Monday, February 25, 2013
A man robbed the TD Bank on River Road of approximately $2,800 Monday afternoon, police said.
Borough and county police are investigating a bank robbery at the TD Bank branch on River Road, located just blocks from the police station, Chief Erik Rose said. The suspect, described as a tall, thin black male wearing a gray hooded sweatshirt and gloves, entered the bank around 2:19 p.m. Monday and slipped the teller a note indicating a robbery, Rose said. There was no verbal communication between the man and the teller, and no weapon was shown or mentioned, police said. After receiving approximately $2,800 from the bank employee, the man fled on foot in the direction of Fair Lawn Avenue, Rose said. Rose said it's unclear whether or not he eventually hopped into a vehicle parked down the road. Officers from Fair Lawn and the county's K-…
Tuesday, January 29, 2013
Two dogs, now impounded going on four weeks after an alleged attack earlier this month, have been in the middle of an increasingly public effort by their owners to free them.
Following an alleged attack by their two dogs earlier this month, Hope Alexander and her mother, Mary Watts, have been fighting for the pets' release from the Fair Lawn pound, where the borough is holding them as potentially dangerous pending a municipal court date. The dogs broke free from Alexander’s home on Jan. 3, after she says a family friend left the gate open. Cosgrove, a 180-pound Mastiff/Great Dane mix, and Wilson, a 80-pound boxer, allegedly attacked a smaller dog and its owner three blocks away at the intersection of Hedman Place and Stelton Terrace. According to a police report, officers responded to find the two dogs circling the victim of the alleged attack. Both he and his dog were bleeding, the report says, though he could…
Thursday, January 24, 2013
A Fair Lawn Avenue resident came home to find a burglary in progress Wednesday afternoon.
The owner of a Fair Lawn Avenue condo “frightened off” a burglar Wednesday afternoon, police say. Fair Lawn police officers responded at approximately 2:00 pm after the owner came home to find the residence had been broken into, in an apparent burglary in progress. “Apparently the burglar looked out the window or the door, saw the homeowner coming home, and ran out the house, so there was no confrontation,” police chief Erik Rose told Patch. Burglaries have been on an upward trend since 2009, and although Rose says there have been relatively few in recent months, typically the department sees an uptick in the winter. “The colder weather is burglary season, because in the summertime people are out and about, so [burglars] are more likely to…
Friday, January 18, 2013
The new hires, who were sworn in at Tuesday night's council meeting, are expected to be on the beat by October.
Three new police officers headed to the Bergen County Police Academy Friday to begin their training for careers on the Fair Lawn Police Department. Christopher O'Shaughnessy, Nicholas Snyder, and John Rovetto were each sworn in by the mayor at a council meeting Tuesday night. Each will spend 6 months in the academy, and an additional three to four months in field training, before becoming fully active on the force. All three men are graduates of Fair Lawn High School who were active in public service prior to their recruitment by the police department. O'Shaughnessy served six years in the United States Navy as Boatswains Mate 3rd class; Snyder has been a volunteer with the Fair Lawn Fire Department and Ambulance Corps; and Rovetto was …
Police officers will receive special weapons training to prepare for potential school emergencies in the borough.
In the wake of the shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newton Connecticut, Fair Lawn will reintroduce special training for police officers in handling potential school emergencies. The “simunitions” training, in which police officers simulate situations in which the use of firearms would be required, is conducted to prepare for a number of contingencies, such as a traffic stop involving weapons. In previous years the police department did the training in the high school as well, but stopped due to budget constraints. “We regrettably haven’t been able to do it for a couple years due to staffing,” Chief Erik Rose said. About ten officers are required for each session—five for the training and five to run the simulation. So to put …
Sunday, January 13, 2013
Other stories include the return of Bennigan's and the borough-wide survey results in Fair Lawn
Police believe a man found dead in his car used a mixture of hydrogen sulfide fumes to end his life. Hazmat and bomb crews were dispatched to 36th Street Monday to ensure the noxious fumes did not endanger nearby residents. The borough doesn't have the cash needed to add baseball and soccer fields to the Dobrow sports complex, so All Sports will be embarking on ways to privately fundraise. The estimated expansion tallies about $1 million. A restaurant owner hopes to breathe life into the location that once housed the Track Side Grille. Bob Piccoli took the first step this week by purchasing the shuttered restaurant's liquor license for $67,500. Fair Lawn survey-takers overwhelmingly supported maintaining current services levels at the …
Monday, December 24, 2012
The Operation Santa Boone team was back at it this year, orchestrating a surprise Christmas visit for a dedicated food pantry client/volunteer.
When Liz Twiggs learned last year that one her Fair Lawn Food Pantry clients couldn't afford a Christmas tree, she sprung into action and -- with the help of Fair Lawn police detective and Van Riper Ellis Broadway Baptist Church pastor David Boone -- launched, "Operation Santa Boone." Twiggs, Boone and a couple kindly elves delivered a pre-lit tree and cartloads of other gifts for her client and client's family during a surprise night time run that was aided by members of the Fair Lawn Rescue Squad. This year, the Operation Santa Boone crew was back at it, providing a food pantry client/volunteer and her family with gifts for the holiday. Twiggs' plan this time around pulled in Boone, food pantry volunteer Beri Raffiani, three elves -- …
Wednesday, September 5, 2012
The town will swear in Anthony Burgos as its newest police officer next week.
- POLICE & FIRE
- Zak Koeske
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Wednesday, September 5, 2012
The Fair Lawn Police Department, down to 54 officers since the resignation of Juan Rodriguez in late June, will swear in a new officer early next week to bring its force numbers back up to 55. The new officer, Anthony Burgos, will be sworn in at next Tuesday's council meeting, Chief Erik Rose said. Rose said Burgos, who previously worked in Paterson and is bilingual, will be a great asset to the department. Like current Officer Luke Hintzen and former Officer Rodriguez, Burgos was laid off from Paterson's police force in 2011. Unlike Rodriguez, who decided to leave Fair Lawn and return to Paterson when offered his job back, Rose said Burgos has already indicated that he prefers to work in Fair Lawn and would not accept an offer to return …
Wednesday, July 11, 2012
Officer Tony Ferreira will be promoted to Sergeant at next Tuesday's council meeting.
In his 24 years as a police officer – 23 of them in Fair Lawn – Detective Tony Ferreira has seen and done it all. During his days as a patrolman, Ferreira was involved in standoffs and car chases, caught burglars and arrested murderers. Over the last decade-plus in the detective bureau, he’s handled firearms, property and evidence. Next Tuesday, Ferreira will begin a new phase in his career when he’s promoted to detective sergeant, a supervisory position within the bureau. “I’ve known Tony for a very long time," said borough manager Tom Metzler, who worked with Ferreira back when he was with the department. "I’m happy for any officer who achieves a milestone in their career.” For Ferreira, 45, the promotion is a long time coming. “It’s …
Saturday, June 23, 2012
Officer Juan Rodriguez will resign his position with the Fair Lawn Police Department effective June 29 and join the Paterson Police Department.
Fair Lawn police officer Juan Rodriguez, who was sworn in to the department this past November, has resigned, effective June 29, to accept a position with the Paterson Police Department. Rodriguez, an Afghanistan war veteran, had worked as a patrolman in Paterson for four years before being laid off by the department in 2011, and taking a job in Fair Lawn. When he was recently offered his old job back, the Paterson native and longtime resident decided to return to the department. While Rodriguez could not be reached for comment, borough manager Tom Metzler said his decision to leave Fair Lawn was not made lightly. "Per his conversations with me yesterday, it was not an easy decision for him," Metzler said Friday. "But Paterson offers …
The Most Interesting Man in the World
11:23 pm on Wednesday, February 27, 2013
You sound more like an Italian Hero than an American, full of bologna. What you are saying is it is impossible to catch a bank robber, even if he is right around the corner from the police station. I asked the logical question of anyone would have read this article and have knowledge of FL geography, you take it as some sort of personal criticism. Since you seem to know it all, how long does it … more ›