EXCLUSIVE REPORT: A judge in Hackensack refused to dismiss aggravated manslaughter charges against a Rutherford man who prosecutors say had a blood-alcohol level of .198 when his speeding sedan struck and killed a 28-year-old mother of four on an East Rutherford sidewalk a year and a half ago.

Unless 23-year-old Victor Kwak accepts a plea deal that prevents a trial, a jury should be allowed to weigh whether he was using his cellphone when he lost control of the car on Railroad Avenue the night of Aug. 22, 2013, Superior Court Judge Edward A. Jerejian ruled yesterday.

The 2006 Lexus GS430 went up on the sidewalk, where it knocked down a tree, a street light and a wooden utility pole before ramming into Sandra Munoz-Molina of Carlstadt, who was on the grounds of St. Mary’s High School, headed home from her beauty parlor job, authorities said.

Munoz-Molina was taken to Hackensack University Medical Center with serious head injuries. She died two days later.

Kwak originally was charged with aggravated assault by auto, but a grand jury in Hackensack indicted him on more serious aggravated manslaughter charges after reviewing the facts of the case.

Defense attorney John Latoracca said the grand jury took its action based on the belief that Kwak may have been using his cellphone at the time of the crash.

Assistant Bergen County Prosecutor Martin Delaney said he made it clear to the grand jurors that “we are not alleging he was on his cellphone.”

However, Kwak may have provided that evidence himself, the judge said, when he told police responding to the crash that he’d had “a few beers” and was “trying to talk to my girlfriend.”

“In looking at the transcript [of grand jury proceedings], there is a lot more here than is being said, and this determination should be reserved for trial,” Jerejian said.

The black box on Kwak’s Lexus clocked him at 57 miles an hour in a 25mph zone just before the crash, Delaney told CLIFFVIEW PILOT.

Prosecutors also have an eyewitness, as well as another resident who reported seeing Kwak speed by from his porch, hearing the crash and running to the scene, he said.

Kwak — who is also charged with two counts of death by auto — has until April 1 to accept a plea deal or Jerejian said he will set a trial date.

If convicted at a trial, Kwak would likely face a state prison sentence of closer to 10 years, Delaney said.

He has remained free since posting $75,000 bail the day after the crash.

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

YOU READ IT HERE FIRST: A 30-year-old bicyclist from Englewood was hospitalized with bumps, bruises and scratches after colliding with a pair of deer at a Teaneck intersection last night.

The bicyclist was headed downhill at Englewood Avenue and Hubert Terrace when the two large deer dashed across the road just after 10 p.m., Teaneck Volunteer Ambulance Corps Capt. Izzy Infield told CLIFFVIEW PILOT this morning.

Knocked from his bike, the rider got up and began walking around as witnesses dialed 911. The deer — one of whom apparently was injured — dashed off.

The bicyclist was taken to Englewood Hospital and Medical Center.

CVP EXCLUSIVE: A judge in Hackensack has issued an arrest warrant for a Newark man involved in a wrong-way head-on crash on Route 46 in Elmwood Park that seriously injured a female passenger in the other car.

Superior Court Judge James J. Guida issued the warrant yesterday after Steven Baker, 29 (inset, above), failed to show for his arraignment.

The other driver, 26-year-old Harry Halvorsen III of Wallington, was in court and arraigned yesterday because he’s being held on $350,000 bail in the Bergen County Jail on charges of assault by auto and raping the woman.

Harry Halvorsen III MUGSHOT: Courtesy BERGEN COUNTY PROSECUTOR / STORY / PHOTO: CLIFFVIEW PILOT Courthouse Reporter Mary K. Miraglia

Defense attorney Vincent Basile entered a not-guilty plea for him.

Baker was freed on $10,000 bail three days after the crash, which occurred a year ago this Thursday. He’s charged with two counts of serious bodily injury to the victim by driving recklessly.

Both men also were charged with driving while on the suspended list.

Baker was drunk as he headed west on eastbound Route 46 in a 2000 Mitsubishi GS when the crash occurred at Henry Street around 1:30 a.m. on March 12, 2014, authorities said at the time.

Both men were arrested for assault by auto after three Garfield firefighters who heard the crash pulled the then-25-year old female passenger from Halvorsen’s burning 1970 Mercury Cougar.

Detectives re-arrested Halvorsen six weeks later on charges of aggravated sexual assault of a victim who was physically incapacitated.

An indictment returned in December charges him with four counts of causing serious bodily injury by driving recklessly, one of sexual assault of a helpless victim through vaginal intercourse or fellatio and another of hindering apprehension.

STORY / COURT PHOTOS: CLIFFVIEW PILOT Courthouse Reporter Mary K. Miraglia / MUGSHOTS: Courtesy BERGEN COUNTY PROSECUTOR

YOU READ IT HERE FIRST: An ex-con from Florida accused of having sex with an Englewood girl for two years, beginning when she was 9, was brought to New Jersey yesterday after being extradited.

The victim’s father recently discovered Internet communications between the girl, who is now 15, and 61-year-old Victor Scott, Bergen County Prosecutor John L. Molinelli said a week ago.

After being contacted by the father, members of Molinelli’s Special Victims Unit and Englewood police interviewed the girl at his office in Paramus, the prosecutor said.

She “provided specific details regarding what had occurred,” he said.

Investigators contacted the Polk County Sheriff’s Department in Florida, which assisted in Scott’s arrest a week ago yesterday in Lakeland.

The 5-foot-10 inch, 158-pound Scott, who is single and unemployed, was being held in the Bergen County Jail pending a bail hearing on charges of aggravated sexual assault, sexual assault and child endangerment.

MUGSHOT: Courtesy BERGEN COUNTY SHERIFF

IMAGES: Courtesy SADDLE BROOK PD

HAVE YOU SEEN HER? Saddle Brook police are seeking the public’s help finding a plus-sized shoplifter who swiped two women’s pocketbooks from shopping carriages at area department stores — one of which contained $500 in cash along with a passport, Social Security card, driver’s license and various credit cards.

“It’s an identity theft nightmare for the victim,” Police Chief Robert Kugler told CLIFFVIEW PILOT this afternoon after his department released images of the suspect.

She struck first at the Walmart on Route 46 around 2 o’clock Saturday afternoon, pushing her own cart past another woman’s and, “in a real smooth maneuver,” snatching the unsuspecting victim’s purse, Kugler said.

She continues moving and “non-chalantly” removes credit cards and other contents from the victim’s wallet before discarding it and the purse elsewhere in the store, the chief said.

“Unfortunately, she was savvy enough to closely watch the victim and, as soon as the victim looked the other way, grab the purse,” Kugler said.

The thief struck again the same way a half-hour later at the TJ Maxx, also on Route 46.

The purse contained the $500 and important identification, the cheif said.

ANYONE who knows the suspect or has information that could help the investigation is asked to call Saddle Brook police: (201) 843-7000

“We need to remind all shoppers to never remove your hands from your pocketbook when pushing the carriage,” Kugler added.

“It’s easy to become distracted while shopping. Your eyes may drift,” he told CLIFFVIEW PILOT. “But no matter what, you should always hold onto your purse.”

IMAGES: Courtesy SADDLE BROOK PD

YOU READ IT HERE FIRST: A Queens cable tech was busted after selling $1,200 worth of cocaine to undercover detectives from from the Bergen County Prosecutor’s Office Narcotic Task Force in Englewood, authorities said.

Joseph Caputo, who turns 25 next week, was being held on $25,000 bail in the Bergen County Jail after investigators arrested him yesterday, records show.

He’s charged with drug distribution.

Englewood police assisted, Bergen County Prosecutor John L. Molinelli said.

MUGSHOT: Courtesy BERGEN COUNTY PROSECUTOR

YOU READ IT HERE FIRST: A registered sex offender from Teaneck was arrested over the weekend after he “engaged in inappropriate sexual activity” with several children ranging from 3 to 5 years old, Bergen County Prosecutor John L. Molinelli said this afternoon.

CLIFFVIEW PILOT on Sunday reported the arrest of William Romero Kooney, 41-year-old software engineer who was registered in 2009 as a Megan’s Law offender for sexually assaulting a Passaic County girl under 13 and possessing child pornography (SEE: Convicted Teaneck child sex offender held on $750,000).

Molinelli today released details of Kooney’s arrest and he seizure of electronic equipment from his Farant Terrace home.

“The victims’ parents learned of the inappropriate sexual activity and contacted the Teaneck Police Department,” he said. “They then notified the Bergen County Prosecutor’s Office Special Victims Unit.

“Arrangements were made for the victims to be interviewed by a detective from the Special Victims Unit at the Bergen County Prosecutor’s Office in Paramus.

“During those interviews, the victims provided specific details regarding what had occurred,” the prosecutor said.

Kooney remained held on $750,000 bail in the Bergen County Jail, charged with one count of aggravated sexual assault, two counts of sexual assault and four of child endangerment.

Arraignment was scheduled for tomorrow.

MUGSHOT: Courtesy BERGEN COUNTY PROSECUTOR

ANOTHER CVP SCOOP: Rutherford police interrupted an overnight car burglary spree with the arrests of three people caught in the act.

Responding to a citizen’s call around 1:35 a.m. Monday, Officers Stephen Batchelor, Fuad Lindon, James Fecanin and Kathleen Ervelli spotted a man walking from a Land Rover parked in a Mortimer Avenue driveway near Donaldson Avenue.

The officres watched as the man — identified as 19-year-old Jahad Turnage of Newark (above, left) — pulled latex gloves from his hands and put them in his sweatshirt pocket, Capt. Patrick Feliciano told CLIFFVIEW PILOT.

They then spotted a second suspect, 20-year-old Keshaun Ames of Jersey City (middle), walking toward a 1997 Mercury Sable occupied by a third man, Arteis Wiggins, 19, of Irvington (right), who was in the driver seat, Feliciano said.

East Rutherford Officers Robert Applegate, Michael Pappas and Jeff Perry provided backup as police detained the trio.

Inside the car they saw various iPhone chargers, cellphones and a Garmin Nuvi 1300 navigation system, the captain said.

Given consent to search by Turnage, they also found a silver marijuana grinder which he said was his, Feliciano said.

Sgt. David Dovalo arrived and checked the navigation system, which revealed a home address on Addison Avenue. The resident there confirmed it was stolen from his BMW, the captain said.

All three remained held on $25,000 bail each in the Bergen County Jail, charged with burglary, conspiracy and theft.

Turnage was also charged with possession of burglary tools and drug paraphernalia, and Wiggins with violating hours of motor vehicle operation as a driving permit holder.

MUGSHOTS: Courtesy RUTHERFORD PD

YOU READ IT HERE FIRST: A federal fugitive from Manhattan rammed his SUV into police vehicles, then hopped out and literally ran out of his boots before Bandit, a Bergen County Sheriff’s K-9, flushed him out of a marsh off Route 4 in Hackensack, authorities said.

NOTE: Original versions of this story identified Kevin Frey, 37, as wanted for two homicides based on information provided by local officials. Frye actually was wanted by federal authorities in the Southern District of New York in connection with the December indictment of a physician and 10 other people in a massive prescription Oxycodone ring. (MORE, below).  

A team of U.S. Marshals armed with a warrant and accompanied by city officers around 8 a.m. went to a Coles Avenue apartment where the suspect, 37-year-old Kevin “Pretty Kev” Frye, was staying with a female acquaintance, Hackensack Police Director Michael Mordaga told CLIFFVIEW PILOT.

Frye got into a Range Rover and was about to drive away when officers boxed him in with their vehicles, Mordaga said.

At that point, he “began driving the car forward and back, in drive and reverse, again and again, trying to ram his way out,” the director said.

Then the airbag deployed.

Frye got out and was immediately grabbed by two city officers but fought his way free. Officer Frankie Garrett’s hand went through the car window in the process. He was not seriously injured, the director said.

Frye ran north on Main Street toward Route 4 “where he ran right out of his boots,” Mordaga said.

He then crossed the highway to a string of stores on the opposite side and covered himself with brush near a brook, he said.

Bergen County K-9 Officer Stan Tovbin and Bandit joined Hackensack, New Milford, Paramus and River Edge officers in establishing a perimeter.

A short time later, a good Samaritan alerted police to an area off the side of the highway, and the K-9 chased the fugitive down.

Frye, who also was wanted on drug distribution charges, was taken in cuffs and shackles in the custody of the federal marshals to Hackensack University Medical Center with a bite on his ankle.

Two elementary schools, Fairmount in Hackensack and Cherry Hill in River Edge, were temporarily locked down as a precaution.

Federal authorities in New York City said the drug distribution ring operated out of medical clinics in Manhattan and the Bronx — including the office of a doctor who alone wrote more than 13,000 “medically unnecessary prescriptions for oxycodone in a two-year period,” resulting in the unlawful distribution of nearly 1.2 million Oxy tablets.

The scheme also involved drug traffickers who oversaw crews of “patients” sent into the clinics to obtain the prescriptions so the rugs could be obtained and resold, as well as clinic staff who profited by selling access to the physician, Moshe Mirilishvili.

The Oxycodone had a street value of $36 million — of which authorities said Mirilishvili pocketed more than $2.6 million in fees for “doctor visits.”

Nine people were arrested the morning that the Dec. 11 indictment was unsealed. Frey and another man had remained at large.

CLICK HERE for a copy of the U.S. District Court INDICTMENT

PHOTO: Courtesy NEWS12

YOU READ IT HERE FIRST: An emotionally distraught man who’d planned to jump into the Passaic River and then changed his mind was brought to Bergen Regional Medical Center by Wallington police after they found him pacing on a bridge following a search of the water.

Police got the 911 call around 6:50 a.m. of a man jumping into the river from the Eighth Street bridge, Lt. Shawn Kudlacik told CLIFFVIEW PILOT.

Return calls automatically went to voicemail, indicating that the caller had shut the cellphone off, he said.

Wallington and Lyndhurst dive teams were joined by firefigthers from East Rutherford, Garfield, Passaic and Rutherford but didn’t find anything.

As they were clearing the scene around 8:45, a Garfield firefighter aboard a boat reported seeing a suspicious man on the Eighth Street bridge in a black hoodie, jeans and a jacket that he’d removed.

“It just didn’t seem right to him,” Kudlacik said.

Wallington officers pinged the cellphone “and it came back to Eighth Street,” the lieutenant said.

The 36-year-old Hackensack man told police that he was “distraught over his current employment situation, but changed his mind,” he said.

They took him BRMC.

YOU READ IT HERE FIRST: A Hasbrouck Heights man charged with a car burglary just days after police said they caught breaking into another vehicle last week admitted committing nearly two dozen such thefts since last October, authorities said this afternoon.

Vincent Cazmere Bontempo, who turns 23 tomorrow, was brought to the Bergen County Jail after detectives arrested him earlier today.

A trio of officers grabbed Bontempo at 4:21 a.m. last Friday while he was entering a Franklin Avenue resident’s car.

He posted bail and was released after confessing to more than 20 vehicle burglaries the past five months.

“In most cases he entered vehicles and stole loose change and cash,” Detective Lt. Michael Colaneri told CLIFFVIEW PILOT.

Before dawn this morning, another vehicle was reported burglarized.

Colaneri and Detective Joseph Armeli linked Bontempo, of Kipp Avenue, to that break-in and arrested him.

MUGSHOT: Courtesy HASBROUCK HEIGHTS PD

SHOUT OUT: Assemblywoman Holly Schepisi said this afternoon that there were “no permanent effects” from an aneurysm — and that she expects to be at her 2015 re-election campaign kickoff tomorrow night at the Stony Hill Inn in Hackensack.

Lt. Gov. Kim Guadagno will assume the hosting duties for the second-term Bergen County Republican.

“I’m taking one step at a time but optimistic that all will be OK,” Schepisi told CLIFFVIEW PILOT as she accepted best wishes and words of encouragement at home from friends, family members, supporters, constituents — and rivals, as well.

“Holly: my thoughts and prayers are with you, and thankfully things look good,” Democrat State Sen. Loretta Weinberg wrote. “Please take care of yourself, and come back ready to argue, debate and/or agree in the issues.

“Thank G-d it was found in time. Love from all of us on the other side of the aisle – across the hall!”

Shepesi, a 43-year-old attorney, wrote in part on her Facebook page today:

“I want to thank my friends and family for their thoughts, prayers and support over the past five days. For those of you who don’t know I went to the ER on Saturday because I wasn’t feeling right.

“After several tests I was diagnosed with a brain aneurysm.

“Although serious, the good news is that it was found early with no permanent effects.

“I have every confidence in my doctors and received great care at HUMC. I have some additional steps I will need to take in the near future but I have been assured the outcome will allow me to live a long and fruitful life.”

CVP EXCLUSIVE REPORT: A Morris County man was killed and his friend charged with aggravated manslaughter after their car crashed on the way home from a ZZ Top concert in Englewood last night, New Jersey State Police told CLIFFVIEW PILOT.

Jared Clackner, a 53-year-old self-employed painter and father of two, was being held on $500,000 bail in the Bergen County Jail, charged in the death of William Henning, 61. Both are from Denville.

Henning was driving on westbound Route 80 after the BergenPAC concert when the two began arguing and the blue 1996 Oldmobile Sierra crashed into the divider at milepost 61.6, NJSP Sgt. Jeff Flynn told CLIFFVIEW PILOT tonight.

CHECK BACK FOR MORE DETAILS

MUGSHOT: Courtesy BERGEN COUNTY SHERIFF

YOU READ IT HERE FIRST: A drunk Passaic County driver was chased nearly 20 miles from Franklin Lakes to Montville before police took him into custody overnight, authorities said this morning.

Sgt. Robert Lyon and Officer Francis O’Brien tried to stop Dariusz Mazur for speeding just before 1 a.m. on Route 208, Lt. John Bakelaar told CLIFFVIEW PILOT.

Mazur took off, with the officers in pursuit, and headed onto southbound Route 287, he said.

Other police agencies were alerted via SPEN (State Police Emergency Network) and the vehicle was stopped by the Franklin Lakes officers at mile marker 49.6 in Montville, Bakelaar said.

Pequannock, Riverdale and New Jersey State police arrived moments later.

Mazur, 54, of Macopin Road, was charged with DWI, eluding, speeding, reckless driving, improper passing, making an unsafe lane change, failing to wear a seatbelt and not maintaining headlights. He posted $5,000 bail and was released pending a court hearing.

MUGSHOT: Courtesy FRANKLIN LAKES PD

YOU READ IT HERE FIRST: A Bogota brother and sister who came to the U.S. from Colombia lost their life savings when a Hackensack man swiped $40,000 from them in a mortgage scam and spent it on a European getaway, authorities told CLIFFVIEW PILOT this morning.

The siblings contacted police after receiving a letter from the mortgage company denying them credit and discovering that Gerrmaiou Chape took their down payment and never forwarded their application, Police Chief John C. Burke said.

“They recently sold property in their home country and moved to the United States for a better life for their family,” Burke said. “That down payment represented their life savings.”

Falsely claiming to be the property owner, Chape “took the down payment money and moved it through an LLC he controlled in order to disguise the transfer to his personal checking account,” the chief said.

Detective Sgt. Jonathan Misskerg, assisted by Detective Victor Negron, followed the money and determined that Chape “spent all of it on personal expenses that included a multi-country European vacation last fall,” he said.

Chape, who has a petty criminal history that includes arrests for speeding, shoplifting and drugs, posted $10,000 and was released on charges of theft by deception, money laundering, forgery and various related offenses.

His mortgage loan originator’s license also was suspended by the state Division of Banking and Insurance pending an administrative hearing.

Burke warned citizens to be wary of any real estate investment.

“With the collapse of the real estate bubble, these schemes have increased,” he said. “Investments in properties that are distressed, investment pools, foreclosures and ‘short sales’ carry substantial risks.

“Like other securities, interest in real estate ventures must be registered with the N.J. Bureau of Securities,” the chief added.

MUGSHOT: Courtesy BOGOTA PD

PHOTO: No one was injured in a car fire following a three-vehicle crash on the Hackensack River bridge that temporarily closed three local lanes and one express lane on westbound Route 80 this morning.

Hackensack Engines 1 & 2, Rescue, and Deputy 1 responded along with New Jersey State Police around 8 a.m., Hackensack Fire Lt. Justin Derevyanik told CLIFFVIEW PILOT.

One occupant declined hospitalization, he said.

A 25-year-old Passaic man was out collecting replacement iPhones that scammers had sent to unsuspecting residents in three towns when Rochelle Park police arrested him yesterday afternoon, authorities said.

Police responding to a call from a Rochelle Avenue resident that a strange man was banging on her door found Duany Perez-Clemente talking to her neighbor.

Perez-Clemente told Sgt. Dan Urban and Officer Todd Starling that he was trying to retrieve a friend’s mailed cellphone, Detective James DePreta told CLIFFVIEW PILOT.

The caller said she found two packaged iPhones on her porch but didn’t know the addressees.

Detectives who arrived soon after found two other packages of iPhones in Perez-Clemente’s car that had been mailed to a Passaic Street address in Maywood with two different names on the labels, DePreta said.

They contacted colleagues in Hillsdale, who found four more packages that Perez-Clemente had planned to pick up, he said.

They also got a call last night from Maywood police, who said a resident reported receiving a cellphone that wasn’t ordered.

An insurance company had sent the phones as replacements to the various addresses after the scammers filed bogus claims, the detective said.

Using delivery apps, Perez-Clemente knew where and when they were being dropped off, DePreta said.

Perez-Clemente was being held on $20,000 bail in the Bergen County Jail, charged with receiving stolen property, attempted theft by deception and defiant trespassing.

Detectives were working with their colleagues in Hillsdale and Maywood to identify both the victims and the perpetrators

MUGSHOT: Courtesy ROCHELLE PARK PD

YOU READ IT HERE FIRST: A 61-year-old River Vale woman was stopped in Elmwood Park last night after driving her son to Paterson to buy heroin, authorities said this morning.

Deborah Winans was given a summons to appear in court to answer charges of drug possession in a motor vehicle after police found 10 bags of heroin and six Xanax pills following a 5:25 p.m. stop on East 55th Street, Elmwood Park Police Chief Michael Foligno told CLIFFVIEW PILOT.

Her son, 29-year-old Daniel Winans, also of River Vale, was charged with two drug possession counts. He, too, was released on a summons.

The arrests came between two others EPPD traffic stops that led to drug charges yesterday:

The first, at 3:15 p.m. on River Drive, led to possession charges against 23-year-old borough resident Eric Saslowsky, who Foligno said was carrying 10 bags of heroin and two of crack cocaine.

At 8:20 p.m., officers arrested Tyler Stricker, 29, of Garfield, on River Drive after the chief said they found him carrying 20 bags of heroin.

Like the Winans, both men were released pending court appearances.

YOU SAW IT HERE FIRST: A Morris County man charged with aggravated manslaughter in the death of his friend after their car crashed on Route 80 in Elmwood Park on their way home from a ZZ Top concert in Englewood remained held on $500,000 bail in the Bergen County Jail following a court appearance this morning.

As CLIFFVIEW PILOT exclusively reported last night, New Jersey State Police said Jared Clackner was a passenger in a blue 1996 Oldmobile Sierra that crashed into the divider at milepost 61.6, killing the driver, 61-year-old William Henning, after the Denville men got into an argument on the way home fom BergenPAC Tuesday night.

Authorities said they were withholding specifics of the incident while investigators assemble a case for grand jury review.

SEE: Englewood concert-goer killed, friend charged in Route 80 crash in Elmwood Park (MUGSHOT: Courtesy BERGEN COUNTY SHERIFF)

Assistant Bergen County Prosecutor Danielle Grootenboer formally served Clackner with a complaint charging him with first-degree aggravated manslaughter by recklessly causing the death of Henning.

Superior Court Judge Edward A. Jerejian entered a not-guilty plea for Clackner, a 53-year-old self-employed painter and father of two, and continued his bail with no 10% option.

The judge told Clackner that the charge carries the additional weight of an action committed “under circumstances manifesting extreme indifference to the value of human life.”

He said the case will now move to a grand jury for consideration of an indicttment, told Clackner he has the right to counsel and explained how he could get a public defender if he can’t afford a private attorney.

If Clackner is released on bail, Jerejian said, he must surrender all firearms and his passport and cannot leave the state while the case is pending.

CHECK BACK FOR MORE DETAILS

Jared Clackner (STORY / PHOTOS: CLIFFVIEW PILOT Courthouse Reporter Mary K. Miraglia)

PHOTOS: CLIFFVIEW PILOT Senior Correspondent Kevin Teel (top), CLIFFVIEW PILOT Correspondent Damien Danis (above)

PHOTOS: Flames spread quickly from a Hasbrouck Heights pizzeria to a neighboring beauty salon and apartments above a mixed-use building this afternoon.

No injuries were immediately reported, firefighters rescued two pet birds and the officials said the rear of the building sustained significant damage.

The fire in the 300 block of Boulevard across from Borough Hall began just after 1 p.m. in the back of Hasbrouck Heights Pizzeria and quickly went to three alarms — and then a fourth an hour or so later — spreading to R-Tist Salon next door.

The building also holds a delicatessen, a Thai restaurant a dentist’s office and an accounting firm.

Wallington FAST joined firefighters from Carlstadt, East Rutherford, Little Ferry, Lodi, Moonachie, Rochelle Park Wallington and Wood-Ridge.

The blaze was under control a little over an hour after it broke out.

Its cause was under investigation.

PHOTO: CLIFFVIEW PILOT Correspondent Damien Danis

PHOTO: Nick Evans

PHOTO: CLIFFVIEW PILOT Senior Correspondent Kevin Teel