Page 10 THE VILLADOM TIMES II • September 18, 2013 Ridgewood Eight firefighters complete diving certification Eight firefighters from the Village of Ridgewood have completed their Open Water Diving Certification and will now join 12 other certified divers that make up the Ridgewood Fire Department Professional Dive Team. The team has been in existence for 23 years and has helped Ridgewood residents during a number of water emergen- cies and rescues in the two rivers and four ponds in the village. The firefighters put their new certification to work today by practicing underwater skills in the natural lake known to locals as the Graydon Pool. The newly-certified divers include Mike Kakolewski, Matt Ramge, Chris Wolf- stirn, Jim Kakolewski, Kurt Harba, Brendan Cororan, Greg Corcoran, and Matt Bombace, The firefighters had previously completed their PADI Open Water Certification at Dutch Springs in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. Dutch Springs is a former quarry that was flooded to provide the open water environment needed to complete dive certifications. The course emphasis was on the concepts behind scuba diving, and feeling confident using scuba equipment. Blue Water Divers Instructor Tony Petrak and Dive- masters Geoff Morris and Susanne Warfield (a Ridgewood resident) provided the training. Blue Water Divers also pro- vides entry-level scuba courses that are designed to teach divers as young as 10 years old to higher levels of certifica- tion, including Public Safety Diver certifications. Blue Water Divers is a PADI 5 Star Diving Facility and Swim School located at 201 Route 17 South in Rochelle Park. The Ridgewood Fire Department protects the lives and safety of all people, and works to prevent and suppress fire Front row: Greg Corcoran, Susanne Warfield (divemaster), and Matt Bombace. Back row: Mike Kakolewski, Matt Ramge, Chris Wolfstirn, Tony Petrak (instructor), Jim Kakolewski, Kurt Harba, Brendan Cororan, and Geoff Morris (divemaster). and preserve property by responding to fires and other emergencies. Ridgewood is located in Bergen County, the fourth most densely populated county in the State of New Jersey. The municipality has a population density of 4,308 residents per square mile and an overall population of 24,936 within a 5.79 square mile land area. The population density is sig- nificantly higher than the Bergen County average of 3,775. Ridgewood police investigate thefts The Ridgewood Police Department has investigated several thefts in the early days of September. At 3:47 p.m. on Sept. 3, a police patrol responded to Stop and Shop on a report of a shoplifter in custody. The store’s security department had stopped a 41-year- old Paterson man attempting to leave the store without paying for a basket of merchandise. He was charged with shoplifting and sent to the Bergen County Jail after he was unable to post bail. Also on Sept. 3, the owner of a landscape company reported that his trailer, parked on Broad Street, had been entered and items were taken. On Sept. 8, two juveniles, one from Glen Rock and one from Harrington Park, were apprehended behind Starbucks for reportedly spray painting walls. They were reportedly discovered to be in possession of marijuana and alcohol and were released into the custody of their parents pending juvenile court action. On Sept. 9, the owner of a house on Paramus Road reported that the house had been entered and the copper pipes had been cut out of the basement. The matter is under investigation by the Ridgewood Detective Bureau. Two female minors who fled at the site of a police care were interviewed at 2:49 a.m. on Sept. 8 and one of them was found to be in possession of drug parapherna- lia and marijuana. The girls were released into the cus- tody of their parents pending juvenile court action.