POLICE SEEK CLUES IN MAYWOOD MAN’S HIT-AND-RUN DEATH

By Kevin Kenney and Michael O. Allen, Record Staff Writers | Friday, December 21, 1990

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

Police turned to the public Thursday for clues in the hit-and-run death of a popular 50-year-old stock clerk whom they described as mildly retarded and epileptic.

“We’re really kind of desperate,” said Officer Joseph Sacco, a department spokesman. “We have nothing. That’s the problem. “

Sacco’s plea came after the death of Spencer Joseph of 151 Parkway, who was struck about 6:30 p.m. Wednesday as he crossed West Spring Valley Road near Edel Avenue.

The vehicle that struck him sped away, and police later responded to a report of a man lying in the road.

Joseph whose mother, Elizabeth, was killed in a 1972 house fire was walking from his house to the Forum Diner on Route 4 in nearby Paramus when the incident occurred, police said.

He was rushed to Hackensack Medical Center with extensive injuries to the lower part of his body, but was pronounced dead at 3:20 a.m. Thursday following surgery, the Bergen County Prosecutor’s Office reported.

“It happened at a busy commuter time, and we’re hoping somebody may have seen something,” said Sacco, adding that police were posting fliers around the accident scene to alert people to their investigation.

“Somebody had to see something. We’re hoping the person who did it, maybe they can come forward. Maybe they panicked.”

Joseph, a stock clerk at the IGA supermarket on West Pleasant Avenue, was described by his employer, Harry Tzimoulis, as a friendly, popular fixture at the store. “His father called me this morning,” Tzimoulis said. “Everybody is shocked in the store. We feel something missing.”

Tzimoulis said he could not recall how long Joseph had worked at the store, but that it was “a lot of years. ” Tzimoulis bought the store about a year ago.

“He was a fellow that everybody knew,” Tzimoulis said. “All the customers knew him by his first name. He helped everybody.”

Lt. Richard Price, who described Joseph as “mildly retarded,” said Joseph was also hit by a car in Hackensack about four years ago while riding his bike. Joseph suffered a fractured leg, said Price.

Price also said Joseph was taking medication for his epilepsy, but it was not known if that might have played a role in the accident.

Police urged anyone with information about the accident to call the borough Police Department at 845-8800 or the Bergen County Prosecutor’s Office Fatal Accident Investigation Unit at 646-3531.

COCAINE COURIER SUSPECT ARRESTED; HACKENSACK COPS TARGET N.Y.C. RING

By Michael O. Allen, Record Staff Writer | Friday, December 21, 1990

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

A 26-year-old Bronx man carrying cocaine for a New York City drug-trafficking ring walked into a trap Wednesday when he tried to sell an ounce of cocaine to narcotics officers, police say.

Ernesto Restrepo was being held in the Bergen County Jail in lieu of $20,000 bail on charges of possession of cocaine, possession of cocaine with intent to distribute, and possession of the drug within 1,000 feet of a school, police said.

The Hackensack police narcotics division also seized from the suspect a 1989 Ford Taurus equipped with a two-way radio, said Capt. John Aletta, chief of investigations. The New York-based drug ring uses such radios to communicate with potential customers, Aletta said.

The one ounce of almost pure cocaine was worth about $1,500, but its value could have ballooned when processed into other forms of the drug, Aletta said.

Members of the city detective and narcotics divisions began working on the case about a week ago when they received information about the ring’s operation in the area, Aletta said. He declined to tell the exact location of the arrest, but said it was in the area of 400 Hackensack Ave., near the Bergen County Vocational-Technical School.

After ordering the drug by radio and agreeing to meet the courier in a parking lot in the area, Detective Sgts. Michael Mordaga, Robert Wright, Allen Ust, and Walter Krakowski arrived at about 10 p.m. and arrested Restrepo at the conclusion of the transaction, Aletta said.

POLICE SEEK SUSPECT IN GUARD’S STABBING

MICHAEL O. ALLEN | Friday, December 21, 1990

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

Borough police are looking for a man who stabbed a department store security officer on the evening of Dec. 7.

The police are sending out a New Jersey State Police composite drawing of the man, described as in his mid-20s, about 5 feet 8 inches tall, and weighing about 180 pounds.

A store detective at Marshall’s department store at 370 Kinderkamack Road saw the suspect conceal merchandise under his coat and leave the store shortly before 8 p.m. Dec. 7, said Emerson Police Lt. Brian C. Yehle. The security officer chased the man and, after turning a corner, was assaulted, he said.

Yehle said anyone with information regarding the suspect should contact the police at 262-2800.

Caption: PHOTO – Suspect in Dec. 7 stabbing.

NJ TRANSIT TRAIN KILLS MAN IN MAHWAH

By Michael O. Allen, Record Staff Writer | Thursday, December 20, 1990

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

A man was struck and killed by a northbound NJ Transit train as he was lying on the railroad track Tuesday night, police said.

Mahwah police Lt. Jim Bartelli said police were not ruling the death a suicide at this time, adding that the identification of the victim would be withheld until it could be confirmed with the family. Bartelli gave no description of the victim, other than to say he was Hispanic.

The man was pronounced dead at the scene, Bartelli said.

The engineer of the train, which left Hoboken for Suffern, N.Y., at 10:15 p.m., applied the brakes and sounded a whistle as soon when he saw the man on the track, said Sandra Check, an NJ Transit spokeswoman.

“The person failed to move,” Check said. “There was just no way to stop.”

The accident occurred about 11:21 p.m., about 1 1/4 miles from the Ramsey station, Check said.

None of the 10 passengers and about five NJ Transit employees on the train was injured, Check said.

The passengers were put on a bus and taken to their destinations. The tracks in both directions were closed for about two hours, until emergency vehicles were cleared from the scene.

Bartelli said Mahwah police were trying to determine where the man was going and what he was doing on the track at the time of the accident.

“We have a tentative identity but we are not a hundred percent sure until we speak to next of kin,” he said.

LINK SOUGHT IN HACKENSACK DRUG BUST, N.Y. SHOOTINGS

By Michael O. Allen, Record Staff Writer | Wednesday, December 19, 1990

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

Police are investigating the connections between three people arrested in the city Monday and the victims of a shootout in New York that left two people dead and two in the hospital.

Acting on a tip from an anonymous caller, the Hackensack Police Narcotics Unit, assisted by the Bergen County Police Canine Unit, arrested Elizabeth Cuevas, 23, her brother-in-law, Jose Cuevas, 24, and Anselmo Pineda on drug and weapons charges at a house at 385 Summit St. at about 1:30 p.m.

Capt. John Aletta, Hackensack’s chief of investigations, said the house is owned by 28-year-old Juan Cuevas, Elizabeth’s husband. He was shot in the chest and lungs during what New York City police called a drug-related shootout Sunday.

Cuevas condition has improved from critical to stable, a spokeswoman at St. Luke’s-Roosevelt Hospital in New York City said Tuesday.

New York City police found the bullet-riddled bodies of four men, including Cuevas, in a basement apartment at 620 S. 147th St. shortly after midnight Sunday.

Two New York City men Ricardo Peguero, 25, of the Bronx, and Julio Olivero, 31, of Manhattan were dead at the scene, said Detective Joseph McConville, a New York police spokesman. Manuel Fortunato of Yonkers was in critical condition at Harlem Hospital.

Police said they found four 9mm automatic handguns in the apartment.

Those arrested in Hackensack and the victims in the New York City incident were part of a large-scale drug operation, Aletta said, adding that he expected to make more arrests.

New York City Police Detective Robert Nugent, the investigating officer, said the shooting was “definitely drug-related. ” He said the men moved as much as $200,000 a day in drugs.

Nugent said his investigation was continuing and that he was in contact with Hackensack police to check any New Jersey connections. Aletta confirmed that Hackensack and New York City police were in contact on the case.

Elizabeth and Jose Cuevas were charged with possession of drug paraphernalia and possession of a .45-caliber handgun. She was released from the Bergen County Jail on $5,000 bail, while he remained in jail with the same bail. Pineda also failed to post $5,000 bail on charges of possession of cocaine and possession of drug paraphernalia.

Aletta said an anonymous caller phoned the narcotics unit about noon Monday and told them about the New York shooting. He said the caller said he was to help move drugs out of 385 Summit St. because police were looking for the drugs and might come to the house.

The Narcotics Unit, including Police Chief William Iurato, Aletta, Detective Sgts. Michael Mordaga and Robert Wright, Sgt. Arthur Mento, and Detective Haywood Powell, went to the residence after getting a warrant, Aletta said.

Aletta said the police did not find drugs, but found the gun, scales used to weigh cocaine and heroin, drug-packaging bags, a 1988 Ford Thunderbird with a false gas tank, and a jacket made with bulletproof material.

The house was equipped with cameras in several rooms and two cameras in birdhouses on a tree in the back yard of the house, Aletta said.

COPS SEEK PAIR WHO ROBBED, TERRORIZED TEANECK RESIDENTS

By Michael O. Allen, Record Staff Writer | Wednesday, December 19, 1990

The Record (New Jersey) | Four Star B | NEWS | Page B10

Police are searching for robbers who, in two separate incidents, held a township woman at gunpoint in her home and injured an elderly couple.

The woman, who is 54, was unharmed by the two males who made her lie face down on the floor for about 30 minutes while they ransacked her Franklin Road home at about 6:20 p.m. Monday, police said.

On Tuesday, an elderly woman remained hospitalized after she and her husband were attacked last week in their East Cedar Lane home by two robbers. Police said the two incidents may have been committed by the same men.

In Monday’s incident, the assailants posed as salesmen and brandished a gun, described by the victim as silver with a wooden handle.

They rang the doorbell, then pushed past the woman, asking “Where is the money? ” After disconnecting telephones, they stole an ankle bracelet, wedding and engagement rings, and several necklaces worn by the woman.

They also made off with $50, two fur coats, a black leather coat, other pieces of jewelry, and several telephones, police said.

Police did not identify the victims of the Dec. 12 incident and have not determined what was stolen from their home.

The husband, 75, pulled into his driveway at about 9 p.m. Wednesday, let his wife out of the car, and then opened the garage door with a remote-control device, Sgt. Robert Adomilli said.

He was grabbed by the neck from behind as he got out of his car and was told not to turn around or else he would be killed, Adomilli said.

The assailants shoved the man to the ground, showing him a gun that looked like it was made of steel or silver, or covered with chrome, he said.

His wife, 65, came outside upon hearing the commotion, and was also pushed to the ground, punched, and kicked by one of the robbers, Adomilli said. She suffered a broken hip, Adomilli added.

Both victims were taken to Holy Name Hospital in Teaneck. The husband was released Monday, and his wife was transferred to Hackensack Medical Center, according to a nursing supervisor at Holy Name.

Adomilli urged residents with information about the crimes to call 837-2565 or Teaneck Crimestoppers 833-4222.

The department will accept anonymous tips, and people who provide information that leads to an arrest may earn a reward from Crimestoppers, a committee of local residents, Adomilli said.

TEANECK MAN CHARGED WITH BURGLARIZING SEVEN HOMES

By Michael O. Allen, Record Staff Writer | Sunday, December 16, 1990

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

A 20-year-old Teaneck man was being held on $35,000 bail Saturday, following his arrest the night before on charges of burglarizing seven homes.

Raphael DeJesus Diaz of 196 East Forest Ave., Teaneck, was arrested in a cordoned-off area of Sheffield and Grand avenues Friday by an officer, accompanied by a police dog, from the Bergen County Police Canine Unit.

Residents had reported two burglaries and a “suspicious person” in the area, Englewood Police Detective Robert Keane said. Police charged DeJesus with burglaries of seven homes, including the three Friday, and are holding him as chief suspect in about 30 burglaries, Keane said.

“This takes care of him, at least,” Keane said. “People in the community should be happy.

Unfortunately, there are others out there. They [the burglars] should know, with the canine unit out there, that they are going to be caught. “

Englewood police have strong evidence linking DeJesus to the burglaries, he said, although he did not elaborate.

The most recent wave of break-ins and burglaries to hit the city began in the East Hill section early in November, about a month after city police arrested a suspect in a series of burglaries in that area.

Most of the burglaries took place during the day, Keane said. County police assigned four officers from its canine unit to assist the city in the search, he said.

Physical descriptions of the suspects in the burglaries were similar, Keane said. The first sighting of a suspect was on Nov. 26 when a Linden Avenue resident saw a man inside his bedroom moments after he observed the same man ringing his doorbell.

Friday, a second floor apartment at 2080 Sheffield Ave., was broken into but the suspect did not take anything, Keane said. Shortly following this report, Englewood police received another report of a “suspicious person” coming out of an apartment at 25 East Sheffield Ave., he said.

County Police Officer Robert DiPalma, accompanied by the canine, arrested DeJesus near the site of the most recent apartments burglarized, Keane said.

Police recovered from DeJesus jewelry and coins later determined to have been stolen from 25 East Sheffield, Keane said.

Notes: Bergen page

HI-TECH LASER SNAGS SPEEDERS COPS EYE `TOTALLY ACCURATE DEVICE

By Michael O. Allen, Record Staff Writer | Saturday, December 15, 1990

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

Lead-foots and speed demons, beware.

New Jersey law-enforcement agencies are examining a laser speed-detection device that its manufacturer says will render radar detectors obsolete.

While radar emits a wide microwave beam, the new device uses a narrow, infrared laser beam that can be detected only after the target car’s speed has been measured. No longer will a motorist be able to argue,”Officer, are you sure you’ve got the right car?”

The device, made by Laser Technology Inc. of Englewood, Colo., can target a vehicle out of a group because of its narrow, 3.5-foot beam at 1,000 feet, compared with the radar-beam width of 200 to 400 feet at the same distance.

The Bergen County Prosecutor’s Office, several police departments from Bergen County, and one from Passaic County were at a demonstration of the device, which costs $3,625, in Fair Lawn on Friday. Earlier in the day, Mike Phippen, marketing director for the company, gave a demonstration to the state police.

“It’s amazing; it’s totally accurate,” said Oradell police Lt. Edgar Brennen. “The biggest hurdle that this thing faces is in the courts, and the fact that it has to be recognized as an accurate tool. Once the courts accept it, it will be all over.

Caption: PHOTO – ROBERT S. TOWNSEND / THE RECORD – Bergen County Police Officer Dwane Razzetti testing a new laser speed-detection gun on Friday.

2 NORTH CAROLINA MEN HELD ON GUN CHARGES AFTER CAR CHASE

By Michael O. Allen, Record Staff Writer | Friday, December 14, 1990

The Record (New Jersey) | One Star | NEWS | Page B04

Two North Carolina men were being held Thursday in the Bergen County Jail on gun-possession charges after police arrested them following a chase from Fort Lee to Teaneck on Route 95.

County police charged Solomon Dunston, 23, of Raleigh and Paul R. Mack, 20, of Durham with two counts of possession of a loaded firearm without a permit and assault on a police officer, Detective Steve Blehl said. Dunston, who was driving, also was charged with attempting to elude police. They were being held on $10,000 bail.

The arrest occurred in the southbound lanes of Route 95 at about 9:45 p.m. Wednesday after Bergen County Police Officers Stephen Georgevich and James Giblin noticed the suspects car weaving in and out of traffic, Blehl said.

He said the suspects at first stopped. But as Georgevich reached inside the car to get a driver’s license, the driver rolled up the window and drove off, with the officer’s hand stuck in the window, Blehl said. Georgevich ran alongside the car for about 15 feet before he was able to remove his hand, Blehl said.

Georgevich was not seriously injured, Blehl said.

The ensuing chase ended at the Bogota-Teaneck line when the officers forced the car off to the roadside, Blehl said. As they approached the car, the men threw out a .25-caliber semiautomatic handgun, he said, adding that police found a loaded 12-gauge shotgun during a search of the car.

MAN WAS STRANGLED, AUTOPSY REVEALS

By Michael O. Allen, Record Staff Writer | Thursday, December 13, 1990

The Record (New Jersey) | Four Star B | NEWS | Page B02

An elderly Bergenfield man whose son is charged with his murder was strangled by hand and with a rope or string, according to an autopsy report disclosed Wednesday. Robert Tillman, 73, was also struck about the face with a blunt object, had two broken ribs, and was missing a couple of teeth, but his death was caused by the strangulation, said Bergen County Assistant Prosecutor Sharyn Peiffer, head of homicide investigations.

Peiffer would not say what led investigators to Bruce Tillman, 31, who had lived with his father at 310 Phelps Ave. for about a month before the killing Sunday. Tillman was charged with murder Monday and was being held in the Bergen County Jail on $750,000 bail.

The criminal complaint against Tillman said undisclosed evidence found at the house led police to charge him.

Tillman and his brother, Robert Tillman Jr. of North Bergen, went to Bergenfield police Sunday night to report finding their father’s body in the house. A search of the crime scene found no sign of forced entry or robbery, Bergen County Prosecutor John J. Fahy said Monday. Robert Tillman Jr. was not charged.

Police said they believe the murder occurred about noon Sunday, following a “fierce altercation” between the father and son. The two men had bruises on their bodies, Fahy said.
Peiffer said authorities believe the elder Tillman sustained his injuries during the fight.