A woman who was trespassing on train tracks in New Jersey was killed after being struck by a train Monday, officials said.

The woman, who was identified as being in her late 30s, was struck at the Park Ridge station at about 9:30 p.m., according to NJ Transit. She was hit by an oncoming train, number 1634 on the Pascack Valley Line, which was headed from Spring Valley to Seacaucaus.

The woman was removed from the tracks by emergency responders and taken to Hackensack North Pascack Valley hospital where she later died.

The train’s 12 passengers were uninjured and were transported to their final destination by bus.

NJ Transit says the investigation is ongoing.

Giants punter Steve Weatherford says he's thankful his newborn daughter still has a father after he totaled a rental car on the New Jersey Turnpike amid raging thunderstorms while returning home for practice from visiting his little girl in California. 

Weatherford posted a picture on Instagram of the mangled car on after the 3:30 a.m. crash Monday, saying it wrecked as he hit "a massive body of water" going about 65 mph to 70 mph.

"I hydroplane, slam into the median, get blasted in the face by the air bags," said Weatherford, whose face was bruised in the crash. "My rental is totaled and I walked out without a scratch."

Less than 2 minutes after he left the car, another car slid out of control in the same spot and hit his rental, Weatherford told radio station WFAN.

"I thought the guy was dead," Weatherford said, adding that he ripped open the back passenger door to try to awaken the unconscious driver. "I'm trying to gently hit this guy's shoulder and trying to wake him up, because a third car could easily come and hit us."

Weatherford called 911, and New Jersey state troopers helped him and drove him 45 miles home to Hoboken.

"Now I'm home shaking like a leaf, trying to pack my bag to go to practice," Weatherford said on Instagram. "I'm so thankful to even be walking right now."

New Jersey State Police wrote on Facebook: "Two words about Steve: Class act. Also, congratulations! Best of luck with your family's new addition!"

The punter was driving back to New Jersey from Washington because his San Diego-Newark flight was diverted due to thunderstorms. Weatherford said he arrived in Washington too late to take a train or bus back home.

"Not only has God given my family and I a beautiful, healthy 10-pound baby girl," Weatherford said. "He sent his guardian angels to keep my car from flipping and (me from) possibly dying."

Three car fires overnight just blocks apart put South Jersey investigators on the search for a possible arsonist.

Pennsauken, New Jersey authorities considered the fires that targeted different makes of sedans -- two parked in Pennsauken and one in Camden, as suspicious.

Police first investigated a fire along Royal Avenue near Woodland Avenue in Pennsauken that left a sedan a total loss, said investigators.

A short time later, investigators found another car with fire damage to its interior and console about a block away at Woodland and Garden avenues. A third vehicle was damaged at Highland and Royal avenues, said investigators.

Luckily no one was hurt.

Firefighters said some sort of flammable substance was used to light the fires and at least one car was ablaze when they arrived.

Police didn’t reveal a motive or possible suspects in the fires.

What turned out to be a hoax, one of a handful of phoned-in threats, led to police searching a US Airways flight and its passengers after it landed at Philadelphia International Airport Tuesday morning.

The airport confirmed there was a police investigation going on around 6:30 a.m. after flight 648 from San Diego landed as scheduled in Philly with 88 passengers and five crew on board.

The aircraft had taken off from California at 10:35 p.m. PDT and landed in Philadelphia on schedule shortly after 6:15 a.m. EDT.

"The TSA Operations Center in Washington, DC had received a phone threat stating that there was an explosive device on the plane," said Philadelphia Police Chief Inspector Joe Sullivan. "Out of an abundance of caution" the airport declared a bomb threat and moved the plane to a remote area.

Photos showed emergency vehicles from the airport, Philadelphia Fire Department and Philadelphia Police parked near the Airbus 320 parked on the foggy tarmac. Passengers calmly deplaned around 7 a.m., going down stairs onto the runway where dogs appeared to be sniffing for something.

A K-9 team could also be seen boarding the plane. Sullivan said both airport K-9s and the Philadelphia Police Bomb Squad examined the plane and passengers and gave the all clear.

No injuries were reported.

"There was nothing dangerous aboard the plane... it was a hoax phone threat and certainly not a very one," said Sullivan.

American Airlines/US Airways spokeswoman Victoria Lupica said that after being taken by bus to the terminal that passengers would be met by customer service representatives that would help get them to their final destination.

Philadelphia Police and federal investigators would work to find the source of the phone call.

NBC News reported threats against at least four other aircraft including Delta Flight 55 from Los Angeles to Atlanta; United Flight 995 from San Fran to Chicago; Mexican-carrier Volaris Flight 939 from Portland, Oregon to Guadalajara, Mexico and Korean Air flight 23 from Seoul to San Fran.

At least five flights were targeted by phoned-in bomb threats Tuesday, government sources told NBC News. The threats weren't considered credible.

Four of the five flights — among them one from San Diego to Philadelphia, one from Los Angeles to Atlanta and one from San Francisco to Chicago — landed safely Tuesday, while the other was still en route to San Francisco from Seoul, South Korea.

Korean Air Flight 23 from Seoul to San Francisco was still in the air and is scheduled to land Tuesday afternoon.

The flights that landed safely were US Airways Flight 648 from San Diego to Philadelphia, Delta FLight 55 from Los Angeles to Atlanta, United Flight 995 from San Francisco to Chicago and Volare Flight 939 from Portland, Oregon, to Guadelajara, Mexico.

At the Philadelphia airport, police with search dogs boarded the threatened US Airways flight, after a threat indicated there were multiple devices aboard Flight 648.

Airline spokeswoman Victoria Lupica says passengers were taken off the plane and transported to a terminal. They were reunited with their luggage and personal items and were free to go.

“We are making a little progress.”

That’s the message NFL player Devon Still put on Instagram Monday night as his daughter Leah continues her battle against a rare form of cancer.

Still‘s latest message thanking supporters came on the same day the Cincinnati Bengals defensive tackle and his 5-year-old daughter were announced as the Jimmy V Perseverance honorees.

Leah was diagnosed last June with stage-4 neuroblastoma, a rare form of cancer in young children. Still said last week that his daughter "hit a pretty serious complication" in the process of getting a stem cell transplant, with her liver affected by chemotherapy.

Still has used social media to share his daughter’s journey, with much of her treatment taking place at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. He posted another Instragram message Monday night that updated the public of his daughter’s condition.

Still, who attended Penn State, agreed to a one-year contract to stay with the Bengals in March. The team donated $1.3 million from sales of his jersey to research and treatment of pediatric cancer.

The award is named after the late Jim Valvano, who died of cancer less than two months after receiving the honor at the 1993 ESPYs. Other former recipients include Sacramento Kings coach George Karl and the late ESPN anchor Stuart Scott.

The Major Crimes Auto Squad is asking for assistance in finding multiple suspects involved in a series of scooter thefts over the last two months.

These thefts have been occurring throughout South Philadelphia between 1 a.m. and 4 a.m. The scooters were parked and secured by lock and chain in front of the respective owner’s residence. The suspects have been cutting the lock and chain to steal the Scooter.

Two unknown males were captured on surveillance video on the 1900 block of Carpenter Street on May 6 at 2:30 am. The video shows the men walking past a scooter parked in front of a residence, then returning to steal the scooter. Police believe these two men are involved in many other scooter thefts in the area. Between April 1 and May 21, 17 scooters or motorcycles have been stolen.

Surveillance footage depicts three unknown males operating a white Ford Econoline van with ladder racks on the roof and a stolen PA license plate of HDV-9933. The license plate belongs to a Honda. As of now, six of the stolen vehicles have been recovered in Camden.

Previous investigations revealed suspects using stolen vans in the theft of these vehicles from Philadelphia and transporting them back to Camden. Other surveillance video depicts the theft of two motorcycles from the rear of the 1700 block of Locust Street. A previous investigation by the Major Crimes Auto Squad revealed suspects driving vans and pick-up trucks from New Jersey to load and transport scooters back to Camden, NJ to sell on the streets. The rear passenger seats were removed from the van interior to transport multiple scooters at a time.

The suspects are described as three unknown males operating a white Ford Econoline van with a stolen PA license plate of HDV-9933. These men may be from Camden, New Jersey or South Philadelphia.

If you see these suspects do not approach them. Contact 911 immediately. Tips can be submitted by calling 215-686-TIPS (8477) or by texting a tip to PPD TIP (773847). All tips are confidential.

A SEPTA police officer was released from the hospital Tuesday morning after he suffered a laceration to the head in an overnight scuffle in North Philadelphia.

The 47-year-old officer, a 5 1/2-year veteran of the Transit Police, was closing the Broad Street Line's North Philadelphia Station, at Broad Street and Lehigh Avenue, at 2:30 a.m. when he found a man inside the station, according to SEPTA spokesman Andrew Busch.

The officer tried to get the man, who is believed to be homeless, to leave the station, but the man refused, and then "attacked the officer," Busch said.

During the scuffle, the officer suffered a head wound that required five stitches to close. He was treated at Hahnemann University Hospital and released later Tuesday morning, Busch said.

The suspect also suffered an injury, a broken hand, in the dustup, Busch said. He was also treated at Hahnemann, and was in police custody while undergoing treatment. Busch said he is expected to be charged with aggravated assault, resisting arrest and trespassing. His identity and age were unknown late Tuesday morning.

Newark officials are warning residents not to catch or eat fish that washed ashore following heavy rainfall that started Sunday across New Jersey, according to a report.

The Department of Health and Community Wellness issued a statement Monday warning residents the fish that washed ashore may have come into contact with sewer drains or other contaminants.

"This is a dangerous practice and residents are urged to refrain from trapping, catching, and eating any fish caught on the streets," said Dr. Hanaa Hamdi, the department’s director.

Hamdi said there had been no reports of residents eating the fish and that the exact danger of eating them was unknown, but said it was a dangerous practice nonetheless.

Get out your paint brushes and smocks.

The World Meeting of Families and Philadelphia's Mural Arts Program will kick off the first in a series of community "Paint Days" on Monday afternoon.

Students from Saint Malachy and Saint Veronica Schools will begin painting a panel of a new mural that will celebrate the visit of Pope Francis in September.

The mural entitled "The Sacred Now: Faith and Family in the 21st Century" will be composed of 153 individual panels all measuring 5-foot-by-5-foot in size. Event organizers hope to engage the community in the creation of the historic work. The final product will cover three sections of the new site of St. Malachy School in North Philadelphia.

Anne McGoldrick, President Independence Mission Schools, Dr. Mary Elizabeth Muir, Chief Academic Officer Independence Mission Schools, and the mural's lead artist Cesar Viveros will be in attendance.

A South Philadelphia man is facing charges for leading officers on a wild chase through Point Breeze Saturday night while carrying an illegal gun, and then struggling when they tried to arrest him, police said Tuesday.

Andre Evans, 29, of Ringgold Street near Dickinson, faces several charges including aggravated assault and violation of the Uniform Firearms Act related to fleeing and assaulting two police officers that night, according to a Philadelphia Police Department release.

Officers first made contact with Evans at 7:23 p.m., when they spotted him driving a silver Infiniti QX70 with a license plate registered to a Nissan on 18th Street near Reed, police said. They tried to pull the suspect over, police said, but he took off and sped a few blocks until he hit several parked cars and crashed into a building on Wharton Street just west of Broad.

On Wharton Street, police said, Evans jumped out of the Infiniti with a gun in his hand and fled from officers on foot. The officers chased him several blocks, ordering him to surrender. On Carlisle Street near Federal, Evans turned toward the officers with the gun still in his hand, prompting both officers to shoot at him, police said. They missed, though, and the suspect continued to run, eventually falling and dropping his handgun in front of a house on Carlisle Street.

Evans then got up and kept running north on Carlisle Street, when another officer arrived at the scene and deployed his Taser at him, police said. He then ran west on Federal Street from Carlisle, where officers caught up with him and handcuffed him after a short struggle, police said.

After police arrested Evans, they took him to Jefferson University Hospital to be treated for lacerations to his forehead and left hand, police said. The gun he'd been carrying, a Glock 22 .40-caliber pistol with an extended magazine and an obliterated serial number, was recovered by officers on Carlisle Street, police said, and the Infiniti he'd been driving was towed from Wharton Street near Broad.

No officers were injured in the incident, and police said the two officers who fired their weapons at the man have been placed on desk duty pending the outcome of an Internal Affairs investigation, as is protocol with any police-involved shooting.

A sex offender who officials say escaped police while in custody was captured Tuesday afternoon.

Caesar Lockley, 25, escaped from police custody while handcuffed in the area of 1532 Route 49 in Bridgeton, New Jersey around 10:30 a.m. Tuesday, according to officials. Police set up a perimeter in the forest area where they believe Lockley traveled.

Police also notified schools in the area and officers were placed on post until the end of the school day. A reverse 911 notification also went out to residents within a 10 mile radius of where Lockley escaped, officials said.

Lockley had been arrested for failing to appear at sentencing on March 15, 2015, police said. He was supposed to be scheduled to be sentenced for failing to notify of a change of address as required by a Megan’s Law offender, which is a fourth degree offense.

Tuesday afternoon, police announced Lockley was captured and is back in custody.

Sibling drug kingpins were two of 37 people arrested after officials busted a multi-state heroin operation with ties to both Mexico and Philadelphia.

The Laredo Drug Trafficking Organization (DTO) is charged with manufacturing and importing heroin from Mexico to organizations in several U.S. cities, including Philadelphia, Camden and Chicago, according to a 108-count superseding indictment. 

“This indictment and the arrests this morning are a significant victory in our efforts to combat drug trafficking,” said United States Attorney David Memeger. “Because of the persistent and collaborative efforts of multiple law enforcement agencies across the country, a major supplier of heroin to the Philadelphia region is out of business.”

The alleged leaders of the Laredo DTO, 46-year-old Antonio Laredo and his brother 31-year-old Ismael Laredo, both of Cuernavaca Morelos, Mexico, are charged with engagement in a continuing criminal enterprise.

The Laredo brothers smuggled approximately 1,000 kilograms of heroin from Mexico by concealing the drugs in car batteries, car bumpers, vehicle traps, and sealed fruit and vegetable cans, police said. The indictment accuses the brothers of arranging for the manufacture and production of car batteries in Mexico containing concealed compartments that held the heroin.

The brothers recruited and hired couriers in the United States to transport and deliver the heroin shipments from Mexico to affiliated distributors in Philly, Camden, Chicago, Atlanta and New York, according to the indictment. Antonio Marcel Barragan allegedly served as the Mexican-based supplier of raw opium. Investigators also say Alejandro Sotelo served as a stash house operator and distributor of the product in Chicago where he arranged trans-shipment of several kilograms of heroin to Philly, New Jersey and New York.

The organization also allegedly supplied street level heroin bagging and packing operations in Philly. Heroin in quantities ranging from 15 to 50 kilograms at a time was regularly moved between Chicago and Philadelphia, according to the indictment.

Police also say the Laredo brothers used violence and threats of violence to protect their product and proceeds and also to stop members from leaving their organization.

The indictment states members of the Laredo DTO transported heroin shipments by several means, including car and train. During one incident in 2012, a courier concealed three kilograms of heroin inside a car battery for transport from Mexico to Philadelphia while another shipment of four kilograms was concealed inside a car speaker box, police said. Another shipment of 7.6 kilograms of heroin was concealed in sealed fruit and vegetable cans in Texas, according to the indictment. The shipments were then delivered to Darbin and Gabriel Vargas of the Vargas DTO in Philadelphia, police said.

Investigators also said the Laredo brothers had several relatives and associates who set up “funnel accounts” which were used to launder at least $5 million in drug money back to Mexico.

If convicted, the Laredo brothers face a mandatory sentence of life in prison as well as tens to hundreds of millions of dollars in fines.

“Heroin is the top enforcement priority of the Drug Enforcement Administration’s Philadelphia Field Division,” said DEA Special Agent-in-Charge Gary Tuggle. “Dismantling this extremely violent international drug trafficking organization ended the flow of hundreds of kilograms of Mexican based heroin into the Philadelphia region and is a direct result of DEA’s resolve to make our communities safer. This was a cooperative effort with local, state and federal agencies. The flow of Mexican produced heroin into southeast Pennsylvania has been significantly impacted.”

Delaware County officials are taking phone companies to court due to a dispute over tens of millions of dollars in uncollected fees that are supposed to help fund the county’s emergency services.

A lawsuit was filed against 19 telephone providers, including Verizon and Comcast, NBC10’s parent company, for $41.4 million the companies allegedly owe Delaware County in 911 services.

In Pennsylvania, 911 operations are funded in part by the phone calls residents make. Telephone companies are therefore required by state law to find out how many lines a business or residence has and charge 911 assessment fees in order to pay for 911 services.

“Telephone companies have a competitive problem,” said Joshua Wolson of the Dilworth Paxson Law Firm. “People who buy telephone services are price conscious. Cutting 911 fees allows the companies to lower the price to the customer without taking any money out of their own pockets. When one company does it, all the others in the marketplace feel compelled to match.”

Members of the Delaware County Council held a press conference Monday and announced they were suing the Pennsylvania telephone service providers for allegedly failing to bill, collect and remit the proper 911 assessment charges. The lawsuit also accuses the companies of undercharging businesses and seeks to collect a total of $41.4 million that should have gone to the county's 911 operation over the past six years.

“The gap has become a burden to the County’s general fund and to our taxpayers,” said John McBlain, a member of the Delaware County Council.

Data obtained through Phone Recovery Services, a telecommunications firm, revealed the telephone service providers named in the lawsuit misrepresented the types and number of phone lines which the 911 assessments are applied and under-billed customers, according to the lawsuit. This ultimately led to less funding for the county’s 911 system, according to officials.

Phone Recovery Services estimated there were 811,698 active phone lines in Delaware County. Service providers remit 911 surcharges on 230,811 lines leading to a shortfall of 572,566 lines, according to the lawsuit. The under collection of 911 fees for each line resulted in a gap of $6.9 million, officials said.

Officials say Delaware County spent $15.5 million to support its 911 system in 2014 with $8.6 million coming from 911 fees assessed by the telephone service providers. Local taxpayers meanwhile contributed another $6.9 million from the county’s general fund, according to officials.

“The county and the taxpayers should not have to subsidize this gap. This is a tax burden on all of our residents, but it especially impacts our seniors and lower income residents,” said Mario Civera Jr., Chairman of the Delaware County Council.

The lawsuit was filed on Monday. Dilworth Paxson attorneys are representing the county while Phone Recovery Services is assisting with data analysis. Tax dollars are not being used to fund the lawsuit, according to Delaware County officials. Officials also say the county won’t owe any funds to either firm if the lawsuit is unsuccessful.

NBC10 reached out to both Verizon and Comcast for comment on the lawsuit.

“Comcast takes its tax and fee collection obligations seriously,” a spokesperson for Comcast wrote. “We will review this complaint when we receive it.”

A woman was cited after police say she crashed her car into a Delaware Boston Market Tuesday afternoon.

Police say 21-year-old Joelle Prettyman was driving a 2008 Chevrolet Cobalt eastbound on Welsh Tract Road around 3:40 p.m. when she somehow lost control of her vehicle, slid off the roadway and crashed into the south side of the Boston Market on 1050 South College Avenue in Newark.

Prettyman wasn’t hurt in the crash. One person inside the restaurant suffered a minor injury due to debris but refused medical attention.

Prettyman was cited for careless driving.
 

Police in southern New Jersey are trying to find the owner of a 20-pound bust of a man that was found on a shore town's boardwalk in November.

Ventnor police officers don't know who owns it or whom it depicts. But they've been sending out fliers, going door-to-door and staging a social media campaign to try to find out.

The more than a foot-tall sculpture carries few clues other than the word HILDA etched near the bottom next to the number 72.

Officers found the bust on the boardwalk after a spate of burglaries that are typical in shore towns during the winter months. Police believe it was probably stolen from a burglarized home.

Fire crews responded to the third fire in the past four days on a Chester City street.

A 2-alarm blaze started in the back of a three-story home on the 400 block of Bickley Place in Chester City Tuesday at 10:15 p.m. Firefighters placed the blaze under control at 10:56 p.m.

Officials say two other fires occurred on Bickley Place within the past few days. One home on Bickley Place caught fire early Saturday morning while another fire spread to multiple homes on Bickley Place early Monday morning, displacing 19 people.

Officials have not yet revealed whether all three fires are related. No injuries have been reported in any of the fires. A cause has not been determined for any of the three blazes.

This story is developing. Stay with NBC10.com for updates.