Crime & Safety

Police: Resident Threw Underage Drinking Party

Teen charged with making a false report after police probe sexual assault claim

A parent's call led to the arrest of a Wyckoff resident on alcohol charges.

Police responded to a Woodbury Drive home on Aug. 2 after a parent called authorities to report that his 18-year-old daughter was at a drinking party with others under the legal drinking age. Police said they found about 20 people younger than 21 in the back of the home, as well as "significant amounts" of alcohol.

The authorities' investigation led them to charge the Woodbury Drive homeowner's son, Kurt Steinbruch, 21, with making property available for underage persons to consume alcohol. Steinbruch is scheduled to appear in Municipal Court on Sept. 23.

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  • A resident's choice of a parking spot led to his arrest Aug. 9 on drunken driving charges.

Police said they found Joseph Jackson, 20, of Plum Ridge Road parked facing the wrong direction on Woodbury Drive at 1:30 a.m. that morning. Patrolman Thomas Tully stopped to investigate and was told that Jackson was in the area waiting for a friend, police said.

However, the officer's suspicions led him to question Jackson's sobriety, and his subsequent investigation led to a charge of drunken driving while under the legal drinking age, as well as a citation for improper parking.

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Jackson was released following a breath test at headquarters and will answer the charges in Municipal Court.

  • A Cresskill man was arrested Aug. 7 after police allegedly found him driving a friend's car without permission.

Police said they received a report from a resident at 10:52 p.m. that night that his car had been stolen. The resident had been out all day with friends and returned to Wyckoff unable to find his keys or car, which had been parked on Flaker Drive.

Police said the keys were taken by Jakov Batistic, 20, who had been among the resident's group of friends that day. Batistic allegedly took the keys and returned to Wyckoff later that night and took the car, police said.

Batistic was found in the Boulder Run shopping center behind the wheel of the car, police said. He was charged with taking a motor vehicle without the consent of the owner. The Cresskill man was released on his own recognizance and will answer the charge in Municipal Court.

  • A Wyckoff teen was charged with making a false report after police investigated a claim of sexual assault.

Local and Franklin Lakes police responded to a home near the Franklin Lakes border at 9:50 p.m. July 30 after a report that someone had forcibly entered a home and sexually assaulted a female resident. The Bergen County Police K-9 unit also responded to assist. However, authorities soon learned that the report was bogus. According to police communications, the report was retaliation from a teen against her parents following an argument.

Police charged the 16-year-old girl on a juvenile complaint of making a false police report. She will appear in juvenile court.


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