2 TEENS STABBED, BABY ABDUCTED EX-BOYFRIEND OF A VICTIM HELD

By Michael O. Allen, Record Staff Writer | Thursday, April 18, 1991

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

A 19-year-old Brooklyn man was arrested Wednesday minutes after he stabbed two teenagers, one of them his 16-year-old ex-girlfriend, and abducted his and the girl’s baby from a North Bergen apartment, police said.
One victim, a 17-year-old Brooklyn boy, was in serious but stable condition at Palisades General Hospital in North Bergen, a spokesman said. The girl was not seriously injured, police said, but was to be kept overnight at the hospital for observation. Police withheld the victims names because of their ages.
The 2-month-old baby was unharmed.
The suspect, Courtney Wiltshire, was held on $15,000 bail in the Hudson County Jail, North Bergen Lt. Timothy Kelly said.
Police had not yet interviewed the victims late Wednesday, but said it appeared Wiltshire attacked them at a Durham Avenue apartment where the girl lives with her mother and the baby. Police would not comment Wednesday on the motive for the attack.
Police were alerted to the incident by phone calls from the two victims, said Kelly, who gave the following account:
The 17-year-old called about 11:30 a.m., saying he had been stabbed. A few minutes later, after Wiltshire had left, the 16-year-old girl called from the apartment. She, too, said she had been stabbed, and that the father of her daughter had forcibly taken the child.
Officer Michael Darin found the 17-year-old at a pay phone at 67th Street and Newkirk Avenue. He had been stabbed twice in the chest, once in the shoulder, and once in the back.
A search began for Wiltshire that eventually involved 13 squad cars, including four from West New York.
North Bergen Officer Lorenzo Paret spotted Wiltshire about 11:50 a.m. at 65th Street and Hudson Avenue in West New York. When Paret approached him and began asking him questions, Wiltshire threw up his hands and said: “I know what you want. The baby is in the store. “
Wiltshire had gone into the Latino Supermarket with the baby and bought some juice, telling the storekeeper to watch the infant for a moment.
The baby was found in the store and placed in the custody of the state Division of Youth and Family Services after being examined at Meadowlands Hospital Medical Center in Secaucus.
Wiltshire was charged with two counts of aggravated assault, burglary, unlawful possession of a weapon, and criminal restraint.

Keywords: NORTH BERGEN; ASSAULT; KIDNAPPING; BABY

MAN HELD IN STUDENT’S DEATH PAROLEE FACES MURDER CHARGE

By Michael O. Allen, Record Staff Writer | Sunday, April 14, 1991

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

A 23-year-old Spring Valley, N.Y., man on parole for possession of a loaded weapon was being held without bail Saturday in the stabbing death of Kissinger Shiimi, a Ramapo College student leader.
Peter Ralph Finley, who police say is a Jamaican national, was arrested in Brooklyn on Friday. He was charged with second-degree murder and was being held in the Rockland County Correctional Center pending a hearing.
Shiimi, a 30-year-old senior majoring in political science, died about 5:30 a.m. April 6 at Good Samaritan Hospital in Suffern, N.Y. He had been stabbed five times by one of two men arguing with him over a fender bender outside the Atlantic Gas ‘n Go, a Spring Valley gas station and convenience store, police said.
Tom M. Jones, Ramapo College’s director of public relations, said Finley’s arrest is a relief to students who have been grappling with the violent death of Shiimi, whom they regarded as a peacemaker and bridge-builder.
Hinyangerwa Asheeke, Namibia’s ambassador to the United Nations, on Friday escorted Shiimi’s body back to Namibia, the southwest African country where Shiimi fought oppression, then escaped to come to the United States to build a better life.
Asheeke was Shiimi’s uncle, but they first met about a month ago at a reception celebrating Namibia’s first year of independence from South Africa.
At Ramapo, Shiimi won the Aly Makwaia Scholarship named for an African student at the college who was stabbed to death in 1987.
On the day he died, Shiimi and two fellow students had gone to a nightclub in Spring Valley. They stopped at the gas station about 4:30 a.m., when the car the three were traveling in tapped the bumper of the other car. Police refused to say who was driving the car that carried Shiimi.
Two men in the other car argued with Shiimi and one stabbed him, police said. The men, along with a woman in their company, fled in a red Nissan with a white stripe. Police described both men as having Jamaican accents, and said one had a gold front tooth. It was unclear from police reports Saturday whether Finley has a gold tooth.
At the Spring Valley Police Department’s request, detectives from the New York Police Department’s 70th Precinct in Brooklyn had been checking the home of Finley’s relatives on Sterling Street, said Sgt. Mary Wrensen, a city police spokeswoman. They found Finley there about 8:30 p.m. Friday. He had an airline ticket to Florida, police said.
Police are looking for the other man and the woman. No further details of the investigation were available.

Keywords: NEW JERSEY; COLLEGE; STUDENT; MURDER

VANDALISM INCIDENTS PROBED IN TEANECK

MICHAEL O. ALLEN | Saturday, April 13, 1991

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

Township police are investigating five incidents of vandalism along Teaneck Road in which windows at two businesses, a private residence, and the Bryant School were broken Thursday night.
In the first incident, about 5:30 p.m., a woman reported that someone threw a rock through the passenger side window of her car parked on Sherman Avenue, near Teaneck Road.
The vandalism occurred in the wake of an impromptu march Wednesday by students marking the first anniversary of the death of Phillip C. Pannell, a black 16-year-old who was shot by a white township police officer. The window of a police cruiser was shattered.

Keywords: TEANECK; DEMONSTRATION; ANNIVERSARY; VANDALISM; POLICE; SHOOTING; YOUTH; DEATH

WASHED-UP BODY MAY BE LOST SUSPECT

MICHAEL O. ALLEN | Wednesday, April 10, 1991

The Record (New Jersey) | Four Star B | NEWS | Page B04

A body found Tuesday on the muddy bank of the Hackensack River may be that of a suspect who jumped into the frigid water March 14 while being pursued from the scene of a burglary, police said. The man is believed to be John Quinones.
Police say detectives investigating the March 14 burglary of the Liz Claiborne warehouse in Secaucus identified Quinones, 23, of Bayonne as one of the two suspects who fled in a van from the scene. The men abandoned the van and jumped in the river to avoid being caught.
Police found Raymond Simone, 32, of Jersey City, at about 12:30 a.m. on the west bank of the river, three hours after the search began.
Simone, suffering from exposure, was treated at Meadowlands Hospital Medical Center. He was charged with two counts of burglary, one count of theft, and eluding police, and later was transferred to the Hudson County Jail.
Surveyors working in the area found the body along the riverbank about 100 feet south of the North Bergen Foundry at about 1 p.m. Tuesday, police said.

Keywords: SECAUCUS; DEATH; PROBE

PANNELLS MAKING A `MEMORIAL JOURNEY’

By Michael O. Allen, Record Staff Writer | Wednesday, April 10, 1991

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

The family of Phillip C. Pannell will make a “memorial journey” to the youth’s grave in Fair Lawn this morning.
The event, announced Tuesday by the Rev. Herbert Daughtry on the steps of the Municipal Building, is one of several planned today to mark the anniversary of Pannell’s death.
Daughtry was joined by Pannell’s parents, Phillip D. and Thelma Pannell; their 14-year-old daughter, Natasha, and black leaders as he announced the graveside visit. The Pannells will travel to the grave by car with members of community groups, all assembling at 10 a.m. at the Shiloh AME Zion Church in Englewood.
Another observance is planned today at the township high school, which Pannell attended. Principal James DeLaney said students will reflect on the events of the past year between 1:15 and 2 p.m.
Pannell, 16, was shot by Officer Gary S. Spath, who is awaiting trial on a charge of reckless manslaughter. Police say the black youth was reaching for a loaded gun when he was shot by the white officer. Witnesses have said Pannell’s arms were raised. The shooting inflamed racial tensions in Teaneck.
Wednesday night, Daughtry, a Teaneck resident who is national minister of the House of the Lord Pentecostal Church in Brooklyn, is scheduled to preside at a memorial service for Pannell at the Community Baptist Church in Englewood. It will begin at 7.
On Saturday, marchers will meet at noon at the Bryant School, near where the shooting took place, and walk to the Bergen County Courthouse in Hackensack, Daughtry said.
Also present at Tuesday’s news conference were the Rev. Al Sharpton; Dr. William B. Jones of the African Council; Robert H. Robinson of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People; and the Rev. Stanley Dennison, president of the Black Clergy Council of Englewood-Teaneck and vicinity.
Record Staff Writer David Voreacos contributed to this article.

Keywords: TEANECK; BLACK; YOUTH; SHOOTING; DEATH; POLICE; ANNIVERSARY

DEFECTIVE TAIL LIGHT LEADS TO PAIR OF DRUG ARRESTS

MICHAEL O. ALLEN | Sunday, April 7, 1991

The Record (New Jersey) | All Editions | NEWS | Page A07

Two Newburgh, N.Y., men were arrested after a Palisades Parkway Police detective who stopped their car for a defective taillight found six ounces of cocaine on the driver and 17,200 vials in the trunk, police said.
The driver, Dalton G. Harvey, 43, and his passenger, Jose A. Reyes, 23, each were charged with four counts of drug possession. They were being held Saturday in Bergen County Jail, each on $80,000 bail.
Detective Jim Lynam stopped the car about 11 p.m. Friday near exit 1 in Englewood Cliffs as it headed north on the parkway, Officer Guy Cook said. Lynam approached the car and saw a plastic bag wedged between its rear seats, Cook said.

Keywords: DRUG; ENGLEWOOD CLIFFS; MOTOR VEHICLE; VIOLATION

TEACHER CHARGED WITH ASSAULT ON GIRL, 13; OTHER DUMONT STUDENTS MAY BE INVOLVED

By Michael O. Allen, Record Staff Writer | Sunday, April 7, 1991

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

A math and science teacher at the Selzer School for the past 21 years was charged Saturday with aggravated sexual assault on a 13-year-old student, officials said.
James J. Walls, 48, was arrested about 2 p.m. Saturday at his home at 88 Pine St., Haworth, said Bergen County Prosecutor John J. Fahy. Walls was to be held in the Bergen County Jail on $25,000 bail, he said.
It could not be determined Saturday what action school officials would take.
Between Dec. 15, 1989, and June 22, 1990, Walls committed “numerous acts of aggravated sexual assault” on the girl by touching her breasts and buttocks during school hours, Fahy said.
Fahy said the girl graduated from the kindergarten-to-eighth-grade school in June 1990, but that she told a school counselor about the assault only a few days ago. The counselor informed authorities, he said. The Dumont Police Department and the Bergen County Sex Crimes and Child Abuse Unit investigated the charge, he said.
Fahy said that when the case goes to a grand jury, Walls would be charged with aggravated sexual assault for each time he allegedly touched the girl.
“As of right now, the investigation is continuing,” Fahy said. “It’s possible other kids were involved. He’s only charged with sexual assault on the one girl. “
If convicted, Walls could face 20 years in prison and fines of up to $100,000, Fahy said.
Dumont Schools Superintendent Thomas Roberts and Selzer School Principal James Kennedy were not at home Saturday and could not be reached. No members of the school board could be reached Saturday.
Lee Brauer, director of public relations for the Dumont school district, said she was not aware of the charges against Walls or of his arrest. She said she did not have the telephone numbers of any school official with her at home.
Fahy said school officials, including the principal, were aware of the investigation, but did not know if they had heard about the arrest.
Dumont Mayor James Moriarty said he was hearing of the charges for the first time.
“This is a shock. I really don’t have a comment at this time,” he said.

Keywords: TEACHER; ASSAULT; YOUTH; SCHOOL; SEX; DUMONT; STUDENT

Notes: Bergen page version

COUNCILMAN TIPS OFF POLICE TO BURGLARY

By Michael O. Allen, Record Staff Writer | Saturday, April 6, 1991

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

When he left home to go on a walk with his 9-year-old daughter Thursday night, little did Councilman Paul Ostrow know that he would witness a burglary, then start a manhunt.
As a result, township police charged Robert “Speedo” Merritt, 34, of 1088 Arlington Ave., Teaneck, with two counts of burglary and theft Friday. He was being held in lieu of $20,000 bail in the Bergen County Jail.
Ostrow, walking out of his home on Grayson Place at 7:17 p.m., heard a sound near a window of a nearby house, followed by the sound of a man falling inside the home.
“Are you OK? ” Ostrow, a member of the Teaneck Volunteer Ambulance Corps, said he asked the person, thinking it was his neighbor. “My first instinct was to see if anyone needed help or was hurt. “
The suspect asked Ostrow who he was before ordering him to get away from the house.
Ostrow and his daughter saw the man emerge from a window, come toward them, then cross the street and run in the opposite direction, toward Prince Street. He called Teaneck police from his home and gave them a description of the suspect and told them the direction he was headed in.
“When you actually see a human being in the act of this form of terror, you can’t understand how people can treat other people’s lives and property in a way that they would not like to be treated themselves,” Ostrow said.
Nothing was taken from the Grayson Place home. But when police saw Merritt walking east on the westbound side of Route 4, he had a pillowcase slung over his shoulder. The pillowcase contained several stereo and VCR items stolen from a Palisade Avenue home about 8 p.m. They chased him to Cranford Street, where a county police dog found him hiding behind shrubbery.
Merritt is also charged with possession of burglary tools, receiving stolen property, and driving with a suspended license, stemming from his arrest by Fort Lee police Feb. 19.

Keywords: TEANECK; GOVERNMENT; OFFICIAL; BURGLARY

BURGLARY SUSPECT TURNS HIMSELF IN

By Michael O. Allen, Record Staff Writer | Thursday, April 4, 1991

The Record (New Jersey) | One Star | NEWS | B04

A 27-year-old Union City man, the second suspect in Monday’s burglary of a Bergen Boulevard home, turned himself in to borough police Tuesday and was charged with burglary and theft, police said.
Thomas Cook of 518 12th St. was being held in the Bergen County Jail on Wednesday in lieu of $25,000 bail.
Palisades Park Police Capt. Remo Framarin said the Bergen County Sheriff’s Department’s Bureau of Criminal Investigations and the Bergen County Burglary Squad, using fingerprint information and composites, identified Cook as a suspect in the burglary. Framarin said several law enforcement agencies are investigating the two men and others in connection with other burglaries in the county.
Police, responding Tuesday to a call about a prowler near a home that had been burglarized Monday, arrested Luis Ayala, 35, of Union City, as he hid in a wooded area east of Bergen Boulevard.
Ayala, also known as Raymond, was charged with burglary, possession of burglary tools, and possession of stolen credit cards. Fort Lee Police Chief John Orso said he was preparing charges against Ayala for six burglaries at the Horizon Apartments in Fort Lee during the past three weeks. The credit cards belonged to someone from Fort Lee, Palisades Park police said.
Palisades Park Municipal Court Judge Joseph Dimiglio set Ayala’s bail at $50,000. Ayala was being held in a secured unit at Bergen Pines County Hospital for undisclosed reasons.

Keywords: PALISADES PARK; THEFT

COUNTY GROUP HONORS 11 FOR THEIR HEROISM

By Michael O. Allen, Record Staff Writer | Thursday, March 7, 1991

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

All the talk of heroism embarrassed Michael Moore. The 25-year-old Cliffside Park carpenter had pulled an unconscious 82-year-old man from a smoke-filled car moments before it exploded in flames. That was last year.
Wednesday, the Bergen County 200 Club, a group that serves law enforcement officers, firefighters, ambulance corps workers, and their families, gave Moore a valor award, one of its highest honors.
“I just didn’t expect this,” Moore, the son of a retired firefighter, said of the award. “I saw him and I carried him out.”
At a ceremony in the grand ballroom of the Sheraton Heights Hotel in Hasbrouck Heights, the group also honored Ramsey Patrolman Frank Alcaro with a valor award. Alcaro saved the life of a 64-year-old man trapped in a capsized boat. He also received a merit award for saving the lives of two children and an adult trapped in a burning building.
Two Fort Lee firefighters and seven policemen also received merit awards.
Alcaro, 29, the father of a 1-year-old girl, echoed the predominant feeling among the honorees when he said he reacted instinctively to situations that he was being honored for.
“I feel good about the award, but it is very humbling, because it is not something that you sit around and think about doing,” he said. “I never even gave a second thought about doing it. It was just what I had to do.”
Wallington Police Officer Richard Cavallo also thought he was doing what he had to do on June 12, when he persuaded an armed man who had already shot one person to drop his pistol. He said he was concerned for the safety of about 30 people in the vicinity of the alley where he confronted a man who had shot his wife’s alleged lover.
“He was highly agitated,” said Cavallo, an 11-year police veteran. “He didn’t want to hear anything. I informed him three times to put his weapon down. The third time, he lowered the weapon and leveled it at me.
“It’s hard to explain, but in a situation like that you just blank out everything around you and concentrate on the situation at hand.”
The man then dropped the gun.
“The amount of time that passed between the first time Officer Cavallo ordered the suspect to drop his gun and when he actually dropped it was only a few seconds,” Bergen County 200 Club Vice President Ray Farrington said in presenting the officer with the merit award. “But it was a lifetime for both the officer and the suspect.”
Also honored with merit awards were:
– Hackensack Police Detective Sgt. Michael Mordaga, Sgt. James Mordaga, Detective Sgt. Arthur Mento, and Officer Anthony Iazetti, for arresting an armed robber on Sept. 28 without firing a shot.
– Fort Lee Volunteer Fire Lt. Michael DeGidio and firefighter Patrick Kellett, who is also a policeman, for saving the life of an elderly woman who was trapped in her bedroom during a fire.
– Teaneck Police Lt. Daniel Moran, who was a sergeant on May 20, 1989, when he saved the life of a 15-year-old boy threatening suicide as he sat on the edge of a building with his legs dangling over the street, five stories below.
– Glen Rock Police Officer Daniel Brindley, who rescued a 2-year-old girl from a brook June 19.
Not all the stories had happy endings. The girl rescued in Glen Rock died several hours later, and Michael Nocero, the Cliffside Park man saved by Moore, died of causes related to smoke inhalation 21 days after being rescued.
Alcaro said police officers all over the world do heroic work without thinking of it as such. It was in the job description, he said.
As his wife, Michelle, put it: “I’m very proud of him, and these awards that he’s getting are very nice. But there are day-to-day things that he does that are equally as heroic. He’s there for accident victims, for children to look up to, there to take control in situations when nobody knows what to do.
“Being a policeman is not just a job, it’s a whole attitude about life. He’s a policeman, even when he’s not working.”

Keywords: BERGEN COUNTY; ORGANIZATION; AWARD

Caption: PHOTO – ED HILL / THE RECORD – Ramsey Patrolman Frank Alcaro showing the valor award he received Wednesday for saving four people in two incidents last year.