HACKENSACK SHOOTING VICTIM HELD; POLICE SAY HE RAN COCAINE RING

By Michael O. Allen, Record Staff Writer | Saturday, January 12, 1991

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

A 28-year-old city resident who was paralyzed last month in what New York police called a drug-related shootout was arrested Friday on drug and weapon charges as he came out of a hospital.
Juan Cuevas, now wheelchair-bound, had just attended a physical-therapy session at Hackensack Medical Center when police arrested him at noon, Police Chief William Iurato said.
Cuevas was charged with possession of a firearm, possession of cocaine, and possession of drug paraphernalia as a result of a police raid on his home last month. He was released after his wife paid 10 percent of $5,000 bail.
Iurato said police will move to seize Cuevas single-family, Colonial-style house at 385 Summit Ave. because he operated a large-scale cocaine ring there. Cuevas purchased the house for $275,000 in August, the chief said.
“At this point we don’t know how sophisticated the operation was, but the home was protected by a sophisticated surveillance and burglar-alarm system,” Iurato said.
New York City police found the bullet-riddled bodies of four men, including Cuevas, at 620 S. 147th St. in Manhattan on Dec. 16. Two of the men were dead. Cuevas, who had been shot in the chest and lungs, and the fourth man were hospitalized.
Acting on a tip from an anonymous caller on Dec. 18, the Hackensack Police Narcotics Unit arrested his wife, Elizabeth Cuevas, 23, his brother, Jose Cuevas, 24, and Anselmo Pineda, 37, at the house. During the arrest, Hackensack police found a .45-caliber handgun, scales used to weigh drugs, burglar alarms, signaling devices, and surveillance cameras in and outside the house, including one in a birdhouse.

Keywords: HACKENSACK; SHOOTING; VICTIM; DRUG; CRIME

TEANECK HIT BY FOUR BURGLARIES

By Michael O. Allen, Record Staff Writer | Friday, January 11, 1991

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

Burglars broke into four township homes this week, making off with cash, jewelry, and cameras.
Police say they don’t know whether any of the incidents, which occurred between dusk on Monday and dawn on Wednesday, are related.
Early Tuesday evening, a 33-year-old deaf woman reported that she was at her West Englewood Avenue home when a man wearing a ski mask broke in and stole a jewelry box containing more than $1,000 worth of jewelry, police said. The burglar left quickly, leading police to believe he either saw the woman or heard a burglar alarm activated in the home. The woman ran to a neighbor’s house to summon police.
Late Tuesday, an Elmer Place resident told police he came home to find someone had kicked in his rear door, rifled through drawers in his bedroom, and stole about $200, small pieces of jewelry, and other items.
A Fairview Avenue home was burglarized late Monday or early Tuesday, police said. The owner came home from work about 2 a.m. Tuesday to find a desk ransacked and numerous items stolen, including $500, jewelry, a camera, a television, and a video camera.
In the fourth incident, early Wednesday, burglars failed to make off with any belongings. A Glenwood Avenue homeowner told police that two men kicked in her door and searched dressers and closets while she hid. The two burglars ran out when they heard noise, she told police.
Sgt. Robert Adomilli said anyone with information about any of the crimes should call the Teaneck Police Detective Bureau at 837-2565 or Crimestoppers at 833-4222.

Keywords: TEANECK; THEFT

TRIO ARRESTED IN BREAK-IN AT RAMSEY WAREHOUSE

MICHAEL O. ALLEN | Thursday, January 10, 1991

The Record (New Jersey) | Four Star B | NEWS | Page B07

Two Jersey City men and a juvenile were arrested in Paramus on burglary charges early Wednesday, minutes after they allegedly broke into a warehouse belonging to a retail store on Route 17.
The suspects Nathan Leonard, 18, Carmelo Valdes, 20, and a 17-year-old male whom police declined to identify because of his age were charged with burglary, theft, and conspiracy to commit burglary after breaking into the Rolling Tone’s warehouse on Route 17 south in Ramsey, police said.
Leonard and Valdes were being held in the Bergen County Jail on bail of $7,500 apiece, and the juvenile was being held in the Bergen County Juvenile Detention Center.
Police said they entered the warehouse shortly before 5 a.m. Wednesday and stole $3,500 worth of stereo equipment and electronic items. They then fled in a rented car, heading south on Route 17, police said.
Paramus Police Officer Brian Nyland stopped the car and arrested the men.

Keywords: RAMSEY; THEFT

DISTRAUGHT VET JAILED AFTER STANDOFF IN FAIRVIEW

By Michael O. Allen, Record Staff Writer | Thursday, January 10, 1991

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

A 38-year-old borough man who may have been distraught over losing his job was arrested and jailed Wednesday after he barricaded himself in his apartment and threatened to kill anyone who came near, police said.
Zachary E. Mohrmann of Walker Street surrendered 2 1/2 hours after the standoff began late Tuesday, said Detective Richard Petruzzelli.
He was being held on $5,000 bail in the Bergen County Jail on charges of resisting arrest and making terroristic threats. Petruzzelli said other charges may be filed.
Mohrmann had an argument with his wife shortly before 11 p.m. Tuesday and began to destroy things in his apartment, Petruzzelli said. When police arrived to calm him, his wife fled with their child to a friend’s house.
Meanwhile, Mohrmann informed police that he was a Vietnam veteran with extensive combat experience, saying he was armed and would kill anyone who came near, Petruzzelli said. His wife told police that her husband did three tours of duty in the Southeast Asian country.
“It was an extremely ticklish situation,” Petruzzelli said. “At the time, you had to take his word as gospel because we didn’t know. Thank God nobody was hurt and it wound up the right way. “
Fairview police called up the Bergen County SWAT team and asked for additional backup from Cliffside Park police, he said.
But after several hostile pronouncements, Petruzzelli said, Mohrmann broke open a front window, stuck his head out and screamed: “I’m coming out! I’m coming out! “
He threw out a toy rifle and emerged. The suspect scuffled briefly with Petruzzelli, Lt. John Schmidig of the SWAT team, and Fairview Sgt. John Pinzone before they subdued him and placed him under arrest.
Mohrmann complained of chest pains but refused treatment after being taken to Palisades General Hospital, Petruzzelli said.

Keywords: FAIRVIEW; MENTAL; HEALTH; VETERAN

POLICE SEEKING MORE SUSPECTS IN RASH OF BURGLARIES

By Michael O. Allen, Record Staff Writer | Thursday, January 10, 1991

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

Police in Bergen and Passaic counties continue to investigate links between a string of burglaries in the two counties and a 20-year-old man in custody on charges of burglarizing his parents house in Oradell and intending to kill them and his brother if they were home.
Allen M. Essner was being held in the Bergen County Jail on Wednesday on $60,000 bail. He was being held on several charges, including attempted murder, burglary, and unlawful possession of a loaded weapon.
Oradell Detective Scott Bonsper said police believe Essner was working with other people, including 20-year-old Dennis Pereira, who was arrested with him on Dec. 26, in a series of burglaries in the area.
“We are dealing with quite a few people here,” Bonsper said. “That is what makes it so difficult. . . . We know of at least two weapons that we have not been able to recover or account for. There is a strong possibility that arrest warrants will be issued for other suspects. “
When Essner burglarized his parents home on Dec. 17, he went with a loaded gun and murderous intent, Bonsper said.
“Fortunately enough, the parents were not around, and his brother, although he was off work that day, was somewhere else,” he said.
Bonsper said police found out about the alleged plan to murder the family members from talking to people some of whom are being investigated for their link to the burglaries with whom Essner had conversations.
Working with North Haledon Police Detective Alan Swartz, Bonsper said, he and other Oradell police officers went to residences in Lodi, East Rutherford, and other communities before arresting Essner in Wallington on Dec. 26. They recovered a gun and also arrested Pereira a short time later, he said.

Keywords: PC; BC; HOUSING; THEFT; PROBE

TRAFFIC HITS THE SKIDS ON ICY ROADS; FREEZING RAIN BLAMED FOR SPATE OF ACCIDENTS

By Ruth Padawer and Michael O. Allen, Record Staff Writers | Thursday, January 10, 1991

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

Daylong freezing rain caused dozens of traffic accidents throughout North Jersey on Wednesday, sending cars into guardrails, utility poles, and creeks.
Meteorologists predicted that today would bring some relief.
Sunny weather was expected, with highs reaching the low 40s, but those higher temperatures may cause flooding as Wednesday’s slush melts, said Walter Zamorski of the National Weather Service at Newark International Airport.
In other words, it should be another good day for towing companies.
“A lot of cars are going off the road,” Dave Schick, a driver for Texas Towing in Paramus, said Wednesday. “They have to be winched off the guardrails, hauled out of the woods or off the shoulders and grass medians. When you have slippery weather like this, that’s basically what you get. “
By midday, Schick said, his company had towed 10 cars along the northern end of the Garden State Parkway and replaced blown tires on another seven tires that popped after cars slid into curbs.
The bad driving conditions prompted the Bergen County District for Special Education, which has schools throughout the county, to cancel classes Wednesday, but the Bergen County superintendent of schools, Ray Kelly, said his office knew of no other cancellations or late openings. In Passaic County, Wayne opened its schools late.
Most of the traffic accidents in North Jersey were minor, but in Montville, a 23-year-old Kinnelon man was critically injured when his car slid sideways into an oncoming United Parcel Service truck.
Rescue workers used the Jaws of Life to pry an unconscious Anthony B. Gazzillo out of his black 1984 Chrysler, which was wrecked in the 9 a.m. accident on Boonton Avenue, said Officer Joseph Pitek.
Officials at St. Clares-Riverside Medical Center in Denville listed Gazzillo in critical condition late Wednesday with injuries to his face, neck, and internal organs. The UPS driver, Brian S. Rieger, 32, of Florham Park, was treated and released.
At about 7 a.m., an NJ Transit bus on its way to Westwood from Manhattan slid on Main Street in Ridgefield Park and struck two utility poles, uprooting one of them at Main and Brewster streets. The 15 passengers and the driver all escaped injury, said Jeff Lamb, an NJT spokesman. Another bus picked up the passengers.
An hour and a half later, Francesca Delgado, 37, of Fairview lost control of her car when it slid off Route 46 east in Ridgefield Park. After smashing into a truck driven by Michael Kosenko, 56, of Clifton, Delgado’s car flew over a concrete divider and landed in Overpeck Creek.
Delgado was taken to Holy Name Hospital in Teaneck, where she was treated and released.
The state Department of Transportation arrived at the scene to spread salt and sand, clearing the road by 10:30 a.m. and alleviating minor traffic delays.
In Ridgefield, police weren’t sure whether to blame the weather or engine trouble for the explosion of a DOT snowplow truck, which burst into flames while spreading sand on southbound Route 5. Driver Ella Brown, 35, of Jersey City jumped clear of the truck after she saw fire coming from under the hood and couldn’t get the vehicle to stop, said Ridgefield police Sgt. William Kelly.
The truck careened into the Peek Realty building at 835 Route 5, burning shingles on the outside of the building.
Wayne, which is crisscrossed by major thoroughfares such as Routes 80, 23, and 46, reported an unusually low tally of just five minor accidents by late afternoon.
“We were out there ready for the worst, but fortunately it turned out pretty good,” said police Capt. Walter Suhaka. “One thing that helped us was that public schools and most Catholic schools had delayed openings. That kept traffic off the roadways at rush hour. “
Scattered accidents were reported in other Passaic County communities, including 18 fender benders in Clifton from 5:30 to 10:30 a.m.
Record Staff Writer David Gibson contributed to this article.

Keywords: WEATHER; MOTOR VEHICLE; ACCIDENT

Caption: 1 – COLOR PHOTO – STEVE HOCKSTEIN / THE RECORD – Clifton police checking an accident Wednesday on the Ackerman Avenue bridge. The bridge was closed because of severe icing. 2 – PHOTO – STEVE HOCKSTEIN / THE RECORD – A Paterson man using a box to shield himself from icy rain while shoveling snow on Wednesday.

ENGLEWOOD MAN HELD IN DRIVING DEATH

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

The Record (New Jersey) | All Editions | NEWS | Page B05

A 32-year-old Englewood man is to be arraigned today on charges of driving the car that fatally injured a Hackensack man shortly before midnight on New Year’s Eve, officials said.
Jose Jaramillo of Howland Avenue was arrested in Teaneck about 10:30 p.m. Monday and charged with causing death by auto, reckless driving, and leaving the scene of an accident, said Bergen County Prosecutor John J. Fahy.
Jaramillo, who was in the Bergen County Jail Tuesday on $25,000 bail, was arrested in connection with the Dec. 31 hit-and-run death of Jarvis Stephenson, 39, of 194 Krone Place.
On the night of his death, Stephenson was working at American Legion Post 58 in Englewood, where he was a member. At about 11:40 p.m., he told friends at the club he was going home to check on his ill wife and that he would be back.
The victim was struck as he crossed Forest Avenue in front of the club. Stephenson died less than two hours later in Englewood Hospital.
Fahy commended the Englewood Police Department for its work in tracking down Jaramillo. But neither Capt. C. Kenneth Tinsely, commander of the city detective bureau, nor Lt. Charles Dillon, head of the traffic bureau, would reveal any information about the investigation.
The fatal-accident unit of the Bergen County Prosecutor’s Office had been investigating the accident with the Englewood police and on Monday released a description of the car they said killed Stephenson: a 1977 silver-gray Caprice Classic.
Before the arrest, Englewood police told Teaneck police that they had seen the car at a Chestnut Street address in Teaneck and had prepared a search warrant for the vehicle, said Teaneck Capt. Gary S. Fiedler.
If convicted on the charges, Jaramillo faces up to five years in prison and fines totaling $9,000, Fahy said.
Staff Writer David Voreacos contributed to this report.

Keywords: ENGLEWOOD; MOTOR VEHICLE; ACCIDENT; DEATH

HACKENSACK MAN FACES CHARGES IN OUTBREAK OF CITY BURGLARIES

By Michael O. Allen and Tom Topousis, Record Staff Writers | Tuesday, January 8, 1991

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

A 34-year-old city man, arrested after he allegedly broke into the Woolworth’s store on Main Street and stole a display stand full of watches, also was charged with six other burglaries in the city, police said.
Michael Griffin of 113 Sussex St. was arraigned in Hackensack City Court on Monday, charged with seven counts of burglary, one count of strong-arm robbery, and one count of theft from a person, said Police Chief William Iurato.
Griffin was arrested shortly after 5:10 a.m. Sunday when police responded to the Woolworth’s store at 149 Main St., where a burglar alarm had been triggered, Iurato said.
Detective Sgt. Edward Plunkett and Officer William Novak found the front door of the store broken and shortly afterward found Griffin hiding under some plywood in an alley south of the store, Iurato said.
“He apparently feels that in spite of the burglar alarm, he was going through anyway,” Iurato said, adding that several watches from Woolworth’s were recovered.
Under questioning by Lt. Anthony Leggieri and Detective Sgt. Fred Puglisi, Griffin confessed to six other burglaries, including twice breaking into Victor’s Jewelers at 141 Main St. and stealing several watches and jewelry, Iurato said.
Griffin also is charged with the strong-arm robbery of a man on Union Street on Dec. 3 after following the victim home from a bank. Iurato said Griffin punched and pushed the man to the ground before stealing his wallet.
On Nov. 17, Griffin allegedly stole a wallet from another pedestrian in the Union Street neighborhood, prompting a charge of theft from a person, Iurato said.
The other burglaries were at businesses along the south end of Main, Hudson, and State streets, Iurato said, adding that Griffin did not work alone.
Iurato said police believe Griffin and his accomplices were responsible for similar burglaries in Paramus, Hasbrouck Heights, and other communities in the area.

Keywords: HACKENSACK; BURGLARY

WATER MAIN BREAK FLOODS 2 LODI STREETS

MICHAEL O. ALLEN | Sunday, January 6, 1991

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

A break in a 20-inch Hackensack Water Co. main Saturday morning sent a virtual cascade down Terhune Avenue and South Main Street and lowered water pressure in neighboring Wallington.
Joseph M. Natoli, Lodi business administrator, said the break occurred sometime before 1 a.m., but that water pressure in his borough was not affected.
Wallington, however, experienced low water pressure all day, said Bob Siery, borough superintendent of water and public works.
Martha Green, Hackensack Water Co. spokeswoman, said a break occurred on Terhune Avenue, near where her company’s water line connects with the Passaic Valley Water Commission system.
The connection serves Wallington, which buys its water wholesale from Hackensack Water, and resells it to about 2,400 homes and 500 apartment buildings and businesses.

Keywords: WATER; ACCIDENT; UTILITY; LODI; FLOOD

RIVER EDGE COPS SEEK HELP ON THEFTS

By Michael O. Allen, Record Staff Writer | Sunday, January 6, 1991

To combat a recent wave of residential burglaries about 20 in the past six weeks borough police have turned to residents for help, asking them to be cautious and to watch for suspicious activities in their neighborhoods.
Police Lt. Ron Starace said most of the burglaries, like the one on the 100 block of Kenwood Avenue about 10 p.m. Friday, occurred at night.
Starace said many of the break-ins occurred when the victims were home, but that no one had seen the burglars.
“We have to believe that there is more than one group working here, but we have very little information,” Starace said. “It’s a little difficult when you don’t know what you are looking for. “
He urged residents to call the department with any possible clues.
“Give us something to work with; give us extra eyes,” he said. “If you answer your door and you find nobody there, that’s suspicious; call us. Someone asking for directions to the home of a person unknown to you but who’s supposed to live on your block, or a delivery being made to a home where you know the neighbors are not there they are suspicious; call us. “
About five homes have been burglarized since the arrest of one suspect on Dec. 28. Starace said that on Jan. 1, a burglar ran when a resident at the 800 block of Bogen Road woke up about 11:45 p.m. and heard noises. There was another attempt at a home across the street the same night, he said.
On Dec. 28, a resident on the 100 block of Valley Road reported suspicious activities about 7 p.m. Police arrived minutes later, followed fresh footprints in the snow, and eventually arrested Marvin Jones, 25, of Englewood two blocks down the road.
Jones has been in the Bergen County Jail on $30,000 bail since his Dec. 29 arraignment on burglary and theft charges filed in River Edge and Englewood Cliffs.
Starace outlined steps that residents can take to protect their property and help police.
He said residents should take advantage of a residential sticker program to help police determine which cars belong in what neighborhoods. Residents also are advised to become familiar with cars in their neighborhoods. When they leave their homes, whether to go for a walk or on a long trip, they should ask their neighbors to watch their homes, he said.

Keywords: RIVER EDGE; POLICE; THEFT