Following a month-long investigation into the theft of used cooking oil on December 28th, valued at $400, from the rear of King Wok II Restaurant on Maple Avenue, Det. Sgt. Jim Calaski arrested a 29-year-old Union City man for theft and criminal mischief. A second individual, a 28-year-old Jersey City man, was later arrested by Det. Lucas Doney for theft and criminal mischief.
The suspects were identified through the efforts of a retired police officer who had seen news coverage of the incident, as well as video of the suspects, on WCBS TV news. The retired officer had observed the vehicle in another community and took numerous photos of it including the license plate number which had not been visible on the surveillance video. Based on this information detectives were able to develop additional evidence which resulted in the arrests.
The theft of used cooking grease from restaurants has risen in recent years thanks to the demand for “yellow grease”, a commodity used to make biodiesel. Haulers pay to lug used cooking oil away which can be refined into different types of biofuels used for power generation and heating.
01-21-2019
2:43 PM – A Glen Rock woman reported that a fraudulent Amazon Chase Credit account had been opened in her name and she received the credit card in the mail. It does not appear that there were any charges to the account which has since been closed and the card destroyed.
01-22-2019
12:06 AM – Glen Rock patrols and detectives worked in cooperation with the NJ State Police, PA State Police, Fair Lawn Police and Security at Fairleigh Dickinson University to locate a depressed and despondent man in his 70’s last seen in Glen Rock’s Central Business District. Concerned citizens felt that the man may have posed a threat to himself or others. Following a four-hour search, the man was located in Fair Lawn and subsequently transported to New Bridge Medical Center in Paramus for psychiatric evaluation. A handgun owned by the man was located by Pennsylvania State Police and was voluntarily surrendered to them by a family member. Their investigation determined that he had not had immediate access to the weapon.
Upon further investigation by Det. Sgt. Calaski and review of this matter with the Bergen County Prosecutor’s Office, it was found that there were no direct threats directed towards a specific individual or institution. This was found to be strictly a mental health issue and no criminal charges will be filed at this time. All appropriate notifications, as required by state law, were made.
01-22-2019
4:28 PM – A Glen Rock resident reported the theft of letters that he had mailed in Glen Rock. Detectives reviewing the matter were able to develop a possible suspect and the matter has been turned over the U.S. Postal Inspectors for further investigation as the theft of US Mail is a federal offense.
01-23-2019
Det. Sgt. Jim Calaski assisted the Bergen County Prosecutor’s office with the arrest of a 51-year-old Hackensack man as part of a regional burglary investigation. Also cooperating with the investigation were officers from the Bergen County Sheriff’s Department, Saddle River, Mahwah, Carlstadt, Tenafly, Elmwood Park and Hackensack.
The suspect was subsequently charged by the Prosecutor’s Office with the December 21st burglary of a Stonefield Road residence. At the time of his arrest the man was remanded to the Bergen County Jail pending a detention hearing which has been scheduled for January 25th in Superior Court Central Judicial Processing.
01-24-2019
3:06 PM – Patrols along with Glen Rock and Fair Lawn Firefighters responded to a reported vehicle fire at the off ramp of Route 208 North in the area of the office building at 266 Harristown Road in Glen Rock. A school transport vehicle containing three workers and two special needs passengers stopped in the parking lot of 266 Harristown Road after observing smoke coming from the engine compartment. The vehicle had been traveling on Route 208 North and stopped in a safe location. After checking under the vehicles hood, the workers noticed that the vehicle had caught on fire. All passengers were safely removed, and additional transportation was arranged through the company for all passengers. Photos can be seen here.
Bergen County Haz-Mat assisted both fire departments with the gasoline containment as a result of the fire. The vehicle was towed from the scene without incident.
01-26-2019
12:21 PM – A Glen Rock resident reported that a friend had asked to have $ 6,000 transferred into his bank account, for which he would given the man $ 3,000 in exchange for the favor. The man provided his friend with his debit card information and PIN number in order the facilitate the transaction. Shortly after providing this information two other individuals, alleged associates of his friend, began to contact him concerning the transaction.
After becoming suspicious of the transaction, the man contacted his bank and discovered that these parties had used his information to deposit checks and withdraw money from his account. The bank has since closed the account and the detective bureau is reviewing the matter.
01-26-2019
9:15 PM – During the course of a motor vehicle stop on Route 208 South, P.O. John Tarantino arrested a 22-year-old Paterson man for operating a motor vehicle under the influence of Marijuana. The man’s vehicle was impounded, and he was transported to processing and released to the custody of a sober adult in accordance with John’s law.
The man was charged with driving under the influence, possession of Marijuana Under 50 grams and issued traffic summonses for operation of a motor vehicle while in possession of a controlled dangerous substance, reckless driving, driving without a valid driver’s license, failure to maintain lane, driving without headlights after dark and failure to maintain lamps.
