COPS SEEK PAIR WHO ROBBED, TERRORIZED TEANECK RESIDENTS

By Michael O. Allen, Record Staff Writer | Wednesday, December 19, 1990

The Record (New Jersey) | Four Star B | NEWS | Page B10

Police are searching for robbers who, in two separate incidents, held a township woman at gunpoint in her home and injured an elderly couple.

The woman, who is 54, was unharmed by the two males who made her lie face down on the floor for about 30 minutes while they ransacked her Franklin Road home at about 6:20 p.m. Monday, police said.

On Tuesday, an elderly woman remained hospitalized after she and her husband were attacked last week in their East Cedar Lane home by two robbers. Police said the two incidents may have been committed by the same men.

In Monday’s incident, the assailants posed as salesmen and brandished a gun, described by the victim as silver with a wooden handle.

They rang the doorbell, then pushed past the woman, asking “Where is the money? ” After disconnecting telephones, they stole an ankle bracelet, wedding and engagement rings, and several necklaces worn by the woman.

They also made off with $50, two fur coats, a black leather coat, other pieces of jewelry, and several telephones, police said.

Police did not identify the victims of the Dec. 12 incident and have not determined what was stolen from their home.

The husband, 75, pulled into his driveway at about 9 p.m. Wednesday, let his wife out of the car, and then opened the garage door with a remote-control device, Sgt. Robert Adomilli said.

He was grabbed by the neck from behind as he got out of his car and was told not to turn around or else he would be killed, Adomilli said.

The assailants shoved the man to the ground, showing him a gun that looked like it was made of steel or silver, or covered with chrome, he said.

His wife, 65, came outside upon hearing the commotion, and was also pushed to the ground, punched, and kicked by one of the robbers, Adomilli said. She suffered a broken hip, Adomilli added.

Both victims were taken to Holy Name Hospital in Teaneck. The husband was released Monday, and his wife was transferred to Hackensack Medical Center, according to a nursing supervisor at Holy Name.

Adomilli urged residents with information about the crimes to call 837-2565 or Teaneck Crimestoppers 833-4222.

The department will accept anonymous tips, and people who provide information that leads to an arrest may earn a reward from Crimestoppers, a committee of local residents, Adomilli said.

TWO SOUGHT IN ROBBERY TRY; WOMAN PUNCHED IN FACE

By Michael O. Allen, Record Staff Writer | Sunday, December 9, 1990

The Record (New Jersey) | All Editions | NORTH CENTRAL BERGEN/YOUR TOWN RECORD | Page 3

Composite drawings of suspects in an attempted robbery of a borough woman at a Discmart record store three weeks ago are being circulated in Bergen County.

Police are asking anyone with information to contact the department.

The victim, who police declined to identify, gave police a description of her alleged assailant, and an eyewitness gave police a description of a man who drove the getaway car, said River Edge Police Lt. Ron Starace, chief of the detective bureau.

The incident occurred about 12:30 p.m. Nov. 23 in the parking lot of the record store, off Route 4 east in River Edge, Starace said. The suspect allegedly ran up behind the woman, grabbed her pocketbook, and, when she resisted, punched her in the face several times and knocked her to the ground.

Starace said the woman suffered deep bruises to her face that required received medical treatment.

Police describe the man as Hispanic, in his early 20s, about 5 feet 5, slim to medium build, with dark brown hair shaved short on both sides. He was wearing a light blue jacket and a baseball cap.

The man then got into what witnesses said was a new, light tan-colored Ford Taurus occupied by three other Hispanic males and escaped, Starace said. The driver of the getaway car was described as a man, 26 to 30 years old, average height, bushy dark brown hair, thin mustache, and goatee.

Starace said similar incidents were reported in East Rutherford and Fort Lee the same day as the River Edge attack, with the same description of suspects and vehicle.

Anyone with information should contact the River Edge Police Department at 262-1233.

Caption: PHOTO – Police issued sketches showing the alleged driver of a getaway car, left, and the suspect in the attempted robbery of a borough woman.

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.”

POLICEMAN’S ELBOW SLAMMED IN CHASE

Michael O. Allen, Record Staff Writer | Wednesday, November 14, 1990

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

A borough police officer was injured Monday evening when a suspect he was chasing allegedly slammed the door of a house on his elbow, police said.

Anthony Masucci of San Francisco was charged with aggravated assault, resisting arrest, and disorderly conduct, and was released on $6,000 bail, said Cliffside Park Detective Sgt. Donald Umland.

Umland said the injury is expected to keep Officer Frank Biasco out of work for three weeks.

The incident occurred about 5:45 p.m., when Biasco came upon a 1972 Chevrolet pickup that he thought was abandoned on Lafayette Avenue, Umland said. He said Biasco found that its registration had expired.

Masucci, who walked up and identified himself as the owner of the truck, became angry when Biasco asked him about the registration, Umland said.

Biasco requested assistance, and was joined by a Fort Lee patrolman and a Fairview police officer.
Umland said Masucci, 34, fled on foot, running up the driveway of a residence at 42 Lafayette Ave., and slammed the side door on Biasco as the officer chased him.

The other officers then wrestled with Masucci as he came out of the front door of the house, and arrested him, Umland said.

DAD HELD GIRL HOSTAGE BEFORE, COPS SAY

By Michael O. Allen, Record Staff Writer | Wednesday, November 7, 1990

The Record (New Jersey) | Four Star B | NEWS | Page B02

A 32-year-old Teaneck man who shot a neighbor Sunday night and then held his young daughter hostage as “protection” from police used the child the same way in an incident this spring, police said.

As he did Sunday, Shawn Thompson released then 16-month-old Jasmine after a dispute with his wife on June 19 over custody of the child, police said.

Police defused that situation without harm to anyone.

Thompson did not threaten to harm his daughter in either incident, according to police reports.

On Sunday night, Thompson allegedly shot Earl Johnson, a neighbor who apparently was attempting to mediate a dispute between Thompson and his mother.

Johnson, 29, was in critical condition at Holy Name Hospital with a neck wound Tuesday, a hospital spokeswoman said. Doctors repaired Johnson’s right jugular vein, but were unable to remove the bullet.

Thompson was being held in the Bergen County Jail Tuesday on $50,000 bail. Teaneck police charged him with aggravated assault and possession of firearms.

The shooting occurred after Hazel Thompson asked police to remove her son from the home they shared at 51 Garden St., police said.

Mrs. Thompson; her companion, Ernest Walters; her father; Jasmine; and Johnson, who lives across the street from the Thompsons at 44 Garden St., were in the house when police arrived.

Both Johnson and Walters had tried unsuccessfully to talk Shawn Thompson into leaving the house, police said.

Johnson took Mrs. Thompson’s father to his home across the street. Mrs. Thompson then left with police to seek a restraining order.

Moments later, police learned that someone had been shot at the house. Johnson had somehow left the house and was taken to the hospital, police said. Thompson had taken his daughter and was talking to police.

“This is one step higher than the last time, and I’m going to take it one step higher,” Sgt. Fred Ahearn said Thompson told him on the phone. “I’m not going to jail, and I know my daughter is my protection.”

But after talking with a relative and with Capt. Gary Fiedler, Thompson released the child and surrendered.

Police, armed with a search warrant, found two rifles, two handguns, and ammunition when they searched the house.

In the June incident, police said Thompson had a dispute with his wife, who had threatened to take the child away.

Thompson, who had taken Jasmine after the dispute, held police at bay for a short time, but then released her to an aunt. He was not charged.

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.

STABBED TEANECK YOUTH IS STILL LISTED AS CRITICAL

By Michael O. Allen and David Voreacos, Record Staff Writers | Friday, October 5, 1990

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

A township teenager who was stabbed near Teaneck High School on Wednesday remained in critical condition Thursday, while his alleged assailant was ordered held on $50,000 bail.

Christopher Rose, 18, was recovering from surgery to repair a thumb-size hole in his heart, but his vital signs were unstable, said a spokeswoman for Holy Name Hospital in Teaneck.

His alleged attacker, Kurt Crosdale, 18, of Hackensack was arraigned Thursday in Teaneck Municipal Court on charges of aggravated assault and assault with a deadly weapon. He was being held in the Bergen County Jail.

Teaneck police said Crosdale stabbed Rose about 3 p.m. because of a feud between the youths.

“It’s unclear whether the assailant came specifically looking for Rose,” said Teaneck Detective Sgt. William Oriol.

Dr. Mahmud Bangash, a cardiovascular surgeon at the hospital, said he repaired a hole in Rose’s heart left by the knife. Bangash said Rose’s heart stopped beating four times and had to be electrically stimulated.

“He’s not out of the danger yet, but every day of improvement will be in his favor,” said Bangash.

Oriol gave the following account: Rose and a friend were walking in the middle of Margaret Street toward the school when Crosdale drove by, saw Rose, and stopped. Crosdale was clutching a large knife when he emerged from the car and exchanged words with Rose. He then stabbed Rose in the chest.

Crosdale told police that he believed Rose was reaching for his rear pocket as if for a weapon, but police found none.

Crosdale told police that Rose had thrown him out of a party in Teaneck about two weeks ago, Oriol said.

The detective said Wednesday that Crosdale told him he had been stabbed in a fight in Englewood several weeks ago. Crosdale believed that one of Rose’s friends had committed the stabbing, Oriol said, adding that Englewood police have no record of the incident.

Although Wednesday’s incident was the latest in the rivalry among Teaneck, Hackensack, and Englewood youths, Oriol said it is unlikely the stabbing would spur more violence.

“I don’t think there is going to be any retaliation because we made an arrest right away,” Oriol said. “He’s in jail. There’s nobody to go after.”

Rose graduated from Teaneck High School in June, and Crosdale is a senior at Hackensack High School.

Caption: PHOTO – CHRISTOPHER ROSE, In 1990 yearbook photo

CABBY NABS HIT-AND-RUN SUSPECT; TRAPS CAR HE SAW STRIKE PEDESTRIAN

By Michael O. Allen, Record Staff Writer | Thursday, September 13, 1990

The Record (New Jersey) | Two Star | NEWS | Page A01

A cabby who witnessed a hit-and-run accident that injured an elderly pedestrian Wednesday pursued the fleeing driver and repeatedly tried to talk him into returning to the scene.

But Peter Byrne of Ridgefield Park, who works for Mr. Taxi Yellow Cab Co. of Hackensack, said the youth kept pulling away, so he continued to follow him.

Finally, at Harvey Avenue in Rochelle Park, he bumped the youth into a corner driveway and blocked him off as a state police cruiser that also was involved in the chase pulled up. A 17-year-old Hackensack youth, whom authorities declined to identify because of his age, was arrested.

Byrne said he had just dropped off passengers at about 1:40 p.m. when he saw the youth’s car strike Arthur Dehardt Jr. as he crossed West Passaic Street in Rochelle Park. The Bergen County Prosecutor’s Office said the youth ran a red light at the intersection.

Dehardt, 77, of Rochelle Park, was taken to Hackensack Medical Center with head and rib injuries and was in stable condition Wednesday, authorities said.

“The driver pulled up on the sidewalk, looked at him, and then took off,” Byrne said. “I thought he was going to stop. Then when he pulled away I pulled up next to him and said, `Hey, where you going? You just hit the man. But he just took off. So I made a U-turn and just went after him. “

Byrne, 46, who started working for Mr. Taxi 11 months ago after 25 years as an offset printer, said he kept after the youth, trying unsuccessfully to get him to go back.

After chasing him for about a mile, and jumping out at red lights to urge him to return to the scene, Byrne said he bumped the rear of the youth’s station wagon and forced him into the driveway.

The youth was charged with driving without a license, leaving the scene of an accident, reckless driving, and disregarding a traffic signal. He was driving his mother’s car, authorities said.

Rochelle Park Police Chief William Betten called Byrne a hero.

“We are extremely pleased with the efforts and cooperation [of Byrne] because it was his effort that resulted in the arrest of this hit-and-run driver,” Betten said. “He deserves all the credit he can get. “

Byrne said he did not consider himself a hero.

“I feel like I’ve just done something that anybody would do,” said the cabby.

Caption: PHOTO – PETER BYRNE, Shuns hero label

2 CHARGED IN CITY BURGLARIES

By MICHAEL O. ALLEN | Friday, September 7, 1990

The Record (New Jersey) | Four Star B | NEWS | Page A01

Two homeless men were charged with three city burglaries after police caught one of them after he emerged from a second-floor window with stolen money, police said.

Pedro Cordeiro, 20, and Frank Hidalgo, 22, were to be sent to the Bergen County Jail on Thursday on $2,500 bail.

Cordeiro was caught stepping onto a ladder after emerging from the window of a Hudson Street home. He was found with $154.90 allegedly stolen from the residence. Officers Richard Melber and Vincent Pedone had come to the home after receiving a call about a suspicious person about 9:30 p.m. Wednesday.

Cordeiro’s alleged accomplice, Hidalgo, fled when he saw the officers. They captured him about 1:30 a.m. Thursday.

The men admitted stealing a 21-inch color television from a Lodi Street home last week and $50 and an unknown quantity of cigarettes from a Hudson Street store two weeks ago, said Capt. Emil Canestrino.

The two were charged with burglary and theft.