the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Ridgewood NJ, Bergen County Prosecutor Mark Musella announced the arrest of JOHN P. LAFORGIA (DOB: 10/01/1984; single; security guard) of 36 Ebbitts Avenue, Apartment 3N, Staten Island, New York on a charge of False Public Alarm. The arrest is the result of an investigation conducted by the Bergen County Prosecutor’s Office under the direction of Chief Robert Anzilotti.
On Monday, February 15, 2021, the Bergen County Prosecutor’s Office Cyber Crimes Unit was notified by several local police departments and a community crisis hotline that an unknown telephone caller was using technology to anonymize his caller ID and was placing repeated telephone calls to them. During these phone calls, the caller told operators that he was currently sexually assaulting a child or was about to while on the phone with them. First responders notified the Cyber Crimes Unit, who quickly determined that the calls were false and there was no sexual assault in progress. The ensuing investigation revealed that JOHN P. LAFORGIA made the calls as well as more than 130 similar phone calls to other law enforcement agencies and crisis hotlines in various jurisdictions, including New Jersey and New York, since February 1, 2021.
As a result of the investigation, on Friday, March 12, 2021, JOHN P. LAFORGIA surrendered to the Bergen County Prosecutor’s Office and was charged with one count of False Public Alarm, in violation of N.J.S.A. 2C:33-3a(1)a, a 3rd degree crime. LAFORGIA was released pending his first appearance in Central Judicial Processing Court in Hackensack.
Prosecutor Musella states that the charge is merely an accusation and that the defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. He would also like to thank the New York City, Hackensack, Oakland, Ramsey, and Ridgewood Police Departments for their assistance in this investigation.