By Michael O. Allen, Record Staff Writer | Thursday, January 10, 1991
The Record (New Jersey) | Four Star B | NEWS | Page B03
Police in Bergen and Passaic counties continue to investigate links between a string of burglaries in the two counties and a 20-year-old man in custody on charges of burglarizing his parents house in Oradell and intending to kill them and his brother if they were home.
Allen M. Essner was being held in the Bergen County Jail on Wednesday on $60,000 bail. He was being held on several charges, including attempted murder, burglary, and unlawful possession of a loaded weapon.
Oradell Detective Scott Bonsper said police believe Essner was working with other people, including 20-year-old Dennis Pereira, who was arrested with him on Dec. 26, in a series of burglaries in the area.
“We are dealing with quite a few people here,” Bonsper said. “That is what makes it so difficult. . . . We know of at least two weapons that we have not been able to recover or account for. There is a strong possibility that arrest warrants will be issued for other suspects. “
When Essner burglarized his parents home on Dec. 17, he went with a loaded gun and murderous intent, Bonsper said.
“Fortunately enough, the parents were not around, and his brother, although he was off work that day, was somewhere else,” he said.
Bonsper said police found out about the alleged plan to murder the family members from talking to people some of whom are being investigated for their link to the burglaries with whom Essner had conversations.
Working with North Haledon Police Detective Alan Swartz, Bonsper said, he and other Oradell police officers went to residences in Lodi, East Rutherford, and other communities before arresting Essner in Wallington on Dec. 26. They recovered a gun and also arrested Pereira a short time later, he said.
Keywords: PC; BC; HOUSING; THEFT; PROBE
ID: 17329181 | Copyright © 1991, The Record (New Jersey)
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