December 7, 2011 THE VILLADOM TIMES II • Page 7 Ridgewood Police add decoy program to pedestrian safety efforts by John Koster Ridgewood Police Chief John Ward has announced that the Ridgewood Police Department will step up enforcement of driving while intoxicated and pedestrian safety programs for the holiday season. “We ask that drivers as well as pedestrians use caution when traveling or crossing the street,” Chief Ward said. “Officers will be conducting pedestrian crossing details as we have in the past.” A large sign on Ridgewood Avenue states that the decoy program is already in operation. This pedestrian safety effort involves having police officers in civilian clothes cross streets legally but vigilantly, to make sure that motorists exercise responsible caution and stop, as legally required, when pedestrians enter the crosswalks at an intersection. Extra patrols will be out during the holidays, Chief Ward said, including road checks for motorists driving erratically or with improperly maintained vehicles. On Nov. 14 at 11:55 p.m., Patrolman Anthony Mormino stopped a vehicle on North Maple Avenue that was being driven with heavy front end damage. He suspected that the battered vehicle might have been involved in a hitand-run accident reported by Ho-Ho-Kus. The suspicion proved correct, police said, and a 30-year-old Monsey, New York woman was arrested for DWI, careless driving, unsafe vehicle, possession of marijuana, possession of drug paraphernalia, possession of an open container, consumption of alcohol in a motor vehicle, and possession of a controlled dangerous substance. She faces an appearance in Ridgewood Municipal Court. The next day, at 6:43 p.m., Patrolman Sean Amoruso responded to a call from Hawthorne Police about an erratic driver and found a vehicle pulled over to the side of Goffle Road. The driver, a 63-year-old Hackensack man, was charged with DWI, refusal to submit to tests, driving with a suspended license, and using false information to obtain a driver’s license. He also faces a date in Ridgewood Municipal Court. Chief Ward reminds residents that another wise holiday measure is to simulate an occupied home by leaving lights turned on and a radio playing inside the locked house. Gifts should be locked in the trunks of cars or otherwise concealed while the car is vacant, whether the vehicle is parked at a shopping mall, in front of stores, or in a driveway. The Ridgewood Police Department reported two crude house-breaking burglaries that took place on Nov. 25 with a similar mode of operation. The first report came in from an activated burglar alarm on Wickham Way. Polie found that the rear door had been forced open and that had triggered the alarm. Washington Township police joined the Bergen County K-9 team and the Ridgewood Police Department in a search of the premises. The Ridgewood Detctive Bureau is continuing the investigation. On the same day, a Carriage Lane resident reported that she had returned home and found the sliding rear door smashed and that rooms had been ransacked and numerous items were taken. The Ridgewood Detective Bureau and the Bergen County Sheriff’s Office are investigating. A different kind of theft was reported the next day, Nov. 26, when a resident reported that he had responded to a job offer on Craigslist with a company that supposedly sup- Two late November burglaries involved similar mode of operation ports orphanages.The Wyckoff man received a check for $300 and was told to deposit the check and send the balance to an orphanage in Idaho. The check was returned to the prospective employee’s bank as fraudulent. The attempt to get honest people to cash fraudulent checks and to forward most of the money to an out-of-state address is a classic scam and can involve anything from discount vitamins to, in one case, a live snake ordered by mail. On Nov. 28, Town and Country Pharmacy reported an attempt to obtain drugs with a fraudulent prescription. Patrolman Paul Dinice arrested a 35-year-old Monsey, New York man and charged him with possession of a controlled dangerous substance, receiving stolen property, and possession of a conrolled dangerous substance by fraud. He was released pending an appearance in Ridgewood Municpal Court. J. KOSTER