Dependency, his office and police departments countywide to fight heroin and prescription drug abuse, he said.

“Direct engagement with the public is an important key to preventing and reducing the abuse and diversion of prescription drugs,” Teaneck Acting Police Chief Robert A. Carney said.

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BERGEN PROJECT MEDICINE DROP POLICE LOCATIONS:

Allendale PD / (201) 825-1900
Dumont PD / (201) 387-5000
Fair Lawn PD / (201) 794-5365
Lodi PD / (973) 473-7600
Leonia PD / (201) 944-0800
Montvale PD / (201) 391-4600
Oakland PD / (201) 337-6171
Palisades Park PD / (201) 944-0900
Paramus PD / (201) 262-3400
Park Ridge PD / (201) 391-5400
Ridgefield PD / (201) 943-5210
River Vale PD / (201) 664-2346
Teaneck PD / (201)-837-2600
Tenafly PD / (201) 568-5100
Washington Township / (201) 664-1140
Waldwick PD / (201) 652-5700

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Covanta Energy, a nationwide operator of energy-from-waste and renewable energy facilities, destroys the dropped-off medications from across New Jersey at no cost to taxpayers or to the participating police departments.

Before this, most people flushed their unused prescription drugs down the toilet, threw them in the trash, or kept them in the household medicine cabinet. This contaminated the water supply, helped start and feed habits — often for children — and tempted thieves.

“The medication can either be disposed of in its original container or can be removed from its container and placed in the disposal box,” Fair Lawn Police Sgt. Brian Metzler said. “Liquid products should be disposed of in its original container with the cap tightly sealed, to prevent leakage.”

The drop box method is “anonymous and made to protect anonymity,” Lyndhurst Capt. John Valente said. “No questions or requests for identification will be made.”

In fact, Valente said, you should “remove the prescription label if it contains any personal identifying information.”

New Jersey last year had nearly 6,700 admissions to state-licensed or certified substance abuse treatment programs due to prescription drug abuse, an increase of nearly 300% over the past decade.

According to the 2012 National Survey on Drug Use and Health, approximately 6.8 million Americans currently abuse pharmaceutical controlled substances – almost twice as much as the combined number of those who use cocaine, hallucinogens, heroin, and/or inhalants.

Nearly 110 Americans die every day from drug-related overdoses, and about half of those overdoses are related to opioids, a class of drug that includes prescription painkillers and heroin.

In addition, 22,134 Americans died in 2011 from overdoses of prescription medications, including 16,651 from narcotic painkillers, says the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The government warns that the majority of abused prescription drugs are obtained from family and friends, including from the home medicine cabinet.

ONLY ON CVP: A grand jury in Newark indicted an ex-con from Newark on charges of fighting with a trio of Upper Saddle River police after a DWI stolen-car chase through five Bergen County towns.

Upper Saddle River Police Sgt Jamie Board and Officers Kyle Zyskowski and Michael Spina were treated for minor injuries and released following the Aug. 28 incident, which authorities said began around 11:15 p.m. when 49-year-old Robert L. Hance was spotted driving erratically on Route 17

A low-speed pursuit ended when Hance drove off the highway and the vehicle struck a curb near a Linwood Avenue construction site in Ridgewood, Upper Saddle River Police Lt. Edward Kane told CLIFFVIEW PILOT at the time.

Hance bailed out and tried to run but was quickly caught, then scuffled with the officers, Kane said.

EMTs took Hance to Bergen Regional Medical Center in police custody. The Bergen County Prosecutor’s Fatal Accident Investigation Unit was called out due to the extent of what at the time appeared to be more serious injuries, a law enforcement source with direct knowledge of the incident said.

Police also seized the the black 1986 Chevy Caprice sedan, which CLIFFVIEW PILOT learned was taken from the owner of Nutley KIA and bore the license plate of a GMC truck out of Carlstadt.

Records show Hance has two outstanding warrants, along with at least one weapons-related arrest.

The four-count indictment returned against Hance alleges that he “operated a motor vehicle knowingly fleeing or attempting to elude [police] after having received a signal to bring the vehicle to a full stop…in a manner [that] created a risk of death or injury” through Allendale, Ho-Ho-Kus, Paramus, Upper Saddle River and Waldwick.

Besides charging him with stealing the Chevy, the indictment says that Hance “prevented or tried to prevent [the officers] from effecting an arrest by threatening to use physical force or violence against them” and “purposely, knowingly or recklessly caused bodily injury to all three officers while in the performance of their duties.”

Hance remained held on $50,000 bail in the Bergen County Jail today, down from an original $100,000.

MUGSHOT: Courtesy BERGEN COUNTY SHERIFF

YOU READ IT HERE FIRST: A Hackensack man who police said ran from a traffic stop last summer, leaving his 8-month-old daughter in the back seat, was indicted by a grand jury on child abuse charges.

A 1997 Honda driven by Vontrell Hines, 25, was stopped at Pangborn and Clinton places because it was “all over the road,” Detective Capt. Thomas Salcedo told CLIFFVIEW PILOT immediately following the Aug. 29 incident.

Hines pushed Officer Sean Briggs and took off, leaving the toddler behind, Salcedo said.

A Bergen County Sheriff’s Office K9 unit tracked the 6-foot, 180-pound Hines behind a house on Maple Avenue, where he was taken into custody, the captain said.

Found in the car were several bags of marijuana in a duffel bag, he said.

The girl was reunited with her mother after city juvenile officers contacted state child welfare authorities, Salcedo said.

Hines posted $35,000 bail and was released from the Bergen County Jail a week later.

The indictment returned in Hackensack on Friday charges Hines with causing harm to his daughter, “making [her] an abused or neglected child.”

It ways he also “prevented or attempted to prevent [Briggs] from effecting an arrest by using or threatening physical force or violence.”

The indictment also charges him with fleeing.

Police gave Hines several summonses, including for being under the influence of marijuana while driving.

MUGSHOT: Courtesy BERGEN COUNTY SHERIFF

YOU READ IT HERE FIRST: An ex-con who police told CLIFFVIEW PILOT was carrying $1,980 stolen at gunpoint from a Saddle Brook bank when they arrested him — along with the gun and a detonated dye pack — was sentenced today in Newark to nearly six years in federal prison and three years of supervised release.

U.S. District Court Judge William Martini also sentenced Jorge Rodriguez, 47, to pay $75 in restitution.

Rodriguez, of South River, admitted in U.S. District Court in Newark last June that he used a BB air pistol to rob the TD Bank branch on April 19, 2013.

Rodriguez, who was released from state prison the previous October after serving more than nine years of a 12-year sentence for a pair of Hudson County holdups, entered the Floral Lane bank wearing a disguise that included a hat with a dreadlocks wig attached.

“Give me the money or I’ll shoot,” he said, handing a paper bag to a teller. “You have two seconds.”

As CLIFFVIEW PILOT reported exclusively, a man who spotted him leaving the TD branch told a passerby, “I think that guy just robbed the bank.” (SEE: Details emerge in Saddle Brook bank robbery)

The second man then followed Rodriguez less than two blocks to a Graham Terrace home where he sometimes stayed with a friend who lives there (SEE: Saddle Brook police: Ex-con charged in bank robbery had money, gun).

Along the way, a dye pack that the teller had included in the batch exploded.

Borough police were waiting when the 6-foot-1, 225-pound Rodriguez emerged from his friend’s house less than five hours later (SEE: Saddle Brook police arrest suspect in armed bank robbery).

In a Macy’s shopping bag he was carrying a white cap, the deadlocks hat, another paper shopping bag, cash with red dye on it, a Powerline BB pistol loaded with BBs and an air cartridge — also with red dye on it — and the dye pack.

Authorities had surveillance video that captured images of Rodriguez getting out of a black SUV. The neighbor installed the system after suffering break-ins to his home and car, they told CLIFFVIEW PILOT.

U.S. Attorney Paul J. Fishman credited special agents of the FBI, along with the Saddle Brook Police Department and the Bergen County Prosecutor’s Office for the investigation leading to the subsequent guilty plea.

Representing the government is Assistant U.S. Attorneys Josh Hafetz and David M. Eskew of the Criminal Division of U.S. Attorney’s Office in Newark.

SURVEILLANCE PHOTO: Courtesy Saddle Brook PD

YOU READ IT HERE FIRST: One of five men caught peering into the windows of cars parked outside a Rochelle Park hotel took off, stashing a jar of pot that was later found after police retraced his steps in the snow, authorities said this afternoon.

Lakeith Griffin, 23, of Teaneck (above, left) “admitted to arresting officers that he discarded of marijuana while running” from the Ramada Inn Saturday night, Detective James DePreta told CLIFFVIEW PILOT.

Teaneck police arrested him yesterday on an arrest warrant from Rochelle Park.

Officers Jared Shatkin and Franklin Laboy spotted the five walking between parked cars, peering into windows, around 10 p.m. Saturday, DePreta said.

“As the officers approached the group and attempted to speak with them, they crossed Passaic Street into oncoming traffic,” he said.

Four of them eventually stopped, but Griffin ran toward the Garden State Parkway, the detective said.

Shatkin began to chase him but quickly returned to assist Laboy with the group.

It turned out the group tried to reserve a hotel room to “party” but were refused because there were too many of them, DePreta said.

All four “smell of burnt and unburnt marijuana” and were taken into custody, he said.

Soon after, Parmus police found Griffin hiding under a Parkway underpass.

Charged with possession of drug paraphernalia and with being under the influence of drugs were three Teaneck residents — Tyron Qualls, 18; Brandon Warren, 19; and Shawn Chavannnes, 21 — and 20-year-old Angel Fragos Marchese of the Bronx (clockwise from top left).

Fragos Marchese also was charged with marijuana possession.

Qualls, Warren, Fragos Marchese and Chavannes were released on court summonses.

Rochelle Park police brought additional charges of hindering and obstruction against Chavannes for providing a fake name “in an attempt to avoid arrest for open warrants,” DePreta said.

He was being held on $2,000 bail in the Bergen County Jail after being arrested this afternoon (SEE: Teaneck man sought by police found reading CLIFFVIEW PILOT story that he’s wanted).

Griffin, meanwhile, was initially charged with resisting arrest, tampering with physical evidence and possession of drug paraphernalia.

New charges of marijuana possession with the intent to distribute it within 500 feet of public housing were filed against him after Officer Dean Pinto retraced Griffins’ steps in the snow and found the ounce of pot in a large jar, DePreta said.

Griffin remained held on $35,000 bail in the Bergen County Jail following his arrest by Teaneck police yesterday.

MUGSHOTS: Courtesy ROCHELLE PARK PD

YOU READ IT HERE FIRST: A Carlstadt man who police said fired a shot into the wall of his home during an argument was indicted by a grand jury in Hackensack today on a variety of charges — including threatening to shoot his wife and endangering their two teenage children.

Police at the time said they responded to the 10th Street home of Gregg Venturini on a call of a domestic dispute involving a handgun on Aug. 8.

Venturini, 57, apparently made “suicidal gestures” before firing a single .22-caliber shot into a bedroom wall and then tossing the legally registered Sterling Model 302SS semi-automatic handgun onto a back door overhang below, Carlstadt Police Chief Thomas Nielsen told CLIFFVIEW PILOT.

Sgt. Damir Blagec and Officer Christopher Hasch took Venturini into custody and recovered the gun.

He was taken to Hackensack University Medical Center for medical treatment before being transported to the Bergen County Jail.

Venturini remained jail more than four months before posting $34,500 bail the day after Christmas.

The indictment returned today charges him with:

• illegal weapons possession;
• pointing the gun at his wife “under circumstances manifesting extreme indifference to the value of human life” (aggravated assault);
• threatening to shoot or kill her “in reckless disregard of the risk of causing such terror”;
• making the children — one 17, the other 14 — “abused or neglected.”

MUGSHOT: Courtesy CARLSTADT PD

ONLY ON CVP: A Teaneck man being sought by Rochelle Park police wasn’t surprised when detectives showed up this afternoon at the Paramus Starbucks where he works — he was reading about it on CLIFFVIEW PILOT.

“I knew you were coming,” 21-year-old Shawn Chavannnes told them.

“Then he showed us his phone,” Detective James DePreta said. “His friend just texted him the link to the CLIFFVIEW PILOT story.”

SEE: Rochelle Park police trace steps in snow, charge Teaneck man who fled with stashing ounce of pot

Chavennes was released on a summons after police said they caught him and four other men peering into the windows of cars parked outside the Ramada Inn on West Passaic Street Saturday night.

They brought additional charges of hindering and obstruction against him for providing a fake name “in an attempt to avoid arrest for open warrants,” DePreta said.

It turned out the group tried to reserve a hotel room to “party” but were refused because there were too many of them, he said.

One of them ran off as officers approached them in the parking lot but was caught hiding under a Garden State Parkway overpass by Paramus police a short time later.

That man, 23-year-old Lakeith Griffin, stashed a jar of pot that was later found by a Rochelle Park patrol officer who retraced his steps in the snow, DePreta said. READ MORE….

MUGSHOT: Courtesy ROCHELLE PARK PD

ONLY ON CVP: A Fort Lee woman driving with her son on Route 4 in Teaneck today narrowly missed getting struck by a block of ice that flew off a car in front of them.

“We were going westbound from Fort Lee to the mall and my son, Ian, who is 5½, was watching YouTube on the phone,” Oncu Tuzuner told CLIFFVIEW PILOT.

“When I saw what was happening, I told him to take pictures,” she said. “I was lucky that my right lane was open, so I moved over.”

That’s when the huge chunk came flying by.

“I’m glad nobody got hurt,” Tuzuner said. “Especially us. I was pretty shaky when it was over.”

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PUBLIC SAFETY (WED. UPDATE): State, Bergen County and local police this morning were ticketing motorists driving without cleaning off the tops of their vehicles. READ MORE….

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New Jersey motorists caught not removing ice or snow from their vehicles face fines of $25 to $75 for each offense, regardless of whether the ice and snow is dislodged in transit.

If flying ice or snow causes property damage or injury to others, motorists face fines of $200 to $1,000 for each offense.

“Snow and ice left on a vehicle, in particular on the hood, windows and roof, can become a deadly projectile, creating a hazard for everyone on the road,” the state Division of Highway Traffic Safety says. “The few moments it takes to clear ice and snow from your vehicle could prevent a crash or save a life.”

Col. Rick Fuentes, superintendent of the New Jersey State Police, was more emphatic — saying that the law “prohibits what common sense should have already dictated.”

PHOTOS: Courtesy Oncu Tuzuner

YOU READ IT HERE FIRST: No serious injuries were reported after a small commuter bus caught fire outside a garden apartment complex in Fairview this morning.

Although original reports from the scene were of flames extending to a Crestview Gardens apartment building at 619 Fairview Avenue, police told CLIFFVIEW PILOT that only a utility pole and an awning caught fire.

The flames were extinguished within 15 minutes.

“As a precaution, we temporarily cleared area residents,” Deputy Police Chief Martin Kahn told CLIFFVIEW PILOT. “PSE&G was notified as was responding.”

A firefighter was fine after a blood-pressure check.

Two dozen or so firefighters from Cliffside Park, Fairview and Ridgefield responded.

PUBLIC SAFETY: State, Bergen County and local police this morning were ticketing motorists driving without cleaning off the tops of their vehicles.

Police in Maywood and Rochelle Park said their squads issued seven summonses each for uncleared vehicles this morning alone. Waldwick police have issued no fewer than dozen in recent weeks.

“We are out there to protect the public and this is part of it,” Rochelle Park Police Chief Robert Flannelly told CLIFFVIEW PILOT.

Maywood Police Chief David Pegg said he made it a priority for his officers, as well.

Upper Saddle River police issued five summonses to motorists with uncleared vehicles. New Milford police issued two.

The stepped-up enforcement follows reports of vehicle damage following Monday’s overnight and afternoon snowfall, as well as an image on CLIFFVIEW PILOT yesterday of a flying chunk of ice that nearly struck a car on Route 4 (SEE: Flying block of ice narrowly misses car on Route 4).

(CLIFFVIEW PILOT provided the license plate to a detective who said that authorities are trying to find the driver of the Santa Fe with the New York license plates responsible for yesterday’s flying block.)

“It’s sometimes difficult for us, but this is a violation that must be enforced,” said Flannelly, noting that his officers also wrote eight similar summonses after last week’s snowfall.

“During storms officers are tied down with slip and falls, wires down and accidents and other related calls,” the chief said. “After the initial storm, though, when time is available we are enforcing it.”

Motorists have reported a variety of incidents.

Margaret Maguire Lugo said her daughter was driving on the Garden State Parkway yesterday when a chunk of flying ice smashed her windshield (see photo, top).

“I witnessed ice fly off a truck, smash through a car window and kill the driver,” wrote Janice Ade. “It was horrible…. There are no excuses for not doing this.”

“I lost an entire windshield from ice coming off the top of a car on 287,” added Tim King. “It lifted like a huge sheet, flew over the 2 cars in front of me.”

Peter Romano wrote: “Left lane [yesterday] on 17 southbound after Paramus Park exit the car in front of me had 4 sheets of ice fly off the roof. I had plenty of distance to avoid them but one flew across the Jersey barrier into the northbound left lane of 17. Dangerous.”

It’s not only others who can be killed or injured if you don’t clear your car: “The snow on the roof can also slide forward over the driver’s windshield blocking the view of the roadway,” Flannelly noted.

Last night, in fact, police in Andover Township said snow that slid off the roof of an SUV onto the driver’s windshield contributed to a head-on crash on Route 206.

New Milford Detective Lt. Frank Ramaci added that pedestrians as well as motorists are at risk when potentially lethal chunks of ice go flying.

New Jersey motorists caught not removing ice or snow from their vehicles face fines of $25 to $75 for each offense, regardless of whether the ice and snow is dislodged in transit.

If flying ice or snow causes property damage or injury to others, motorists face fines of $200 to $1,000 for each offense.

“Snow and ice left on a vehicle, in particular on the hood, windows and roof, can become a deadly projectile, creating a hazard for everyone on the road,” the state Division of Highway Traffic Safety says. “The few moments it takes to clear ice and snow from your vehicle could prevent a crash or save a life.”

Col. Rick Fuentes, superintendent of the New Jersey State Police, was more emphatic — saying that the law “prohibits what common sense should have already dictated.”

SHOUT OUT: Fort Lee merchants have banded together to help the residents of the Avalon apartment complex in the wake of last month’s devastating fire.

Members of the Business District Alliance (BDA) of Fort Lee donated nearly $5,000 by purchasing gift cards for area restaurants and other businesses selected on the basis of a priority list provided by the Edgewater Strong charity.

The members then got area business owners and others in town to kick in $2,400 more worth of cards (see list, below).

The cards were being distributed by Edgewater Strong.

“I want to thank our valued business owners in Fort Lee who were quick and happy to help the numerous families impacted by this terrible fire, “said Romina Luppino-Starace, president of the non-profit BDA of Fort Lee.

“Because of their generosity and that of our board members, we can do our part to ensure these families have the basic essentials they need to get back on their feet.”

“It’s about neighbors helping neighbors, “said Stuart Z. Koperweis, Executive Director of the BDA of Fort Lee. “BDA Board members live, work, and own businesses in Bergen County.

“Their commitment to helping their neighbors is evident in the selfless service they provide to the BDA by giving countless time, energy, and talent to Fort Lee,” Koperweis said.

“So it came as no surprise when board members voted unanimously in favor of donating funds from the BDA to give to the fire victims, while supporting the local businesses,” he said.

YOU READ IT HERE FIRST: A New Milford man today admitted conspiring to sell guns smuggled out of Iraq that once belonged to the family of Saddam Hussein.

Carlos Manuel Quirola, 58, pleaded guilty in federal court in Newark to a single charge of conspiring to transport stolen firearms.

Two other men, Karlo Sauer and Howard Blumenthal, have pleaded guilty, as well, and a third, David Ryan of Miami, FL, is headed to trial in May.

U.S. District Judge Katharine S. Hayden set sentencing for Quirola — also known as “Manny” — for June 1, 2015, pending the outcome of Ryan’s trial.

U.S. Attorney Paul J. Fishman said federal agents got a tip in April 2012 that “valuable firearms allegedly belonging to members of the family of the late Iraqi president Saddam Hussein were available for sale.

“The weapons were kept in Florida while attempts were made by Ryan, Quirola-Ordonez and others to find buyers in New Jersey,” Fishman said.

“During the course of the conspiracy, seven firearms – which were appraised as a collection to be worth between $250,000 to $350,000 – were shipped to New Jersey for viewing by potential buyers,” he said.

They were:

• Coonan Arms Inc., .357 semi-automatic pistol, nickel finish, made in St. Paul, Minn., with gold inlay and a medallion “QS” on left side grip (believed to be the initials of Qusay Saddam Hussein al-Tikriti, the second son of former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein);

• Korth, .357 magnum revolver (six shot) stamped “Made in W. Germany Waffenfabrik Koth Ratzeburg/LBG,” with gold inlay, black finish, wood grips, which displays a drawing of a wild boar;

• Korth, .357 magnum, revolver (six shot) stamped “Made in W. Germany Waffenfabrik Koth Ratzeburg/LBG,” with gold inlay, black finish, wood grips, which displays a drawing of a moose;

• Chinese State Factories type 64 pistol, .32 caliber semi-auto pistol, black finish, with Yemen flag icon on both sides of grip and Arabic writing on the slide;

• Llama Semiautomatic .45 ACP pistol with gold leaf and gold inlays, hand engraved, bearing the initials “QS”

• Two Cosmi, 12 gauge shotguns, break top, single barrel;

Fishman credited agents of the ATF and Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Homeland Security Investigations.

The case is being handled by Joyce M. Malliet of the U.S. Attorney’s Office National Security Unit in Newark.

YOU READ IT HERE FIRST: A pedestrian visiting relatives from out of town suffered a broken leg after he was struck by a car driven by an intoxicated hit-and-run motorist while walking near Holy Name Medical Center in Teaneck tonight, police said.

The 55-year-old victim was walking around a snow-covered sidewalk on Chadwick Road away from the hospital when he was struck by the Ford Econoline box truck near Cedar Lane just after 3 p.m., Sgt. Patrick Forrest told CLIFFVIEW PILOT tonight.

He was taken to the hospital while police working a road construction detail stopped the van three blocks away.

The driver, 54-year-old James Cook, is likely facing criminal charges in addition to DWI and leaving the scene of an accident with injury, the sergeant said.

Cook remained at police headquarters tonight.

ONLY ON CVP: One motorist was hospitalized and the other refused medical attention after a head-on collision in Fair Lawn tonight.

A pickup truck slammed into a Ford Focus around 10:15 p.m. in front of the Bank of America on River Road.

The pickup driver was taken to Hackensack University Medical Center.

YOU READ IT HERE FIRST: A summer temp from Englewood trafficked thousands of dollars worth of pricey and sentimental belongings stolen during break-ins and swiped from doorsteps in the condo complex where he worked, authorities have charged.

The spree began last Fourth of July and continued for eight weeks before police cracked the case and arrested Darion Salazar, a nine-count indictment returned by a grand jury in Hackensack yesterday 0ayss.

The Cross Creek Condominium Association on Broad Avenue in Englewood “began an internal investigation and discovered overwhelming evidence that Salazar was involved in the thefts,” Detective Capt. Timothy Torell told CLIFFVIEW PILOT at the time.

That included one condo that was broken into twice, he said.

Salazar, who turned 26 last week, had sold jewelry stolen in the thefts to a Paramus shop and was planning on shipping some of the other items to his native Colombia for profit when he was taken into custody.

A search of his home turned thousands of dollars worth of stolen items, including laptops, iPads, headphones, gold 5S iPhones and Playstations, Torell said.

The jewelry, recovered with help from Paramus police, “had great sentimental value to one of our victims,” the captain said. “We were ecstatic to locate those pieces.”

Salazar apparently had a set of keys to one of the units, authorities said.

He “was extremely neat and took selected items,” Torell said, “so some of the residents may have thought whatever they were missing was perhaps misplaced.”

He also snatched packages from doorsteps and front porches throughout the complex as he went about his daily duties, the captain said.

Salazar remained held on $75,000 bail in the Bergen County Jail, charged with three counts each of burglary and theft, as the investigation continues.

MUGSHOTS: Courtesy ENGLEWOOD PD

ONLY ON CVP: A Dominican national whom Fort Lee police said they caught with two kilos of cocaine during a traffic stop is headed to New York to face drug charges there.

Speaking through a translator, 45-year-old Luis Sosa-Rodriguez agreed to waive extradition during a court hearing in Hackensack yesterday.

Once his case is resolved in New York, he’ll be returned to the Bergen County Jail to face charges here in connection with the Sept. 30, 2013 arrests of him and two other men outside Fort Lee High School, Superior Court Judge Edward A. Jerejian said.

Tinted windows and erratic driving prompted the stop, during which officers found an electronically-operated compartment under the back seat containing $9,000 in cash.

A drug K-9 led them to another compartment in the dashboard that held the cocaine, Assistant Bergen County Prosecutor Keith Travers said.

Sosa-Rodriguez was taken into custody along with his cousin, Diego Rodriguez from Massachusettes and Francis LanFranco of Brooklyn.

They remain under indictment in Bergen County on charges of possessing cocaine with the intent to distribute it near a school, along with transporting an amount of cash that “a reasonable person would believe to be derived from criminal activity.”

STORY / PHOTO: CLIFFVIEW PILOT Courthouse Reporter Mary K. Miraglia

YOU READ IT HERE FIRST: Garfield police charged a city couple with a burglary that netted several hundred dollars in cash and jewelry.

Detectives Thomas LaMantia and Sean Delahanty picked up Aleksandra Polowska, Dariusz Soltys, 26, on an outstanding warrant after spotting him yesterday afternoon in the area of a Tuesday break-in on Orchard Street, Capt. Darren Sucorowski told CLIFFVIEW PILOT this morning.

Interrogating him at headquarters, the detectives connected Soltys and 23-year-old Aleksandra Polowska to the burglary, in which they said he broke in through a first-floor rear window.

Three hours later, they had Polowska in custody.

Soltys and Polowska were being held on $30,000 bail each in the Bergen County Jail, charged with burglary and theft.

MUGSHOTS: Courtesy BERGEN SHERIFF

ANOTHER CVP SCOOP: A heroin addict taken in by his boss rewarded him by stealing, forging and cashing more than $30,000 worth of his checks to feed his habit, Rochelle Park police said.

Nicholas Barra, 44, remained held on $45,000 bail in the Bergen County Jail following his arrest by Rochelle Park detectives yesterday on theft and forgery charges.

The victim, a handyman who’d taken in Barra “as a measure of goodwill,” contacted investigators in early December, “believing he was a victim of theft and fraud,” Police Chief Robert Flannelly told CLIFFVIEW PILOT this morning.

Detectives reviewed a series of transactions and bank surveillance video, zeroing in on Barra, who’d lived with his employer about nine months, the chief said.

Their investigation was continuing, he said.

“This is another example of excellent police work by my officers,” Flannelly said.

MUGSHOT: Courtesy ROCHELLE PARK PD

YOU READ IT HERE FIRST: Elmwood Park police arrested three more out-of-towners passing through on heroin charges yesterday.

The first stop, around 3 p.m. on Locust Street, led to the arrest of 23-year-old Harold Kemp of Ridgefield on charges of having a bag of heroin and drug paraphernalia, being under the influence of drugs and having drugs in a motor vehicle, Police Chief Michael Foligno said this morning.

Six hours later, police on East 53rd Street stopped and arrested Hussan Anjum, 22, of Mahwah, and 20-year-old Devon Bernhart of Ridgewood, who Foligno said were carrying 30 bags of heroin and a syringe.

Both were charged with possession of both and with being under the influence, the chief said.

Bernhart, who also had an outstanding warrant out of Hawthorne, posted $758 bail and was released, Foligno said.

Kemp and Anjum were each released on court summonses, he said.

STORY / PHOTOS: Boyd A. Loving

YOU SAW IT HERE FIRST: No injuries were reported after an NJ Transit bus and two cars collided in Ridgewood this afternoon.

The bus, carrying a single passenger who told CLIFFVIEW PILOT that he was en route Bergen Regional Medical Center, would up on the front lawn of a Linwood Avenue home near Sollas Court and required a heavy duty tow truck to free and remove it from the scene.

Both passenger vehicles were driven away.

Ridgewood police were investigating.

STORY / PHOTOS: Boyd A. Loving