By Michael O. Allen, Record Staff Writer | Sunday, February 2, 1992
The Record (New Jersey) | All Editions | NEWS | A08
About 100 Englewood youths armed with sticks, stones, and bottles converged on a Teaneck High School dance, but were met by an almost equal number of police officers who quelled a near-riot.
Breaking up sporadic fights at the flanks of crowds and keeping most of the youths apart on opposite sides of Teaneck Road, officers Friday night eventually herded the Englewood youths north into Englewood to put an end to the incident, said Lt. William Broughton, head of the Teaneck Police Department Youth Bureau.
Three juveniles from Hackensack, Englewood, and Teaneck taken into custody were released to the custody of parents or guardians about 1 a.m., he said. Andre Devon Perrin, 18, of West Hudson Avenue, Englewood, was arrested. He was charged with possession of a weapon for unlawful purpose, rioting, and resisting arrest, Broughton said.
Perrin, who had a heavy 18-inch fire hydrant wrench when he was arrested, was in the Bergen County Jail on Saturday on $7,500 bail, he added.
Broughton, who was injured when he was hit on the head by a piece of thrown metal, said the only other injuries were to Detective Dean Kazinci, who was hit on the shin with a bottle, and Sgt. Mark Tiernan, who suffered bruised ribs. Neither was taken to a hospital, he said.
Broughton said he did not know why the Englewood youths came to Teaneck, but said they may have been retaliating for a past incident or some perceived slight by Teaneck youths. Sgt. Robert Adomilli said there may have been a dance at Englewood’s Dwight Morrow High School.
“The type of behavior we saw last night is not going to be tolerated by the Teaneck Police Department or the residents of Teaneck,” Broughton said Saturday.
Also responding were about 75 to 100 police officers from the Dumont, Bergenfield, Englewood, Tenafly, Haworth, Palisades Park, Paramus, and Bergen County departments, he said.
Uniformed Teaneck officers went to the corner of Washington Place and Sunrise Terrace about 10:45 p.m., as the Teaneck dance wound down, on a report from residents that youths were fighting, Adomilli said. Officers saw a group of youths but did not see any fighting, he said.
The students at the dance, meanwhile, were told to stay at the school.
A few minutes later, police cars blocked off the Margaret Street bridge when they heard a report that a large group of youths were headed into the township from Englewood.
Police soon heard another report that another group of Englewood youths was coming from Forest Avenue.
“At that point, we knew they were coming to the high school,” Broughton said.
Despite discouragement from police, Adomilli said, a group of about 60 Teaneck youths formed and was ready to meet the Englewood youths.
“It’s a fortunate thing we were there, in the number we were there,” Adomilli said. “I’m telling you, somebody would have gotten hurt. . . . It was very bad scene. We got good support from the surrounding towns.”
Michele March, a member of the Concerned Citizens of Teaneck, was at the scene with her husband, Curtis, who was a chaperone at the dance, helping police calm the youths.
March expressed frustration at what appear to be continuing fights between rival youths in different local communities, especially between Teaneck, Englewood, and Hackensack youths.
“You know what I see? I see a lot of nice kids who just need somebody to point them in the right direction, to tell them that this is not what we are about as black people,” March said.
March commended the police for their professionalism, quick response, and the efficient manner in which they quelled the incident.
“There is a total misfocus here on racism; it’s a black-on-black thing,” she said. “This is a thing that the black community has to solve for itself. We have to reach out to our kids and tell them that we love them, but that we do not accept this kind of behavior; that it is not a way for them to enjoy their future, that they might end up dead or injured.”
Notes: Bergen news page
ID: 17367659 | Copyright © 1992, The Record (New Jersey)
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