PROBATIONER NABBED ON GUN CHARGES

MICHAEL O. ALLEN | Wednesday, October 17, 1990

The Record (New Jersey) | All Editions | NEWS | Page B04

Passaic and Bergen County probation officers arrested a 42-year-old city man Tuesday on charges of having a cache of illegal weapons in his apartment.

Peter Decato of 31 N. York St., who was being held in the Passaic County Jail, was charged with five counts of possessing weapons and one count of possessing drug paraphernalia.

Passaic County Probation Officer Patrick K. Morris said officers recovered a sawed-off 12-gauge shotgun, two air rifles, a .22-caliber automatic, a .32-caliber eight-shot revolver, and 37 combat knives, including a projectile knife with a spring that could shoot the blade. The probation officers also found 45 hypodermic syringes, Morris said.

Rene L. Caggia, Decato’s probation officer in Bergen County, said Decato was to report to an outpatient psychiatric treatment center and the Passaic County Probation Department after moving to Paterson upon completing six months in the Bergen County Jail for a June 1987 arson conviction.

Decato was about to be sent back to Bergen County for violating probation when the officers, along with a Passaic County deputy sheriff, visited him at his apartment Tuesday morning, Morris said.

NAME CHANGED TO PROFESS THE INNOCENCE

MICHAEL O. ALLEN | Saturday, October 13, 1990

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

When Bergen County Police first arrested an 18-year-old Jersey City man on drug charges four months ago, they released him to the custody of an “aunt” because he convinced them he was a juvenile and that his name was William Jones.

On Thursday, Hudson County Assistant Prosecutor James Duffy discovered the man’s true name William Fince and that he was not 16 years old, as he claimed.

Bergen County Police Detective Edward Sorace said Duffy notified Bergen County officials Thursday. Duffy declined to say how he came to discover Fince was not who he said he was.

Fince, who was charged with three counts of drug possession, was re-arrested as he reported to the juvenile division of the Hudson prosecutor’s office and was being held Friday in the Bergen County Jail in lieu of $15,000 bail.

3 SEIZED IN BREAK-IN AT JEWISH CENTER

By John H. Kuhn and Michael O. Allen, Record Staff Writers | Thursday, October 11, 1990

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

Three men were arrested Tuesday after breaking into several lockers in the men’s room at the Jewish Community Center on the Palisades and stealing watches and about $1,000 in cash, police said.

One of the men was spotted about 4:30 p.m. breaking into a locker in the center on East Clinton Avenue. A center member chased him and got the license plate number of the car he fled in.

About a minute later, Tenafly police Officer Robert Whittaker stopped the car about a half-mile away at Huyler Avenue and Dean Drive, police said.

Charged with burglary and theft were Richard Russell, 29, and Robert Menegigian, 35, both of Dumont, and Robert Ruglio, 31, of West Orange.

Police found a driver’s license that was reported stolen from the Randolph YMCA and a membership card from the Saddle Brook Howard Johnson Health Spa. Police said they also found a stolen American Express card.

Ruglio, who police said entered the center, was to be held at the Bergen County Jail Annex on $7,500 bail. Russell was released on $5,000 bail, and Menegigian on $1,500.

Police recovered about $1,000 in cash along with several watches and wallets.

NORTHVALE MAN HELD IN ROBBERY ATTEMPT

By Michael O. Allen, Record Staff Writer | Thursday, October 11, 1990

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

A 26-year-old Northvale man was charged with armed robbery after he tried to hold up a borough gas station but was foiled by an attendant, police said.

The suspect, Nicholas Proios, later confessed to robbing two gas stations in Alpine and Emerson during the weekend, police said.

Proios approached Robert W. Gardner, an attendant at the Northern Valley Motors gas station at 484 Closter Dock Road, at about 8:30 p.m. Tuesday and said he had a gun, police said.

When he told Gardner to empty his cash register, Gardner refused and foiled the robbery, said Closter Police Capt. John Rose.

“He had an object in his jacket that he purported to be a gun, but the gas attendant saw that it was a staple gun,” Rose said. “He decided to take him on. He physically detained the robber. “

Proios confessed during police interrogation to robbing the Texaco gas station on Closter Dock Road in Alpine on Saturday and the Emerson Exxon on Kinderkamack Road on Sunday, Rose said.

Police accounts of both incidents were similar: Proios allegedly walked in, told the attendants he had a gun, and announced a holdup. The Alpine robbery yielded $200 and Emerson, $466.

Closter police on Tuesday charged Proios with armed robbery. Bail was set at $50,000, and he was sent to the Bergen County Jail.

Alpine and Emerson police said Wednesday they also would charge Proios with armed robbery.

COPS LED ON CAR CHASE ENDING IN ELMWOOD PARK

MICHAEL O. ALLEN | Sunday, October 7, 1990

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

A high-speed chase that started in New York City with a traffic violation and two shots being fired at a policeman ended Saturday morning in Elmwood Park when the driver abandoned the car and fled on foot.

No arrest was made, said Sgt. Mary Wrensen, a spokeswoman for the New York Police Department.

Wrensen said Police Officer Patrick Mulholland of the Manhattan North Task Force stopped a black 1980 car after it went through a red light about 12:05 a.m. on Saturday at Broadway and West 178th Street.

BANDITS HIT LOTTERY FOR $2,000 IN TEANECK LIQUOR STORE HOLDUP

MICHAEL O. ALLEN | Sunday, October 7, 1990

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

Three armed men allegedly stole about $5,000, including about $2,000 in New Jersey Lottery money, from a Teaneck wine and liquor store Friday as the store owner and his brother locked up for the night, Teaneck police say.

Pannabhai D. Grohel, owner of the Jersey Wine and Liquor store at 166 W. Englewood Ave., said he thought the robbers had watched his routine for some time before Friday’s robbery.

After the store closes at 10 p.m., Grohel, 52, said, he and his brother Dhamji, 46, usually spend about 30 minutes stocking the shelves for the next day’s business. The robbers, two of them armed with automatic handguns, entered the store from a side door on Queen Anne Road as the Grohel brothers emerged at 10:35 p.m. on Friday, he said.

“As soon as we opened the door, they pushed the door and they came in,” Grohel said.

The Teaneck police report of the incident, filed by Patrolman Robert Croonquist, said Dhamji Grohel was hit on the head and face with a gun and that the men were taken to Holy Name Hospital for treatment.

SECAUCUS MAN, 22, HIT BY POLICE CAR IN HACKENSACK

By Michael O. Allen, Record Staff Writer | Sunday, October 7, 1990

The Record (New Jersey) | All Editions | NEWS | Page A08

A 22-year-old man suffered what hospital officials called multiple trauma after he was struck by a Hackensack police car as he crossed Essex Street in the city early Saturday.

Jaime Fajardo, who Hackensack police said is from Secaucus, was listed in good condition in the surgical intensive care unit of Hackensack Medical Center on Saturday.

The accident occurred about 1:10 a.m. at 370 Essex St., said Patrolman Dennis Parente of the Hackensack Police Department’s traffic division.

“A marked police vehicle was traveling west on Essex Street when, for no apparent reason, a pedestrian ran across the street into the path of the police vehicle, according to a number of witnesses,” Parente said.

Parente said police investigators have talked to six witnesses who supported police conclusions on what occurred.

He said he had been instructed nonetheless not to identify the officer who was driving the patrol car that hit Fajardo.

Parente said the accident report indicated the officer was driving 25 miles per hour when his car struck the pedestrian. The posted speed limit on that section of Essex Street is 30 miles per hour.

On Saturday afternoon, a patron at O’Neil’s Summit Bar & Grill said he was at the bar when the accident occurred, and that Fajardo had not been among the customers.

Cars were parked in front of O’Neil’s Bar, at 362 Essex St., and along the street at the time of the accident, said the man, who declined to identify himself. A few people were walking along Essex Street at the time, but the area wasn’t crowded, he said.

WRONG WAY ON RTE. 46

By Michael O. Allen, Record Staff Writer | Saturday, October 6, 1990

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

Later saying he had been fleeing an attacker, the driver of a pickup truck drove the wrong way on Route 46 in Little Ferry and struck a South Hackensack police car that was answering an emergency call, authorities said.

Matt Bialorucki of Passaic told police that he was driving along Main Street in Little Ferry on Thursday night when a man he knew jumped on the back of his truck, hitting the doors and windows several times with a chain.

While attempting to flee, he said, he made a wrong turn onto Route 46, driving his truck west in the eastbound lane.

The truck then collided with a cruiser driven by South Hackensack Patrolman Nicholas Ulliana.

The officer was treated at Hackensack Medical Center for a slight back sprain and released.

Bialorucki and his passenger, John Ohagen, were not injured.

Police said the two men later signed complaints of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon against Robert Jackson of 33 Aspen Place, Passaic.

Jackson had jumped off the truck before the crash and fled in another vehicle, police said.

No charges were filed by police against Bialorucki.

STABBED TEANECK YOUTH IS STILL LISTED AS CRITICAL

By Michael O. Allen and David Voreacos, Record Staff Writers | Friday, October 5, 1990

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

A township teenager who was stabbed near Teaneck High School on Wednesday remained in critical condition Thursday, while his alleged assailant was ordered held on $50,000 bail.

Christopher Rose, 18, was recovering from surgery to repair a thumb-size hole in his heart, but his vital signs were unstable, said a spokeswoman for Holy Name Hospital in Teaneck.

His alleged attacker, Kurt Crosdale, 18, of Hackensack was arraigned Thursday in Teaneck Municipal Court on charges of aggravated assault and assault with a deadly weapon. He was being held in the Bergen County Jail.

Teaneck police said Crosdale stabbed Rose about 3 p.m. because of a feud between the youths.

“It’s unclear whether the assailant came specifically looking for Rose,” said Teaneck Detective Sgt. William Oriol.

Dr. Mahmud Bangash, a cardiovascular surgeon at the hospital, said he repaired a hole in Rose’s heart left by the knife. Bangash said Rose’s heart stopped beating four times and had to be electrically stimulated.

“He’s not out of the danger yet, but every day of improvement will be in his favor,” said Bangash.

Oriol gave the following account: Rose and a friend were walking in the middle of Margaret Street toward the school when Crosdale drove by, saw Rose, and stopped. Crosdale was clutching a large knife when he emerged from the car and exchanged words with Rose. He then stabbed Rose in the chest.

Crosdale told police that he believed Rose was reaching for his rear pocket as if for a weapon, but police found none.

Crosdale told police that Rose had thrown him out of a party in Teaneck about two weeks ago, Oriol said.

The detective said Wednesday that Crosdale told him he had been stabbed in a fight in Englewood several weeks ago. Crosdale believed that one of Rose’s friends had committed the stabbing, Oriol said, adding that Englewood police have no record of the incident.

Although Wednesday’s incident was the latest in the rivalry among Teaneck, Hackensack, and Englewood youths, Oriol said it is unlikely the stabbing would spur more violence.

“I don’t think there is going to be any retaliation because we made an arrest right away,” Oriol said. “He’s in jail. There’s nobody to go after.”

Rose graduated from Teaneck High School in June, and Crosdale is a senior at Hackensack High School.

Caption: PHOTO – CHRISTOPHER ROSE, In 1990 yearbook photo

OAKLAND MAN KILLED AS FIRE ENGULFS HOME

By Michael O. Allen, Record Staff Writer | Friday, October 5, 1990

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

A predawn fire Thursday killed an Oakland man and destroyed a home he shared with a companion, who neighbors said was away on business.

Preliminary findings indicated the fire that killed John Casey, 59, and engulfed the house at 18 Mohawk Ave. was accidental, Bergen County Prosecutor John J. Fahy said.

Fahy said the fire apparently started in the first-floor living room of the 1 1/2-story house. Casey was found dead in the foyer near the front door, Fahy said.

“Our theory is that he fell asleep in a chair while smoking, and the chair caught fire,” Fahy said. “The whole living room of the house collapsed into the basement. We believe that he tried to get out of the house, but was overcome by smoke and collapsed.”

Fahy said neighbors reported the fire at about 5:34 a.m.

Ann Chiusano of 16 Mohawk Ave. said she woke to a loud popping sound and looked out and saw the fire next door. Chiusano said Ruth Natale, who owns the home, was in Florida and is due back Saturday.

Cornelius Klepper, whose home at 19 Mohawk Ave. is directly across the street, said he heard his dog barking.

“I looked out of my bedroom window, and I saw the flames shooting up 30, 40 feet in the air,” he said.

Klepper said he saw Casey on Monday when he came into the Oakland Wine and Liquor Store, which Klepper owns, and gave him the lottery numbers he wanted for Monday and Thursday.

“It was the last time I saw him,” Klepper said. “It’s a funny thing, because I didn’t even think he was home. I thought he was with her. I think Ruthie works for a travel agency, and she was gone quite a bit. See, John, he won’t fly. So if Ruthie flies, he won’t go.”

Caption: COLOR PHOTO – STEVE HOCKSTEIN / THE RECORD – Firefighters removing the body of John Casey, who died in a fire that destroyed a home on Mohawk Avenue in Oakland early Thursday morning. Neighbors said that the owner of the house was away on a business trip.