CITY PROBES BURGLARY WAVE; SAYS ARMED ROBBER FITS PATTERN

By Michael O. Allen, Record Staff Writer | Friday, December 28, 1990

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

A 28-year-old Hackensack man who last week admitted committing three armed robberies is being investigated in connection with more than 20 burglaries in the city and several more in surrounding communities, city police said Thursday.

A Municipal Court judge Thursday set bail at $25,000 for Michael Dunlap of 179 Union St. on three counts of armed robbery and possession of a crack vial, and released him on his own recognizance.

In one of the robberies to which Dunlap confessed, he entered AAA Home Video store at 29 State St. on Sept. 24, asked about joining the club, and then announced a robbery, said Capt. John Aletta, Hackensack Police investigations chief. Dunlap said he had a gun wrapped in his coat, but the store attendant did not see it, Aletta said.

Dunlap is said to have repeated the pattern at the Arena Diner on Essex Street on Oct. 1 and at the Shell gas station across the street from the diner on Dec. 9. Approximately $300 was taken in all the robberies, Aletta said.

Detective Sgt. Fred Puglisi is investigating other armed robberies fitting the pattern, Aletta said. Hackensack also will share its information with surrounding communities that have reported robberies fitting the pattern, he said.

Robbery victims will be shown a photo lineup, including a photograph of Dunlap, to see if they could identify their assailant, Puglisi said.

Detective Sgt. Michael Mordaga arrested Dunlap on Dec. 20 as he walked along Union Street, near Central Avenue, at about 7 p.m. Aletta said Mordaga recognized Dunlap from descriptions and a composite drawing of the suspect in the armed robberies.

Police said when Mordaga patted Dunlap down before taking him into custody, the detective felt what appeared to be a bullet in Dunlap’s pocket. The object turned out to be a crack vial, Aletta said.

BOGOTA POLICE HUNT MAN WHO FLED; SOUGHT FOR NON-PAYMENT OF FINE IN AUTO DEATH

By Michael O. Allen, Record Staff Writer | Thursday, December 27, 1990

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

A 22-year-old man who was convicted of drunken driving in the 1988 death of a 5-year-old boy escaped through a window on Tuesday as his wife prevented police from arresting him for not paying a fine levied as part of his sentence, police said.

Peter Lamanna, who police said was still at large Wednesday, did not pay the $1,645 fine imposed by a Superior Court judge in Bergen County in May. The court referred his case to Teaneck Municipal Court, which issued a warrant last week, said a Bogota police spokesman.

Lamanna answered the door at 389 Linden Ave., where his in-laws live, after police Officer Daniel Maye knocked at the door about 11:40 p.m. Tuesday, the spokesman said. Police said Lamanna married a Bogota woman and moved to Florida after his June 19 release from the Bergen County Jail.

When Maye tried to arrest him, Lamanna allegedly ran into the house. Joanne Lamanna, 24, grabbed Maye and prevented him from going after her husband, police said. The Bergen County Police canine unit later searched the area for Lamanna, but was unable to find him.

Mrs. Lamanna was charged with interfering with a police officer and with assault on a police officer. She was released on $450 bail Wednesday.

Lamanna was acquitted May 23 of a death-by-auto charge in the death of Sultan Chaudhri, who was crossing the street with his mother when Lamanna hit them with his Chevrolet Camaro. The mother, Nighat Chaudhri, 32, suffered minor injuries.

Lamanna was sentenced to 30 days in jail on drunken-driving and other charges. His license was revoked for two years, consecutive to a four-year suspension imposed in 1988 by the Division of Motor Vehicles.

DON’T INVITE HOLIDAY CRIME

By Michael O. Allen, Record Staff Writer | Sunday, December 23, 1990

The Record (New Jersey) | All Editions | SOUTH CENTRAL BERGEN | Page 11

As police in Englewood Cliffs tell residents at this time of year, “Don’t play Santa to a burglar. ” Put lights on timers, turn on your home alarms, and notify your police department when you leave on vacation.

While burglars strike at any time of year, homes in the region have been particularly hard-hit in recent months.

Englewood Cliffs Deputy Police Chief Patrick Farley said residents should assist the police by being vigilant and reporting suspicious activities.

Fort Lee Police Chief John Orso said residents should also be wary of flim-flam artists. Don’t pay for cash-on-delivery packages that you didn’t order, he added: Some nicely wrapped packages turn out to be empty.

For residents who will be vacationing out of town, Orso said the Fort Lee police, like those in several other communities, have a program in which homes are watched to protect them from burglars.

Emerson police Sgt. Ronald Micucci agreed, saying tough times make people more desperate.

Englewood Deputy Police Chief William Luciano said there are block associations in the city and that neighbors should also alert each other and perhaps leave keys when they will be gone for any length of time.

Other departments say to have neighbors take in mail and not to allow newspapers to pile up in front of your home.

The malls will be staying busy past Christmas Day so shoppers, especially the elderly, should watch their pocketbooks when shopping and walking to cars, police say.

TWO BOYS BADLY HURT IN RTE. 80 CAR CRASH

By Michael O. Allen, Record Staff Writer | Sunday, December 23, 1990

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Two Fairview boys were seriously injured Saturday when the car they were riding in overturned after it was struck by another car, whose driver was charged with drunken driving by police.

A spokeswoman for Hackensack Medical Center said David Gandelman, 7, was in critical condition with head injuries, and his brother, Alan, 9, was in serious condition with unspecified injuries.

Their father, Vladimir Gandelman, 39, the driver of the car, and Zima Spevak, 52, their grandmother, were treated and released, the spokeswoman said.

Frank Farron, 32, of East Rutherford, the driver of the other car, was given a summons for driving while under the influence of alcohol, said state police Sgt. Robert Martin. Farron was not injured, Martin said.

The crash occurred about 6:45 a.m. on Interstate 80, near Exit 66 in Hackensack.

Both cars were eastbound when Farron, in the center lane, collided with Gandelman’s car as he tried to move into the right lane, Martin said.

POLICE SEEK CLUES IN MAYWOOD MAN’S HIT-AND-RUN DEATH

By Kevin Kenney and Michael O. Allen, Record Staff Writers | Friday, December 21, 1990

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

Police turned to the public Thursday for clues in the hit-and-run death of a popular 50-year-old stock clerk whom they described as mildly retarded and epileptic.

“We’re really kind of desperate,” said Officer Joseph Sacco, a department spokesman. “We have nothing. That’s the problem. “

Sacco’s plea came after the death of Spencer Joseph of 151 Parkway, who was struck about 6:30 p.m. Wednesday as he crossed West Spring Valley Road near Edel Avenue.

The vehicle that struck him sped away, and police later responded to a report of a man lying in the road.

Joseph whose mother, Elizabeth, was killed in a 1972 house fire was walking from his house to the Forum Diner on Route 4 in nearby Paramus when the incident occurred, police said.

He was rushed to Hackensack Medical Center with extensive injuries to the lower part of his body, but was pronounced dead at 3:20 a.m. Thursday following surgery, the Bergen County Prosecutor’s Office reported.

“It happened at a busy commuter time, and we’re hoping somebody may have seen something,” said Sacco, adding that police were posting fliers around the accident scene to alert people to their investigation.

“Somebody had to see something. We’re hoping the person who did it, maybe they can come forward. Maybe they panicked.”

Joseph, a stock clerk at the IGA supermarket on West Pleasant Avenue, was described by his employer, Harry Tzimoulis, as a friendly, popular fixture at the store. “His father called me this morning,” Tzimoulis said. “Everybody is shocked in the store. We feel something missing.”

Tzimoulis said he could not recall how long Joseph had worked at the store, but that it was “a lot of years. ” Tzimoulis bought the store about a year ago.

“He was a fellow that everybody knew,” Tzimoulis said. “All the customers knew him by his first name. He helped everybody.”

Lt. Richard Price, who described Joseph as “mildly retarded,” said Joseph was also hit by a car in Hackensack about four years ago while riding his bike. Joseph suffered a fractured leg, said Price.

Price also said Joseph was taking medication for his epilepsy, but it was not known if that might have played a role in the accident.

Police urged anyone with information about the accident to call the borough Police Department at 845-8800 or the Bergen County Prosecutor’s Office Fatal Accident Investigation Unit at 646-3531.

COCAINE COURIER SUSPECT ARRESTED; HACKENSACK COPS TARGET N.Y.C. RING

By Michael O. Allen, Record Staff Writer | Friday, December 21, 1990

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

A 26-year-old Bronx man carrying cocaine for a New York City drug-trafficking ring walked into a trap Wednesday when he tried to sell an ounce of cocaine to narcotics officers, police say.

Ernesto Restrepo was being held in the Bergen County Jail in lieu of $20,000 bail on charges of possession of cocaine, possession of cocaine with intent to distribute, and possession of the drug within 1,000 feet of a school, police said.

The Hackensack police narcotics division also seized from the suspect a 1989 Ford Taurus equipped with a two-way radio, said Capt. John Aletta, chief of investigations. The New York-based drug ring uses such radios to communicate with potential customers, Aletta said.

The one ounce of almost pure cocaine was worth about $1,500, but its value could have ballooned when processed into other forms of the drug, Aletta said.

Members of the city detective and narcotics divisions began working on the case about a week ago when they received information about the ring’s operation in the area, Aletta said. He declined to tell the exact location of the arrest, but said it was in the area of 400 Hackensack Ave., near the Bergen County Vocational-Technical School.

After ordering the drug by radio and agreeing to meet the courier in a parking lot in the area, Detective Sgts. Michael Mordaga, Robert Wright, Allen Ust, and Walter Krakowski arrived at about 10 p.m. and arrested Restrepo at the conclusion of the transaction, Aletta said.

POLICE SEEK SUSPECT IN GUARD’S STABBING

MICHAEL O. ALLEN | Friday, December 21, 1990

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

Borough police are looking for a man who stabbed a department store security officer on the evening of Dec. 7.

The police are sending out a New Jersey State Police composite drawing of the man, described as in his mid-20s, about 5 feet 8 inches tall, and weighing about 180 pounds.

A store detective at Marshall’s department store at 370 Kinderkamack Road saw the suspect conceal merchandise under his coat and leave the store shortly before 8 p.m. Dec. 7, said Emerson Police Lt. Brian C. Yehle. The security officer chased the man and, after turning a corner, was assaulted, he said.

Yehle said anyone with information regarding the suspect should contact the police at 262-2800.

Caption: PHOTO – Suspect in Dec. 7 stabbing.

NJ TRANSIT TRAIN KILLS MAN IN MAHWAH

By Michael O. Allen, Record Staff Writer | Thursday, December 20, 1990

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

A man was struck and killed by a northbound NJ Transit train as he was lying on the railroad track Tuesday night, police said.

Mahwah police Lt. Jim Bartelli said police were not ruling the death a suicide at this time, adding that the identification of the victim would be withheld until it could be confirmed with the family. Bartelli gave no description of the victim, other than to say he was Hispanic.

The man was pronounced dead at the scene, Bartelli said.

The engineer of the train, which left Hoboken for Suffern, N.Y., at 10:15 p.m., applied the brakes and sounded a whistle as soon when he saw the man on the track, said Sandra Check, an NJ Transit spokeswoman.

“The person failed to move,” Check said. “There was just no way to stop.”

The accident occurred about 11:21 p.m., about 1 1/4 miles from the Ramsey station, Check said.

None of the 10 passengers and about five NJ Transit employees on the train was injured, Check said.

The passengers were put on a bus and taken to their destinations. The tracks in both directions were closed for about two hours, until emergency vehicles were cleared from the scene.

Bartelli said Mahwah police were trying to determine where the man was going and what he was doing on the track at the time of the accident.

“We have a tentative identity but we are not a hundred percent sure until we speak to next of kin,” he said.

LINK SOUGHT IN HACKENSACK DRUG BUST, N.Y. SHOOTINGS

By Michael O. Allen, Record Staff Writer | Wednesday, December 19, 1990

The Record (New Jersey) | Four Star B | NEWS | Page B05

Police are investigating the connections between three people arrested in the city Monday and the victims of a shootout in New York that left two people dead and two in the hospital.

Acting on a tip from an anonymous caller, the Hackensack Police Narcotics Unit, assisted by the Bergen County Police Canine Unit, arrested Elizabeth Cuevas, 23, her brother-in-law, Jose Cuevas, 24, and Anselmo Pineda on drug and weapons charges at a house at 385 Summit St. at about 1:30 p.m.

Capt. John Aletta, Hackensack’s chief of investigations, said the house is owned by 28-year-old Juan Cuevas, Elizabeth’s husband. He was shot in the chest and lungs during what New York City police called a drug-related shootout Sunday.

Cuevas condition has improved from critical to stable, a spokeswoman at St. Luke’s-Roosevelt Hospital in New York City said Tuesday.

New York City police found the bullet-riddled bodies of four men, including Cuevas, in a basement apartment at 620 S. 147th St. shortly after midnight Sunday.

Two New York City men Ricardo Peguero, 25, of the Bronx, and Julio Olivero, 31, of Manhattan were dead at the scene, said Detective Joseph McConville, a New York police spokesman. Manuel Fortunato of Yonkers was in critical condition at Harlem Hospital.

Police said they found four 9mm automatic handguns in the apartment.

Those arrested in Hackensack and the victims in the New York City incident were part of a large-scale drug operation, Aletta said, adding that he expected to make more arrests.

New York City Police Detective Robert Nugent, the investigating officer, said the shooting was “definitely drug-related. ” He said the men moved as much as $200,000 a day in drugs.

Nugent said his investigation was continuing and that he was in contact with Hackensack police to check any New Jersey connections. Aletta confirmed that Hackensack and New York City police were in contact on the case.

Elizabeth and Jose Cuevas were charged with possession of drug paraphernalia and possession of a .45-caliber handgun. She was released from the Bergen County Jail on $5,000 bail, while he remained in jail with the same bail. Pineda also failed to post $5,000 bail on charges of possession of cocaine and possession of drug paraphernalia.

Aletta said an anonymous caller phoned the narcotics unit about noon Monday and told them about the New York shooting. He said the caller said he was to help move drugs out of 385 Summit St. because police were looking for the drugs and might come to the house.

The Narcotics Unit, including Police Chief William Iurato, Aletta, Detective Sgts. Michael Mordaga and Robert Wright, Sgt. Arthur Mento, and Detective Haywood Powell, went to the residence after getting a warrant, Aletta said.

Aletta said the police did not find drugs, but found the gun, scales used to weigh cocaine and heroin, drug-packaging bags, a 1988 Ford Thunderbird with a false gas tank, and a jacket made with bulletproof material.

The house was equipped with cameras in several rooms and two cameras in birdhouses on a tree in the back yard of the house, Aletta said.

COPS SEEK PAIR WHO ROBBED, TERRORIZED TEANECK RESIDENTS

By Michael O. Allen, Record Staff Writer | Wednesday, December 19, 1990

The Record (New Jersey) | Four Star B | NEWS | Page B10

Police are searching for robbers who, in two separate incidents, held a township woman at gunpoint in her home and injured an elderly couple.

The woman, who is 54, was unharmed by the two males who made her lie face down on the floor for about 30 minutes while they ransacked her Franklin Road home at about 6:20 p.m. Monday, police said.

On Tuesday, an elderly woman remained hospitalized after she and her husband were attacked last week in their East Cedar Lane home by two robbers. Police said the two incidents may have been committed by the same men.

In Monday’s incident, the assailants posed as salesmen and brandished a gun, described by the victim as silver with a wooden handle.

They rang the doorbell, then pushed past the woman, asking “Where is the money? ” After disconnecting telephones, they stole an ankle bracelet, wedding and engagement rings, and several necklaces worn by the woman.

They also made off with $50, two fur coats, a black leather coat, other pieces of jewelry, and several telephones, police said.

Police did not identify the victims of the Dec. 12 incident and have not determined what was stolen from their home.

The husband, 75, pulled into his driveway at about 9 p.m. Wednesday, let his wife out of the car, and then opened the garage door with a remote-control device, Sgt. Robert Adomilli said.

He was grabbed by the neck from behind as he got out of his car and was told not to turn around or else he would be killed, Adomilli said.

The assailants shoved the man to the ground, showing him a gun that looked like it was made of steel or silver, or covered with chrome, he said.

His wife, 65, came outside upon hearing the commotion, and was also pushed to the ground, punched, and kicked by one of the robbers, Adomilli said. She suffered a broken hip, Adomilli added.

Both victims were taken to Holy Name Hospital in Teaneck. The husband was released Monday, and his wife was transferred to Hackensack Medical Center, according to a nursing supervisor at Holy Name.

Adomilli urged residents with information about the crimes to call 837-2565 or Teaneck Crimestoppers 833-4222.

The department will accept anonymous tips, and people who provide information that leads to an arrest may earn a reward from Crimestoppers, a committee of local residents, Adomilli said.