PAIR MAY BE LINKED TO 23 BREAK-INS; CHARGED IN NOV. 17 THEFT

By Michael O. Allen, Record Staff Writer | Sunday, December 2, 1990

The Record (New Jersey) | All Editions | NEWS | Page A46

Two men arrested during a domestic dispute were charged with theft and burglary for one of 23 recent break-ins in the city and are suspected of being involved in the others, police said.

Walter Wiggins, 36, of 230 Central Ave., Hackensack, and Howard J. Hutchinson, 30, of Englewood were to be transferred from Englewood to the Bergen County Jail on Friday.

Englewood Police Capt. C. Kenneth Tinsley said the men were being charged with the Nov. 17 break-in of a garden apartment at 530 Broad Ave. Tinsley said items stolen from the apartment were recovered from the two.

Patrolmen Tim Torell and George Austin Jr. were responding to a call Thursday night about threats to Hutchinson’s sister, Georgia, 32, at 9-22 Rock Creek Terrace, Englewood, where they arrested Wiggins and Hutchinson, Tinsley said. A 9-inch kitchen knife was found imbedded in a wall where Wiggins had been jabbing it, he said.

Tinsley declined to say how police were able to connect the men with the burglary.

Wiggins was being held on $10,500 bail on charges of unlawful possession of a weapon, making terroristic threats, theft, and burglary. Hutchinson, being held on $5,000 bail, was charged with theft and burglary.

SHOCKED EDUCATORS DEAL WITH SEX CASE; POLICE INVESTIGATE ACCUSED PRINCIPAL

By Michael O. Allen and Thomas Moran, Record Staff Writers | Sunday, December 2, 1990

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

As Bergen County law-enforcement officials continued their investigation of an elementary school principal accused of molesting pupils, Elmwood Park educators began scheduling counseling sessions for children and meetings with parents.

“To say that we were shocked would be an understatement,” said Michael Schill, president of the school board. “Our first and foremost concern has been the children, and that will always be our concern.”

Victoria Williams, Elmwood Park’s superintendent of schools, called a Monday meeting with parents to begin answering questions arising from the arrest Friday of Samuel R. Bracigliano, principal of the Gilbert Avenue Elementary school for 10 years.

Authorities say the alleged victims three boys, two age 11 and one age 9 are students at the school.

Bracigliano, who prosecutors said is single and lives with his mother in Elmwood Park, was accused of touching the buttocks of one student and taking photographs of three boys in “provocative poses” in his school office.

Law-enforcement investigators will review with school officials whether photographs and videotapes seized at Bracigliano’s home are those of former and current students at the school.

John J. Fahy, the Bergen County prosecutor, said parents who have questions or suspicions should call the Bergen County Sex Crimes Unit at 646-3600.

Williams said that at Monday’s meeting, which will be at 7 p.m. she will attempt to reassure parents that everything possible is being done to help the children.

Also Monday, counseling services will be made available to students and parents during school days for as long as they are needed, Williams said.

“We have a team of counselors, school psychologists, social workers, learning consultants, crisis-intervention counselors, and school nurses, and Bergen County personnel that will help us with this,” she said.

Except to express their shock and disappointment, several school trustees declined to comment on the situation. Many urged that the investigation be allowed to take its course.

Schill issued a formal statement, saying:

“The board suspended Mr. Bracigliano because that is the proper thing to do. We are not implying in any shape or form his guilt in this matter. He is suspended with pay. We want to get this cleared up as quickly as possible. Whether he’s guilty or innocent, the nature of the charges itself triggers a very strong reply.”

Fahy said his office acted swiftly when a parent of one of the alleged victims called to complain Thursday afternoon. Investigators armed with a search warrant seized boxes containing photographs and videotapes of young boys from Bracigliano’s home.

Bracigliano, an unsuccessful candidate for principal of Memorial High School this year, was arrested at about 7 p.m. Neither he nor his lawyer, Louis Mangano, a member of the school board, could be reached on Saturday.

Saturday, a woman who identified herself as the mother of one of the three boys allegedly photographed said the Prosecutor’s Office called her Thursday night and asked her to bring the boy in for to be interviewed.

She said her son told her he had been summoned to the principal’s office through the school intercom during his regular classes on Thursday, and he described what occurred inside the office.

Elmwood Park Mayor Richard A. Mola said that in the 20 years he has known Bracigliano, as a public official and an educator, “people have always held him in high regard.”

“I’ve never heard anything derogatory about him.”

BAIL RAISED FOR BROTHERS SUSPECTED OF ROBBERY

By Michael O. Allen, Record Staff Writer | Friday, November 30, 1990

Four Star B | NEWS | Page B03

A Municipal Court judge has increased bail to $125,000 each for two robbery suspects after police found about 150 vials of crack while searching their apartment for weapons used in the robbery, authorities said.

Rodney Wade Phoenix, 26, and Robert William Phoenix, 34, of 92 Shepard Ave., Teaneck, are being held in the Bergen County Jail on charges of robbery, resisting arrest, and possession of drug paraphernalia with intent to distribute within 1,000 feet of a school, police said.

Officer Colin Duff, while breaking up a fight between a Teaneck resident and the brothers at about 3 p.m. Monday, was struck on the back of his head and neck with a three-foot-long piece of wood by one of the brothers, police said.

The resident, Frank Fowler, 34, of 1158 Summit Ave., told police the Phoenix brothers had robbed him of $100 at knifepoint and gunpoint earlier Monday.

The incident started when Officer George Miros, standing at Teaneck Road and State Street, noticed Fowler being chased by the Phoenix brothers, police said. Fowler was carrying a two-by-four.

Miros stopped the brothers to question them. They told him they had settled a dispute with Fowler, and then ran north on Teaneck Road to Shepard Avenue, catching up with Fowler and fighting with him.

Fowler and Duff were struck by the brothers as Miros, Duff, and Sgt. Thomas Batchelor tried to break up the fight, police said. The brothers then ran away, but were arrested minutes later. Duff and Fowler were treated for their injuries at Holy Name Hospital and released.

Bail had been set at $100,000 on the armed-robbery charges. The bail was raised Wednesday.

The Phoenix brothers were out on bail awaiting trial for their part in a series of armed robberies in Teaneck and Paramus in March 1989, according to Bergen County Superior Court records.

MAN SEEKING GUN PERMIT FIRES SHOT AT BOROUGH HALL

By Michael O. Allen, Record Staff Writer | Thursday, November 29, 1990

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

A 33-year-old former resident waiting for a gun permit from the borough was arrested late Tuesday night after he shot at Borough Hall, police said.

Robert M. Teter of 351 River Road, Little Ferry, was charged with unlawful use of a weapon and with having a loaded semiautomatic rifle in his possession, Ridgefield Detective John Bogovich said.

Police Chief Lars N. Oyen said Teter had appeared “somewhat disoriented” when he came into into the police station earlier Tuesday to apply for a gun permit. He was told the police needed time to check his background before he could be given a permit, Oyen said. Teter had received a permit from the department several years earlier, the chief said.

“Interestingly enough, there was nothing in his background that would indicate a problem,” and a permit would have been issued on Wednesday, Oyen said. Bogovich said Teter moved to Little Ferry a week ago after seven years as a Ridgefield resident.

Bogovich said police received a call about a gunman who had shot at Borough Hall at about 10:40 Tuesday night. Police found Teter in his car near the railroad tracks on Edgewater Avenue, he said. Teter refused to put up his hands and keep them in plain view, and it took four officers to subdue him, Bogovich said.

The shot hit the front of building, to the north side of the front door, and missed a window near a police lieutenant’s desk, Oyen said. No one was in that office at the time, authorities said, but police were on duty in other offices in the building.

Teter had two bullets in the rifle’s magazine, one in the chamber, and 54 additional rounds of ammunition in his car, police said.

He was undergoing psychiatric evaluation at Bergen Pines County Hospital on Wednesday and was being held on $25,000 bail, Oyen said.

SUSPECT IS ARRESTED AS HE ASKS COP FOR AID

By Michael O. Allen, Record Staff Writer | Thursday, November 29, 1990

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

A 23-year-old Newark man allegedly trying to resell a stolen Cadillac to its owner apparently got lost on the way to consummate the deal and was arrested as he was about to ask a Teaneck police detective for directions.

Rosent “Nate” McCabe, 23, of 1863 Willberg St. told police upon his arrest that he was being a “good Samaritan” in returning the car.

But Detective William Grace said he and four plainclothes detectives, in unmarked cars, had been waiting at the home of the car owner for McCabe to arrive.

The owner, whom Grace declined to identify, told Teaneck police he had received calls from unidentified parties in Newark on Monday, telling him that they had bought the 1984 Cadillac Fleetwood and would sell it back to him for $1,500, Grace said. The owner had reported the car stolen in Newark on Saturday.

The owner negotiated the price down to $900, and a meeting was set up for between noon and 2 p.m. Tuesday.

Grace and the other detectives were waiting for McCabe when he drove north on River Road at about 2:30 p.m., past the owner’s house. Grace said he and the other detectives followed the car.

McCabe apparently realized he had gone too far when he reached River Road’s intersection with Riverview Avenue and began backing up, said Grace, who was directly behind the Cadillac.

Grace said McCabe was about to ask him for directions when McCabe approached his car.

“I got out and told him to put his hands on the hood of the car,” Grace said.

McCabe was charged with possession of the stolen car and was released from the Bergen County Jail Wednesday on $500 bail.

BURGLARY STREAK IN ENGLEWOOD; WAVE OF BREAK-INS IS 2ND OF THE SEASON

By Michael O. Allen, Record Staff Writer | Wednesday, November 28, 1990

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

One month after police arrested a suspect in a series of burglaries, the East Hill section of the city is again experiencing a wave of break-ins, including two in broad daylight on Monday, police said.

Most of the 22 burglaries happened during the day, while residents were away at work, Capt. C. Kenneth Tinsley said. Eight garden apartments and 14 homes were hit, he said.

Englewood detectives and patrol officers, with assistance from the Bergen County Canine Unit, swarmed the area Tuesday afternoon and will continue to patrol until a suspect is caught, Tinsley said.

“For the first time since the burglaries began in early November, we got a good description of this guy yesterday,” he said.

A Linden Avenue resident saw the suspect before his apartment was broken into about 3:30 p.m. Monday, Tinsley said.

The resident, who police declined to identify, said he looked out of his second-floor window after someone rang the doorbell. He did not recognize the person and, thinking the caller was a salesman, did not open the door.

“A few minutes later, he heard a noise in his bedroom. He went to investigate and he found the suspect in his bedroom,” Tinsley said. The burglar fled when he saw the resident.

Although police are waiting for a full list of items stolen in the burglaries, at least $14,000 in cash and $80,000 in jewelry, televisions, and videocassette recorders have been taken, Tinsley said.

A composite of the suspect will be drawn from the description given by the Linden Avenue resident, Tinsley said.

He urged residents, as a precaution, to remove air conditioners from windows and to leave lights on.
“This is the ideal time for burglars. It gets dark early. If you can, put lights on timers. Although this is occurring during the day, light is definitely a deterrent.”

Tinsley said the latest wave of burglaries is frustrating, since a suspect in about 40 cat burglaries in Englewood and three other Bergen County communities during September and October is behind bars. Celious Lee Harmon of Teaneck is being held without bail for violation of parole and faces burglary charges.

YOUTH WHO HAD GUN IN HIS LOCKER TO BE HELD

By Michael O. Allen and David Voreacos, Record Staff Writers | Wednesday, November 28, 1990

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

A 17-year-old Teaneck High School senior, arrested this week after officials found a loaded semiautomatic pistol in his locker, will be detained until a juvenile court hearing scheduled for Dec. 7, police said.

The student, whose identity was withheld by police, faces a juvenile delinquency charge of possession of a weapon within an educational institution, said Capt. Gary Fiedler.

He was arrested Monday morning and was being held Tuesday in the Bergen County Juvenile Detention Center in Paramus.

The student also has been suspended from school, said Judy Distler, a school spokeswoman who said she had no further information on any disciplinary measures.

Authorities were alerted to the location of the gun by Principal James DeLaney, who called police at 9:15 a.m. Monday after receiving a confidential tip, said a report written by Detective Frank McCall of the Youth Bureau.

McCall went to the school and, with DeLaney and Assistant Principal Joseph White, removed a California-made .380 Kurtz semiautomatic pistol from a first-floor locker. The gun was loaded with four bullets in a magazine and one in the chamber, McCall said.

Police were attempting Tuesday to determine how the youth got the gun, Fiedler said.
He said the senior has a police record but he would not elaborate on it.

POLICE REARREST DRUG SUSPECT, ACCUSE HIM OF PACKING COCAINE

By Michael O. Allen, Record Staff Writer | Saturday, November 24, 1990

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

A man who was freed on bail after his arrest on drug charges in Little Ferry last week has been rearrested on a more serious charge of operating a drug facility.

Agents of the Bergen County Narcotics Task Force said they were afraid that the suspect, a Dominican national, would leave the country.

Leonidas A. Paula, 21, of the North Village apartments was being held in the Bergen County Jail on Friday in lieu of $100,000 bail.

Paula was arrested Nov. 16 on cocaine distribution charges and was freed Monday on $25,000 bail.
Bergen County Prosecutor John J. Fahy said Friday that investigators had determined Paula “was more involved in drug activity than we had originally thought. ” He said they made the discovery while looking into his assets, and rearrested him Wednesday.

“We asked that he give up his passport and we raised the bail because we were afraid he might leave the country,” Fahy said.

Paula could face 20 years in prison and fines of up to $500,000 on the new charge, Fahy said.
Paula ran a lucrative and sophisticated drug-production depot out of his apartment, Little Ferry Police Chief Donald Fleming said Friday.

“He was a manufacturer. He got his cocaine pure. He would cut it, add the mixture to it, and package it in 1-gram packets and sell it, like candy bars,” Fleming said. “He worked six days a week, eight to 10 hours a day. At $70 per gram, if he made 10 deals a day, he made $700 to $1,000 a day, easy. That’s a minimum.”

Fleming said Paula had clients from Bergen and Hudson counties and New York City. He handed out calling cards to clients that listed a fictitious store, “Junior’s Apparel for Men and Women,” at the Paramus Park mall, Fleming said. An anonymous tip led borough police and county narcotics agents on a three-month investigation that ended with the Nov. 16 arrests of Paula and three alleged drug buyers.

Police said they found 15 ounces of cocaine, with a street value of about $20,000, in Paula’s apartment.

N.J.-CRUISING WHALE IS ESCORTED BACK TO SEA

By Michael O. Allen and Joan Verdon, Record Staff Writers | Thursday, November 22, 1990

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

A humpback whale with an unusual affinity for New Jersey waters was given a police escort out of the state Wednesday, after a brief visit to Newark Bay and the Hackensack River.

Whales commonly swim past the Jersey shore on their way to the coastal waters of Maine, but the 30- to 35-foot humpback with a black body and white flippers apparently likes the Garden State, said Bob Schoelkopf, director of the Marine Mammal Stranding Center in Brigantine.

Schoelkopf, who helped the state police marine unit guide the whale through New York Harbor on Wednesday, said the same whale visited the Delaware, Raritan, and Shark rivers two years ago.

The wayward whale was first spotted swimming up the Hackensack River on Tuesday afternoon by workers at a Public Service Electric and Gas Co. generating plant in Jersey City. Marine police boats did not spot the mammal again until 7:30 a.m. still in the Hackensack River.

Officer Bryan Stillwell of the state police marine patrol said police boats and workers from the Stranding Center formed a semicircle around the whale and revved their engines to encourage the animal, who risked being grounded as he swam up river, to move seaward.

The whale was escorted through the Kill Van Kull and New York Harbor and past the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge.

MAN, 27, IS CHARGED WITH DEATH BY AUTO

By Michael O. Allen, Record Staff Writer | Thursday, November 22, 1990

The Record (New Jersey) | All Editions | NEWS | Page A76

A 27-year-old Jersey City man has been charged with death by auto stemming from an alleged drag race with a Plainfield youth that killed a Ridgefield woman.

Franco Castella of 135A North St. was also charged with assault with an automobile and driving on a suspended license, stemming from the Nov. 7 crash on Tonnelle Avenue in North Bergen, said North Bergen Police Officer George Alburtus.

Castella, whom police originally identified as Antonio Castella, was released on $1,000 bail following his arrest Tuesday, police said.

The Plainfield youth, who is 17, was charged on Tuesday with the same felony counts that Castella faces. The teenager, whose identity is being withheld by police because of his age, also faces a charge of driving without a license.

He remained in stable condition at the Jersey City Medical Center Wednesday.

Alburtus said at least one more person involved in the pileup on Tonnelle Avenue and 49th Street faces motor-vehicle violation charges. Allen Betancourt, 19, of Piscataway will be charged with allowing an unlicensed driver to operate a motor vehicle and allowing people to sit in a compartment not designated for passengers.

Betancourt borrowed the red 1985 Porsche, driven by the 17-year-old, from its owner, and was one of four people packed into the two-seater when the accident occurred, Alburtus said.

Carmela Berardo, 49, of 414 Abbott St., Ridgefield, was killed instantly when the Porsche crossed into the northbound lane of Tonnelle Avenue and struck the car she was riding in. Her husband, Florindo, who was driving, suffered a broken right foot and facial abrasions. His mother, Michelina Berardo, 69, broke both legs, suffered a fractured skull, and remained unconscious in critical condition at St. Vincent’s Hospital in New York City on Wednesday.