What police found after they were alerted to possible unsafe living conditions in a Lyndhurst home turned out to be worse than one could imagine, as two people were found to be living in uninhabitable conditions, with children and pets that appear to have been suffering from neglect, Capt. Paul Haggerty, the Lyndhurst Police Department’s public-information officer said.
At around 11 p.m., Oct. 12, 2025, Lyndhurst police were sent to a residence on a request for welfare check by a family member who was concerned about the living conditions of the home.
Upon arrival, police found the house to be totally uninhabitable after the wife, Sara Gorphinkle, was taken to New Bridge Medical Center in Paramus prior to police arrival for treatment.
Dogs found in the home were emaciated, kids were there and appeared to be unkempt, drug paraphernalia was found around first floor apartment, the residence was in complete disarray with intolerable odors and dog feces was strewn about.
The responding officers, Haggerty says, were overcome by what they were faced with and found the living conditions to be “emotionally disturbing.”
James Wapinksy, of Lyndhurst, was charged with possession of CDS, possession of paraphernalia, other drug paraphernalia offenses, endangering the welfare of child and neglect of child. He was remanded to the Bergen County Jail, Hackensack.
Sarafina Gorfinkle, of Lyndhurst, was charged the same charges as Wapinsky and was checked into New Bridge. She was served there and held. She has not been processed yet by police and there is no photo of her yet available.
“Our animal cruelty officer will be following up regarding additional charges for the animals. Two dogs (a husky and pitbull,)” Haggerty said.
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Kevin A. Canessa Jr. is the editor of and broadcaster at The Observer, an organization he has served since 2006. He is responsible for the editorial content of the newspaper and website, the production of the e-Newspaper, writing several stories per week (including the weekly editorial), conducting live broadcasts on social media channels such as YouTube, Facebook, and X, including a weekly recap of the news — and much more behind the scenes. Between 2006 and 2008, he introduced the newspaper to its first-ever blog — which included podcasts, audio and video. Originally from Jersey City, Kevin lived in Kearny until 2004, lived in Port St. Lucie. Florida, for four years until February 2016 and in March of that year, he moved back to Kearny to return to The Observer full time. Click Here to send Kevin an email.