08/18/2026
๐๐ซ๐๐๐จ๐ฆ๐๐ฉ๐ ๐ฅ๐๐ฃ๐ข๐ฅ๐ง: ๐๐ฎ๐บ๐ถ๐น๐ ๐ ๐ฒ๐บ๐ฏ๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ ๐ฅ๐ฒ๐๐ฝ๐ผ๐ป๐ฑ ๐๐ณ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ ๐๐ป๐ถ๐ณ๐ฒ-๐ช๐ถ๐ฒ๐น๐ฑ๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐ช๐ผ๐บ๐ฎ๐ป ๐ช๐ถ๐๐ต ๐๐ถ๐๐๐ผ๐ฟ๐ ๐ข๐ณ ๐๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ธ๐ฒ๐ป๐๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ธ ๐ฅ๐ถ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ ๐ฆ๐๐ถ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ฑ๐ฒ ๐๐๐๐ฒ๐บ๐ฝ๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐ฎ๐ถ๐น๐ฒ๐ฑ
๐๐ฒ ๐๐๐ซ๐ซ๐ฒ ๐๐๐๐๐ซ๐๐จ (๐๐ง๐๐๐ฉ๐๐ง๐๐๐ง๐ญ ๐๐ง๐ฅ๐ข๐ง๐ ๐๐๐ฐ๐ฌ)
๐ฆ๐ฃ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐ฅ๐๐ฃ๐ข๐ฅ๐ง (๐๐จ๐. ๐ญ๐ด๐๐ต):: Family members spoke with Independent Online News of the difficulties of dealing with a deeply troubled woman who was arrested on the banks of the Hackensack River yesterday after police said she threatened officers with a knife.
It felt as if a prayer had been answered when the 19-year-old woman was recently accepted for Job Corps, a tuition-free, federally-funded career training program in Edison, two close relatives said just hours after she was jailed.
The troubled young Hackensack resident -- who is not being identified in this story -- had the chance to "finally get her life together,โ one of them told Independent Online News. โShe was supposed to start next week.โ
Then came yet another in a series of self-sabotages, said the other.
A close friend of the womanโs called family around 4:30 p.m. yesterday (Mon., Aug. 17th) saying that sheโd left a su***de note. He began tracking her phone as police were called.
Moments later, officers converged at the New Bridge Road span over the Hackensack River.
It's been a familiar destination for both responders and loved ones of the woman's over the past four years.
It began after the death of her grandfather, who used to take her fishing at New Bridge Landing.
โShe feels closest to him there,โ one of the family members said during the overnight interviews.
Since then, there have been no fewer than five incidents at the river, including two in which police said the woman nearly drowned.
She was just 14 years old when River Edge Police Officer Maclane "Mac" Doran dove in to rescue her in April 2022. Both went under at least once as the current pulled them beneath a footbridge.
She'd begun to go limp, the likely result of hypothermia onset. But Doran -- then a rookie -- got her out of the water, assisted by fellow officers and she was rushed to Hackensack University Medical Center.
Almost to the day two years later, New Milford Police Officer Sam Doran โ Mac Doranโs brother -- found the girl sitting on the bridge railing around 1:30 in the morning.
It took him about a half hour to establish a rapport and solicit a fist bump -- which gave him the chance to grab the girl and pull her from the railing to safety.
Yesterday, the womanโs mother was on the phone with one of the police officers at the bridge as the search began.
"Stop right there!" the officer suddenly shouted.
A foot chase toward the riverbank ensued.
"The police said she didn't want to put the knife down," one of several family members and others who looked on from the bridge told Independent Online News.
Instead, she began cutting herself.
โThey said they were gonna tase her, but they didnโt," the witness said. "Eventually they got her into handcuffs. She was bleeding."
River Edge Police Chief Michael Walker told Independent Online News that the woman was arrested after she โheld the knife up in a threatening manner towards the officers.โ
They charged her with aggravated assault and weapons possession.
Family members thought the woman was then taken to Bergen New Bridge Medical Center in Paramus, a frequent previous stop, following the arrest.
They were surprised to discover that she was in jail.
Bergen Countyโs designated 24/7 psychiatric emergency screening program -- 262-HELP โ essentially rejected the hospital admission, a local official said.
"They have seen her many times before and cleared her for jail instead," the official told Independent Online News.
The two family members interviewed overnight โ both of whom were willing to be identified -- have strongly disagreed about what brought the woman to this point.
Ironically, her not being admitted to Bergen New Bridge underscores each of their arguments.
The woman had been adopted by her aunt at only six months old after her biological mother got into trouble with the law, her loved ones said.
She was only seven years old when she began bringing knives to school, one of them told Independent Online News. She was expelled from one school, then another, after putting herself in potentially harmful situations, the loved one said.
Various incidents continued throughout her life.
"This has been a long road -- the police, the EMS, the programs, the counselors," one of the family members confided. "She's been to just about every single program and every hospital in the state of New Jersey.
"She beat up two nurses in one of the programs but was able to get help without getting into serious trouble."
The state Division of Child Protection and Permanency (DCP&P) had been extremely helpful, both loved ones said.
"They stuck with her until she turned 18 and then for six more months after that," one noted. "They were great. Everybody there was amazing."
Caseworkers got the woman into a program but couldn't help anymore after she became violent and was terminated, the family member said.
"We tried to get her help. Her insurance companies deny it,โ the other relative said. โPrivate psychiatric hospitals want $15,000 a month. Who can afford that?
โShe was in this intensive outpatient program for a whole month. Loved it. Then the insurance denied it. She was without mental health services for almost a month. Now sheโs on Medicaid.
โYou can get a 72-hour commitment at a hospital. Then sheโs returned home," the family member said. "A few of them have refused to take her anymore. Theyโre not allowed to say why.
โWeโre told: โWaiting listโ.โ
The other family member sees things differently.
โEvery single time something good happens, she does something to sabotage it,โ the relative said. โThe school gave her a computer. Sheโs not doing the work.
โShe has all the help and opportunity she needs. She just doesnโt want to do it. Sheโs been to every psychiatrist, every doctor, and every one of them has said the same thing: Itโs not psychological. Itโs behavioral."
โEveryone has gone above and beyond,โ the family member said. โShe got this far without ever having to go to jail or the (juvenile) detention center. We should be thanking all of those police officers, thanking those firefighters and EMTs and the counselors and programs whoโve tried to help her.โ
The two relatives disagreed on whether the woman had been affected by the death of Milian โMillieโ Dula, who drowned in the Passaic River on July 29th with one of her classmates.
It turns out little Millie was a cousin of hers.
The woman had been hospitalized at Holy Name Medical Center in Teaneck for seizures earlier this month, then was transferred to the psych ward after hurting herself, the relative said.
She was released on Friday.
To keep her otherwise occupied during Millie's funeral at Grace Baptist Church in Paterson on Saturday, her grandmother gave the woman money and had someone go with her to shop for Job Corps clothes.
The troubled woman nonetheless saw the news and social media reports afterward, one of the family members said.
It must have had some effect on her, the relative surmised.
"They never met one another," the other family countered. "They didn't know one another. I donโt think it had any effect."
What can't be disputed is that more than two years had passed since the last bridge episode.
Then responders were back there yesterday.
The woman spent the night in the county lockup this morning before a Superior Court judge in Hackensack released her at 5:15 p.m. today.
One of the family members said she's afraid of what comes next.
"This poor kid has been through hell," the relative said.
The other had a different take.
"Maybe this is what ends up helping her. Maybe jail will be a wakeup call," the loved one told Independent Online News. "We can only hope."
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The 988 Su***de & Crisis Lifeline (formerly known as the National Su***de Prevention Lifeline) offers 24/7 call, text and chat access to trained crisis counselors who can help people experiencing suicidal, substance use, and/or mental health crisis, or any other kind of emotional distress.
If you or someone you know is struggling or in crisis, help is available. ๐๐ฎ๐น๐น ๐ผ๐ฟ ๐๐ฒ๐
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