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Dec 14

NEIGHBORS AID TENANTS DISPLACED BY FIRE

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By Michael O. Allen, Record Staff Writer | Saturday, December 14, 1991

The Record (New Jersey) | Two Star B | NEWS | Page A04

Neighbors have begun raising money to help tenants of 6 Edison Place, who were displaced Wednesday by a fire that gutted the wood-frame, two-family house.

The fire was caused by an electrical malfunction, Detective Jerry Winston said Friday.

Robert Johnson, 65, jumped out a window of his second-floor apartment but was uninjured, Winston said. Joshua Favor, 16, was taken to Hackensack Medical Center with cuts on both hands and an injury to his right toe. Elviria Dewf also was taken to the hospital and was treated for smoke inhalation.

Favor’s mother, Luella, 39, Detective Sgt. Kenneth Felten, and police Officer Dennis Rivelli were treated at the scene for smoke inhalation. Firefighter Mario Rivezzi was treated for eye irritation.

Neither police nor fire officials could confirm how many people lived in the house.

Cheryl Chenier of 1 Edison Place said neighbors, in a door-to-door effort, collected about $300 for the families and have opened an account at the National Community Bank for boroughwide fund-raising.

The families are being lodged by the American Red Cross at Days Inn in East Rutherford.

Dec 14

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COPS CAST MASSIVE DWI NET

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By Michael O. Allen, Record Staff Writer | Saturday, December 14, 1991

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

More than 200 law enforcement vehicles were ordered onto the streets and highways of Bergen County on Friday night in a 12-hour campaign to get drunken drivers off the road.

Operation Eagle was launched at 6 p.m. and involved all divisions of the Bergen County Public Safety Department, the state police, and officers from each of the county’s 70 towns. It was the brainchild of John Pescatore, director of the county’s Highway Safety Office.

“The eagle may have landed on Friday the 13th, but the feathers will be flying for a long time to come,” Pescatore said, because the crackdown is to continue into January.

The effort’s cost will be covered through fines levied against people convicted of driving drunk, not by the taxpayers, Pescatore said.

The state police established a sobriety checkpoint in Rutherford, and 15 troopers were deployed on Interstates 80 and 95 and routes 3, 4, 17, and 208.

The Bergen County Police Department had 20 cars in the field; the Prosecutor’s Office 15. “DWI Task Force” decals were displayed on the vehicles.

Bergen County Prosecutor John J. Fahy said deterrence was the main focus. He said people tend to drink more during the holiday season, especially on weekends.

“If we end up with no arrests, I will be happy, because it would mean that we’ve had an impact,” Fahy said.

Dec 13

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TIP LEADS COPS TO ALLEGED DRUG DEALER

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By Michael O. Allen, Record Staff Writer | Friday, December 13, 1991

The Record (New Jersey) | 5 Star | NEWS | Page B07

Acting on an anonymous tip, city detectives have arrested a suspected drug dealer and a couple he had hired to sell crack and heroin for him, police said.

Frankie Lee, 28, of Berdin Place, Hackensack, was being held Thursday in the Bergen County Jail Annex in lieu of $25,000 bail.

Lee was charged with possession of cocaine, possession of cocaine with intent to distribute, possession of heroin and marijuana, and possession within 1,000 feet of a school, Deputy Police Chief John Aletta said.

Facing the same charges but released on $5,000 bail were Gregory Bease, 35, and his common-law wife, Brenda Bathes, 44, both of 370 Park St., Hackensack, police said.

The arrest occurred sometime after 10 p.m. Wednesday, the time that narcotics detectives received information that a drug rip-off would be taking place at the Park Street address, Aletta said.

Detective Sgts. Arthur Mento, Robert Wright, and Louis D’Arminio, who responded to the tip, pursued Lee after he left the apartment, Aletta said. Officers Thomas Foschini and Thomas Staron, in marked patrol cars, arrested Lee a few blocks down Park Street, he said.

The detectives arrested Bease and Bathes, seizing about 25 vials of crack, a bag of heroin, and assorted drug paraphernalia, he said. Further investigation revealed that Lee delivered the drugs to the couple so they could sell it for him, Aletta said.

Dec 12

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250 ATTEND DRUG ABUSE SEMINAR

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By Michael O. Allen, Record Staff Writer | Thursday, December 12, 1991

The Record (New Jersey) | 5 Star | NEWS | Page B02

In June, the state reclassified anabolic steroids as a Class 3 Controlled Dangerous Substance. The change placed anabolic steroids, a muscle-enhancer said to be making inroads among youths, under the umbrella of the state’s drug-free school zone law. Anyone caught distributing drugs near a school is subject to a mandatory prison sentence.

Educators and law enforcement officials in Bergen County gathered Wednesday to hear state and local representatives outline recent changes in drug laws and urge greater vigilance in identifying drug abuse.

Bergen County Prosecutor John J. Fahy, who sponsored the conference with the Bergen County superintendent of schools, emphasized cooperation between educators and law enforcement agencies.

The conference, which drew 250 to the Sheraton Heights hotel, is the second of its kind in Bergen County, and is an outgrowth of the New Jersey Statewide Narcotics Action Plan, developed in 1987 to enforce state narcotics laws on school properties.

New Jersey Deputy Attorney General Ron Susswein discussed recent changes in drug laws. In June 1991, for instance, the state reclassified anabolic steroids as a Class 3 Controlled Dangerous Substance. The change placed anabolic steroids under the umbrella of the state’s drug-free school zone law, Susswein said. Anyone caught distributing drugs within 1,000 feet of a school is subject to a mandatory prison sentence.

Thomas Bellavia, a Hasbrouck Heights doctor, said in an interview that anabolic steroids appear to have made inroads among students, including some as young as 15 years old.

Anabolic steroids are often used to increase muscle and body mass for improved athletic performance, he said.

Although steroids have medical applications, the use by teenagers is usually 10 to 40 times the usual medicinal dose, he said. The drug could cause adverse effects on the heart, liver, bones, reproductive organs, and skin, as well as on behavior, including causing severe aggressiveness. Bellavia said parents and educators should look for any sudden increase in body and muscle mass, severe acne, development of breasts, and loss of hair in both males and females.

Fahy said he hoped the conference would become an annual event.

Nov 28

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THANKS GIVEN TO DRIVERS; LAW ABIDERS PULLED OVER

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By Michael O. Allen, Record Staff Writer | Thursday, November 28, 1991

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

Cornell Adams of Hillsdale said he did not know what to think when Bergen County Police Sgt. Vincent DeRienzo told him to pull over on Route 17 in East Rutherford Wednesday morning.

“We thought they were just messing with folks,” Adams wife, Dejuanna, said.

Rather than a summons, DeRienzo handed the Adams family a bottle of non-alcoholic champagne and thanked them for wearing their seat belts.

In a twist, John Pescatore, director of the Bergen County Highway Safety Office, said police were stopping motorists who were wearing their seat belts on the day before Thanksgiving to thank them for obeying the law.

“We thought the best way to get people to wear their seat belts is to enlist the help of those people who are already wearing their seat belts to help us spread the message through word of mouth,” Pescatore said. “It is a positive reinforcement of a good habit.”

About 7 a.m. Wednesday, five officers from the Bergen County Police Department were out handing bottles of a sparkling apple drink imported from Spain to motorists at the Route 17 intersection with Union Avenue in East Rutherford. At the same time, three Mahwah police officers gave out bottles of a non-alcoholic sparkling wine from California at the Franklin Turnpike-Micik Lane intersection.

The champagne, 240 bottles in all, was donated by Goya Foods Inc. of Secaucus and Inserra Supermarkets Inc. of Mahwah.

On a frigid morning, as motorists drove through the rush-hour traffic, the officers would pick a driver at a red light. The drivers looked worried as they pulled over to spots designated by the officers.

A few took the offensive even before an officer spoke. One woman, speaking in rather clinical language, cursed at DeRienzo for stopping her. The officer waved her on.

“People go, `What did I do wrong? ” said Bergen County Police Officer Dwane R. Razzetti, a state-certified seat belt training officer. “Today, we are stopping cars that are properly inspected, where people are wearing their seat belts the opposite reasons that we normally stop cars.”

An exception was a 23-year-old Jersey City woman, who was stopped when an officer spotted her 2-year-old son lying in the front seat, not strapped in. The woman was given a child-restraint seat, instead of a summons.

Most drivers, when they opened their windows to hear the officers announce they were being stopped, were frowning.

“You know why we are stopping you ma’am? ” county police Officer Mark Solimando asked Carlstadt High School guidance counselor Marilyn Persico.

“No,” she answered, frowning.

“We stopped you because you are wearing your seat belt,” Solimando said. He handed her the bottle, and enjoined her not to drink and drive. He also gave her pamphlets with information on how to use seat belts and how to drive in winter conditions.

Like a flower blooming, her face lit into a full smile.

“This is nice,” she said, turning the bottle over in her hand. “This is nice.”

“Have a nice holiday, ma’am,” Solimando said, waving her on.

Caption: COLOR PHOTO – BOB BRUSH / THE RECORD – Officer Chris Zovistoski “citing” Patti Jacobson of Wallington.

Nov 27

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N.Y.C. GANG SUSPECTED IN ROBBERIES; ARE VICTIMS FOLLOWED HOME?

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By Michael O. Allen, Record Staff Writer | Wednesday, November 27, 1991

The Record (New Jersey) | 2 Star | NEWS | Page B01

A New York City gang that preys mainly on Hispanic business owners may be responsible for four robberies in Bergen County in which the victims sometimes were followed home from their firms in the city, authorities say.

In two incidents in Englewood and two in Teaneck, residents who own businesses in New York or their family members were robbed in their homes.

The robbers have been armed in three incidents, and the victims, who were not hurt, were Hispanic, police said. In the fourth attack, the victim was beaten in the basement of his home. It could not be determined whether he was Hispanic.

Teaneck police Detective Tom Sikorsky said Tuesday that there is a strong possibility that the attackers belong to a gang wanted by New York City police for about 100 robberies in the past year.

Township police developed the link when they talked to officers from the Bronx robbery task force about descriptions of suspects and the New York license plates on a brown Dodge used in a robbery on Darien Terrace, Sikorsky said.

“These men will not hesitate to use violence,” he said. “You have nothing to gain by resisting these guys. I will say just go along with the robbery.”

About 12:30 p.m. on Nov. 13, two men knocked on the door of the Darien Terrace home. When a woman baby-sitting her 10-month-old grandson peeked through the door, a man asked to be let in, saying he was a police officer. Three men entered and ransacked the home, taking jewelry, cash, and a videocassette recorder, Sikorsky said.

They were seen getting into a four-door, brown Dodge with New York license plates.

About a month before, three men identifying themselves as police officers to the owner’s mother entered a Cooper Avenue home and ransacked it. Sikorsky said police are developing an inventory of items stolen in the robbery.

Englewood police Detective Capt. C. Kenneth Tinsley said his department is following several leads, including the possibility that the victims were followed from New York.

About 12:45 a.m. on Nov. 8, a 63-year-old Englewood resident who worked in the city was beaten and robbed in the basement of his Windsor Road home and was hospitalized. Two gold rings and a brown briefcase were taken.

In September, three armed, masked men entered a Kenwood Road home whose owner worked in New York. They tied up the maid and the son of the homeowner, who was not present. They took $400, a videocassette recorder, and jewelry, but left without a safe that they ransacked the home looking for.

Police Detective Hector Beauchamp in the Bronx said descriptions and a composite drawing of a suspect in the Nov. 8 Englewood robbery fit a member of a gang from the Dominican Republic that has robbed several city business owners.

New York police have photographs of eight men who allegedly belong to one or more gangs of Dominicans believed responsible for the robberies, Beauchamp said.

The robbers, who are based in the Bronx and the Washington Heights section of Manhattan, also have followed victims to New Rochelle, N.Y., and Greenwich, Conn., where two weeks ago they pistol-whipped a money broker and stole more than $80,000, Beauchamp said.

Anyone with information is asked to call police. In Teaneck, call the detectives bureau at 837-2565 or Crimestoppers at 833-4222. To reach Englewood police, call 568-2700.

New York police have set up a 24-hour hot line at -(212) 822-5474.

Nov 24

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HUDSON MAN LEAPS FROM G.W. BRIDGE

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By Michael O. Allen, Record Staff Writer | Sunday, November 24, 1991

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

A 65-year-old Union City man left his car running on the George Washington Bridge on Saturday morning, climbed over two railings, and jumped, apparently to his death, Port Authority police said.

Police were withholding the man’s identity because his body had not been found, despite a three-hour search by the U.S. Coast Guard, a New York City Police Department marine unit and helicopter, and Port Authority police officers, said Port Authority police Lt. Gil Sadler.

Eyewitnesses reported that a New Jersey-bound car stopped midspan on the upper level about 8:50 a.m. They reported that the driver got out, climbed two barriers, and jumped into the river, Sadler said.

Port Authority police officers Robert Weckerle and Reggie Bates found a blue 1984 Audi parked near the spot from which eyewitnesses said the man jumped.

Police found several pieces of identification in the car and spoke to the family of the man.

Notes: Bergen page

Nov 24

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PASSAIC DRUG RAID NETS TWO ARRESTS

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By Michael O. Allen, Record Staff Writer | Sunday, November 24, 1991

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

Police in the City of Passaic said Saturday that they raided a cocaine-packaging shop on Third Street and made two arrests.

Late Friday night, officers armed with warrants searched three apartments at 155 Third St. controlled by Ana Marie Burgos, said Capt. Richard Wolak, Police Narcotic Squad commander.

Burgos, 37, who lives in one of the apartments, and Angel Domingo Laboy, 28, of Monroe St., Passaic, were arrested.

Wolak said officers found $4,100, cocaine valued at $20,000 in $20, $100, and $500 packages, and 4 ounces of loose cocaine. They found material to dilute cocaine, packaging equipment, scales, and screens, he said.

“What was unique about this is that in this one building they had three separate apartments and they would move the cocaine from apartment to apartment to avoid detection and apprehension. . . . They were stash pads, basically,” Wolak said.

Burgos and Laboy were each charged with possession of more than 5 ounces of cocaine, possession of cocaine with intent to distribute, distribution of cocaine within a school zone, and maintaining a drug-production facility.

Burgos was being held Saturday in the Passaic County Jail on $150,000 bail; Laboy was being held on $75,000 bail.

Two of the charges possession of more than 5 ounces of cocaine and maintaining a drug-production facility are first-degree offenses punishable by prison sentences of 25 years to life.

Notes: Passaic page

Nov 21

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TRACK WORKERS UNDER SCRUTINY; REGULATORS VOW BETTER CHECKING

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By Michael O. Allen, Record Staff Writer | Thursday, November 21, 1991

The Record (New Jersey) | 5 Star | NEWS | Page B03

The New Jersey Racing Commission plans to meet with state and federal agencies in a effort to tighten up its worker licensing procedures, after 70 Meadowlands Racetrack stable hands were taken into custody Tuesday as illegal aliens.

Bruno Verducci, assistant director of the commission, said Wednesday that except in obvious cases, Racing Commission workers cannot determine the authenticity of immigration papers presented by the workers.

Allen Kampel, a supervisory special agent for the Immigration and Naturalization Service, said most of the workers taken into custody obtained licenses from the commission by using false immigration papers. The workers need the state licenses before they can be hired by trainers.

The INS investigation has now shifted to the trainers, Kampel said. The agency will try to determine whether they knowingly hired illegal aliens.

Verducci said that he would meet with immigration officials and state police to talk about teaching commission workers how to do a better job of spotting bogus documents.

Describing the current procedure, Verducci said: “If there is ever a question as to the identity of the individual seeking a license, or the credentials that he presents, that person is refered to the state police racetrack unit that is lodged at the backstretch of the track. So, that is the safety valve. If they don’t come back, then you know.”

Although the state’s five racetracks check workers commission licenses, horse trainers like small businesses are responsible for ensuring that the stable hands they hire are authorized to work, Verducci said.

The INS recognizes that it is hard for employers to determine the authenticity of resident-alien ards ndth orkthiauments that people present to them, Kampel said. The INS would not hold them responsible if they could show they made good-faith efforts to determine whether the employees are legal.

In the next phase of the investigation, Kampel said, the INS will check whether the trainers knowingly hired illegal workers or checked their documentation. The 1986 Immigration Reform Control Act mandated that employers fill out a special form verifying that each worker is authorized to work in this country.

If it can be proved that the employers either knowingly hired illegal workers or did not fill out the form, the employers could be fined, Kampel said. Fines could range from a minimum of $250 per illegal worker in a first offense by an employer to a maximum of $10,000 per employee, he said.

Meanwhile, the 70 stable hands detained Tuesday by the INS, with assistance from the Bergen County Sheriff’s Department and state police, were released pending deportation hearings.

Most of the stable hands are Mexican.

Nov 20

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RAID AT RACETRACK; 70 SEIZED AS ILLEGAL WORKERS

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By Michael O. Allen, Record Staff Writer | Wednesday, November 20, 1991

The Record (New Jersey) | All Editions | NEWS | Page B08

Federal immigration officials on Tuesday seized 70 workers in a sweep of The Meadowlands Racetrack for illegal aliens, authorities said.

Immigration and Naturalization Service agents, working on a tip and after surveillance of the stable area, took 64 men and six women into custody during the 90-minute raid, INS Supervisory Special Agent Allen Kampel said.

The workers mostly grooms and walkers were finishing their workday, which started about 5 a.m., when the sweep began in the stalls and dormitories at 11:30 a.m. They were taken to the INS field office in Jersey City for processing.

Most of the 70 had false immigration papers that they had presented to the New Jersey Racing Commission, which then licensed them to work at the track, Kampel said.

Stable hands are employed by horse trainers, not The Meadowlands Racetrack or the New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority, said racetrack spokeswoman Ellen Harvey.

Those taken into custody Tuesday face detention and an administrative hearing to determine whether they will be deported, Kampel said.

“If a person does not have the authorization to live and work in the United States, we are mandated to enforce the law,” he said. “The main point of all of this is that we have the hope that American citizens and other people authorized to work here would be hired to do these jobs.”

Kampel said six of the workers had papers allowing them to be in the country but not to work. Four are juveniles, ages 14 to 16. A majority 64 are from Mexico, with two from Peru, two from Guatemala, and one each from Chile and the Dominican Republic, he said.

Workers who were checked and found to have legal papers milled around the stables Tuesday, watching warily as officers led friends and relatives away in plastic handcuffs. Many either could not speak English or said they couldn’t.

Johnny Ortiz, a 24-year-old groom, said fear of being turned in to the INS is a constant in the lives of the stable hands.

Ortiz, a U.S. citizen, said the workers have little or no education and often work seven days a week for $175 to $325 per week, depending on the trainer who hires them.

Almost all live in dormitories at the track, sometimes three or four to a room, Ortiz said. The rent-free, dormitory-style housing is provided by the sports authority for hundreds of stable hands.

Most of them send the money they earn home to the countries from which they came, Ortiz said.

“It’s a shame for me to see this happen to them, just for the simple reason that these people, they struggle so much,” he said. “I’ve had the pleasure of meeting a lot of people from other countries here.”

The agents were assisted in the raid by state police, Bergen County Sheriff’s Department officers, and U.S. Labor Department officials.

Nov 18

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N. BERGEN COP HELD ON DRUG CHARGES

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By Michael O. Allen, Record Staff Writer | Monday, November 18, 1991

The Record (New Jersey) | 1 Star | NEWS | Page A03

North Bergen Patrolman Michael Williams was suspended from the township Police Department on Saturday after he was arrested in Union City on drug charges, authorities said.

Williams was being held without bail in the Hudson County Jail on Sunday, following his arrest by members of the Jersey City Police narcotics squad.

Jersey City Police Sgt. Brian McDonough said Williams would face charges of cocaine possession, distribution, aggravated assault on a police officer, and resisting arrest. North Bergen Police Lt. Bruce McBreen declined comment on the case Sunday, but he confirmed that Police Chief Angelo Busacco had suspended Williams, 34.

About 7:30 p.m. Saturday, McDonough said, Williams bought about 5 grams of cocaine in three clear plastic bags at 61 Graham St., a Jersey City residence that the squad had under surveillance because neighbors had complained of drug activities there.

He drove up to the house, knocked on a window and was let in through a door, McDonough said. When he emerged moments later and left in a car occupied by a woman, the detectives followed in unmarked cars, later stopping Williams at 13th Street and Kennedy Boulevard in Union City.

Williams appeared nervous and informed the detectives he is a North Bergen police officer, McDonough said.

After he was placed in the back of one of the unmarked cars, Williams “became very abusive,” McDonough said, and “in a threatening manner, quickly pulled up his sweat shirt” to reveal a small revolver in a holster.

The officer disarmed Williams and retrieved the drug.

The detectives later executed a search warrant at 61 Graham St., where they arrested three people and recovered $3,029 and an undetermined quantity of cocaine.

Nov 17

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4 INJURED AS CAR SLAMS INTO STALLED VAN

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By MICHAEL O. ALLEN | Sunday, November 17, 1991

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

Four men were hurt, one critically, when an out-of-control car slammed into a stalled van as two men tried to help the van’s driver jump-start it.

Authorities are investigating why Reginald Nealy’s car, a 1991 Chrysler, careened into the other vehicles on Route 46 west, near Saddle Brook Mall, at about 5:50 p.m. Friday, Detective Sgt. Harry Reid said.

Nealy’s car crashed into the back of the disabled 1984 GMC van, pushing it 12 feet into the 1989 Hyundai being used to help restart it. The impact knocked down the van driver, Edward Nagle, 31, of 8 Central Ave., Stanhope, and ejected the Hyundai occupants: Kevin Kinsella, 37, of 340 S. Main St., Wharton, and Kent Erickson, 45, of 11 Sierra Court, Sayreville.

Nealy, 57, of 166 Van Buren St., Passaic, was in critical condition at Hackensack Medical Center with facial and internal injuries, a hospital spokeswoman said Saturday. Erickson was treated there and released, she said. Kinsella and Nagle were treated at Kennedy Memorial Hospitals and released, a spokeswoman said.

Reid, Saddle Brook Patrolman Robert McNally, the Bergen County fatal accident squad investigated the collision.

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