BUS FIRM CITED FOR POLLUTING RIVER

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

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

The state has cited a borough bus company for polluting the Saddle River after state police Thursday found motor oil draining from the company’s parking lot into the river, officials said.
The civil citations against Saddle River Tours Ltd. at 119 Graham Lane were filed by state police and the state Department of Environmental Protection, spokesmen for both agencies said Friday.
A unit of the state police Marine Investigation Bureau, while on routine patrol of the Saddle River about 10:30 a.m. Thursday, found a large amount of oil running into a drainpipe along the parking lot that emptied into the river, state police spokesman Capt. Thomas Gallagher said.
While checking for the source of the oil, the marine police unit also found oil running through a hookup from the parking lot into the borough sewer system, officials said.
Sgt. Kevin J. Harnett of the Bergen County Police Emergency Management Unit, who also responded to the scene, said the environmental crime unit of the Bergen County Prosecutor’s Office is investigating possible criminal violations by the company.
Gallagher said the state police contacted the Lodi Police and Fire departments and the Prosecutor’s Office because of the hookup into the sewer line.
County Prosecutor John J. Fahy said he could not comment on the matter.
Representatives of Saddle River Tours could not be reached for comment Friday.
Bruce Doyle, an emergency response specialist with the DEP, said the department’s division of hazardous waste management will oversee the cleanup and remedial measures to be taken by Saddle River Tours.

Keywords: LODI; BUS; BUSINESS; RIVER; OIL; CRIME; ENVIRONMENT

PRIOR TESTS AT HOSPITAL FOUND AIR OK

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

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

Prior to an incident this week that sickened six employees, federal inspectors tested the air at The Valley Hospital twice in recent years after worker complaints about fumes. Each time they found that the gases they tested for were within acceptable limits.
Efraim Zoldan, area director for the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration, said samples taken from the hospital in August 1988 and August 1989, after complaints by employees, found the levels of carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide in the hospital met acceptable federal guidelines for the workplace.
The hospital’s operating-room staff was reassigned and all non-emergency operations were suspended Thursday after six employees were treated for illness from an odor. Two operating rooms for emergency surgery remain open.
Workers in the hospital’s operating rooms became ill from fumes on occasion in recent years, a hospital spokeswoman said Friday.
Ilene Lumpkin, who had said Thursday that no illnesses were reported in past incidents, acknowledged Friday that there were illnesses reported.
“Occasionally one or two employees have gone to the emergency room after they had become sick,” Lumpkin said.
She said she did not know over what period of time the fumes were detected, how many times, or how many employees became sick from inhaling fumes.
Lumpkin said steps were taken to alleviate the condition after the 1988 and 1989 OSHA inspections, but said she did not know what the steps were.
A spokeswoman for OSHA said Thursday that the agency would not investigate the latest incident because the employees were treated and released, not hospitalized.
The hospital this week hired Atlantic Environmental Inc. of Dover and Chet Vogel, an engineer from New York City, to test the air and review the heating, ventilation, and air-conditioning system in the north wing, where the operating room is located. Results are expected early next week.
Lumpkin said the hospital will also install an air-monitoring system to test the air over time to see if the problem continues.

Keywords: RIDGEWOOD; HOSPITAL; HEALTH; HAZARD; TEST

DIVINING PASTOR NABS OFFERTORY THIEF IN ACT

By Michael O. Allen, Record Staff Writer | Friday, January 4, 1991

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

A Fort Lee pastor said he sensed about midday Tuesday would be a convenient time for someone, if they were so inclined, to try to steal money from his church’s offering box. So he sneaked into the church and caught a man in the act.
The Rev. James Sullivan of Holy Trinity R. C. Church of Fort Lee said he had repaired the box six days earlier after someone stole between $10 to $35 from it. He said he noticed a few days later that someone had tampered with the box again.
Entering the church from a side door, Sullivan said he “could hear the box being tampered with. “
Fort Lee police arrested Carl Crawford, 34, of Bond Street, Freehold, a few minutes after Sullivan called 911 and reported a thief in the church.
Crawford had in his possession a tool for prying open boxes, six single dollar bills, and a check for $10 written to the Blessed Sacrament Church in Margate, said Fort Lee Police Chief John Orso. Crawford was charged with burglary, theft, and possession of burglary tools, and was being held in the Bergen County Jail Thursday on $2,500 bail.
Sullivan said Crawford, who is not a parishioner of the church, had been hanging in and around the church at “odd hours” for the past week, striking up conversations with church members.

Keywords: FORT LEE; RELIGION; BUILDING; THEFT

HOSPITAL WORKERS ILL FROM FUMES; OPERATING ROOMS TEMPORARILY SHUT

By Michael O. Allen, Record Staff Writer | Friday, January 4, 1991

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

The Valley Hospital operating-room staff was reassigned and all non-emergency operations were suspended Thursday after six employees were treated for illness from an unknown odor, a hospital spokeswoman said.
The employees, including nurses and technicians, smelled the odor while they were in a lounge for the operating-room staff, said Eileen Lumpkin, director of marketing and public relations for the Ridgewood hospital.
Lumpkin declined to identify the employees who became ill, but said they suffered headaches, itchy eyes, and nausea.
About 50 patients will be rescheduled because of the suspension of non-emergency operations, she said. The suspensions will remain in effect today to allow for analysis of the air in the area and inspection of the heating, ventilation, and air-conditioning system, Lumpkin said.
Two of the hospital’s six operating rooms will continue to be used for emergency operations, she said.
Lumpkin said workers in areas adjacent to the operating rooms, which are served by the same heating, ventilation, and air-conditioning system, were told of the problem, but no illness was reported in those areas.
Some employees complained Wednesday about fumes in the lounge, but the smell became “dominant” Thursday, she said, adding that fumes were noticed in the past but they weren’t strong enough to cause sickness.
Lumpkin said Michael W. Azzara, president of Valley Hospital, met with the hospital staff Thursday morning to assure them that the hospital is doing all it can to find the source of the fumes.
Richard Van Hassle, hospital vice president, said: “We don’t know what it was, and that is what we are trying to find out. What we have done is called in this environmental company to test the air and a professional engineer to review the air-handling equipment to determine the cause of the problem. “
Atlantic Environmental Inc. of Dover and Chet Vogel, an engineer from New York City, were hired by the hospital to do the work, Lumpkin said.
The hospital also is investigating whether the fumes came from trucks at a construction site near the operating rooms, she said.
Lisa Levy, industrial-hygiene supervisor for the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration, said the agency was notified of the incident but did not investigate because the employees were treated and released.

Keywords: RIDGEWOOD; HOSPITAL; EMPLOYMENT; HEALTH; PROBE; AIR

HIT-RUN VICTIM WAS TO SEE TO ILL WIFE; `FAMILY MAN SAID HE’D REJOIN FRIENDS

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

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

Minutes before the new year was ushered in, Jarvis Stephenson told friends at the American Legion post that he was going home to check on his ill wife and that he would be back an hour later.
Stephenson, 39, would do neither.
A hit-and-run driver struck and fatally injured him as he crossed Forest Avenue outside the post, police said. He was pronounced dead at Englewood Hospital at 1:30 a.m. Tuesday.
Lt. Charles Dillon, commander of the Englewood Police Traffic Bureau, said Wednesday that the search for the driver of the car was continuing but declined to say whether investigators had a suspect in mind or a make on the car.
In another incident in which a car hit a pedestrian, Eric Foreman, 17, of Millen, Ga., was more fortunate. Foreman’s legs were fractured when he was struck by a northbound car as he attempted to cross Route 17 in Ramsey on Tuesday, police said.
He was in stable condition at University Hospital in Newark on Wednesday, a hospital spokesman said.
The motorist, Daniel E. Melehan, 53, of Baldwin Road, Saddle River, was not charged, police said.
Janice Rochester, a bartender at American Legion Post 58 in Englewood, said she had known Stephenson, an NJ Transit bus driver, for about 17 years. Stephenson had been helping her wash cocktail glasses and serve drinks, but was not drinking, Rochester said.
“Jarvis was in very good spirits; he was as happy as he could be,” Rochester said. “He talked about his daughter a lot. That was his heart. That was his love. He was very much a family man. His wife and his daughter were very special to him.”
Rochester, 43, of Hackensack, said Stephenson told her that his wife, Josie, was ill and that he was going to check on her.

Keywords: ENGLEWOOD; MOTOR VEHICLE; ACCIDENT; VICTIM; DEATH

2 HELD IN ARMED ROBBERY IN HACKENSACK

MICHAEL O. ALLEN | Sunday, December 30, 1990

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

Two men were being held in the Bergen County Jail on Saturday on $20,000 bail each after their arrest in a city apartment building following a report of an armed robbery outside a convenience store, police said.
Bryan Miller, 26, of Ridgewood and Troy Jones, 30, of Englewood, who police say were staying at 370 Park St., were charged with armed robbery, Police Chief William Iurato said in a news release.
Iurato said that at 11 p.m. Friday, Miller held a gun to three men coming out of Simon Sez, a convenience store at 281 State St., while Jones emptied the men’s pockets and took about $40 and cigarettes. Miller and Jones then ran from the scene in opposite directions, Iurato said.
One of the victims stopped a passing police car, reported the robbery, and described the men, the chief said.
An investigation led to the arrest of the men at 370 Park St., Iurato said.

Keywords: ROBBERY; HACKENSACK; BERGEN COUNTY; PRISON; STORE

CITY PROBES BURGLARY WAVE; SAYS ARMED ROBBER FITS PATTERN

By Michael O. Allen, Record Staff Writer | Friday, December 28, 1990

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

A 28-year-old Hackensack man who last week admitted committing three armed robberies is being investigated in connection with more than 20 burglaries in the city and several more in surrounding communities, city police said Thursday.

A Municipal Court judge Thursday set bail at $25,000 for Michael Dunlap of 179 Union St. on three counts of armed robbery and possession of a crack vial, and released him on his own recognizance.

In one of the robberies to which Dunlap confessed, he entered AAA Home Video store at 29 State St. on Sept. 24, asked about joining the club, and then announced a robbery, said Capt. John Aletta, Hackensack Police investigations chief. Dunlap said he had a gun wrapped in his coat, but the store attendant did not see it, Aletta said.

Dunlap is said to have repeated the pattern at the Arena Diner on Essex Street on Oct. 1 and at the Shell gas station across the street from the diner on Dec. 9. Approximately $300 was taken in all the robberies, Aletta said.

Detective Sgt. Fred Puglisi is investigating other armed robberies fitting the pattern, Aletta said. Hackensack also will share its information with surrounding communities that have reported robberies fitting the pattern, he said.

Robbery victims will be shown a photo lineup, including a photograph of Dunlap, to see if they could identify their assailant, Puglisi said.

Detective Sgt. Michael Mordaga arrested Dunlap on Dec. 20 as he walked along Union Street, near Central Avenue, at about 7 p.m. Aletta said Mordaga recognized Dunlap from descriptions and a composite drawing of the suspect in the armed robberies.

Police said when Mordaga patted Dunlap down before taking him into custody, the detective felt what appeared to be a bullet in Dunlap’s pocket. The object turned out to be a crack vial, Aletta said.

BOGOTA POLICE HUNT MAN WHO FLED; SOUGHT FOR NON-PAYMENT OF FINE IN AUTO DEATH

By Michael O. Allen, Record Staff Writer | Thursday, December 27, 1990

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

A 22-year-old man who was convicted of drunken driving in the 1988 death of a 5-year-old boy escaped through a window on Tuesday as his wife prevented police from arresting him for not paying a fine levied as part of his sentence, police said.

Peter Lamanna, who police said was still at large Wednesday, did not pay the $1,645 fine imposed by a Superior Court judge in Bergen County in May. The court referred his case to Teaneck Municipal Court, which issued a warrant last week, said a Bogota police spokesman.

Lamanna answered the door at 389 Linden Ave., where his in-laws live, after police Officer Daniel Maye knocked at the door about 11:40 p.m. Tuesday, the spokesman said. Police said Lamanna married a Bogota woman and moved to Florida after his June 19 release from the Bergen County Jail.

When Maye tried to arrest him, Lamanna allegedly ran into the house. Joanne Lamanna, 24, grabbed Maye and prevented him from going after her husband, police said. The Bergen County Police canine unit later searched the area for Lamanna, but was unable to find him.

Mrs. Lamanna was charged with interfering with a police officer and with assault on a police officer. She was released on $450 bail Wednesday.

Lamanna was acquitted May 23 of a death-by-auto charge in the death of Sultan Chaudhri, who was crossing the street with his mother when Lamanna hit them with his Chevrolet Camaro. The mother, Nighat Chaudhri, 32, suffered minor injuries.

Lamanna was sentenced to 30 days in jail on drunken-driving and other charges. His license was revoked for two years, consecutive to a four-year suspension imposed in 1988 by the Division of Motor Vehicles.

DON’T INVITE HOLIDAY CRIME

By Michael O. Allen, Record Staff Writer | Sunday, December 23, 1990

The Record (New Jersey) | All Editions | SOUTH CENTRAL BERGEN | Page 11

As police in Englewood Cliffs tell residents at this time of year, “Don’t play Santa to a burglar. ” Put lights on timers, turn on your home alarms, and notify your police department when you leave on vacation.

While burglars strike at any time of year, homes in the region have been particularly hard-hit in recent months.

Englewood Cliffs Deputy Police Chief Patrick Farley said residents should assist the police by being vigilant and reporting suspicious activities.

Fort Lee Police Chief John Orso said residents should also be wary of flim-flam artists. Don’t pay for cash-on-delivery packages that you didn’t order, he added: Some nicely wrapped packages turn out to be empty.

For residents who will be vacationing out of town, Orso said the Fort Lee police, like those in several other communities, have a program in which homes are watched to protect them from burglars.

Emerson police Sgt. Ronald Micucci agreed, saying tough times make people more desperate.

Englewood Deputy Police Chief William Luciano said there are block associations in the city and that neighbors should also alert each other and perhaps leave keys when they will be gone for any length of time.

Other departments say to have neighbors take in mail and not to allow newspapers to pile up in front of your home.

The malls will be staying busy past Christmas Day so shoppers, especially the elderly, should watch their pocketbooks when shopping and walking to cars, police say.

TWO BOYS BADLY HURT IN RTE. 80 CAR CRASH

By Michael O. Allen, Record Staff Writer | Sunday, December 23, 1990

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

Two Fairview boys were seriously injured Saturday when the car they were riding in overturned after it was struck by another car, whose driver was charged with drunken driving by police.

A spokeswoman for Hackensack Medical Center said David Gandelman, 7, was in critical condition with head injuries, and his brother, Alan, 9, was in serious condition with unspecified injuries.

Their father, Vladimir Gandelman, 39, the driver of the car, and Zima Spevak, 52, their grandmother, were treated and released, the spokeswoman said.

Frank Farron, 32, of East Rutherford, the driver of the other car, was given a summons for driving while under the influence of alcohol, said state police Sgt. Robert Martin. Farron was not injured, Martin said.

The crash occurred about 6:45 a.m. on Interstate 80, near Exit 66 in Hackensack.

Both cars were eastbound when Farron, in the center lane, collided with Gandelman’s car as he tried to move into the right lane, Martin said.