WOMAN ROBBED OF FURS, JEWELRY

MICHAEL O. ALLEN | Sunday, April 28, 1991

The Record (New Jersey) | All Editions | NEWS | Page A03

A simple trip to Saks Fifth Avenue to store her three fur coats valued at $80,000 for the season turned nightmarish for a 43-year-old Englewood woman on Saturday when two men shoved her into the trunk of her Rolls-Royce and stole her furs and jewelry, police said.
Karen L. Kitzis told police her gold-and-silver wristwatch and gold-and-silver bracelet were valued at about $13,200, said city police Capt. John Aletta.
The robbery occurred about 12:15 p.m. in the east parking lot of the Riverside Square mall, Aletta said.

Keywords: WOMAN; ROBBERY; ENGLEWOOD; JEWELRY; CLOTHING; THEFT

COLUMN/SECOND LOOK: THE LANDING ON RUNWAY GWB

MICHAEL O. ALLEN | Saturday, April 27, 1991

The Record (New Jersey) | All Editions | NEWS | Page A02

The George Washington Bridge has been the scene of many suicides, accidents, and odd happenings during its 60-year history. But even after a quarter-century, what happened on Dec. 26, 1965, stuns the imagination.
A teenage pilot landed a plane on the center roadway of the bridge maneuvering the light aircraft through the lowest point of the suspension cables at the center of the span. Phillip Ippolito Jr. said afterward that he was “just plain scared” he wasn’t going to make it.
Ippolito, 19, of the Bronx and Joseph Brennan, 39, of Hackensack took off in the two-seat airplane about 9 a.m. from the Ramapo Valley Airport in Spring Valley., N.Y., where Ippolito was an assistant mechanic.
“Joe was just along for the ride to Red Bank, where I planned to visit with a former flying instructor, and at the same time log some flying time,” the young pilot told a reporter a day after the emergency landing.
As he flew over, Ippolito said, everything was just fine, Brennan was enjoying the view, and traffic on the bridge was quite light possibly because it was a Sunday morning, and the day after Christmas.
Then it happened.
“Just as we were at a point parallel to Times Square, I felt the plane begin to lose power,” Ippolito said. “I banked 180 degrees to the right to head north again. At this point I had no definite plan in mind, I was just plain scared. Then I began thinking of ditching in the river, but there were whitecaps on the water and that meant it would be rough landing. “
When he asked Brennan if he could swim, the Navy veteran of World War II said not only could he not, but he was terrified of water. At that point, Ippolito said, there was just one thing to do land the plane on the bridge.
“As I came over the roadway, I did a left-side slip and after 50 feet I went into a forward slip,” Ippolito said. “This brought the plane directly over the unused roadway, but my flying speed was almost double the normal 40 to 45 mile-an-hour landing speed. I kept worrying about the people on the bridge up until the moment I hit the roadway.”
The plane rolled along the roadway and came to a stop. Although its right wing tip struck a truck and the plane was spun around, Ippolito and Brennan suffered only minor injuries.
Bridge manager Ken Philmus said the current flow of traffic, and the increased volume of traffic, would make it difficult for such a landing to take place today.
Brennan died at age 60 in February 1987. Ippolito’s whereabouts are unknown. Bridge employees who came to the aid of the plane have long since retired or moved on to other careers,
Even Ramapo Valley Airport, where the fateful flight began, is no more, having been turned into an office park.

Keywords: FORT LEE; BRIDGE; AVIATION; ACCIDENT; HISTORY

Caption: 1965 PHOTO – Police preparing to remove the downed aircraft from the bridge.

2 CHARGED WITH SELLING PHONY IDS TO MINORS

By Michael O. Allen, Record Staff Writer | Saturday, April 27, 1991

The Record (New Jersey) | All Editions | NEWS | Page A04

A 32-year-old Jersey City man who police said sold “several hundred” fake New Jersey driver’s licenses to underage students in four states was released Friday from a Delaware jail on $15,000 bail.
For the past two years, Howard A. Lubowsky produced and sold the bogus licenses to high school students in the Cresskill area and to college students in Delaware, Philadelphia, and New Rochelle, N.Y., police said.
“The only purpose of a 17-year-old getting one of these is so they could get served in bars and liquor stores,” said Cresskill Detective Sgt. William Macchio, noting that 17-year-olds can obtain legal New Jersey driver’s licenses. Charges are pending against Lubowsky in Cresskill.
About a month ago, Cresskill and Newark, Del., police discovered that they were investigating the same man, Macchio said, when Newark police called borough police about a fake New Jersey license they had confiscated. The license bore a borough address.
On three separate occasions, Macchio said, Lubowsky came to Cresskill for photo sessions at a teenager’s house. At least 20 students would pay $25 to have their pictures taken, then pay $25 a week later at a license-signing and laminating session, Macchio said.
At a University of Delaware dormitory Wednesday night, one of the people Lubowsky photographed was an undercover Newark, Del., police officer, a university security official said. Lubowski had sold 58 licenses at the school in October and was prepared to sell 55 Wednesday, the security official said.
In Delaware, charges against Lubowsky include 12 counts of forgery, unlawful production of driver’s licenses, and possession of forgery devices. A Morris Plains woman, Claudia Silverberg, 31, also faced similar charges. She was being held Friday in a Delaware correctional facility, authorities said.

Keywords: JERSEY CITY; CRIME; LICENSE; YOUTH; SALE; CRESSKILL

FBI ARRESTS MAN IN FAKE DEATH SCAM

MICHAEL ALLEN | Friday, April 26, 1991

The Record (New Jersey) | One Star | NEWS | Page B01

A 40-year-old North Bergen man who allegedly faked his wife’s and son’s deaths, then tried to collect on a $2 million life insurance policy, has been arrested by the FBI.
Ahmad Sadiq Mufti of 3642 Lincoln Drive was charged in U.S. Magistrate’s Court in Newark on Thursday with one count of mail fraud in a scheme to defraud Amex Life Assurance Co. of San Rafael, Calif., of the money between 1987 and 1989, FBI Special Agent William Tonkin said.
Mufti gave up without incident when FBI agents went to his home about noon Wednesday to arrest him, Tonkin said. A hearing will be scheduled to transfer Mufti to California, where he would be tried on the charge, the agent said.
If convicted, Mufti faces up to five years in prison and $250,000 in fines, Tonkin said.
John Holford, a special agent at the Oakland FBI bureau, said Mufti’s wife and son were in Pakistan. He said he did not know whether Mufti collected any of the money.
Representatives for Amex could not be reached for comment.

Keywords: NORTH BERGEN; FAMILY; DEATH; FRAUD; INSURANCE

SUSPECT HELD IN ASSAULT ON FAMILY IN FORT LEE

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

BURGLARY SUSPECT MAY NOT HAVE DROWNED

By Michael O. Allen, Record Staff Writer | Saturday, April 20, 1991

The Record (New Jersey) | All Editions | NEWS | Page A04

A burglary suspect thought to have drowned after he leaped off a bridge into the Passaic River after a police chase may have escaped, police said Friday.
Police have developed new information that Herbert Pitts of 43 Graham Ave., Paterson, may have been seen running down a nearby highway ramp after the jump, police Lt. Ron Natale said.
“We combed the river thoroughly Wednesday and again yesterday,” Natale said. “We didn’t find any body. We are not absolutely positive that he did go into the river. We believe he may have, but there is a chance he did escape. Right now, we’ll continue on the assumption that Pitts is somewhere out there, possibly alive.”
A suspect in custody, Tyrone Jones, 28, of Paterson identified Pitts, 32, from a photograph as a suspect involved in the chase, which led to the drowning death of Terry Wilson, 25, also of Paterson.
The incident began Wednesday afternoon at the scene of a burglary in Hackensack. With Hackensack, Lodi, and Elmwood Park police pursuing, the suspects fled in a stolen van, weaving through traffic on Routes 46, 20, and 80 before crashing in the eastbound Route 80 lanes in Elmwood Park.
The men abandoned the van and ran across the highway, and Pitts and Wilson leaped 50 feet off the bridge into the river, near Market Street. Wilson’s body was later pulled from the river. Jones, who did not jump and was caught, was being held in the Bergen County Jail Annex on $100,000 bail.
Jones, charged by Hackensack police with 11 counts of theft, five counts of burglary, and one count each of receiving stolen property and resisting arrest, cooperated with investigators, giving them information on burglaries in Carlstadt, Fair Lawn, Maywood, Wyckoff, and other Bergen County communities.

Keywords: HACKENSACK; BRIDGE; BURGLARY; RIVER; MISSING PERSON; DEATH; VICTIM

BERGEN FIRM HIT IN $13M DRUG BUST

By Michael O. Allen, Record Staff Writer | Saturday, April 20, 1991

The Record (New Jersey) | Edition: All Editions | NEWS | Page A01

Federal drug agents have arrested the president of an Englewood Cliffs trucking firm, seized 1,087 pounds of cocaine found in a company truck, and confiscated the company’s assets, officials said.
Agents in New York, Los Angeles, and Tucson, Ariz., seized an additional 420 pounds of cocaine bringing the total value of the drug seizure to $13.3 million after the arrest of six individuals Wednesday in Queens, U.S. Customs Service Special Agent Martin Ficke said Friday. Three other people were arrested in Tucson, he said.
Jaime Quintero, president of Suffolk Overland Transport Inc. at 701 Palisades Ave., set up the deal for the truck to carry the drugs, Ficke said.
Ficke said about 12 trailers belonging to the company, which he said had been involved in “significant” drug trafficking since December 1989, were seized, along with other assets. The company’s 25 employees were effectively out of work, he said.
A man who answered Suffolk Overland Transport’s telephone in Englewood Cliffs on Friday declined to comment.
After the investigation began about two weeks ago in Tucson, agents followed a truck to Los Angeles, then to Newark, and finally to Queens, Ficke said.

Keywords: USA; DRUG; CRIME; ENGLEWOOD CLIFFS; BUSINESS; EXECUTIVE; MOTOR VEHICLE

COPING WITH THE FEAR NEW GROUP AIDS COPS SPOUSES

By Michael O. Allen, Record Staff Writer | Friday, April 19, 1991

The Record (New Jersey) | Four Star B | NEWS | Page B01

One July evening three years ago, as Mary Ann Sorace and her two daughters tidied up in the kitchen of their Paramus home after dinner, a voice over the police scanner sent them into a panic.
“Officer needs assistance,” came the call from her husband, Bergen County Police Officer Edward M. Sorace.
Sorace was in the middle of a confrontation with two drug suspects, one armed with a gun. He ended up arresting one, but the other escaped and was captured later. Sorace wasn’t able to get in touch with his wife for some time.
“The only thing I remembered was being glued to the radio and being afraid to leave it,” Mary Sorace said. “It must have been four hours later before I found out he was OK.”
After four years of coping alone with the fears and frustrations caused by her husband’s job, Sorace resigned in October from her job in the Paramus school system to found a new support group, Concerns of Police Spouses of Bergen County (COPS).
“It’s the stress of not knowing when they leave the house if they are going to be returning, or if you’re going to get that fateful telephone call that something has happened to them,” she said.
The organization, Sorace said, would not become a “wives gripe group.” It will have available to it a family therapist, a minister who is a retired policeman, and other professionals who have pledged to either counsel or help spouses obtain information that would help them cope.
COPS, which had its first meeting last month, is one of a number of such New Jersey groups, including the 20-year-old Pascack Valley Police Wives Association.
Dr. Katherine W. Ellison, a psychology professor at Montclair State College and author of several books on police and stress, said such groups are helpful because they tend to lessen the sense of isolation that police spouses can feel.
“The wives I’ve worked with want to know about the job, but their husbands want to keep them innocent,” Ellison said in an interview. “The sweet little angels know a heck of a lot more than you think. . . . An important thing that can be done is to have the wives teaching the new wives how to cope positively.”
Sorace acknowledged that one of her biggest challenges would be reaching the spouses. Eileen Neillands, wife of Bergen County Police Chief Peter Neillands, and Judith Betten, wife of Rochelle Park Police Chief William Betten, were among 11 wives who attended the first meeting.
Chief Neillands, the evening’s keynote speaker, testified to a host of shirked familial responsibilities during the first 30 of his 40 years in law enforcement, starting with the Leonia Police Department in 1951.
“We get so smart too late,” Neillands said. “I hope people will learn from us, what we did wrong. Mary [Sorace] is going through some of those things that are difficult to go through, and she is crying out, Help me. Some of these other people, they are silent, but they want to be helped, too." Neillands concluded his talk by saying he wished he had not while trying to cure some of society's ills by doing police work abandoned his family all those years. He said he would do all he could to help the group succeed. Eileen Neillands seized on a symbol of the isolation spouses feel when she said that, for all his sins, Neillands was a good husband except at the annual police officers ball. She said the men tend to leave their wives on one side of the room and mingle with fellow officers on the other side. The Neillandses, who have been married for 41 years, have among their five children a son who is a policeman in the Bronx and a daughter about to marry a policeman. "You have to learn to do a lot of things," Eileen Neillands said, "including driving yourself to the hospital to deliver your baby. I did it with my fifth one. He was tied up in an accident or something." Ed Sorace, who said he supports his wife's efforts, said the group would be well worth it if it helps just one police family cope. He sat in the background during the meeting with the couple's 7-year-old daughter, Stefanie. The Rev. Kim F. Capwell, rector of the All Saints Episcopal Church in Glen Rock, said idealism leads many, in their desire to solve their communities problems, to seek law enforcement careers, but also has the effect of isolating them from society and, most acutely, from their families. Capwell spoke from experience. "I was married to a police department for 12 years before I took an early retirement and went into the seminary," he said. "I was very lucky that my spouse stuck with me through 10 solid years of nights with no rotation. We actually got to appreciate that I worked 8 at night till 4 in the morning." Rochelle Park's Chief Betten said he often asks new recruits if they are aware of the demands of the career. "I ask them,Are you aware what a police officer’s job is? ” Betten said. ” Are you aware that you have to work Saturdays, Sunday, holidays, nights?Oh, yeah, they reply. Later on, after they’ve become policemen, suddenly the wives will call you: `How come my husband is working on Christmas day? Many spouses don’t know what to expect when they get into this.”
The next meeting of COPS is at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday at Paramus High School, room 616.

Keywords: POLICE; FAMILY; COUNSELING; ORGANIZATION; MENTAL; HEALTH; PSYCHOLOGY

Caption: COLOR PHOTO – STEVE AUCHARD / THE RECORD – Bergen County Police Officer Edward M. Sorace giving his 7-year-old daughter, Stefanie, a kiss as he prepares to go to work. Looking on is his wife, Mary Ann Sorace, who founded a new support group for spouses of law enforcement officers.

MAN, SON ACCUSED OF THREATS

MICHAEL O. ALLEN | Thursday, April 18, 1991

The Record (New Jersey) | Four Star B | NEWS | Page B03

A building contractor and his son face a variety of charges for threatening a truck driver with a shotgun and knife after he asked them to move a car to make way for a delivery, police said Wednesday.
The driver, Thomas Misciagna, 37, of Park Ridge told police that Vincent Filardo Sr., 60, of Upper Saddle River pulled out a shotgun when asked to move the car, according to North Bergen Lt. Timothy Kelly. Filardo’s son Vincent Jr., 26, of Tuxedo, N.Y., pulled out a knife and threatened to cut Misciagna’s throat, police said.
The incident occurred about 10:45 a.m. Wednesday at 82nd Street and Tonnelle Avenue, where a shopping mall is being built, Kelly said.
Misciagna ran into a construction shed and called police, Kelly said. The two Filardos were released on $7,500 bail each.

Keywords: NORTH BERGEN; WEAPON

ANONYMOUS CALL LEADS POLICE TO DRUG SUSPECTS

MICHAEL O. ALLEN | Thursday, April 18, 1991

The Record (New Jersey) | Four Star B | NEWS | Page B03

Three men were arrested on drug charges after a tipster told city police they were selling cocaine on West Street on Tuesday night.
Fernando Hernandez, 29, of Palisades Park; Uriel Capata, 22, of New York City, and German Rodriguez, 45, of Englewood were being held in the Bergen County Jail, each on $35,000 bail.
They were charged with possession of cocaine, possession of cocaine with intent to distribute, and possession of an illegal drug within 1,000 feet of a school, said Englewood Police Capt. C. Kenneth Tinsley. Police also seized more than $1,000 and the 1985 Chevrolet car that Hernandez drove, he said.
An anonymous caller told police at about 7:15 p.m. that the three men were seen selling drugs on West Street, Tinsley said.
Detective Joseph Martin cut the car off at West Street’s intersection with Palisade Avenue. A dog from the Bergen County Police Department canine unit found about 38 grams of pure cocaine, worth about $40,000, in the car, Tinsley said. Most of the cocaine was hidden under the air-conditioning compartment in the car, he said.

Keywords: ENGLEWOOD; DRUG; CRIME