PHOTO: A driver got out of his car after it crashed and overturned on Route 287 at the Route 17 split in Mahwah this morning.

A New Jersey State Police trooper supported the man’s neck as he sat against the guard rail before EMS responded and brought him to a hospital following the 9:20 a.m. crash.

PHOTO: Lukasz Adamkiewicz

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A New Jersey State Police trooper involved in a high-speed chase that began in Newark and ended in Fairview after the car rammed several police vehicles was charged by state authorities with kicking the driver in the head after he was already handcuffed on the ground.

The state Attorney General’s Office confirmed simple assault (disorderly person) charges against Aris Varvar, 32, of Paramus, a six-year NJSP veteran who once worked as a dispatcher and special police officer in Cliffside Park.

State Police Supt. Col. Rick Fuentes said supervisors called for an internal investigation that led to officials transferring Varvar, taking his duty weapon and assigning him to a desk. He was suspended without pay after a state Division of Criminal Justice investigation led to the charges.

“This is a serious violation of the public trust placed in every man and woman who receives a badge, and such conduct will not be tolerated,” Fuentes said. “The actions taken by State Police supervisors show that our internal review system works.”

Defense attorney Paul Faugno has said his client has “an unblemished record” and intends to plead not guilty at a scheduled April 7 court appearance.

The alleged victim, 25-year-old Brandon Clemons of Newark (above), has remained free on $100,000 bail — reduced from the original $250,000 — after being released from the Bergen County Jail early last September, two months after the July 8 incident.

Clemons, who has a prior felony conviction, also also has $50,000 bail posted in Hudson County for related charges.

Clemons was the driver when either he or 24-year-old Tahiry Baskerville, also of Newark, pulled a gun on an undercover officer, igniting the chase.

The high-speed, 20-minute pursuit went from Newark through Secaucus, North Bergen, Ridgefield, Cliffside Park and Fairview — involving New Jersey State Police and several local departments — along Routes 78 and 3, Tonnelle Avenue (Rts 1&9) and Palisade Avenue.

The car went through Fairview to Cliffside Park, then headed back south around and through North Hudson Park in North Bergen before the chase finally ended near the intersection of 8th and Walker streets in Fairview.

“One of the police cars cornered the car and hit it on 8th Street,” a witness told CLIFFVIEW PILOT. “Then they grabbed the two guys.”

Two troopers were treated at Hackensack University Medical Center for minor injuries after their vehicles were rammed during the chase.

A Hudson County Sheriff’s vehicle was also struck near North Hudson Park.

FILE PHOTO: CLIFFVIEW PILOT Courthouse Reporter Mary K. Miraglia

YOU READ IT HERE FIRST: A Hackensack granite cutter was arrested today and charged with having sex with a 12-year-old girl five years ago.

Jorge L. Gonzalez, 32, was being held on $150,000 bail in the Bergen County Jail, charged with aggravated sexual assault and child endangerment.

The girl, now 17, “recently disclosed what had taken place to a counselor and the Division of Child Protection and Permanency,” Bergen County Prosecutor John L. Molinelli said this afternoon.

They notified members of Molinelli’s Special Victims Unit, who contacted the Maywood Police Department and arranged an interview yesterday during which the girl “provided specific details regarding what had occurred,” the prosecutor said.

Gonzalez, who is single, was scheduled for an April 10 first court appearance.

Jorge L. Gonzalez (MUGSHOT: Courtesy BERGEN COUNTY PROSECUTOR)

YOU READ IT HERE FIRST: A 33-year-old Queens masturbated on camera after making social media video calls to two unsuspecting victims in Bergen County, authorities said in announcing his arrest this afternoon.

Police in New York City took Marty Napoleon into custody earlier today so that he can be extradited to New Jersey to face two counts each of stalking and cyber harassment charges.

Napoleon, who is single and unemployed, “was using a social media application to make video telephone calls over Wi-Fi to randomly contact numerous victims in Bergen County,” Bergen County Prosecutor John L. Molinelli said.

“Once the victims accepted the video request, Napoleon would immediately begin to masturbate in view of the camera,” the prosecutor said.

After discovering that the victims blocked previous attempts, Napoleon used other email addresses, Molinelli said.

These included:

• GinaFranco735@gmail.com
• GinaFranco735@gmail.com
• LauraDenapoli888@gmail.com
• LauraDenapoli888@gmail.com

A tentative April 1 court date in Central Municipal Court in Hackensack was set, along with $25,000 bail.

MUGSHOT: Courtesy BERGEN COUNTY SHERIFF

A Garfield man got punched in the face when he chased and tried to stop a man from taking a family member’s bike, police said.

The Ray Street resident told officers the Hispanic bandit was wearing a black hooded sweatshirt when he swiped the bicycle just after 3 p.m., Capt. Darren Sucorowski told CLIFFVIEW PILOT tonight.

He said he chased and caught up to the thief, who got off the bike and socked him, disorienting him for the moment as he fled down a side street.

EMTs treated the man at the scene, Sucorowski said.

Anyone with information that could help find the bike and the thief is asked to call Garfield police: (973) 478-8500.

UPDATE: The state Attorney General’s Office confirmed that it has closed an inquiry into a complaint by a local TV station that Bergen County Prosecutor John L. Molinelli lied to county freeholders in securing a no-bid contract for an authenticator to help him auction off seized baseball memorabilia that the reporter says he knew was bogus.

“Our investigation did not uncover anything that rose to the level of criminality,” the AG’s Office wrote in an email published yesterday by PIX11.

Consumer reporter Howard Thompson argued in his report that there was “no evidence” that a state probe “even happened” (SEE: NJ’s Attorney General closes case of fraudulent memorabilia).

As proof, he said, investigators didn’t speak with any of the people he interviewed on camera for his original story (SEE: Bergen County prosecutor used false document to sell bogus memorabilia).

“They didn’t investigate anything,” Thompson was told by Bill Brennan, a former councilman-turned-gadfly from Wayne who has filed complaints against various public and private agencies, officials and administrators in New Jersey over the past decade and a half.

Molinelli responded to the original PIX11 report by reaching out directly and offering refunds to any of those customers who bought $36,835 worth of memorabilia from William Stracher’s collection sold by Caspert Auctioneers of Englewood Cliffs for his office on May 3 and Sept. 27.

Even though buyers are told in writing that no guarantees or warranties are made — and that government agencies aren’t bound by experts’ opinions — Molinelli said he wanted the public to have confidence in his office and not have its reputation tarnished in any way.

“The right thing here is to make sure that you have confidence in our office, regardless of the fact that we still believe that the signed item which you purchased is based upon a valid certificate,” Molinelli wrote in a five-page letter to more than two dozen buyers in December (SEE: Bergen prosecutor calls TV station fake baseball memorabilia report ‘shoddy, irresponsible,’ offers refunds).

Those who accepted his offer included John Slokovitz and his wife, Mary, who told Thompson that they were happy to get more than $2,300 back for what turned out to be worthless items.

However, they said they were also “hurt” do discover that the state probe was closed after they “never heard” from investigators.

Molinelli’s detectives seized the collectibles from Stracher at his Vermont home eight years ago while charging him with illegally peddling prescription drugs from his Paterson pharmacy.

Stracher laundered his ill-gotten gains by buying up huge amounts of collectibles, some of them autographed, the prosecutor said. He then arranged to have them sold by Robert Lifson and his company, Robert Edward Auctions (REA).

Lifson, in turn, hired James Spence Authentication (JSA) to examine 41,678 items for authenticity.

Spence split the collection, taking what he deemed genuine to auction and leaving behind in Vermont what he considered fakes, as well as items that he said weren’t worth assessing.

Authorities later arrested Stracher there in November 2007, seizing the remaining pieces.

In court papers, Lifson said all of those items, except for one, were “not genuine and had no value.”

Molinelli hired his own expert to determine whether any or all of the items that Lifson examined were, in fact, bogus. He found his man on the History Channel program “Pawn Stars” — Las Vegas-based authenticator Drew Max.

The Bergen County Chosen Board of Freeholders awarded a $10,000 contract to Max on Molinelli’s word that he couldn’t find another suitable authenticator.

Thompson, in his report, quoted another expert saying that he’d have taken the job — and met all of the specfications — for half of Max’s price. Two more experts whom Molinelli said he spoke with gave differing accounts in Thompson’s report from the prosecutor’s claims.

Thompson also interviewed people who questioned Max’s reliability. He cited six major sports memorabilia auction houses that he said don’t accept Max’s certificates of authenticity as a basis for auctioning items.

Thompson zeroed in on items autographed by Mickey Mantle, Ted Williams and Joe DiMaggio, the great baseball-collectible trio.

He got opinions from two companies — including Spence’s JSA.

Spence — who had examined Stracher’s items years earlier and found them wanting — this time deemed a Mickey Mantle baseball and a Ted Williams ball “non-authentic,” sayng they came from a large forgery ring busted by the FBI in 1999.

He called the signature on a DiMaggio print genuine, however.

In the end, Thompson said, Molinelli had Lifson’s warnings about the collectibles in the court papers and still went ahead with this year’s auctions.

Thompson did note that not all sports memorabilia experts agree on authenticy and that Stracher could have obtained some of the items between the time Spence did the initial authentication for Lifson and the raid on his home.

“We do want to be clear. The prosecutor’s auction did include some legitimate items,” Thompson said in his report. “And even the best authenticators can make mistakes.”

Molinelli said that was too little too late. He accused Thompson of “shoddy investigation and reporting,” leading to “some disturbing misstatements and conclusions” that he called “irresponsible.”

In his letter to buyers, the prosecutor said that Thompson “made the representation that every single item sold by our office through Caspert were forgeries,” which he said was “based solely upon a statement made by REA six years ago” from JSA’s findings….To blindly accept a statement from a third party given [seven] years earlier when it was likely that the authenticator could be mistaken or might never have seen what was seized would not be responsible.”

So his office retained Max, an independent examiner who was paid “the same amount of money whether he found that every item was authentic or every item was worthless,” Molinelli said.

Max, who the prosecutor said has testified in both state and federal courts as a document and handwriting expert, declared 25% of the items genuine. These were sold at this year’s auctions, while the rest were destroyed, he said. READ MORE….

YOU READ IT HERE FIRST: A 30-year-old Garfield man was hospitalized — and issued a summons for being under the influence of drugs — after screaming from a third-floor balcony that he had died and threatening to jump, authorities said.

Officers ran to his apartment, where other tenants said he’d been acting irrationally, Police Capt. Darren Sucorowski said this morning.

The officers then pulled him inside, Sucorowski said.

He continued to “act delusional, repeatedly [saying] that someone had killed him and he had died,” the captain said.

The man struggled with police while begging them for help before they got him into custody.

He was taken to Hackensack University Medical Center for evaluation, Sucorowski said.

STORY / PHOTOS: Boyd A. Loving

PHOTOS: A driver was hospitalized as a precaution after her Lexus SUV slammed into the steps of a Fair Lawn private home and keeled onto the lawn this morning.

Fair Lawn police, firefighters and Heavy Rescue responded along with Fuchs Ambulance to the 34st Street residence around 10:45 a.m.

A building subcode official inspected.

STORY / PHOTOS: Boyd A. Loving

PHOTOS: An excavator fell off a trailer onto southbound Route 208 in Wyckoff near Russell Avenue just after noon, tying up traffic.

No injuries were reported and no other vehicles were involved, police said. State Department of Transporation authorities said the roadway needed repair.

CLIFFVIEW PILOT photos

UPDATE: A 24-year-old Polish national accused of grabbing a Garfield bar patron’s breast cursed a responding police officer, spit at him and his colleagues and kicked out the plexi-glass divider in the cruiser on the way to headquarters while threatening to kill him and his family, authorities said this afternoon.

Mateusz Lubnicki was apparently drunk when the first responding officer found him standing outside the Fregata Tavern on Scudder Street at 5:30 last night, Capt. Darren Sucorowski said.

They “advised him that he wasn’t wanted within the bar and wold have to leave,” Sucorowski said.

Lubnicki, in turn, “used some vulgarities toward the officer and said he could do whatever he wanted to do,” then “went back inside the bar,” the captain said.

Officers then tried to arrest him for obstruction and defiant trespassing when the 6-foot-3-inch, 200-pound Lubnicki spit at them, Sucorowski said.

Lubnicki, who lives in Garfield, was first taken to Bergen Regional Medical Center for detoxification, under New Jersey’s Alcohol Treatment and Rehabilitation Act (ATRA).

He was being held on $75,000 bail in the Bergen County Jail today, charged with aggravated assault on a police officer, criminal sexual acontact, resisting arrest, defiant trespassing, making terroristic threats and criminal mischief.

MUGSHOT: Courtesy GARFIELD PD

YOU READ IT HERE FIRST: Fort Lee and Port Authority police chased a getaway car across the George Washington Bridge before breaking off the pursuit near Yankee Stadium in the Bronx after the passenger took a trio of Rolexes worth more than $35,000 at gunpoint from a Paramus mall jewelry store this afternoon.

“Fort Lee and Port Authority police were waiting at the approaches when the vehicle sped through the tolls,” a law enforcement source with direct knowledge of the chase told CLIFFVIEW PILOT.

Officers sped across the span on both the upper and lower levels before the getaway driver of the white Mercedes SUV turned onto Jerome Avenue and sped off towards the stadium.

“It was raining and there was concern that innocent people could get hurt if there was an accident,” the source said.

*        *        *        *        *        *

The LICENSE PLATE: 6CW-2633 (New York)

If you see it, or know where to find the vehicle, dial 911 immediately. Or call Paramus police: (201) 262-3400

The Paramus PD also has a TIPS LINE app at: www.paramuspolice.org

*        *        *        *        *        *

The gunman pointed a gun at the face of a salesperson at Kay Jewelers at Bergen Town Centre around 2 p.m., Paramus Police Chief Kenneth Ehrenberg told CLIFFVIEW PILOT.

The robber — described as black, about 6 feet tall, carrying a black backpack with a black jacket, blue hat and tan jeans — then got into the SUV with tinted windows driven by an accomplice that headed east on Route 4, they said.

Hearing a State Police Emergency Network broadcast, Fort Lee and PAPD police headed to the bridge.

“There’s good video,” both from the store and the bridge tolls, that investigators were reviewing, the source told CLIFFVIEW PILOT.

YOU READ IT HERE FIRST: A 59-year-old convicted sex offender from Teaneck was drunk when he rammed his car into an Englewood check cashing business after shoplifting $20 of toilet paper, authorities said.

A security guard from the H Mart supermarket on Lafayette Avenue was holding down Roderick T. Mitchell outside the Garden State Check Cashing store when officers arrived around 7:30 last night, Detective Capt. Timothy Torell said this afternoon.

Roderick T. Mitchell (MUGSHOT: Courtesy NJ DEPT of CORRECTIONS)

Mitchell had crashed a 2007 Audi A4 into the building and tried to run after the security guard chased him out of the market moments earlier, he said.

Mitchell had shoplifted from the store before when the guard said he approached him and identified himself. Mitchell then took off, the guard told police.

Police took Mitchell into custody on robbery charges.

They also charged him with DWI and refusing to submit to a breath test while also issuing him several summonses, Torell said.

Mitchell, who was being held on $60,000 bail in the Bergen County Jail, was released from state prison last July after serving more than two years for trying to lure teenagers into his car.

MUGSHOT: Courtesy ENGLEWOOD PD

YOU READ IT HERE FIRST: A 36-year-old food delivery driver from Closter was arrested yesterday and charged in a hit-and-run pedestrian crash that left a Cliffside Park woman with serious head and leg injuries a little over a week ago.

Joseph R. Zulueta was being held on $50,000 bail in the Bergen County Jail, charged with leaving the scene of a crash with serious injuries, endangering an injured victim and hindering his arrest.

“We thought she was dead,” one of the first people on the scene told CLIFFVIEW PILOT after the 27-year-old victim was struck a week ago yesterday in the driveway of the parking garage for the Northbridge Co-Op Apartments at 2200 N. Central Road.

“It looks like she was knocked in the air and landed in the driveway,” which leads to Hudson Terrace a few blocks north of the George Washington Bridge.

She was taken to Hackensack University Medical Center.

An investigation by the Bergen County Prosecutor’s Office Fatal Accident Investigation Unit (FAIU) and Fort Lee police determined that Zulueta was headed south on Hudson Terrace when his black 1998 Toyota Camry struck the woman as she crossed the street, Prosecutor John L. Molinelli said late this afternoon.

Surveillance video showed that Zulueta kept going, he said.

Closter police produced information pointing to Zulueta — who is married with an 18-month-old son — on Tuesday, Molinelli said.

Yesterday investigator impounded the vehicle and arrested Zulueta, he said.

In addition to his arrest, Zulueta was issued traffic summoses for careless driving and leaving the scene of an accident.

MUGSHOT: Courtesy BERGEN COUNTY PROSECUTOR

Scene of March 18 crash

YOU READ IT HERE FIRST: The Lodi Police Department’s new narcotics unit arrested a 21-year-old Garfield man today after they said they caught him making several drug deals the past two weeks.

Edwin A. Rodriguez was being held on $35,000 bail in the Bergen County Jail after his Elizabeth Street home was raided.

He’s charged with several counts involving drug possession with the intent to distribute near a school.

Unit members and Garfield detectives executed a search warrant today that turned up two ounces of marijuana, $680 in cash, a scale used to weigh the drugs and paraphernalia, Detective Capt. Donald Scorzetti told CLIFFVIEW PILOT.

Charges were pending from Garfield.

MUGSHOT: Courtesy LODI PD

YOU READ IT HERE FIRST: A Haledon ex-con who Fair Lawn police said they caught last fall wheeling a stolen bicycle while riding another was tied to a burglary two months earlier, thanks to a DNA match, authorities said today.

Clarence Goodman, 53, pushed his way out of the First Street residence after the homeowner awoke at 11:20 p.m. last July 22 and caught him rifling through a bedroom drawer, Sgt. Brian Metzler said.

Sgt. Anthony Ferreira and Bergen County Sheriff’s Detective Eddie Alicea took over the investigation and logged evidence that Metzler said the intruder left behind.

A forensic exam produced a match, the sergeant said.

Goodman, who Metzler said fled with a $90 cellphone, was behind held on $50,000 bail in the Bergen County Jail, charged with robbery and theft.

MUGSHOT: Courtesy BERGEN COUNTY SHERIFF

YOU READ IT HERE FIRST: A Chinese food delivery man was robbed at an Englewood housing complex last night by two men, one armed with a handgun and the other with a knife, authorities told CLIFFVIEW PILOT.

The victim told police both robbers were wearing masks and dark jackets when they confronted him as he made a delivery around 11:30 p.m. at the Rock Creek apartment complex off Broad Avenue.

The pair took $100 in cash and an iPhone from the victim, who wasn’t injured, Detective Capt. Timothy Torell told CLIFFVIEW PILOT.

A Bergen County Sheriff’s K-9 unit swept the complex, Torell said, adding that an investigation was continuing.

Anyone with information that could help find those responsible is asked to call Englewood detectives: (201) 568-4875

BEYOND BERGEN: A flying tire that flew over a Route 80 median caused a crash that killed a 77-year-old Englewood Cliffs man and injured his 66-year-old wife in Morris County last night.

Sheldon and Randi Lefkowitz were headed west in Rockaway when the tire hit came off the rear axle of a Dodge Ram and hit their Audi around 7:20 p.m. State Police said.

Lefkowitz lost control of the vehicle car, hitting a pickup hauling a trailer and then a Mercedes Benz before bouncing off a guardrail, they said. He was pronounced dead at the scene.

His wife was taken to Morristown Medical Center with injuries that police said weren’t life-threatening.

No charges were immediately filed.

TRIBUTE: New Jersey Assembly members stood and applauded yesterday after unanimously approving a measure to rename a stretch of Route 17 in Waldwick the Christopher Goodell Memorial Highway in memory of the fallen hero.

Goodell’s parents, sister and fellow officers from Waldwick attended the passage of Bill A3582 in Trenton.

Waldwick Police Officer Christopher Goodell

“It was a very fitting and touching tribute to a great officer,” Lt. Douglas Moore told CLIFFVIEW PILOT.

Goodell was working a radar detail in his unmarked cruiser, parked on the shoulder of southbound Route 17, when it was struck by an 18-wheeler driven by a Brooklyn trucker the morning of July 17.

The impact instantly killed him, Bergen County Prosecutor John L. Molinelli said.

The trucker responsible remained free on bail, charged with vehicular homicide.

“Words cannot describe the remorse everyone feels over the tragic loss of Officer Goodell,” said Assemblyman Dave Russo, a co-sponsor of the bill. “He was the epitome of selfless public service. Commemorating his name is one way no one will ever forget the honor with which he served.”

NJ Assemblyman Scott Rumana talks with Goodell family members (PHOTO: Courtesy NJ ASSEMBLY)

“Officer Goodell’s life was marked by protecting and assisting the public,” added Assemblyman Scott Rumana, another co-sponsor. “Whether putting himself in harm’s way in the military or serving as a police officer, his life was dedicated to caring for others. His commitment to keeping us safe will never be forgotten as we fittingly pay tribute to a fallen hero.”

Goodell, 32, joined the U.S. Marine Corps after being graduated from Waldwick High School in 2000. He served with the Waldwick Police Department for five years and was recently honored by Mothers Against Drunk Driving’s New Jersey chapter for outstanding efforts in drunk driving enforcement.

YOU READ IT HERE FIRST: A Dominican national was arrested yesterday on charges of sexually assaulting a 10-year-old Hasbrouck Heights girl last month.

Melkis Antigua-Cruz, 33, was being held on $500,000 bail, charged with aggravated sexual assault and child endangerment in connection with the Feb. 25 incident.

“The victim recently disclosed to her sister what had taken place and the sister, in turn, told their aunt,” Bergen County Prosecutor John L. Molinelli said this afternoon.

The aunt contacted the Hasbrouck Heights police, who notified Molinelli’s Special Victims Unit. The Division of Child Protection and Permanency (DCP&P) was also notified.

A SVU detective interviewed the girl, who provided specific details regarding what had occurred,” the prosecutor said.

Antigua-Cruz, who is single and works as a baker, was scheduled for an initial court appearance this coming Wednesday.

MUGSHOT: Courtesy BERGEN COUNTY SHERIFF

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YOU READ IT HERE FIRST: Authorities have charged three more people in connection with a fortified marijuana grow home — complete with surveillance cameras, reinforced doors, grow lights and an irrigation system — that Hackensack firefighters discovered in a basement apartment on a quiet city street.

Abel Mariot, 30, and Arnold F. Salcedo, 49, are named in a nine-count indictment returned by a grand jury in Hackensack earlier this week that accuses them with direct involvement in the Pine Street operation with Francisco J. Henao-Botero (above, left) and Salcedo’s girlfriend, Vicenta Encarnacio (above, right).

A fifth defendant, 49-year-old Ana M. Brito, is charged with trying to help them avoid arrest.

Salcedo and Encarnacion are also charged with endangering their 7-year-old child.

Hackensack police raided the home just after midnight Dec. 23 and seized more than 50 marijuana plants along with the growing equipment after city firefighters responding to a stove fire discovered the operation (SEE: Hackensack marijuana growing operation had lighting, irrigation, more, police director says).

The Pine Street residence “was wired with grow lights, had an irrigation system and had several pallets of fertilizer,” City Police Director Michael Mordaga told CLIFFVIEW PILOT shortly after the raid. “It was a major operation.”

The flash fire was quickly extinguished around 5:30 p.m.

This week’s indictment charges all but Brito with three counts of operating a fortified drug production facility and two of possessing the marijuana with the intent to distribute it on or near school property (The Fairmount School on Grand Avenue).

It charges Encarnacio and Henao-Botero with lying to narcotics investigators “to hinder [their] own apprehension, detection, punishment or conviction” and Brito with lying to help them avoid discovery.

Henao-Botero, a 54-year-old Colombian national, remained free on $75,000 bail, posted Feb. 26. Encarnacio, 39, remained free on $80,000 bail posted nearly three weeks earlier.

Both had their bails slashed — Botero from $750,000 and Encarnacio from $500,000.

The others were released pending further court action.

MUGSHOTS: Courtesy BERGEN COUNTY SHERIFF