SHOPLIFTING SUSPECT IN MINK; TOOK 3 SLIPPERS, DUSTER, POLICE SAY

By Michael O. Allen, Record Staff Writer | Thursday, February 14, 1991

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

Emerson police called in the Bergen County Police Department canine unit Wednesday to catch a 64-year-old New York State woman who stole three slippers and a house coat from a clothing store and eluded police and the store owner, authorities said.
Robert Malto, the 67-year-old owner of Wendy Drew Inc., a women’s clothing store at 368 Kinderkamack Road, said Garfinkel came in shortly before noon, wearing a full-length mink coat.
“As she left the store, my wife called my attention to the fact that a duster a house coat was hanging beneath the mink,” Malto said. “You couldn’t miss it. She left the store quickly and walked at a very fast pace across the parking lot. “
Malto said he thought Garfinkel was going to her car, and he and a store manager chased after her.
“She turned around and shouted, `Why are you following me? Why are you after me? ” Malto said.
Garfinkel ran behind the department store, dropped three slippers, and ran through the woods onto Kinderkamack Road, then Highland Avenue, with Malto and the store manager in pursuit, Malto said.
“Just as police came, she disappeared from our view,” he said.
Police saw her on Kinderkamack, then on Highland Avenue and Orchard Street, before losing her in the back yards, a police spokesman said.
County Police Officer Robert DiPalma and his dog, Connie, caught Garfinkel hiding behind the bushes about 30 minutes after the chase began.

Keywords: EMERSON; STORE; WOMAN; SHOPLIFTING

MAN ACCUSED OF MAKING THREATS

MICHAEL O. ALLEN | Thursday, February 14, 1991

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

Police charged a 33-year-old Carlstadt man with making terroristic threats after taking a butcher knife away from him and arresting him Tuesday at the home of a Center Avenue resident.
Fhahram Zarrabi of 612 Division Ave. threatened to kill two borough residents because they owed him $18,000 for work he did for them, said Fort Lee Police Chief John Orso. After his arrest, Zarrabi was released on $500 bail.

Keywords: FORT LEE; ASSAULT; WEAPON

GLEN ROCK MAN CHARGED IN GAS STATION HOLDUP

MICHAEL O. ALLEN | Thursday, February 14, 1991

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

A 27-year-old Glen Rock man who robbed a gas station attendant at gunpoint Tuesday night was arrested 45 minutes later in Paramus, police said.
Roberto Perez of 132 Gaynor Place was charged with armed robbery and was being held in the Bergen County Jail Wednesday on $20,000 bail.
The incident began about 9 p.m. Tuesday, when Perez pulled his van up to a pump at the Route 4 Exxon gas station in Englewood. Englewood Detective Capt. C. Kenneth Tinsley said the gas station attendant told police that when he approached the van, he saw Perez point a paper bag, with what appeared to be the barrel of a pistol poking out, at him.
“Don’t run. Give me all the money you have or I’ll blow your head off,” Perez told the attendant, according to Tinsley.
The attendant gave Perez about $200, and he drove east on Route 4. Englewood police sent descriptions of the suspect over police radio, Tinsley said.
A Paramus police officer arrested Perez as he traveled west on Route 4, at the Forest Avenue exit. Police recovered $66 of the stolen money but did not find a gun, Tinsley said.

Keywords: ENGLEWOOD; GARAGE; ROBBERY

KIDS EXCITED BY DRUG LESSONS PARAMUS PROGRAM DRAWS ENTHUSIASM

By Michael O. Allen, Record Staff Writer | Wednesday, February 13, 1991

The Record (New Jersey) | Four Star B | NORTH CENTRAL BERGEN/YOUR TOWN RECORD | Page 1

To fifth-graders at the Paramus public schools, the Police Department’s DARE program urging children to stay away from drugs is a hit.
And to Paramus Police Detective Kevin Smith and Patrolman Bill Nutland, who are coordinating the 18-week pilot Drug Abuse Resistance Education program at Eastbrook and Westbrook middle schools, the students enthusiasm has been infectious.
The excitement was evident at DARE flag-raising ceremonies at the two schools. A rousing ovation, punctuated with “woof, woof, woof,” a la Arsenio Hall’s “dog pound,” greeted Nutland and Smith when they spoke before 115 10- and 11-year-olds and their teachers gathered at the gymnasium of the Westbrook School last week.
The officers were treated to a similar reception several weeks earlier at the Eastbrook School.
Both times the children had gathered to hoist the DARE flag and recite the pledge to say no to drugs. Rainy weather moved last week’s ceremony indoors. The change did not discourage the children, however. They remained as rambunctious as ever.
“What are you going to say when someone comes to you on the street and says, `Hey kid, you want to try some drugs? ” Nutland asked.
“No!” came the deafening reply, their voices bouncing off the walls of the gymnasium.
“Do you really mean it?” asked Nutland, like a preacher warming to the task.
“Yes!” echoed the chorus.
The DARE flag black with DARE in red letters and the credo, “To Keep Kids off Drugs,” in white is to remind visitors to the school that DARE is there, working everyday of the year, Nutland told the students.
The message seems to be sinking in. The children excitedly talked about what they are learning and how they feel about Nutland, Smith, and the other officers from the Police Department who come and help out.
Westbrook School’s Sumon Nandy, 10, said he learned that drugs are bad for him and could kill him. Jennifer Ward, 10, of the Eastbrook School said all the children were always excited to have “Kevin” Detective Smith around.
The officers go to the schools Nutland at Westbrook and Smith at Eastbrook three times each week. They play softball and football with the children and teach the DARE curriculum, which Eastbrook Principal Barbara Hyde said focuses on self-esteem and drug-related education.
Hyde said the school district and the Police Department chose the fifth grade to start the pilot program because it is a critical age to try to reach the children: They are under less parental supervision; they are sometimes with older students; and they are exposed to bad influences from the television and other media.
“There are more chances for them to make wrong decisions,” Hyde said. “There’s no guarantee that this is going to turn the world around, but a lot of things haven’t worked and this is a really positive program.”

Keywords: PARAMUS; DRUG; ABUSE; STUDENT; CHILD; SCHOOL; POLICE

Caption: COLOR PHOTO – ED HILL / THE RECORD – Fifth-graders standing with policemen who taught them how to avoid drugs. From left, Keith Smollin, Detective Kevin Smith, Laura Hofsommer, Patrolman Bill Nutland, and T.J. Cullen.

VICTIMS HOPE TO CLAIM STOLEN GOODS AT `BAZAAR’

By Michael O. Allen, Record Staff Writer | Thursday, February 7, 1991

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

More than 200 North Jersey and New York State residents whose homes were hit by burglars filed through the Bergenfield police station this week, searching through a cache of recovered goods for their belongings.
Detective T.J. Lee Jr. was directing people Wednesday morning past the makeshift jewelry table arrayed with dozens of rings, broaches, necklaces, armbands, medallions, and wristwatches. Larger items such as fur coats and electronic equipment were displayed in the basement.
“You may step up close,” Lee said to the procession. “If you see anything that you recognize, tell me. I’ll be glad to show it to you. “
Bergen County Prosecutor John J. Fahy said at a briefing Wednesday that the items on display were among hundreds stolen from North Jersey homes and recovered in raids at two Bergenfield residences last week.
As of Wednesday afternoon, some 215 people had visited the station, but only a handful of items were identified by their owners.
A Teaneck woman brought a photograph of herself wearing a 24-inch herringbone gold necklace that was recovered in the raids. Detective Stephen Cassiero of the Mamaroneck Police Department in Westchester County identified a .357-caliber Magnum revolver that had been stolen in the town. It was one of four handguns recovered by police.
But most people could not identify any possessions.
A Washington Township couple searching unsuccessfully through the haul said all the gifts they received for their 50th wedding anniversary in October, along with jewelry and money, were stolen from their home Dec. 15, hours after they left for a vacation in upstate New York.
The couple, who declined to be identified out of fear they would be victimized again, hurriedly returned home the next day to find their home ransacked and strewn with debris. Peacock ornaments that had been mounted on the wall were on the floor, shattered.
“I hope it hit them on the head when they fell to the floor,” the man said.
A woman and her husband who accompanied Ridgefield Police Lt. Vincent Zacco to the station also didn’t see any property belonging to them.
“I was saying I wasn’t going to get my hopes up, but they were up,” she said, the disappointment evident in her face.
In the raids Friday night, detectives from Teaneck, Bergenfield, Englewood, Fort Lee, Hackensack, and the recently formed burglary squad of the Prosecutor’s Office seized the stolen goods at 16-B Morrissey Walk and 12 Carnation St. in Bergenfield.
Fahy declined to estimate the value of the items seized.
Police are hoping that many more items can be identified by their owners, and have set another session for residents to come into the station on Friday from 5 to 8 p.m.
“We are hoping to have a lot of victims identify items so that we can not only give their property back to them, but sign additional complaints against the defendants,” said Bergenfield Detective Sgt. James J. Stoltenborg.
For instance, Stoltenborg said that Saulter, who raised his $100,000 bail and was released from the Bergen County Jail Tuesday, had been rearrested in Teaneck by detectives from the Bergen County Sheriff’s Department and the Bergenfield Police Department for violation of probation and on a complaint stemming from a burglary in Ridgefield. A woman from the borough identified a gold necklace with a diamond anchor as one of the items stolen in a burglary of her home.
On Wednesday, Englewood Municipal Court Judge Joseph M. Clark ordered Saulter held without bail for violation of probation on a marijuana-possession charge.
Beckford and Hicks, who are out on bail, also faced additional charges, police said.

Keywords: BERGENFIELD; POLICE; BURGLARY; VICTIM

Caption: 2 COLOR PHOTOS BY STEVE HOCKSTEIN / THE RECORD 1 – Bracelets, bangles, and chains – part of the cache of jewelry recovered by Bergenfield police – await their owners, left. 2 – A fur held by Detective Jonathan D. Cochran was among the items taken by burglars in New Jersey and New York State.

2ND SUSPECT IN PARAMUS HEIST NABBED

By Michael O. Allen, Record Staff Writer | Wednesday, February 6, 1991

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

A 40-year-old Fairview man who was arrested Monday night in Woodbridge for credit-card fraud has been identified as the second suspect in a Jan. 16 Paramus bank robbery in which a 15-year-old Bronx boy was arrested, police said.
Leon Busiello, also known as John Rizzo, of 685 Prospect Ave., was being held in the Middlesex County Jail on Tuesday, Paramus Police Chief Joseph Delaney said.
On Tuesday, a Paramus Municipal Court judge set $100,000 bail for Busiello on charges of bank robbery and possession of a weapon while committing the robbery, Delaney said.
Busiello gave the youth, whom police declined to identify because of his age, a note that he read to a teller at the Midland Bank in the Bergen Mall on the day of the robbery, Delaney said.
“Give me all the money, large bills, no singles, or I’ll kill everyone. I have a gun,” Delaney said the youth told the teller. Busiello, who Delaney said drove the boy and a third suspect to the mall, was standing nearby with a gun.
Busiello took most of the $8,772 that the teller handed the boy and escaped, as did the third suspect, Delaney said. A Bergen County police officer driving nearby arrested the boy, who had $1,600 in his possession, in the parking lot behind the bank.
The boy is being held in the Bergen County Juvenile Center in Paramus, awaiting a hearing on charges of bank robbery and threatening to kill people in the bank.
Busiello faces charges of fraud and illegal possession of a weapon in Middlesex County. Delaney could not provide details about the incident.

Keywords: PARAMUS; BANK; ROBBERY

DEADLY BRAND OF HEROIN CLAIMS 3 N.J. ADDICTS

By David Gibson and Michael O. Allen, Record Staff Writers | Sunday, February 3, 1991

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

Two drug addicts in Paterson and one in Newark died Saturday after using deadly heroin from the Bronx that police say has killed six people in the tri-state area and hospitalized at least 100 others within hours of hitting the streets.
Authorities were unsure late Saturday if the deaths were caused by “hotshots” powerful doses of uncut heroin or if the narcotic was laced with some poisonous material.
New York City police cruised drug-infested areas Saturday announcing the danger over bullhorns and searched abandoned tenements, seeking to spread the warning to homeless addicts. Police in Hartford, Conn., site of one fatal overdose, did the same.
But Paterson and Newark officials said they had no similar plans.
“The word is pretty much out on the street,” said Paterson Police Chief Richard W. Munsey. “Our detectives went out early this morning. “
Paterson police sources said one arrest had been made in an ongoing investigation aimed at tracking down the source of the lethal heroin.
“We’re compiling a lot of information and watching a couple of places. Hopefully we’ll get lucky,” said one detective, who added that New York police were assisting on the case.
Paterson Mayor William J. Pascrell Jr. took a hard line on warning addicts, characterizing the loudspeaker idea as “ludicrous. “
“When you play with poison, you’re going to die with poison, one way or another,” said Pascrell. The mayor acknowledged his attitude may be viewed as harsh, but said it was for the addicts own good: “I hope this puts fear into the drug users. There’s a lesson to be learned from this. “
Lt. Dan Collins of the Newark police said no efforts were being made to notify drug users there of the danger.
“We don’t go around broadcasting,” said one Newark police officer who declined to give his name. “When we go to shooting galleries, we lock them up.”
Six men and a woman were taken to St. Joseph’s Hospital and Medical Center in Paterson on Saturday suffering from drug overdoses, said spokeswoman Barbara Hopp. Two men were pronounced dead on arrival, three patients were treated and released, and two were reported in stable condition, she said. Officials would not identify the victims.
Pascrell and Munsey said word-of-mouth warnings would likely be sufficient to scare off Paterson’s heroin users because the overdoses, which started occurring about 4 a.m. Saturday, were confined to a small section of the city. They declined to identify the area.
New York officials said the heroin in question was bought after 4 p.m. Friday near 138th Street and Brook Avenue in the Mott Haven section of the Bronx. It was distributed quickly, they said, citing as evidence the death in Hartford.
Two fatalities were reported in New York, and at least 100 people have been hospitalized, including 21 overdose cases in Newark and four in Irvington. Hartford hospitals reported 33 overdoses.
New York Health Department officials said preliminary tests indicated the heroin was possibly tainted with methyl fentanyl, which can increase the potency of the drug by “a factor of 27. ” That overwhelms receptors in the brain, they said, with resulting coma or respiratory arrest. The condition can be treated if caught in time, they added.
In Paterson, Munsey said death from an overdose of that magnitude can occur in minutes. “They go into a type of seizure and don’t come out. They go comatose and die very quickly,” he said.
The chief added that the heroin used Saturday must have been extremely potent.
“These [victims] are mainliners,” Munsey said. “If they’re dying from shooting up, it’s got to be a good load. With big-time users, it takes an awful lot. “
The heroin was being sold under the brand name “Tango and Cash,” after the movie in which Sylvester Stallone and Kurt Russell portray police officers fighting powerful drug lords.
“The brand name is nothing but a stamp that they put on a glassine envelope,” said Victor M. Pedalino, special agent with the Newark office of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration. “They come up with new ones as soon as the names become familiar. “
Pedalino said that about three years ago, particularly potent brands of heroin called “China White” and “P-Dope,” which stood for pure dope, surfaced in New Jersey, and that there was an increase of overdose death reported during that time. That heroin was 70 percent to 85 percent pure.
Renee Sacerdote, a drug counselor at Eva’s Halfway House in Paterson, said addicts scared by the heroin could rely on alcohol or pills to overcome withdrawal pains.
She said Eva’s beds are full and there is a 150-person waiting list for the shelter’s detoxification services, but she said local hospitals, a Main Street methadone clinic, and the Straight and Narrow rehabilitation program could accommodate addicts seeking treatment.
Authorities said the speed with which the heroin reached outlying cities in Connecticut and New Jersey was grim testimony to the efficiency of the narcotics network, which police constantly attempt to interrupt.
Local authorities have long recognized that the majority of Paterson’s illegal drug supply originates in New York, less than a half-hour away on Route 80, and Pascrell said the latest deaths highlight his city’s role as a casualty rather than a protagonist in the drug war.
“Here, we arrest nickel-and-dime dealers,” Pascrell said. “While they’re certainly dangerous, they never get the big guys who pull the strings out of New York.”
Local and federal drug enforcement experts agreed that the area has seen a recent growth in the use of heroin, most of which comes from Southeast Asia. Pedalino said the New Jersey office “has increased its heroin investigation probably by 30 or 40 percent in the past few years.”
New York police, who are coordinating the investigation, asked those with information about who sold the drug to call a confidential, 24-hour hot line: 1-(212) 583-0144.

Keywords: DRUG; ABUSE; PATERSON; NEWARK; NEW YORK CITY

COPS PROBE CRASH OF TWO POLICE CARS

MICHAEL O. ALLEN | Sunday, February 3, 1991

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

Borough police are investigating the circumstances surrounding a collision between two squad cars.
The crash, at Boulevard and Linden Avenue, occurred about 11:15 p.m. Friday and did not involve a pursuit, said Police Chief Byron G. Morgan.
Morgan declined to identify the officers involved until the conclusion of the investigation, but said they were not injured in the accident.
“Until we have an opportunity to interview both drivers and review the accident report,” Morgan said, “it will be premature to release any information. “
The front end of one squad car and the left rear quarter panel of the other were damaged in the accident, Morgan said. The borough has about 10 squad cars, three of which are in use during each shift.

Keywords: ELMWOOD PARK; POLICE; PROBE; ACCIDENT; MOTOR VEHICLE

Notes: Passaic page

RAIDS BY BURGLARY TASK FORCE YIELD 3 ARRESTS IN BERGENFIELD

By Michael O. Allen, Record Staff Writer | Sunday, February 3, 1991

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

Three borough residents were charged Saturday with receiving stolen property following raids on their apartments.
The raids were performed by investigators with a task force formed two weeks ago by 15 Bergen County communities caught in the throes of a wave of burglaries and break-ins.
Leroy Saulter, 27, of 16-B Morrissey Walk was being held on $100,000 bail in the Bergen County Jail, and Sandra Hicks, 31, of 12 Carnation St. was being held on $15,000 bail. Florence Beckford, 25, of 16-B Morrissey Walk, was released after she paid $2,500, 10 percent of her $25,000 bail.
Detectives from Bergenfield, Teaneck, Englewood, Fort Lee, and the burglary squad of the Bergen County Prosecutor’s Office raided Hicks and Beckford’s apartments about 9:30 Friday night.
Police seized items they believe were stolen, including jewelry, fur and leather coats and jackets, stereo equipment, automatic handguns, silver dollars, and rare coins, said Bergenfield Police Chief Richard G. Baroch.
The items are believed to have been stolen in a wave of robberies that has gripped many Bergen County communities in recent months, he said. Bergenfield alone had 75 burglaries in the past six months, including 16 in the first 11 days of 1991, Baroch said.
Teaneck, Englewood, River Edge, Oakland, and several other communities saw several break-ins in late 1990, Baroch said.
Bergen County burglary victims who want to determine if their property is among the items seized should should take a copy of their police report to the Bergenfield Police Department at 198 N. Washington St. on Monday or Friday from 5 until 8 p.m. or on Wednesday from 9 a.m. until noon, the chief said.
Saulter was charged with three counts of criminal possession of firearms, possession of marijuana, possession of marijuana with intent to distribute within 1,000 feet of a school, two counts of receiving stolen property a 9mm semiautomatic pistol and a .357 Magnum revolver criminal possession of six hollow-nose .357 Magnum bullets, criminal possession of a switchblade knife, and possession of a weapon after being convicted of a crime in the state of New Jersey.
Hicks was charged with receiving a stolen leather jacket valued at $900 and criminal possession of .380-caliber automatic pistol, which was loaded with five rounds. Charges against Beckford include possession of a switchblade knife, hollow-nose bullets, marijuana, and items used to smoke marijuana.

Keywords: BERGENFIELD; THEFT; ROBBERY

Notes: Bergen page

ANOTHER ASSAULT SUSPECT ARRESTED; ENGLEWOOD PROBES STRING OF MUGGINGS

By Michael O. Allen, Record Staff Writer | Friday, February 1, 1991

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

Police arrested a 24-year-old city resident Wednesday after a tip that he was one of three men who mugged an elderly man walking home from a bus stop on Cambridge Avenue last month.
Christian Darren Giles of 24 W. Forest Ave. was being held in Bergen County Jail Thursday on $10,000 bail on charges of attempted robbery and aggravated assault.
Giles was arrested Wednesday after police received information that he was one of those who mugged a 62-year-old man about 6:45 p.m. Jan. 17, said Englewood Detective Capt. C. Kenneth Tinsley.
The victim, whom Tinsley declined to identify, was knocked to the ground from behind after passing three men on Cambridge, Tinsley said. The attackers fled when someone approached in a car, he said.
Giles was arrested Wednesday night behind a building on Armory Street by Detectives Robert Keane, Edward Murray, and Joseph Martin.
Tinsley said his office also is investigating whether Giles is connected to two suspects in the robbery of a fast-food deliveryman Sunday night, and whether Giles and those suspects are connected to 12 other assaults that occurred during the past three weeks.
Malik McKinnon, 20, of 210 First St., Englewood, was being held in Bergen County Jail on $10,000 bail on a charge that he robbed the deliveryman of about $100. McKinnon turned himself in Monday after the victim gave police the description of a juvenile who allegedly participated in the robbery. The juvenile was released to the custody of his parent.
“We haven’t linked him to the two suspects but we are still investigating,” Tinsley said of Giles.
Giles was paroled a month ago after serving one year of a three-year sentence for robbery and aggravated assault of a police officer. He has two other convictions for similar offenses, police records show.

Keywords: ENGLEWOOD; ASSAULT