INMATE CLAIMS INJURY BY GUARD DOG; Attack in food protest charged

By Michael O. Allen, Record Staff Writer | Saturday, January 25, 1992

The Record (New Jersey) | One Star | NEWS | Page A04

A Bergen County Jail prisoner claims he was injured when he was subdued by a police dog during an inmate protest over food.

Another inmate said the prisoner was bitten by the officer’s dog, but Sheriff Jack Terhune would say only that he assumed the inmate was bitten, because he needed medical attention.

Inmate Gary Jones, 32, said in a call to The Record that he saw a guard dog bite Gregory Cannell on Jan. 11 during a melee that ensued when several inmates dumped their food trays in protest over the portions they receive at mealtime.

Terhune said Thursday that Cannell received medical attention after he was taken into custody with the assistance of the guard dog. Cannell, 26, of Union City, was then returned to an isolation cell because he and Howard Tucker, 19, of Newark, face a charge of assault on a law enforcement officer in the disturbance, Terhune said.

Cannell was one of several inmates who tried to push past a corrections officer into a hallway after about 10 inmates had dumped their trays, Terhune said. Several officers responded to the correction officer’s call for assistance, he added, declining to say whether anyone else was hurt.

Jones was one of five inmates who called The Record around midday on Jan. 11, before the disturbance later that afternoon, to say they were on a hunger strike in protest of their meal portions, and of general conditions. Jones reported the incident to The Record several days later.

The state Department of the Public Advocate, which is representing the jail inmates in a suit to reduce overcrowding at the jail, is looking into the incident and may have the inmates involved testify at a hearing next week.

Assistant Deputy Public Advocate Audrey Bomse said she was aware of the incident but had not received a report from either side. The charges of assault filed against the two inmates were not surprising, Bomse said.

“I’m not going to prejudge this. Sometimes that is the case, but sometimes it is also used as justification for the use of excessive force upon inmates,” Bomse said.

Keywords: BERGEN COUNTY; PRISON; ANIMAL; ASSAULT

Notes: Cut in late editions.

K-9 DOGS UNLEASH THEIR SKILL

By Michael O. Allen, Record Staff Writer | Sunday, September 15, 1991

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

All systems were go as Rex, a Bergen County Jail patrol dog, prepared to search six white boxes in a Ridgefield Park field for a man hiding inside one of them.
The dog, a German shepherd, was restless panting and barking ceaselessly as he waited on a leash with his handler, Bergen County Sheriff’s Department K-9 Officer Ray Noll.
“That shows that he’s happy, he wants to go,” Noll said.
Rex and 18 other dogs German shepherds and Rottweilers from New Jersey, New York, and Pennsylvania police and corrections departments were competing in the open division for trophies and certification in Saturday’s United States Police K-9 Association competition at Ridgefield Park Junior-Senior High School. In the novice division, 23 dog-and-handler teams are competing.
In continuing competition today, both divisions are to take part in apprehension drills. The Bergen County Sheriff’s Department and Ridgefield Park police are the sponsors and hosts of this year’s competition.
Donald J. Bartel, senior judge and a K-9 training instructor with the Smithsonian Institution, said the 42 teams, including seven from the Bergen County Sheriff’s Department, represented the largest field ever to compete in the event.
When used properly, dogs can be a more effective law-enforcement tool than firearms, Bartel said.
“We have a saying in K-9 that we can call our dogs back,” he said with obvious satisfaction at his own wisdom, “but you can’t call back a bullet.”
Rex, third last year in the open division, was running hard Saturday, scoring 109.6 points out of a possible 120 in obedience, 33 out of 60 in agility, and 66.8 out of 70 in article search. Then, to much yelping and barking and some cheers, and with three judges looking on, he sniffed out a “suspect” hiding in one of the boxes.
“He’s a totally sociable animal,” Noll said. “My family plays with him all the time.”

Keywords: ANIMAL; RIDGEFIELD PARK; CONTEST

Caption: PHOTO – STEVE AUCHARD / THE RECORD – Officer Ted Yarrish of the Passaic County Sheriff’s Department with Ryder, a canine member of the department, at K-9 dog competition in Ridgefield Park.

SEAL SIGHTED IN HACKENSACK RIVER; MAMMAL EXPERT SAYS TO JUST LET IT BE

By Michael O. Allen, Record Staff Writer | Monday, December 10, 1990

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

“Elvis” resurfaced Sunday on the Hackensack River.

This Elvis was not the king of rock-and-roll, but a gray-colored seal first spotted Saturday afternoon by two Fairleigh Dickinson University students. The students promptly named the seal Elvis.

The seal, about 2 1/2 feet long, perched itself atop a log Sunday afternoon, preening and sunning itself for several hours as onlookers stared at it in amazement.

Charlie Mataski, who said he worked for an environmental company that did a water-quality test on the river not too long ago, said the seal appeared to be healthy.

“Look how peaceful he is,” Mataski said. “He’s more relaxed than we are. “

Teaneck Patrolman Walter Haase said the dispatcher did not believe him when he radioed in the report that there was a seal in the water.

Seth Weisleder, 18, a freshman FDU student, said he and a roommate saw the seal about 1 p.m. Saturday. They became worried about its safety when they returned from errands three hours later and found the seal still in the water near the campus.

“We contacted the New York aquarium,” Weisleder said. “We didn’t know who else to call.”

They were told to call the Marine Mammal Stranding Center in Brigantine.

Robert Schoelkopf, director of the center, said it is not unusual for seals to turn up in New Jersey waters.

“Last year we handled 18 seals at our center and handled over 50 calls in the New Jersey area, and we expect more this year,” Schoelkopf said.

Humans pose the greatest danger to the seals, he said.

As long as the seal is free-swimming and does not appear to be in any obvious distress, it should be left in the water, Schoelkopf said. It is illegal even for the stranding center to try to capture the seal if it is not injured, he said.

Under a federal harassment law, it is illegal to throw objects at such an animal. On Sunday, a man was throwing a tennis ball at the seal.

“Direct contact is a no-no. Do not approach the animal. Keep a safe distance,” Schoelkopf said. “The animals are wild. They are not puppy dogs. “

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.

NEIGHBORS SPAT GETS OUT OF HAND

By Michael O. Allen, Record Staff Writer | Saturday, October 27, 1990

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

A 31-year-old borough man was arrested Friday after he pointed a rifle at his neighbor’s head and then fought over the gun with him, police said. A shot was fired during the struggle.

Police Lt. Steven Nienstedt said the incident occurred early Friday morning when Jack Gordon of 135 Sylvan St. was confronted by neighbor Brian Murray of 121 Sylvan St., who objected that Gordon’s dog kept disrupting a party he was attending at 80 Highland Cross.

The third time Gordon went to retrieve the dog, Nienstedt said, Murray met him at the gate, and the men exchanged words.

Gordon then went into his house and returned with the rifle, placing its barrel on Murray’s forehead, Nienstedt said.

“I think we’ve got a problem here,” Gordon said, according to the police report.

Nienstedt said Murray and Gordon then struggled over the gun for about 30 seconds, during which the gun discharged. Neighbors called police, who arrested Gordon and seized the gun.

Gordon was charged with aggravated assault and possessing a firearm with the intent to use it unlawfully, Nienstedt said.

The lieutenant said it was unclear whether noise from the party disturbed Gordon, or whether he purposely released the dog. No one at the Rutherford police station received complaints of excessive noise from the party, he said.