POLICE HELD AT BAY IN BOMB THREAT

By Michael O. Allen, Record Staff Writer | Sunday, October 27, 1991

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

A man, at first thought to have explosives, held Hawthorne and Passaic County sheriff’s officers at bay for several hours Saturday and caused the evacuation of his neighborhood before surrendering without incident, authorities said.

Steven E. Kuiken, 25, of 38 Pasadena Place was being treated for cuts to his hands sustained when he punched out windows in the house, police said.

He was then to be transferred to St. Joseph’s Hospital and Medical Center in Paterson for psychiatric evaluation, authorities said.

“His mood changed several times during the negotiations,” Hawthorne police Capt. David A. Noble said.

Police said he was drinking beer and tequila during the day.

Noble said that Kuiken had been charged on Sept. 3 with burglary and theft in a break-in Aug. 23 at a home on Emmaline Drive. He did not show up for the preliminary court hearing, Noble said. His bail was revoked and a warrant issued for his arrest.

“And what happened today was one of our officers that knows him by sight observed him in the area of his home. He fled on seeing the officer and was observed going into his home. The officer called for assistance,” Noble said.

About 3:30 p.m., two officers from the Sheriff’s Department warrant squad responded and police entered Kuiken’s home, where he was barricaded in a second-floor bedroom.

“He instructed the officers to leave, that he had explosive devices in the house,” Noble said. The officers backed away, “per policy,” he said.

What followed was about five hours of negotiations, conducted by the Sheriff’s Department negotiations team. The bomb squad also was at the scene.
Four houses on Pasadena Place were evacuated and other area roads were blocked off.

“He was finally convinced to give himself up, and did so without any struggle,” about 9:35 p.m., Noble said.

Kuiken had 20-pound propane tanks in the house and two electronic remote control devices, Noble said. He also had a part from an electronic toy taped to a tank, he said.

“It in fact resembled a bomb, and on several occasions we could see it. It certainly caused us to exercise caution,” Noble said. About 7:30 p.m., Kuiken threw an ignited tank onto the lawn, but it burned itself out, Noble said.

Caption: COLOR PHOTO – STEVE HOCKSTEIN / THE RECORD – Police removing items from the house in Hawthorne where Steven E. Kuiken barricaded himself on Saturday.

Notes: Late run

SUSPECTED KIDNAPPER IS SHOT; WAVED DYNAMITE AT MARSHALS

By Michael O. Allen, Record Staff Writer | Thursday, October 3, 1991

The Record (New Jersey) | 1 Star | NEWS | Page B01

A 50-year-old man wanted for masterminding the kidnapping of a Union County businessman for ransom two years ago was shot and wounded by one of two U.S. marshals in North Bergen as he waved a stick of dynamite at them, authorities said.
Julio Sosa Rodriguez of Jersey City was holding a lighter to the dynamite, threatening to ignite it, and refusing the agents commands to drop it, said Arthur Borinsky, U.S. marshal for New Jersey.
The shooting occurred about 10:40 p.m. Tuesday at the corner of 14th Street and Paterson Plank Road, said township police Lt. Timothy Kelly.
The marshals learned that Sosa was going to be in the area and, accompanied by local authorities, approached a van where they suspected he was hiding, said Bill Licatovich, a public affairs specialist with the U.S. Marshals Service in Washington.
When they told Sosa to come out, he emerged holding the dynamite, authorities said.
Sosa, who was shot in the upper torso, was in custody at the Jersey City Medical Center on Wednesday. A hospital spokesman said he was in stable condition.
He was wanted on a Sept. 7, 1989, complaint of kidnapping and illegal possession of firearms, said Union County First Assistant Prosecutor Michael Lapolla.
On Sosa’s order, Nydia Gonzalez Melendez and Hese Ayala, also known as Johnnie Ayala, kidnapped George Sanchez of Elizabeth in Union City on Sept. 1, 1989, Lapolla said.
Sanchez had a business in Union City, Lapolla said.
Sosa was in phone contact with the two men as they tried to get Sanchez’s wife to pay a $100,000 ransom.
The call to Sanchez’s wife, made by Gonzalez, was traced to a pay phone in Hoboken, and he was arrested there.
“When [Gonzalez] didn’t return,” Lapolla said, “the victim convinced Ayala that he had taken off with the ransom money, and he persuaded Ayala to take him home, that he would give him money.”
Ayala was arrested when he got to Sanchez’s home.
Both men pleaded guilty and are serving prison terms on kidnapping charges.
Sosa, however, was not seen again until Tuesday.

Keywords: KIDNAPPING; SHOOTING; NORTH BERGEN; POLICE; BOMB

THREATS LAID TO STUDENTS; 4 NABBED IN BCC BOMB SCARE CASES

By Michael O. Allen, Record Staff Writer | Thursday, May 9, 1991

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

Four Bergen Community College students, including one who wanted to avoid an ethics exam, have been charged with telephoning bomb threats to the school in two incidents last month, police said Wednesday.
The arrests were the first since the school was hit by a series of bomb threats and false fire alarms beginning last fall, said college Executive Vice President Virginia Laughlin.
Detective Edward Sorace of the Bergen County Police Department said six bomb threats and numerous false fire alarms have been called in to the school since the beginning of the year.
Sorace on Monday arrested Mark Morrell, 22, of North Arlington and charged him with making a false public alarm when he called the school switchboard about 3 p.m. April 26 to report the presence of two bombs.
Renee Roddi, 20, of Kearny, Morrell’s girlfriend at the time he allegedly made the call, also was arrested and charged with conspiring to make the call. Morrell made the call so Roddi could avoid an ethics-course examination that day, police said.
Sorace also arrested Nancy Incorvaia of Wayne at work in Parsippany-Troy Hills on April 29. Police said Incorvaia, 19, called the school’s public-safety office about 11:30 a.m. April 23 to report a bomb at the school.
Lucy Rocco, 21, also of Wayne and charged with conspiracy in that case, wanted to avoid a business-math class and asked Incorvaia to call in the bomb threat, police said.
Sorace declined to say how police discovered which students made the calls, but said he expects to make more arrests. If convicted, the students each released on $2,500 bail would face up to 18 months in jail and fines up to $7,500.
Laughlin said the school was considering disciplinary action against the students, but she declined to elaborate.

Keywords: BC; COLLEGE; BOMB; STUDENT