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by Carolyne Volpe Curley / Carolyne@WestEssexNOW.com Published 9:22pm Hover over Photos to see Locations and Photo Credit Click on Photo to Enlarge  Big Piece Road at Dell Court, Fairfield PHOTO: Mark Andrew Bilhuber  WEST ESSEX, NJ - Late Tuesday afternoon, West Essex was slammed with a storm so strong that many have questioned if we had a tornado come through the area. While some areas of New York did see tornados touch down, West Essex experienced a brief, but incredibly powerful, Squall with Whole Gale, Category 10, 66mph Winds, which was followed up by equally damaging Thunderstorms. The violently intense onset was reported by NOAA's Fairfield Weather Station as a Squall - which they define as a "sudden violent gust of wind or a localized storm" - and it began in West Essex at 4:44pm, followed by Thunderstorms which continued until 6:01pm. In this very short period of time, the Winds, Lightning, and Rain caused a huge amount of damage around the West Essex area. What follows is a timeline of incidents chronicled as they were reported (not as they occured) to which Police, Fire and DPW crews responded and worked tirelessly to clean up for days: Tuesday, May 15 4:44pm
4:46pm
4:49pm
4:50pm
4:51pm
4:55pm
 Stewart Road, Essex Fells PHOTO: Carolyne Volpe Curley 5pm
5:02pm
5:04pm
 Grandview Avenue by Sunset Drive, North Caldwell PHOTO: Carolyne Volpe Curley 5:11pm
5:14pm
 Cedars Road near Washburn Place, Caldwell PHOTO: Chris Wysocki 5:16pm
 Campbell Road at Bodkin Road, Fairfield PHOTO: Bonnie Kamochi 5:18pm
5:24pm
 Passaic Avenue across from Essex County Airport, Fairfield PHOTO: Carolyne Volpe Curley  Passaic Avenue across from Essex County Airport, Fairfield PHOTO: Fiona Curley 5:27pm
5:31pm
 Williamsburg Drive, Roseland PHOTO: Michele Madia Valeriani 5:32pm
5:33pm
5:35pm
5:36pm
5:37pm
5:39pm
5:41pm
5:42pm
5:44pm
Police begin welfare checks of residences, including homes where children are on their own. 5:45pm
5:48pm
5:51pm
5:52pm
5:55pm
 Roseland Methodist Church, Eagle Rock Avenue PHOTO: Carolyne Volpe Curley  Roseland Methodist Church, Eagle Rock Avenue PHOTO: Carolyne Volpe Curley 5:59pm Roseland: Eagle Rock Avenue, Methodist Church
 Midvale Avenue near Esposito Drive, Fairfield PHOTO: Mark Andrew Bilhuber 6:04pm
6:08pm
6:12pm
6:14pm
6:16pm
6:20pm
 Hamilton Drive South by Woodland Place, North Caldwell PHOTO: Lisa Margolis Goldstein 6:22pm
6:25pm
 Alan Drive, Fairfield PHOTO: Lisa Pitera Pasternak 6:26pm
 Gazebo from lower deck landed upside down on upper deck, Lane Avenue, Caldwell PHOTO: Janna Smith 6:29pm
6:30pm
6:39pm
6:41pm
7:02pm
 Kennedy Drive, Fairfield PHOTO: Fairfield Police 7:06pm
7:23pm
7:31pm
7:55pm
8:04pm
8:12pm
8:18pm
By the end of the Storm, over 90 streets which included hundreds of residents, were without power:
by Carolyne Volpe Curley / Carolyne@WestEssexNOW.com Published 12pm  CREDIT: Carolyne Volpe Curley WEST CALDWELL, NJ - At about 10:18am this morning, West Caldwell Police received notification of a van onto a property on Passaic Avenue near, Lombard Drive. When patrol officers responded to the location, they discovered the van had hit a retaining wall alongside the driveway. Investigators ascertained that two individuals had run from the van and headed west into the wooded area behind Crane's Mill. Suspects:
The owner of the Contracting company was immediately contacted by the police. Soon police determined that the plate on the Van came back stolen out of Paterson. Mutual Aid was requested from Roseland and Caldwell Police Departments. At 10:23am, a resident on Hasemann Court notified police that they saw two individuals in their yard. As a precautionary measure, at 10:27am, students at the nearby Wilson School and James Caldwell High School were placed on a "Shelter in Place" order . Police set up a perimeter search around the area as they set out to locate the two individuals. Investigating police soon determined that the suspects likely broke a fence on Pine Tree Place and residents on the street reported seeing the suspects looking into cars. At 10:30am, police followed a lead that the two individuals were seen in the Knoll Terrace area running southeast towards Harrison Avenue. Officers from Fairfield Police responded at 10:35am, to search the wooded areas. A resident on Ellis Road reported at 10:41am that they were viewing two individuals hiding underneath the deck of a home on Brian Road. Police immediately responded to the area and observed the individuals near a home on Brian Road; and one was quickly taken into custody. The other male, who was seen in the distance running west in the backyards of Brian Road towards Passaic Avenue, was pursued by the officers. At 10:49am, the individual was next seen by Fairfield Police near Pine Tree Place at Passaic Avenue. An Essex County Sherif K-9 unit responded to the area at 10:53am and began tracking the individual starting in the vicinity of the crashed van. Slightly more than one hour after the pursuit of the two individuals began, the second suspect was taken into custody at 11:08am on Brian Road, near Passaic Avenue.  The Shelter in Place order was removed from the area schools after notification that the police investigation had concluded.
No further information, including charges, is available at this time. by Carolyne Volpe Curley / Carolyne@WestEssexNOW.com Published 10:30pm WEST CALDWELL, NJ - On Saturday, Feb. 24, West Caldwell Police and police from the surrounding West Essex community responded immediately to James Caldwell High School on reports of an individual possibly at the school with a gun. What follows is a timeline of events which eventually led to the arrest of former student Michael Schmitt, 18, of West Caldwell.  Michael Schmitt Saturday, Feb. 24, 2018 2:16pm
2:17pm
2:23pm
2:48pm
2:55pm
2:58pm
2:59pm
3pm
West Caldwell Police Chief Gerard Paris then released the following statement: West Caldwell Police was notified  Michael Schmitt PHOTO: Essex County Jail On Sunday, afternoon, Paris then stated the following information about Saturday's incident:
The following notice was then sent out to parents from the school administration: Dear JCHS Students and Parents/Guardians, I know many of you have been waiting for additional details regarding yesterday's lockdown and tomorrow's school procedures. I have been in close contact with the West Caldwell Police and here is some of the information that I now have permission to share with you.
After the Parkland shooting, Detective Mazzeo and I decided to meet with every student to review our security procedures and answer questions. We planned to meet tomorrow to develop a schedule because I wanted these meeting to be with relatively small groups to make sure all students are heard. We still plan to have these security meetings, but if any student would like to speak with either of us sooner, please see me or send an email. I know that despite the assurances of the West Caldwell Police, some students are still nervous about coming to school tomorrow, I hope this additional information makes most of you feel more comfortable and secure. Certainly, the police presence tomorrow will make it one of the safest days to come to school. As I mentioned in my email on Saturday, I regret that our students had to experience this lockdown, but I am proud of the actions of our students, faculty, administrators, and the West Caldwell Police. Please contact me with any questions. Sincerely, Jim Devlin Principal James Caldwell High School 973-228-6981 While the investigation continues, West Caldwell Police are asking anyone who has information about this matter to contact them at:
973-226-4114. |
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