2 CHARGED IN ASSAULT, THEFT TRY; ALLEGEDLY ATTACKED GUARD WITH PIPE, BAT

By Michael O. Allen, Record Staff Writer | Wednesday, January 15, 1992

The Record (New Jersey) | 5 Star | NEWS | Page B03

Two men were charged Tuesday with attempted robbery and assaulting a security guard who walked by as they were trying to steal a truck, police said.

Abundio Cortes, 27, of Brooklyn and Francisco Contreras, 32, of 87 Park Place, Passaic, were arrested at Tonnelle Avenue and 76th Street, about 1 1/2 miles from 4401 Dell Ave., an office building where the men tried to steal the truck, said Lt. Timothy Kelly.

Security guard Guiseppe Occhano, 22, of Union City noticed a broken window on the truck while talking to the men, whom he had seen walking from the side of the building about 1:30 a.m. The men attacked Occhano and a friend who was with him, Jose Zenon, 21, of Union City, with a metal pipe, baseball bat, and a crutch, Kelly said.

They defended themselves, hitting one man and breaking his arm and giving the other a deep cut on the mouth, Kelly said.

Cortes and Contreras then fled in a black Chevrolet Trans Am, and Occhano called police. They were arrested a few minutes later by Patrolman Robert Scudieri. Occhano was taken to the scene and identified the two men as his attackers, Kelly said.

In an unrelated incident, two men robbed the McDonald’s restaurant at 2126 Tonnelle Ave. at 6:45 p.m. Monday, Kelly said.

The two drove to the drive-up window, and one of them brandished a gun and demanded money. They escaped with an undetermined amount of cash, Kelly said.

ID: 17365983 | Copyright © 1992, The Record (New Jersey)