Jersey City mourns slain cop
Jersey City Police Det. Marc DiNardo was taken off life support Tuesday morning, five days after being shot in the face during a confrontation with two robbery suspects the previous Thursday. Four other officers were injured in the shootout and the two suspects, a man and woman who lived on Reed Street, were killed.
Jersey City Police Chief Thomas Comey, Mayor Jerramiah Healy and other police officials gathered at a press conference Monday afternoon to announce that DiNardo, 37, was expected to meet an “imminent” death.
“It is now a stark reality that the miracle that we were so badly seeking will not come to pass,” said Comey. He did not take any questions but asked the media to respect the privacy of the DiNardo family in the last hours of his life.
Police Officer Melissa Bartholomew, a friend of the DiNardo family, read a statement from the family thanking the Police Department and Jersey City residents for their “prayers and overwhleming support.”
Joseph Scott, the president of the Jersey City Medical Center, issued a statement saying all the hospital’s employees were in “deepest prayer and sorrow” and thanked the family for authorizing the donation of DiNardo’s organs.
Scott also offered an update on the other seriously wounded officer, Police Officer Michael Camacho, 25, saying his condition was upgraded from critical to serious but guarded condition and is out of Intensive Care. Camacho suffered a wound to the neck.
Before the end of the press conference, Mayor Jerramiah Healy said both DiNardo and Camacho have been promoted to the rank of detective.
DiNardo, the son of a retired Jersey City police officer, is leaving behind his wife Mary and three children, ages 4, 3, and 1.
The family requests that in lieu of flowers, donations be made to the JCPOBA, Marc Anthony DiNardo Memorial Fund, P.O. Box 17395, Jersey City, NJ 07307.
For more on this story, see this coming weekend’s Jersey City Reporter in print or at www.hudsonreporter.com. – Ricardo Kaulessar
Secaucus Tax Collector charged with theft
Secaucus Tax Collector Alan Bartolozzi was charged Tuesday, July 21 with one count of theft in the third degree for allegedly stealing $20,000 from the Secaucus Public Employees’ Association, according to Hudson County
Prosecutor Edward DeFazio.
If convicted, Bartolozzi, who has been suspended without pay from his job, faces a maximum penalty of five years behind bars.
Bartolozzi made his first court appearance before Superior Court Judge Kevin Callahan and was released on bail.
Bartolozzi and the Tax Collector’s Office have been under investigation since February or March when accounting irregularities were discovered and the office was unable to balance its books.
For more on this story, see this coming weekend’s Secaucus Reporter, also available at www.hudsonreporter.com. – Assata Wright
Driver arrested for injuring seven on Bergenline Ave
Edilberto Viana of North Bergen has been identified as the driver who allegedly injured seven pedestrians on Sunday just after 5 p.m. on Bergenline Avenue and 57th Street, according to West New York police. The crowded streets were due to sidewalk sales held by the town. As of July 20, two victims remained in the hospital recovering from bone fractures and other injuries caused by the collision.
Viana, 43, was summoned with one count of driving under the influence, one count of reckless driving, one count of driving an uninsured vehicle, and charged with seven counts of assault by auto, police said. – Melissa Rappaport
Reports: Gatti’s death may have been suicide
While boxer Arturo Gatti’s wife has been implicated in his death, Brazilian sources are saying an autopsy suggested that the former Jersey City native may have hanged himself.
According to the AP report:
“An autopsy indicates former boxing champion Arturo Gatti may have committed suicide, been accidentally killed or murdered, according to a Brazilian newspaper that said it obtained a copy of the coroner’s initial findings. Police have said they are certain Gatti’s 23-year-old wife strangled the boxer with her purse strap as he drunkenly slept July 11, but the autopsy report raises some doubts.”
Gatti was found dead two weeks ago in the apartment in Brazil that he shared with his wife, Union City native Amanda Rodrigues. – CM
No Beasties at All Points West
While headliners Coldplay, Tool, and Janeane Garofalo will still be performing at Jersey City’s All Points West Festival on July 31, the Beastie Boys are dropping out.
The Beasties announced on Monday that member Adam Yauch, 44, has a tumor in one of his salivary glands as well as its lymph node. He’ll undergo surgery next week and is expected to recover because he caught the cancer early, news sources say. The treatment won’t affect his vocal chords.
The Beasties have canceled their upcoming concerts as a result, including All Points West.
Yauch told the press that he felt a lump in his throat two months ago and consulted a doctor two weeks ago.
The concert promoters had this to say on their website: “Yes we are aware that Beastie Boys have canceled their tour dates. Please give us a day or so to sort out alternative plans. Stay tuned for details.” – CM