By Michael O. Allen, Record Staff Writer | Sunday, March 22, 1992
The Record (New Jersey) | All Editions | NEWS | A01
A Mahwah police officer on Saturday shot and critically injured a 29-year-old man whose father had reported was drunk and firing shots in the basement of their home, Bergen County Prosecutor John J. Fahy said.
Police Officer Richard Kikkert shot Stephen Michael Megles of 83 Eastview Ave. after Megles pointed a .22-caliber rifle at the officer, Fahy said.
“The bullet hit him [Megles] in the left arm in the shoulder area, then traveled into the ribs, and into the abdomen area,” Fahy said.
Megles was taken in a helicopter to University Hospital in Newark, where he was listed in critical condition. Megles, a welder, was recently laid off and was depressed, his father told authorities.
Megles was charged with attempted murder of a police officer, possession of a weapon for an unlawful purpose, and illegal possession of a weapon.
The incident began about 1:10 p.m., when Stephen Megles Sr. called police.
Fahy said that when four officers arrived at the house a few minutes later, they heard loud music accompanied by the sound of gunshots coming from the basement.
Kikkert and police Lt. Thomas Brennan entered the house and tried unsuccessfully to persuade the younger Megles into giving up his gun, Fahy said.
“At a point in time, Officer Kikkert was on the landing at the top of the stairs, trying to get the defendant to come upstairs and put his gun down,” Fahy said.
Megles raised his gun to shoot, and the officer fired his 9mm pistol once, hitting Megles, Fahy said.
In the basement, the officers found an empty vodka bottle and evidence that Megles fired dozens of shots in the room, Fahy said.
The younger Megles was known to Mahwah police, but had not been convicted of a serious crime, Fahy said. He added that the father told police his son had fired shots in the house, of which they were the only occupants, several times before.
Kikkert has been with the Mahwah Police Department for four years. Before that, he spent 12 years with the Carlstadt Police Department. He had never fired his weapon on duty while on the Mahwah force, Police Chief Samuel Alderisio said.
Kikkert, 39, was scheduled to be off work the next four days. He will be on an additional four-day medical leave, after which he will undergo medical and psychological evaluation to see if he is fit for duty, Alderisio said. He would first be assigned to desk duty if he is found to be fit, the chief added.
The Megleses have an unlisted telephone number and could not be reached for comment. A relative living nearby declined comment.
ID: 17372151 | Copyright © 1992, The Record (New Jersey)