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MEETING TACKLES TEENAGE DRINKING; GAP IN STATE LAW AROUSES CONCERN

By michael o. allenHomepage, The RecordNo Comments

By Michael O. Allen, Record Staff Writer | Wednesday, October 9, 1991

The Record (New Jersey) | 6 Star | NEWS | Page B01

Who is responsible when Johnny throws a keg party for a few of his teenage friends after Mom and Dad leave for the weekend?
That gap in state law which prohibits teenagers from drinking in most places but does not address who would be responsible when they drink on private property was the major topic of a meeting in Hasbrouck Heights on Tuesday.
“This is an important issue for all of us,” Bergen County Executive William “Pat” Schuber said in his opening address to a breakfast meeting of more than 270 people, including legislators and police officers who deal with juveniles.
“On the issue of host liability and teenage drinking, there cannot be any greater priority for government and our leaders than saving a generation,” Schuber said.
Tuesday’s program at the Sheraton Heights Hotel was organized by the Bergen County Council on Alcoholism and Drug Abuse.
County Prosecutor John J. Fahy, the keynote speaker, said the program was not arranged to deal with issues raised by the death of Coleen Draney, a Fair Lawn teenager who died of heart failure at a New Year’s Eve party where there had been drinking.
But, he said, her death helped focus people’s attention on the issue of teenage drinking.
“The consequences are so serious, because young people can die, if the problem is not addressed,” Fahy said.
He raised the point of the ambiguities in the law concerning private property, saying it sends mixed messages to youths and their parents.
Also, he said, youths are constantly bombarded with messages in advertisements that they can enjoy themselves only if they drink.
“The message is not subtle: To be a better lover, you have to drink scotch; to be a better skier, you have to drink beer; to sit at a table with a beautiful woman, you have to drink wine,” Fahy said.
The law states clearly that no one under the age of 21 is allowed to consume alcohol except in a religious ceremony or with the permission of a parent or guardian.
So some parents allow alcohol to be used as a rite of passage, or allow prom-bound teens to drink at home as a way to prevent them from drinking in public, Fahy said.
“I find that to be complete insanity,” Fahy said.
“Those parents, perhaps, are well-intentioned, but . . . the message that we have to send out is that teenage drinking is not going to be tolerated.”
The Bergen County Juvenile Officers Association has developed a model amendment to the state law that would specifically include private property among the places where youths cannot drink.
Cresskill police Detective Sgt. William Macchio, a member of the association, said tougher and clearer laws are needed all over Bergen County.
Cresskill, for instance, has an ordinance that closes the loophole in the state law, and has effectively cut down on teenage parties, he said. But it is unclear whether youths move their parties to surrounding towns.

Keywords: HASBROUCK HEIGHTS; MEETING; YOUTH; ALCOHOL; VIOLATION

October 9, 1991

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N.J. BRIDGING RIFT WITH MUSLIMS

By michael o. allenHomepage, The RecordNo Comments

By Michael O. Allen, Record Staff Writer | Monday, October 7, 1991

The Record (New Jersey) | All Editions | NEWS | Page A05

A faux pas by state Attorney General Robert J. Del Tufo for which he has since apologized is serving to bridge a perceived chasm between the Department of Law and Public Safety and the state’s Muslim communities.
A further step in the healing process which follows published remarks by Del Tufo warning of possible terrorism by Muslims in New Jersey during the Persian Gulf war was a meeting Sunday afternoon at the Dar-Ul-Islah Mosque in Teaneck.
Assistant Attorney General James F. Mulvihill met with about 200 worshipers at the mosque to explain state standards for investigating bias incidents.
Del Tufo appointed Mulvihill as liaison between his office and Muslims following a meeting in August with a seven-member Muslim delegation to discuss his remarks. Mulvihill was accompanied by Bergen County Prosecutor John J. Fahy, who also addressed the audience, which included Teaneck Mayor Eleanor M. Kieliszek.
Mulvihill told his audience that the laws and procedure for reporting bias crimes are in place, but that a Muslim who is a victim of a bias attack must report the incident to police so it can be “thoroughly and promptly investigated.”
Mulvihill said that of 824 bias crimes reported to the state police in 1990, six including two at the Dar-Ul-Islah Mosque were directed at Muslims.
“What we have to do in government is to send a loud and clear message that hate crime is not going to be tolerated,” Mulvihill said.
He urged his listeners to get involved in countywide community-relations boards so they could educate the public about their lives and culture.
He also urged them to apply to join police forces and to run for seats on boards of education and other public bodies, noting that that is how most immigrant groups in this country managed to have their voices heard.
Waheed Khalid, a member of the executive committee of the Dar-Ul-Islah Mosque, served as moderator during the meeting, which also included a question-and-answer session. Much of the ill will from Del Tufo’s remarks has dissipated because of the meeting in August and steps he has since taken to reach out to Muslims, Khalid said.
Muslims face the challenge of going out and educating the public about their religion and way of life, Khalid said.

Keywords: GOVERNMENT; NEW JERSEY; ATTORNEY; TERRORISM; MOSLEM; PERSIAN GULF WAR; TEANECK

October 7, 1991

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MEDIA UNFAIR, TEAMSTERS LOCAL SAYS

By michael o. allenHomepage, The RecordNo Comments

By MICHAEL O. ALLEN | Sunday, October 6, 1991

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

Members of Teamsters Local 560 marched to the state’s largest media outlets Saturday to protest what they called unfair news coverage of the union’s battle with government to elect its own leaders.
Starting with a rally in front of the local’s office in Union City, about 100 members came to The Record, then went to WWOR-TV in Secaucus. Newark police could not confirm whether the members went to The Star-Ledger in Newark, as they had announced they would.
When Local 560 filed a petition in U.S. District Court in Newark three weeks ago to end the six-year trusteeship of the union, “the news media gave minimal coverage,” said Bob Marra, secretary-treasurer of the local. “When the government filed their return brief . . . all the news media, including The Record, gave it front-page coverage.”
The government opposed the appointment of former President Michael Sciarra as business agent. In January, a federal judge banned him from positions of influence, ruling that the Genovese crime family was trying to resume control of the Teamsters through him. Sciarra is appealing the decision.

Keywords: HACKENSACK; MEDIA; UNION; GOVERNMENT; ELECTION; NEWSPAPER; DEMONSTRATION; UNION CITY; THE RECORD; SECAUCUS

October 6, 1991

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ROBBERS KILL N.J. SHOPPER; TENAFLY MAN INTERVENED

By michael o. allenHomepage, The RecordNo Comments

By Michael O. Allen, Record Staff Writer | Saturday, October 5, 1991

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

A 24-year-old Tenafly man who walked in on an armed robbery at a New York City clothing store and intervened was shot and killed by one of the robbers, police said Friday.
Benjamin Peisch of 91 Oak St. died at the scene on Thursday, 34th Precinct Detective Matthew Fallon said.
“He had an altercation with one of the people committing the robbery. They hit him a couple of times, then shot him,” Fallon said.
Peisch was shot once in the chest as he struggled with one of three men during the robbery, which occurred about 6:25 p.m. in the basement of Daisy Bariete Store, a unisex clothing store at 568 W. 171 St., Fallon said.
Peisch was an innocent bystander who “seemed to have walked into an apparent robbery in the store” and decided to get involved, Fallon said, adding that police were looking on Friday for witnesses.
No one else was injured, and the men escaped with an amount of money police would not disclose.
Peisch is believed to have been a 1986 graduate of Tenafly High School.
Sgt. Norris Hollmon, a police spokesman, said police used identification in Peisch’s wallet to trace him to Tenafly late Thursday. Tenafly Police Chief Allen Layne said he was called by New York police about the death at 10:19 p.m., and that his officers notified the family. Hollmon said the family identified Peisch’s body later that night.
A man reached at the family residence on Friday declined to comment.

Keywords: TENAFLY; ROBBERY; NEW YORK CITY; SHOOTING; MURDER; CLOTHING; STORE

October 5, 1991

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SUSPECTED KIDNAPPER IS SHOT; WAVED DYNAMITE AT MARSHALS

By michael o. allenHomepage, The RecordNo Comments

By Michael O. Allen, Record Staff Writer | Thursday, October 3, 1991

The Record (New Jersey) | 1 Star | NEWS | Page B01

A 50-year-old man wanted for masterminding the kidnapping of a Union County businessman for ransom two years ago was shot and wounded by one of two U.S. marshals in North Bergen as he waved a stick of dynamite at them, authorities said.
Julio Sosa Rodriguez of Jersey City was holding a lighter to the dynamite, threatening to ignite it, and refusing the agents commands to drop it, said Arthur Borinsky, U.S. marshal for New Jersey.
The shooting occurred about 10:40 p.m. Tuesday at the corner of 14th Street and Paterson Plank Road, said township police Lt. Timothy Kelly.
The marshals learned that Sosa was going to be in the area and, accompanied by local authorities, approached a van where they suspected he was hiding, said Bill Licatovich, a public affairs specialist with the U.S. Marshals Service in Washington.
When they told Sosa to come out, he emerged holding the dynamite, authorities said.
Sosa, who was shot in the upper torso, was in custody at the Jersey City Medical Center on Wednesday. A hospital spokesman said he was in stable condition.
He was wanted on a Sept. 7, 1989, complaint of kidnapping and illegal possession of firearms, said Union County First Assistant Prosecutor Michael Lapolla.
On Sosa’s order, Nydia Gonzalez Melendez and Hese Ayala, also known as Johnnie Ayala, kidnapped George Sanchez of Elizabeth in Union City on Sept. 1, 1989, Lapolla said.
Sanchez had a business in Union City, Lapolla said.
Sosa was in phone contact with the two men as they tried to get Sanchez’s wife to pay a $100,000 ransom.
The call to Sanchez’s wife, made by Gonzalez, was traced to a pay phone in Hoboken, and he was arrested there.
“When [Gonzalez] didn’t return,” Lapolla said, “the victim convinced Ayala that he had taken off with the ransom money, and he persuaded Ayala to take him home, that he would give him money.”
Ayala was arrested when he got to Sanchez’s home.
Both men pleaded guilty and are serving prison terms on kidnapping charges.
Sosa, however, was not seen again until Tuesday.

Keywords: KIDNAPPING; SHOOTING; NORTH BERGEN; POLICE; BOMB

October 3, 1991

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TEANECK ROBBERY SUSPECT HAD BEEN ON PAROLE 3 DAYS

By michael o. allenHomepage, The RecordNo Comments

By Michael O. Allen, Record Staff Writer | Thursday, October 3, 1991

The Record (New Jersey) | 6 Star | NEWS | Page B03

A Jersey City man who robbed a Teaneck savings and loan twice in a two-month period committed the first crime three days after he had been paroled for robbing another bank, authorities said.
Alfred N. Ferguson, 34, was charged Wednesday in U.S. District Court in Newark with one count of robbery, Assistant U.S. Attorney Tom Brown said. On Tuesday he jumped over the counter at Oritani Savings and Loan at 560 Cedar Lane and took about $5,000 from tellers drawers, police said.
Ferguson, being held without bail in the Union County Jail in Elizabeth, also is expected to be charged with the Aug. 1 robbery of the savings and loan, in which $10,000 was taken, and with the July 31 attempted robbery of the United Jersey Bank branch at 21 Park Place in Englewood, authorities said.
After his capture following the robbery Tuesday, Ferguson confessed to the two robberies of the savings and loan and to the attempted robbery at the Englewood bank, in which his note demanding money was refused, police said.
That attempt occurred two days after Ferguson was released from the Albert C. Wagner Youth Correctional Institution in Bordentown. He had been paroled after serving three years of an eight-year term for robbing a Jersey City bank in 1988, a spokeswoman for the New Jersey Corrections Department said.
Teaneck Police Detective Lt. Warren White said Ferguson walked into Oritani Savings and Loan about 2:25 p.m. Tuesday and vaulted over the bank counter including a transparent, protective barrier that was installed after he allegedly robbed the bank in the same manner two months earlier.
Sweeping past two tellers, both of whom were on hand for the first robbery, Ferguson reached into their cash drawers and took about $5,000 before running out the door, police said.
A customer in the bank ran after Ferguson as he dashed across Cedar Lane. The customer, who got into his car and drove after the suspect, saw him jump into his car and drive away. He gave upthe chase when police pulled behind Ferguson and arrested him a short time later. The customer is expected to testify as a witness.
The FBI, which had been investigating because bank robbery is a federal offense, questioned Ferguson late Tuesday and charged him under federal statutes. Also instrumental in the investigation, said FBI spokesman William Tonkin, were the Bergen County Prosecutor’s Office and the Bergen County Sheriff’s Department.

Keywords: TEANECK; BANK; ROBBERY

October 3, 1991

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BANK HEIST A REPEAT PERFORMANCE; THIS TIME, CRIME DOESN’T PAY

By michael o. allenHomepage, The RecordNo Comments

By Michael O. Allen, Record Staff Writer | Wednesday, October 2, 1991

The Record (New Jersey) | 6 Star | NEWS | Page B01

Two months to the day after he jumped over a bank counter in Teaneck and stole about $10,000, police say, Alfred N. Ferguson returned Tuesday afternoon and repeated the routine, getting about $5,000.
This time, however, Ferguson was captured when employees at the Oritani Savings & Loan Association at 560 Cedar Lane telephoned police. A patrol car pulled over the suspect’s car about a mile away.
Ferguson, 34, of Jersey City, gave police a lengthy statement admitting both robberies, said Lt. Warren White, head of the Teaneck Detective Bureau. The FBI questioned the suspect, who will be charged under federal statutes.
Police said Ferguson entered the bank at about 2:20 p.m. Tuesday, startling the two tellers and one customer as he vaulted over the counter. Those same two tellers had been working behind the counter on Aug. 1, when the first robbery occurred.
That day, at about 11:15 a.m., Ferguson wearing a dark baseball cap and sunglasses and displaying a small revolver allegedly jumped over the counter and announced, “Yo, yo, this is a robbery! Stand back so no one gets hurt! ” About $10,000 was stolen.
He did not have a gun Tuesday, said Capt. Gary Fiedler, but he was wearing a red hooded sweatshirt, a baseball cap, and a blue bandana, Fiedler said.
Without saying a word, Ferguson allegedly proceeded to take wads of cash from the teller drawers before leaping back over the counter and fleeing.
Detective Sgt. Robert Adomilli and Detective Francis McCall were in an unmarked patrol car around Windsor and Beverly roads when they heard a broadcast of the robbery and a description of the suspect.
The detectives then saw the suspect’s black 1984 Buick leaving a parking spot about a 1 1/2 blocks ahead on Beverly Road, Adomilli said. The driver went west, turning north on River Road.
Adomilli said that as the car moved along at 10 mph, the two lawmen pulled up behind and then alongside it only to hear Ferguson yell: “What, am I speeding? ”
“We answered back, `Yes, you are speeding.”
With weapon drawn, McCall approached the suspect after he pulled his car to a stop. The detective then instructed him to place his hands on the wheel.
“He did everything we asked him to do,” McCall said.
Tuesday’s robbery was the fifth in Bergen County since Aug. 1. On Labor Day weekend, there was a break-in at an Urban National Bank branch in Franklin Lakes. The safe-deposit vault was looted in that instance.

Keywords: TEANECK; BANK; ROBBERY

October 2, 1991

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RESCUE TRAINING AT DEADLY POND TO SAVE LIVES, NOT FIND BODIES

By michael o. allenHomepage, The RecordNo Comments

By Michael O. Allen, Record Staff Writer | Sunday, September 29, 1991

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

Kingsley Pond, with its shimmering brownish-green surface, has been the site of many drownings in past years. Saturday, it was the site of rescue training for the Oakland Fire Department scuba team.
Joe Bogonian, the team’s coordinator-dive master and a member of Oakland’s first dive team, said the emphasis since the group was formed 21 years ago had been on recovering bodies and objects.
“We weren’t so much thinking about rescuing people,” Bogonian said.
But, as Oakland Fire Chief Roy Bauberger said Saturday, new methods of reviving near-drowning victims have since been developed.
On Saturday, the procedures were being taught by Lifeguard Systems, a training group, to Oakland’s 10-member scuba team, plus 10 divers from the Bergen County Police Department and the Pompton Lakes, Lyndhurst, and Wallington fire departments. Butch Hendrick, president of the Hurley, N.Y., group, said it teaches tactical water operations to military, police, fire, and emergency medical service workers.
Oakland has several bodies of water including Potash Lake, where two men drowned last year, and Kingsley Pond, where a 17-year-old drowned four years ago.
Matt Gallup, an Oakland firefighter and a member of the first aid squad, said he was startled at first when he came face to face with a bass on his first dive Saturday. He was supposed to rescue a baby-size mannequin in the training.
“It looks pretty easy, jumping in the water and just swimming,” Gallup said. “But you take a pretty good beating down there.”
A diver may have to go around many objects tree limbs, refrigerators, automobile parts, and other debris to reach the victim.
The problem with most dive teams, Hendrick said, is that they are sport oriented and not prepared to retrieve a body or objects in black or difficult waters.
The weekend’s training the first leg was at the man-made Kingsley Pond three weeks ago concludes there today.

Keywords: RESCUE; FIREMAN; LAKE; OAKLAND; SWIMMING; ACCIDENT; DEATH; VICTIM

Caption: 1 – PHOTO – ROBERT S. TOWNSEND / THE RECORD – Above, rescue personnel participating in training exercises from the banks of Kingsley Pond on Saturday. 2 – PHOTO – ROBERT S. TOWNSEND / THE RECORD – Below, Robert Ventura, left, and Tony Galka of the Wallington Fire Department practicing procedures as a dive team one man stands by just offshore to aid the diver.

September 29, 1991

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FATHER CHARGED WITH KILLING INFANT; ACCUSED OF BEATING BOY

By michael o. allenHomepage, The RecordNo Comments

By Michael O. Allen, Record Staff Writer | Sunday, September 29, 1991

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

A 24-year-old Cliffside Park man has been charged with beating his 11-month-old son to death, Bergen County Prosecutor John J. Fahy said Saturday.
Paul Yarwood Jr. was arrested at 11:59 p.m. Friday after autopsy results showed that his son, Paul Courtney Yarwood, died from a subdural hematoma bleeding in the head that Fahy said was caused by repeated blows.
“The baby had bruises in the forehead, near the eyebrow, buttocks, and thighs, and on the left and right arms,” Fahy said. “We believe the assault happened on a number of occasions between Tuesday night and Thursday afternoon, when he [Yarwood] called 911. ”
Yarwood took the infant from his mother, 20-year-old Allandra McCray of the Bronx, about 9 p.m. Tuesday.
“The baby was going to stay with him for a few days,” Fahy said. At 2:30 p.m. Thursday, Yarwood called 911 for an ambulance to take the infant to a hospital, Fahy said.
The boy died two hours and 15 minutes later in the emergency room of Palisades General Hospital in North Bergen, he said.
Yarwood, who could face up to 30 years in prison if convicted on the murder count, was being held on $500,000 bail in the Bergen County Jail on Saturday. Fahy said McCray, a clerk at a New York law firm, was not implicated in her son’s death.
Yarwood moved to his Cliffside Park apartment about a week ago, Fahy said. Before then, he had lived for four years in the Bronx, then for four months in Manhattan.
Yarwood did odd jobs at Funky Base Productions, a recording company at 12 Mevan Drive, Englewood, including serving as a backup singer on recordings, a disc jockey, and, sometimes, a bouncer, Fahy said.
Rob Base, owner of the company, said Yarwood also performs with a rap band that Base formed four years ago. The group performs worldwide, he said.
“I know he didn’t do it not him, man,” Base said. “That’s why I’m still in shock now. I just can’t believe it.”
Base said the group was working to raise bail and hire a lawyer for Yarwood.

Keywords: ASSAULT; CLIFFSIDE PARK; CHILD; BABY

September 29, 1991

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WIFE OF FORMER OFFICIAL IS FOUND DEAD

By michael o. allenHomepage, The RecordNo Comments

By Michael O. Allen, Record Staff Writer | Thursday, September 26, 1991

The Record (New Jersey) | 6 Star | NEWS | Page B03

Josephine Irene Mary Schmid, wife of former Teaneck Township Manager Werner Schmid, has died in an incident police are investigating, officials said.
Josephine Schmid, 60, died Monday of multiple fractures, internal injuries, and hemorrhaging after she tumbled from a bridge on the New Jersey Turnpike’s western spur in Kearny, Pat Raviola, a Hudson County assistant prosecutor, said Wednesday.
Police did not know what happened. State Trooper Nick Cagnole found what appeared to be an abandoned car along the turnpike. He found Schmid’s body on a dirt road under the spur, adjacent to the Conrail tracks, police said.
Schmid was pronounced dead at the scene, and her husband identified her body, Raviola said.
Werner Schmid retired as township manager in July 1988 after 33 years in office. He could not be reached Wednesday.
Frank Hall, a Teaneck councilman and former mayor, expressed regret at the death. Werner Schmid is a private man who shielded his family from his public life, Hall said in declining to comment further.
Acting Township Manager Gary A. Saage called Werner Schmid the most honest public official he knew in the 25 years he worked with him, but declined to comment further.

Keywords: TEANECK; OFFICIAL; MARRIAGE; WOMAN; DEATH; PROBE

September 26, 1991

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