3 ARRESTS IN CAR-THEFT TRY AT GARDEN STATE PLAZA

By Michael O. Allen, Record Staff Writer | Wednesday, November 14, 1990

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

Three Paterson men who allegedly tried to steal a car in the Garden State Plaza parking lot Monday were arrested after a chase by car and on foot into Rochelle Park, police said.

Manny Torres, 18; John Velez, 19, and Miguel DeJesus, 20, were charged with theft of an automobile and attempted theft of an automobile and were being held in the Bergen County Jail Tuesday.

Torres, facing additional charges of eluding police and resisting arrest, was being held on $7,500 bail. Velez and DeJesus each were being held on $2,500 bail.

Police Chief Joseph Delaney said one of the suspects confessed the three were looking for a car to steal, after stealing the 1990 Hyundai they were traveling in from the Willowbrook Mall in Wayne earlier in the day.

Lt. Don McNair of the Paramus Police Department Street Crime Unit saw one of the men trying to break into a car in the Garden State Plaza parking lot at about 4 p.m. and called for help, Delaney said. They fled when they saw McNair approaching in his car.

McNair, assisted by officers Kurt Massey and Albert Sadro in another patrol car, chased the men as they drove south on Route 17, Delaney said. The men abandoned the car and fled on foot after the car struck an embankment in Rochelle Park, he said. They were arrested a short distance away.

POLICEMAN’S ELBOW SLAMMED IN CHASE

Michael O. Allen, Record Staff Writer | Wednesday, November 14, 1990

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

A borough police officer was injured Monday evening when a suspect he was chasing allegedly slammed the door of a house on his elbow, police said.

Anthony Masucci of San Francisco was charged with aggravated assault, resisting arrest, and disorderly conduct, and was released on $6,000 bail, said Cliffside Park Detective Sgt. Donald Umland.

Umland said the injury is expected to keep Officer Frank Biasco out of work for three weeks.

The incident occurred about 5:45 p.m., when Biasco came upon a 1972 Chevrolet pickup that he thought was abandoned on Lafayette Avenue, Umland said. He said Biasco found that its registration had expired.

Masucci, who walked up and identified himself as the owner of the truck, became angry when Biasco asked him about the registration, Umland said.

Biasco requested assistance, and was joined by a Fort Lee patrolman and a Fairview police officer.
Umland said Masucci, 34, fled on foot, running up the driveway of a residence at 42 Lafayette Ave., and slammed the side door on Biasco as the officer chased him.

The other officers then wrestled with Masucci as he came out of the front door of the house, and arrested him, Umland said.

3 BERGEN MEN ARRESTED; JEWELRY SEIZED

By Michael O. Allen, Record Staff Writer | Sunday, November 11, 1990

The Record (New Jersey) | All Editions | NEWS | Page A06

One man remained in the Bergen County Jail on Saturday while two others were freed on $15,000 bail each following their arrest Friday on charges of receiving stolen property.

The three were seized about 7:50 a.m. Friday as they sat in a parked car on Fletcher Avenue, behind the Red Oak Diner, Police Chief John Orso said. Orso said police seized jewelry, believed stolen in burglaries in at least two nearby communities, and $4,500 in cash.

The suspects were identified as Jeffrey Whitaker, 27, of Tryon Avenue, Teaneck; and Peter Cheremisinoff, 34, of Gorge Road, Cliffside Park, both of whom were freed on bail; and Troy Montgomery, 24, of West Palisade Avenue, Englewood.

Orso said Cheremisinoff faced an additional charge of receiving stolen property with intent to distribute it.

WOMAN, 87, RESCUED – THANKS TO MAILMAN

By Michael O. Allen, Record Staff Writer | Saturday, November 10, 1990

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

An elderly borough woman is alive today, neighbors say, thanks to the care and alertness of her mail carrier, who noticed Thursday that she had not collected her mail the day before.

Else Beisler, 87, fell down the stairs into her basement Tuesday evening and lay there for nearly two days, said Nancy Bachmann, her neighbor on Feronia Way.

Bachmann, 33, said Beisler fell while taking out newspapers to be recycled. She said she entered the house, found the woman, and called an ambulance Thursday afternoon after the mail carrier, Robert Drecshel, rang her doorbell.

Beisler “gets a lot of mail, and she picks up her mail every day,” Drecshel said.

So when he noticed that the mail he had delivered Wednesday was still in the mailbox on Thursday, he asked Bachmann if she had seen Beisler.

Beisler was in fair condition with two broken wrists at Hackensack Medical Center, a hospital spokeswoman said Friday.

A YEAR LATER, A SHOOTING SUSPECT

By Michael O. Allen, Record Staff Writer | Friday, November 9, 1990

The Record (New Jersey) | Three Star P | NEWS | Page B03

A 33-year-old New York City man arrested Thursday by city police and charged with possessing a stolen car was wanted for a shooting in Englewood a year ago, police said.

Eric Flake was wanted for two counts of attempted murder, four counts of aggravated assault, and two counts of gun possession in the Nov. 18, 1989, shooting of Neville G. Tyrell of Teaneck, said Englewood Detective Capt. C. Kenneth Tinsley.

Flake was arrested at 1 a.m. Thursday along with Herbert Smith, 35, of New York City, who was a passenger in the car Flake was driving.

Tinsley said Police Officer James Morgan ran a check on the car’s license plate when Flake made a turn without signaling. Morgan learned the car was stolen from Prince George County, Md., Tinsley said.

Morgan, assisted by officers George Coleman and Timothy Riley, pulled the car over and arrested the men. Flake and Smith, also charged with possession of stolen property, were being held in the Bergen County Jail on $5,000 bail.

As they were processing the men at the Englewood police station, Tinsley said, the officers discovered that Flake was wanted for contempt of court, attempted murder, and related charges in connection with the shooting of Tyrell.

Tinsley said the police report of that incident indicated that Flake, who was standing with a friend at Lafayette Place and Parkview Drive, waved Tyrell’s car over and fired several shots as Tyrell rolled down his window.

One shot passed through Tyrell’s arm and struck his chest, according to the report. Tyrell drove to Holy Name Hospital in Teaneck, where he was treated and released.

DAD HELD GIRL HOSTAGE BEFORE, COPS SAY

By Michael O. Allen, Record Staff Writer | Wednesday, November 7, 1990

The Record (New Jersey) | Four Star B | NEWS | Page B02

A 32-year-old Teaneck man who shot a neighbor Sunday night and then held his young daughter hostage as “protection” from police used the child the same way in an incident this spring, police said.

As he did Sunday, Shawn Thompson released then 16-month-old Jasmine after a dispute with his wife on June 19 over custody of the child, police said.

Police defused that situation without harm to anyone.

Thompson did not threaten to harm his daughter in either incident, according to police reports.

On Sunday night, Thompson allegedly shot Earl Johnson, a neighbor who apparently was attempting to mediate a dispute between Thompson and his mother.

Johnson, 29, was in critical condition at Holy Name Hospital with a neck wound Tuesday, a hospital spokeswoman said. Doctors repaired Johnson’s right jugular vein, but were unable to remove the bullet.

Thompson was being held in the Bergen County Jail Tuesday on $50,000 bail. Teaneck police charged him with aggravated assault and possession of firearms.

The shooting occurred after Hazel Thompson asked police to remove her son from the home they shared at 51 Garden St., police said.

Mrs. Thompson; her companion, Ernest Walters; her father; Jasmine; and Johnson, who lives across the street from the Thompsons at 44 Garden St., were in the house when police arrived.

Both Johnson and Walters had tried unsuccessfully to talk Shawn Thompson into leaving the house, police said.

Johnson took Mrs. Thompson’s father to his home across the street. Mrs. Thompson then left with police to seek a restraining order.

Moments later, police learned that someone had been shot at the house. Johnson had somehow left the house and was taken to the hospital, police said. Thompson had taken his daughter and was talking to police.

“This is one step higher than the last time, and I’m going to take it one step higher,” Sgt. Fred Ahearn said Thompson told him on the phone. “I’m not going to jail, and I know my daughter is my protection.”

But after talking with a relative and with Capt. Gary Fiedler, Thompson released the child and surrendered.

Police, armed with a search warrant, found two rifles, two handguns, and ammunition when they searched the house.

In the June incident, police said Thompson had a dispute with his wife, who had threatened to take the child away.

Thompson, who had taken Jasmine after the dispute, held police at bay for a short time, but then released her to an aunt. He was not charged.

ELECTRICAL EXPLOSIONS ROCK AREA IN DUMONT

By Michael O. Allen, Record Staff Writer | Wednesday, November 7, 1990

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

Two underground electrical explosions shook downtown Dumont Tuesday, injuring a 46-year-old borough woman, cutting off power to more than 1,000 residents, and shutting down several businesses for the day.

Public Service Electric and Gas Co. officials and technicians did not know the cause of the first explosion, which occurred shortly before 1 p.m. Tuesday, said Walter Kyle, a PSE & G division operations supervisor. Kyle said he believed the second was caused by current released by the first.

“We know, essentially, that something blew up in the hole here,” Kyle said. “Exactly what, we don’t know. “

Except for the Madison Avenue business district, electricity was restored to much of the affected area about two hours after the explosion, Kyle said.

Amelia Garcia, who was standing behind the Frontier Restaurant and Bar at Park and Madison avenues when the second explosion occurred, was hit by flying debris. She was treated for cuts on both legs at Englewood Hospital and released.

Dumont Police Chief William Groesbeck said there was a similar explosion at the intersection of Madison and Washington avenues two months earlier.

Groesbeck said he urged PSE & G officials to work through the night to correct the problem. Madison Avenue was blocked off between Washington and Railroad avenues to allow the technicians to identify the problem and correct it, he said.

The explosion caused severe traffic delays along Washington Avenue and roads intersecting it.

Caption: (Photo ran alone in 3p) COLOR PHOTO – LINDA RADIN / THE RECORD – Utility workers inspecting the scene of one of two underground explosions that shook downtown Dumont Tuesday, leaving one woman injured and cutting off power to more than 1,000 residents. The blasts also caused traffic tie-ups.

INK-CARRYING TRAILER TIPS ON ROUTE 3

By Michael O. Allen, Record Staff Writer | Sunday, November 4, 1990

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

A truck’s trailer, carrying flammable printing ink, overturned Saturday morning and caused a six-hour shutdown of Route 3 west in front of Giants Stadium, inconveniencing fans on their way to the Notre Dame-Navy football game.

No one was injured.

Richard P. Deckert, the driver, said he did not know what caused the accident. No summonses were issued, and an investigation was continuing, said East Rutherford Fire Department spokesman Lt. Peter Hodge.

“All I know is, I was going through the turn, and I looked in the mirror, and I saw the truck was lying on the ground,” said Deckert, 48, of Lebanon, Pa. “I didn’t even see it drop off.”

Along with a 55-gallon drum of ink, the truck carried five gallons of methyl ethyl ketone, a highly flammable solvent, and several empty cardboard boxes in its two trailers, said East Rutherford Fire Chief Tom Miller.

Although the ink drum was punctured when the 40-foot trailer flipped, the ink did not spill on the roadway, Hodge said.

Caption: PHOTO – STEVE AUCHARD / THE RECORD – Hazardous-materials workers and East Rutherford firefighters working with a trailer that overturned on Route 3 west on Saturday.

CLOSTER MAN’S KILLING PROBED

By Michael O. Allen, Record Staff Writer | Saturday, November 3, 1990

The Record (New Jersey) | One Star | NEWS | Page A03

New York City police on Friday continued their investigation of the shooting death of a 21-year-old Closter man whose body was found Thursday near the Henry Hudson Parkway in Upper Manhattan.

Police still do not have a motive or know the circumstances surrounding the death of Michael Papalia of 21 Oak St., said Detective Joseph Galagher, a police spokesman.

Detective Michael Pisano of the 34th Precinct, who is investigating, said that although police found $6 on Papalia, they are not ruling out robbery.

Papalia was shot twice in the head.

Early indications were that the death was not related to drugs or violence connected to Halloween, Pisano said.

Two key questions that investigators are pursuing are what Papalia was doing in New York and how long he had been dead, Galagher said.

CLOSTER MAN, 21, SLAIN IN MANHATTAN

By Michael O. Allen, Record Staff Writer | Friday, November 2, 1990

The Record (New Jersey) | One Star | NEWS | Page B02

New York City police are investigating the shooting death of a 21-year-old Closter man found lying next to his car Thursday on an exit ramp of the Henry Hudson Parkway in upper Manhattan.

Police did not know the motive or circumstances surrounding the shooting of Michael Papalia of 21 Oak St., said 34th Precinct Detective Michael Pisano, who is investigating.

Pisano said that although police found $6 on Papalia, they are not ruling out robbery. Papalia was shot once in the head.

Early indications were that the death was not related to drugs or violence connected to Halloween, the detective said.

Emergency Medical Services technicians on patrol found Papalia on the northbound side of the Henry Hudson Parkway at the Cloisters exit ramp at about 3 a.m., Pisano said.

After attempting to revive him, the EMS technicians took Papalia to Columbia Presbyterian Hospital, where he was pronounced dead on arrival at 3:45 a.m., Pisano said.

Papalia was a 1987 graduate of Northern Valley Regional High School in Demarest, school officials said.

The Rev. Simon Kenny of St. Mary’s R.C. Church in Closter said the family belongs to his parish.

Capt. John Rose, Closter acting chief of police, said he did not know the Papalias, but knew the family had lived in the borough for a long time.