By Michael O. Allen, Record Staff Writer | Wednesday, April 24, 1991
The Record (New Jersey) | One Star | NEWS | Page B03
A 22-year-old Bronx man was being held on $250,000 bail Tuesday on charges that he was one of five men who assaulted a borough family during a robbery about seven months ago, police said.
Tri Minh Le was arraigned in Fort Lee Municipal Court on Tuesday on charges of burglary, robbery, and kidnapping, and was being held in the Bergen County Jail, Fort Lee Police Chief John Orso said.
The victims, whom Orso declined to identify because other suspects have not been arrested, saw Tri Minh Le’s face when he took off his mask during the attack, Orso said. The victims identified him in a police picture line-up, Orso said.
He said the suspects broke into the single-family home about 2 a.m. on Sept. 15 and menaced the family an Asian couple in their 50s and their teenage children. The man was beaten and required about 100 stitches on his face, Orso said. The wife also was beaten.
A breakthrough occurred in the case when Fort Lee Detective John Wemken recognized Tri Minh Le on a New York City television newscast of an arrest in February, Orso said.
Tri Minh Le was arrested Feb. 2 on automobile theft charges, but was released the following day for insufficient evidence, a spokeswoman for the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office said. With the cooperation of New York City police and the suspect’s consent, he was transferred to Fort Lee on Monday, Orso said.
Orso said gangs have been targeting Asians in Fort Lee and other Bergen County communities. Victims have been reticent about reporting the incidents to police. Orso has asked Asians to contact police if they are being intimidated by gangs or if money is being extorted from them.
Orso said he is trying to reach out to Chinese, Japanese, and Korean organizations in the area to see how police can gain their trust.
“They are not coming forward when something happens to them,” Orso said. “By helping us, they are helping themselves. They should not be afraid. We’ll give them all the police protection they need. But we can’t help them if they don’t come forward.”
Keywords: FORT LEE; ASSAULT; FAMILY
ID: 17340826 | Copyright © 1991, The Record (New Jersey)
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