INMATE WHO TRIED SUICIDE HOSPITALIZED

By Michael O. Allen, Record Staff Writer | Sunday, April 26, 1992

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

A 34-year-old Elizabeth woman was under observation at Bergen Pines County Hospital on Saturday after an apparent suicide attempt at the Bergen County Jail Annex.

The woman, who was identified by Westwood police as Linda Ferchinger, tried to hang herself Monday night, said Nancy Feldman, director of the state Office of Inmate Advocacy.

Feldman said she did not know if Ferchinger was under a suicide watch at the time. An investigator will interview her Monday.

Sheriff Jack Terhune, who has declined to comment, said Saturday that Ferchinger was no longer the responsibility of his department because she had been released on $500 personal recognizance bail.

Bergen County Prosecutor John J. Fahy said Friday that his office had downgraded the theft charge against Ferchinger to a disorderly person offense and returned the case to the Municipal Court.

Terhune said authorities in Union and Sommerset counties want Ferchinger for violating probation and would be able to pick her up as soon as she is released from the hospital.

The suicide try was the second in two months by an inmate in the custody of the Bergen County Sheriff’s Department. Four inmates have committed suicide in the past year.

In March, George Kellam, a 25-year-old fugitive who surrendered to authorities, slashed his wrist in a holding cell at the Bergen County Courthouse. He had been waiting to be transferred to the jail.

The Queens man was stopped by sheriff’s officers and was taken to Bergen Pines. He was in the Bergen County Jail Annex on Friday awaiting sentencing on drug possession charges.

Westwood Lt. Robert Saul said Ferchinger was arrested April 17 and charged with stealing jewelry from a resident.

TWINS MAKE DEBUT ON ROAD; Mom Has Special Delivery

By Michael O. Allen, Record Staff Writer | Thursday, April 23, 1992

The Record (New Jersey) | All Editions | NEWS | B01

“Honey, I’m probably still going to be pregnant when you get home tonight,” Blanche Sabatini assured her husband Wednesday morning when he hesitated before going to work.

An hour after Alex Sabatini left, his wife began a ride she’ll never forget.

Twins Dana Marie and Alexander Jr. were born to Sabatini in an ambulance on the way to the Hackensack Medical Center.

“It was very exciting,” the 37-year-old Rutherford woman said several hours later. “It just feels great to hold them.”

It was quite a day for the ambulance crew, too. “Honestly, I can’t explain it. It’s just a very different and heartwarming experience,” said Ellie Cosley, captain of the Rutherford Ambulance Squad.

Sabatini said she had been worried because she had heard twins are often born early, and hers were four days overdue.

But mother and infants were in excellent condition after the unusual deliveries, said Dr. Shaul Yarkoni, director of the medical center’s obstetrics and gynecology unit.

Cosley said the ambulance squad responded to Sabatini’s call at about 8:30 a.m.

Dana Marie at 5 pounds, 5 ounces was born on Route 17 at 9:02 a.m., and Alexander Jr. at 7 pounds, 3 ounces arrived at 9:07 a.m. in the ambulance after it pulled into the emergency room parking lot.

Zach Weissman, a Hackensack Medical Center paramedic, delivered Dana Marie with help from Cosley and squad members Mary Melfa and Roseanne Mesisco.

Yarkoni met the ambulance at the hospital, where he delivered Alex with the aid of paramedic Eric Kudlack.

The Sabatinis, who have been married for 17 years, have two other children: Nicole, 10, and Vincent, 2.

Caption: COLOR PHOTO – Blanche Sabatini of Rutherford resting Wednesday at Hackensack Medical Center with her new twins Alexander Jr., left, and Dana Marie. Sabatini is flanked by paramedics Eric Kudlack, left, and Zach Weissman. In the back row, from left, were Ellie Cosley, Rutherford Ambulance Squad captain, and squad members Roseanne Mesisco and Mary Melfa. – LINDA CATAFFO / THE RECORD

TWO DRIVERS HOSPITALIZED AFTER COLLISION

By MICHAEL O. ALLEN | Thursday, April 23, 1992

The Record (New Jersey) | 5 Star | NEWS | B05

The drivers of two cars that collided head-on in Mahwah were hospitalized in stable condition Wednesday.

Edward Blust of Garrison Court, Mahwah, was being treated at Good Samaritan Hospital in Suffern, N.Y., and Robert Scotto, 36, of Brooklyn was at the University Hospital in Newark, spokesmen for the hospitals said.

Scotto’s car crossed the center lines on Route 202 at 5:35 p.m. Tuesday and crashed into Blust’s auto, according to a statement from Bergen County Prosecutor John J. Fahy.

Blust, 29, and Scotto suffered head injuries. Scotto also suffered severe leg injuries.
No summons was issued and the investigation was continuing.

3RD TEEN TIED TO SHOOTING; Joins Bergen Pair Arrested Last Week

By Michael O. Allen, Record Staff Writer | Wednesday, April 22, 1992

The Record (New Jersey) | 5 Star | NEWS | B03

A 17-year-old Closter boy on Tuesday became the third Bergen County youth charged in connection with last week’s robbery of a Queens doctor and the shooting of two of his patients, police said.

Hyun Kim of 82 Legion Place was the driver of the getaway car in the robbery, said New York City Police Sgt. Don Costello.

Kim, arrested on a complaint of excessive noise in Fort Lee on Sunday, was charged in a Queens courtroom on Tuesday with first-degree robbery and assault, Costello said. Further details on the Fort Lee incident could not be obtained Tuesday.

James Jhang, 17, of Englewood Cliffs was arrested a week ago across the street from the office of Dr. Moo Young Jun on Sanford Avenue in Queens, moments after he and Seung Kim, 16, of Closter went into the office pretending to be patients, then robbed the doctor, police said.

As the suspects were leaving, a retired police officer and his 20-year-old son were walking in. They crossed paths and the son, Steven Barberisi, was shot by Jhang in the stomach as he opened the office door, police said.

Robert Barberisi, who retired from the police force in 1989, then struggled with Jhang and was shot in the arm, police said. He bit Jhang in the arm, forcing him to drop the gun, which Barberisi picked up and fired, Hardiman said. Seung Kim was hit in the left shoulder and was arrested at the scene.

The third suspect, who was waiting in the car and who police now say is Hyun Kim, fled. Costello said the youths were being held Tuesday in the Queens House of Detention.

TWO MEN HELD IN ROBBERY OF JEWELER; Join 3rd Suspect in Bergen Jail

By Michael O. Allen, Record Staff Writer | Wednesday, April 22, 1992

The Record (New Jersey) | 5 Star | NEWS | B03

Two Newark men were being held in lieu of $50,000 bail each at Bergen County Jail on Tuesday in connection with the armed robbery of a Rutherford jewelry store in February, police said.

Alan Adams and Marvin Lowery are the second and third suspects arrested in the Feb. 7 robbery of Corbo Jewelers at 58 Park Ave., Police Lt. Steven Nienstedt said. A third suspect, Caasi Selby, was arrested a month ago and remained in the Bergen County Jail on Tuesday in lieu of $15,000 bail.

The three were among a group of seven who entered the jewelry store, ordered employees to the floor, smashed showcases with hammers, a sawed-off shotgun, and automatic handguns, and made off with $18,000 worth of jewelry, including rings, bracelets, and Rolex and Movado watches, Nienstedt said.

Nienstedt said his department is holding two more arrest warrants in the case.

In a series of raids that began about 11 p.m. Friday in Newark, Rutherford police worked with the Newark Police Department to execute search warrants at five residences.

Adams, 20, was arrested at his Schley Street apartment. He was charged with illegal possession of a weapon for an unlawful purpose, armed robbery, and conspiracy to commit armed robbery. Lowery, 28, of 226 Richelieu Terrace was arrested Sunday about 2:30 a.m. at the Harmon Cove Towers in Secaucus on armed robbery and conspiracy to commit armed robbery charges, Nienstedt said.

The investigation was continuing, he added.

HEROIN PROBE RESULTS IN 38 ARRESTS; Most Suspects are From Bergen or Passaic

By Michael O. Allen, Record Staff Writer | Wednesday, April 15, 1992

The Record (New Jersey) | 5 Star | NEWS | B01

A state police task force investigating heroin trafficking in North Jersey has arrested 38 people, most of them from Bergen and Passaic counties, and seized more than $600,000 worth of uncut heroin.

Law enforcement authorities used undercover drug purchases and surveillance to penetrate a ring of traffickers stretching from North Jersey through New York City to Yugoslavia, state Attorney General Robert Del Tufo said Tuesday.

Dubbed “Operation Big Apple” because the drugs came into the country through Kennedy International Airport, the investigation began a year ago and started bearing fruit with the Feb. 7 arrest of Nicholas Lore, also known as Aniello Moschillo. The Hasbrouck Heights resident was charged with cocaine possession.

Lore is suspected of being one of the network’s linchpins, authorities said.

Police seized five ounces of cocaine and $11,000 in that arrest.

The case broke open March 20 when agents executing search warrants at Xhemil Zhuta’s Elmwood Park residence seized 2 kilograms of heroin, a .38-caliber pistol loaded with hollow-point bullets, and about $2,000, officials said.

Arrested with Zhuta, the alleged leader of the network, were his wife, Qibaret, son, Mendi, and daughter, Teuta.

Arrested at other North Jersey locations that day were Saban Adili, 41, of Dallas; Esref Ismaili, 40, of Fairfield, Conn.; Esat Sulesjmanoski, 41, of Lincoln Park; and Bajram Ibrahimi, 56, of Paterson, who allegedly is the courier who brought the heroin from Yugoslavia to the United States.

Further arrests occurred later in March and in early April.

In all, 38 people were charged, including 32 from Bergen and Passaic counties.

Authorities said the Cambridge Club Tavern in Garfield was the principal distribution point of heroin and cocaine in the Garfield-Lodi area.

Zimbret Mahmudi, a 28-year-old Garfield resident who authorities say is the owner of the club, was among those arrested.

He is being held at the Bergen County Jail in lieu of $500,000 bail.

The elder Zhuta and his wife were being held in the jail in lieu of $500,000 and $250,000 bail, respectively.

The investigation is continuing and authorities expect to make more arrests, said Col. Justin J. Dintino, state police superintendent.

POLICE ISSUE HIGH-RISE CRIME WARNING

By Michael O. Allen, Record Staff Writer |Wednesday, April 15, 1992

The Record (New Jersey) | 5 Star | NEWS | B01

Following a rash of cat burglaries over the past two months, police have issued a second warning to managers and residents of Hackensack’s mid- and high-rise apartment buildings.

On six evenings between Jan. 30 and March 30, cat burglars entered 30 apartments by popping open sliding doors on terraces and patios and stole jewelry and cash, Police Chief William Iurato said Tuesday.

Similar burglaries have been reported by nearby communities, including Fort Lee, Cliffside Park, Edgewater, and North Bergen, Iurato said.

The chief said a loose-knit group of burglars appears to be at work. They strike at dusk, climbing onto roofs and jumping from balcony to balcony, entering several apartments in a building, he said.

On Jan. 30 and 31, Feb. 20, 25, and 28, and March 30, apartment buildings on Prospect, Clinton, and Euclid avenues and Anderson Street were entered.

Tenants at Quail Heights II, a mid-rise apartment building on Prospect Avenue, reported that burglars, working their way from the roof, broke into at least four apartments on the night of Feb. 20. As in the other burglaries, no injuries were reported.

Residents returning home realized something was amiss when they found their doors chain-locked from the inside, tenants said.

Police first sent letters to the tenants and managers of the apartments on Feb. 26.

In Cliffside Park, 12 apartments have been entered during the same period, Police Chief Daniel Derito said. The burglars seem to have no fear of climbing onto roofs and can jump from balcony to balcony, Derito said.

Residents of high- or mid-rise apartments with balconies should put objects in the tracks of the sliding doors to make break-ins more difficult, he advised.

In Edgewater, a couple of burglaries fitting the Hackensack pattern have been reported, Police Capt. David Hanna said. Fort Lee Police John Orso also acknowledged a few burglaries.

FAMILY ID’S SON’S BODY, THEN LEARNS HE’S ALIVE

By Michael O. Allen, Record Staff Writer | Sunday, April 12, 1992

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

Members of John Howe’s family thought he had died in a train accident Thursday night. On Friday, they found out he hadn’t.

His boss, his brother, and his parents on Friday identified a body taken to the Rockland County, N.Y., morgue as that of Howe, Suffern Village Police Chief Leo Costa said Saturday.

“Each one positively said that it was him,” Costa said. “No doubt about it.”

But then Howe, 22, was later spotted walking along a Spring Valley, N.Y., street with his girlfriend.

The body in the morgue was subsequently identified as that of Charles Horton, 24, of Wayne Avenue, Suffern. He was struck and killed near Suffern by an NJ Transit train Thursday night. Police said no identification was found on the body.

Dr. Frederick Zugibe, Rockland County chief medical examiner, said Saturday that Howe’s mother, father, and brother came to the morgue in Pomona five hours after the body was discovered and identified it as Howe’s. They were called shortly after Howe’s boss was summoned to the morgue and made the initial identification.

In a followup investigation to determine Howe’s whereabouts before the accident, police tracked down his girlfriend and found the two in Spring Valley.

Police did not identify Howe’s relatives, boss, or girlfriend.

Costa said the two men bore a strong facial resemblance. Authorities were able to identify Horton through his fingerprints.

A woman described by Costa as Horton’s common-law wife had called police to ask if they knew where he was.

MOTHER JAILED ON DRUG, ENDANGERMENT CHARGES

By Michael O. Allen, Record Staff Writer | Thursday, April 9, 1992

The Record (New Jersey) | 5 Star | NEWS | B03

A 29-year-old woman has been jailed on charges that she ran a crack house and endangered her 9-year-old daughter’s welfare, police said.

Bretna Roberts, who was being held in the Bergen County Jail on Wednesday on $27,000 bail, was arrested at her 460 Orchard St. home Sunday by officers responding to an anonymous tip, said Police Capt. C. Kenneth Tinsley.

Officer Timothy Torell, assisted by Detective Ernest Cunningham and Lt. John Delarosa, discovered when he arrived at the house that Roberts was also wanted on an outstanding warrant for failure to appear in Englewood Municipal Court on Jan. 29.

After a crack vial, a crack pipe, and a butane lighter fell out of Roberts pants pocket as she dressed to follow the officers, they searched the house and found several vials containing what police suspect to be crack. Some of the substances in the vials are suspected of being soap or some other form of imitation crack, police said.

They also found a plastic bag with a white, powdery substance that they suspect is cocaine; a jar and spoon used to cook cocaine powder until it crystallizes into rock cocaine, and marijuana cigarettes.

Tinsley said the materials were sent to the state police laboratory for testing.

Roberts also is charged with possession of drugs with intent to distribute within 1,000 feet of the Cleveland Elementary School.

In an incident on the same street five hours later, a motorist fired two shots into the front window of a house. Police said the two incidents may be related and are investigating.

BLEAK ASSESSMENT OF WAR ON DRUGS; Torricelli Issues Report

By Michael O. Allen, Record Staff Writer | Sunday, April 5, 1992

The Record (New Jersey) | All Editions | NEWS | A34

Although winnable, the war on drugs is now being lost, at least on the international front.

That was the conclusion of Rep. Robert G. Torricelli, D-Englewood, in a status report he gave to Bergen County law enforcement officials in Hackensack on Friday. In a 30-minute briefing that had little good news, he offered a bleak assessment of the struggle.

“The battle against the growers is largely lost,” said Torricelli, chairman of the House Foreign Affairs subcommittee on Western Hemisphere affairs. “While we’ve dramatically increased federal spending, the actual coca production rate has increased 400 percent.”

The U.S. government has spent almost $12 billion since 1982 to fight drugs, he said.

However, much of that ended up in the pockets of narcotics traffickers, who then used the money to buy protection from Andean nations law enforcement agencies charged with halting their illegal trade, Torricelli added.

He called for a renewed effort against drugs on the home front, in “our families, schools, and communities, and not in the jungle of Peru.”

“We’ve lost battles, but there is no reason not win the war,” he said.

Fort Lee Police Chief John Orso, one of about 70 police chiefs, narcotics officers, and county officials present, cited the success of the Drug Abuse Resistance Education program in the borough’s public schools. He said that effort should be intensified as a way to cut down on the demand for drugs.

Paramus Police Chief Joseph Delaney recalled testifying before a U.S. Senate committee in 1975, when the war on drugs was focused on the heroin trade in Turkey. The problem then, as now, was that communities and local law enforcement agencies were starved of resources to wage a credible war.

Echoing the sentiment of many in the audience, Delaney asked Torricelli what he had to offer them in terms of additional resources.

A crime bill passed recently by the House of Representatives and now being considered by the Senate contains $3 billion for local programs, Torricelli said. However, he said, it contains a provision calling for a seven-day waiting period to purchase guns.

President Bush has promised to veto legislation containing gun-control measures, he said.

Englewood Police Capt. C. Kenneth Tinsley asked Torricelli about incentives to encourage law enforcement officers and other public employees to live in the communities in which they work. City neighborhoods could be stabilized by the presence of these officers, he said.

One of the reasons many give for not living in the community is the high cost of housing, Tinsley added. Bergen County Executive William “Pat” Schuber answered that the county Housing Authority is considering a proposal to aid public employees, especially law enforcement workers, with low-interest loans and mortgages.

Caption: PHOTO – Rep. Robert G. Torricelli, D-Englewood, speaking Friday in Hackensack at a briefing on the war on drugs. AL PAGLIONE / THE RECORD –