REPAIR SHOPS CALL HIM STINGRAY; CON MAN TAKES 3 SPORTS CARS

By Michael O. Allen, Record Staff Writer | Friday, March 8, 1991

The Record (New Jersey) | Four Star B | NEWS | Page B01

Investigators in Paramus, Englewood, and Englewood Cliffs are looking for a con man who stole three sports cars two in one day that were brought in for repairs at automobile dealerships.
Posing twice as the owner of the cars and once as the son of the owner, the man stole two Corvettes and a Pontiac Firebird, police and dealership officials said Thursday.
“I’ve got to tell you something, this guy was cool,” said Greg Garabed, service manager at Stillman and Hoag Inc. of Englewood, where the man drove away with a red 1990 Corvette that had just had paint work done on its roof.
“Thirty years in the business and I’ve never seen anything like it,” Garabed said.
About 5:50 p.m. on Feb. 7, 10 minutes before closing, the man marched over to the Corvette and began examining the work. He said he was the son of Michael Knee, the 48-year-old Ridgewood man who had brought the car in.
“There were four Corvettes parked in a row in a secured area in the building,” Garabed said. “This guy walked right in and went over to the car. He had a lot of information about the car.”
After arguing that the painting should have been under warranty and initially refusing to pay, the man paid $200 and left with the car. About two minutes later, the actual owner arrived.
Knee said the service people did not believe him when he told them he had not sent his son to pick up the car.
“It’s an embarrassment for us,” Garabed said, adding that Knee was a longtime customer of the dealership.
The descriptions of the man in the three thefts were similar: 27 to 30 years old, about 6 feet, with an olive complexion and dark, slicked-back hair, a long, thin face, and a mustache.
On Feb. 7, a man fitting that description walked into Steven Nacht Cadillac in Englewood Cliffs and picked up a 1986 Pontiac Firebird that was in for repairs, although the work had not been completed, said Al Glinbiezi, the assistant service manager.
The man said he needed the car right away and that he would bring it back later, Glinbiezi said.
On Feb. 21, a man fitting the same description, but this time wearing some type of police insignia around his neck, insisted on picking up a 1987 Corvette brought to Malcolm Konner Chevrolet Geo in Paramus for transmission repairs, although the work had not been done.
Lt. Donald McNair of the Paramus Police Department said he wrote letters to automobile dealers in Bergen County and to national dealership associations to warn them about the scam.
“There’s a common denominator there, but I can’t put my finger on it,” McNair said.
“I’ve never had this happen before. I’m up against the wall and I don’t have any idea.”

Keywords: PARAMUS; ENGLEWOOD; ENGLEWOOD CLIFFS; MOTOR VEHICLE; THEFT

MAN DIES AFTER FIRE LINKED TO SMOKING FOUND IN BURNING ENGLEWOOD HOUSE

By Michael O. Allen, Record Staff Writer | Saturday, March 2, 1991

The Record (New Jersey) | One Star | NEWS | Page A03

A 66-year-old man died of smoke inhalation about 45 minutes after firefighters had pulled him out of his burning home on Thursday, officials said.
It appeared that Claude Harvey of 71 Spring Lane had been smoking in bed, although an investigation continues, Bergen County Prosecutor John J. Fahy said in a statement on Friday.
Englewood Fire Chief Douglas Baker said firefighters found Harvey unconscious at about 9:20 p.m. in a bathroom on the second floor of the three-story home. Police called in the fire at 9:14 p.m., but it appeared to have been burning for some time, he said.
“The bedroom in the second floor was fully involved when we got there,” Baker said. “It’s a large structure with many rooms, which made it difficult for search and rescue. “
Harvey was taken to Englewood Hospital, where he was pronounced dead at 10:04 p.m.
About 35 firefighters from Englewood and Tenafly battled the blaze and had it under control in about 25 minutes. The fire was so intense it burned through the floor of the second-floor bedroom, with a mattress being found in the first-floor living room, Baker said.
Englewood Patrolman John P. Morgan found the burning house by following smoke he had seen on the horizon as he traveled north on Engle Street while on patrol, said Capt. C. Kenneth Tinsley. Morgan arrived to find smoke coming out of the second-floor window and the roof, Tinsley said.

Keywords: ENGLEWOOD; TOBACCO; DEATH; VICTIM

GLEN ROCK MAN CHARGED IN GAS STATION HOLDUP

MICHAEL O. ALLEN | Thursday, February 14, 1991

The Record (New Jersey) | Four Star B | NEWS | Page B05

A 27-year-old Glen Rock man who robbed a gas station attendant at gunpoint Tuesday night was arrested 45 minutes later in Paramus, police said.
Roberto Perez of 132 Gaynor Place was charged with armed robbery and was being held in the Bergen County Jail Wednesday on $20,000 bail.
The incident began about 9 p.m. Tuesday, when Perez pulled his van up to a pump at the Route 4 Exxon gas station in Englewood. Englewood Detective Capt. C. Kenneth Tinsley said the gas station attendant told police that when he approached the van, he saw Perez point a paper bag, with what appeared to be the barrel of a pistol poking out, at him.
“Don’t run. Give me all the money you have or I’ll blow your head off,” Perez told the attendant, according to Tinsley.
The attendant gave Perez about $200, and he drove east on Route 4. Englewood police sent descriptions of the suspect over police radio, Tinsley said.
A Paramus police officer arrested Perez as he traveled west on Route 4, at the Forest Avenue exit. Police recovered $66 of the stolen money but did not find a gun, Tinsley said.

Keywords: ENGLEWOOD; GARAGE; ROBBERY

ANOTHER ASSAULT SUSPECT ARRESTED; ENGLEWOOD PROBES STRING OF MUGGINGS

By Michael O. Allen, Record Staff Writer | Friday, February 1, 1991

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

Police arrested a 24-year-old city resident Wednesday after a tip that he was one of three men who mugged an elderly man walking home from a bus stop on Cambridge Avenue last month.
Christian Darren Giles of 24 W. Forest Ave. was being held in Bergen County Jail Thursday on $10,000 bail on charges of attempted robbery and aggravated assault.
Giles was arrested Wednesday after police received information that he was one of those who mugged a 62-year-old man about 6:45 p.m. Jan. 17, said Englewood Detective Capt. C. Kenneth Tinsley.
The victim, whom Tinsley declined to identify, was knocked to the ground from behind after passing three men on Cambridge, Tinsley said. The attackers fled when someone approached in a car, he said.
Giles was arrested Wednesday night behind a building on Armory Street by Detectives Robert Keane, Edward Murray, and Joseph Martin.
Tinsley said his office also is investigating whether Giles is connected to two suspects in the robbery of a fast-food deliveryman Sunday night, and whether Giles and those suspects are connected to 12 other assaults that occurred during the past three weeks.
Malik McKinnon, 20, of 210 First St., Englewood, was being held in Bergen County Jail on $10,000 bail on a charge that he robbed the deliveryman of about $100. McKinnon turned himself in Monday after the victim gave police the description of a juvenile who allegedly participated in the robbery. The juvenile was released to the custody of his parent.
“We haven’t linked him to the two suspects but we are still investigating,” Tinsley said of Giles.
Giles was paroled a month ago after serving one year of a three-year sentence for robbery and aggravated assault of a police officer. He has two other convictions for similar offenses, police records show.

Keywords: ENGLEWOOD; ASSAULT

ASSAULT PROBE LOOKS AT PAIR; ENGLEWOOD MAN, TEEN ARE SUSPECTS

By Michael O. Allen, Record Staff Writer | Wednesday, January 30, 1991

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

A 20-year-old city man and a 16-year-old accomplice who have been charged with robbery are being investigated in connection with 12 other assaults in the past two weeks, police said.
Malik McKinnon of 210 First St. was being held Tuesday on $10,000 bail in the Bergen County Jail. The juvenile, whom police declined to identify because of his age, was released to the custody of his parents.
A 20-year-old employee of Chicken Magician of Teaneck had just delivered food to a West Palisade Avenue residence when he was accosted by two males about 9:15 p.m. Sunday and robbed of about $100, Englewood Detective Capt. C. Kenneth Tinsley said.
Police arrested the juvenile later that night after the victim, who recognized the juvenile from a playground basketball game, gave police a description.
McKinnon turned himself in Monday, Tinsley said.
The money was returned to the victim, he said.
Starting with a Jan. 7 mugging of a 50-year-old man in the parking lot of a church, 13 people were assaulted in separate incidents, Tinsley said, and eight of them were robbed in dark and isolated areas in the 1st and 3rd wards.
“We haven’t confirmed it yet but we are checking to see if they [the two suspects] were involved with the other incidents,” Tinsley said.
He added that increased patrols in the 1st and 3rd wards would continue.

Keywords: ROBBERY; ASSAULT; PROBE; ENGLEWOOD; YOUTH

ENGLEWOOD MAN HELD IN DRIVING DEATH

By Michael O. Allen, Record Staff Writer | Wednesday, January 9, 1991

The Record (New Jersey) | All Editions | NEWS | Page B05

A 32-year-old Englewood man is to be arraigned today on charges of driving the car that fatally injured a Hackensack man shortly before midnight on New Year’s Eve, officials said.
Jose Jaramillo of Howland Avenue was arrested in Teaneck about 10:30 p.m. Monday and charged with causing death by auto, reckless driving, and leaving the scene of an accident, said Bergen County Prosecutor John J. Fahy.
Jaramillo, who was in the Bergen County Jail Tuesday on $25,000 bail, was arrested in connection with the Dec. 31 hit-and-run death of Jarvis Stephenson, 39, of 194 Krone Place.
On the night of his death, Stephenson was working at American Legion Post 58 in Englewood, where he was a member. At about 11:40 p.m., he told friends at the club he was going home to check on his ill wife and that he would be back.
The victim was struck as he crossed Forest Avenue in front of the club. Stephenson died less than two hours later in Englewood Hospital.
Fahy commended the Englewood Police Department for its work in tracking down Jaramillo. But neither Capt. C. Kenneth Tinsely, commander of the city detective bureau, nor Lt. Charles Dillon, head of the traffic bureau, would reveal any information about the investigation.
The fatal-accident unit of the Bergen County Prosecutor’s Office had been investigating the accident with the Englewood police and on Monday released a description of the car they said killed Stephenson: a 1977 silver-gray Caprice Classic.
Before the arrest, Englewood police told Teaneck police that they had seen the car at a Chestnut Street address in Teaneck and had prepared a search warrant for the vehicle, said Teaneck Capt. Gary S. Fiedler.
If convicted on the charges, Jaramillo faces up to five years in prison and fines totaling $9,000, Fahy said.
Staff Writer David Voreacos contributed to this report.

Keywords: ENGLEWOOD; MOTOR VEHICLE; ACCIDENT; DEATH

HIT-RUN VICTIM WAS TO SEE TO ILL WIFE; `FAMILY MAN SAID HE’D REJOIN FRIENDS

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

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

Minutes before the new year was ushered in, Jarvis Stephenson told friends at the American Legion post that he was going home to check on his ill wife and that he would be back an hour later.
Stephenson, 39, would do neither.
A hit-and-run driver struck and fatally injured him as he crossed Forest Avenue outside the post, police said. He was pronounced dead at Englewood Hospital at 1:30 a.m. Tuesday.
Lt. Charles Dillon, commander of the Englewood Police Traffic Bureau, said Wednesday that the search for the driver of the car was continuing but declined to say whether investigators had a suspect in mind or a make on the car.
In another incident in which a car hit a pedestrian, Eric Foreman, 17, of Millen, Ga., was more fortunate. Foreman’s legs were fractured when he was struck by a northbound car as he attempted to cross Route 17 in Ramsey on Tuesday, police said.
He was in stable condition at University Hospital in Newark on Wednesday, a hospital spokesman said.
The motorist, Daniel E. Melehan, 53, of Baldwin Road, Saddle River, was not charged, police said.
Janice Rochester, a bartender at American Legion Post 58 in Englewood, said she had known Stephenson, an NJ Transit bus driver, for about 17 years. Stephenson had been helping her wash cocktail glasses and serve drinks, but was not drinking, Rochester said.
“Jarvis was in very good spirits; he was as happy as he could be,” Rochester said. “He talked about his daughter a lot. That was his heart. That was his love. He was very much a family man. His wife and his daughter were very special to him.”
Rochester, 43, of Hackensack, said Stephenson told her that his wife, Josie, was ill and that he was going to check on her.

Keywords: ENGLEWOOD; MOTOR VEHICLE; ACCIDENT; VICTIM; DEATH

TEANECK MAN CHARGED WITH BURGLARIZING SEVEN HOMES

By Michael O. Allen, Record Staff Writer | Sunday, December 16, 1990

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

A 20-year-old Teaneck man was being held on $35,000 bail Saturday, following his arrest the night before on charges of burglarizing seven homes.

Raphael DeJesus Diaz of 196 East Forest Ave., Teaneck, was arrested in a cordoned-off area of Sheffield and Grand avenues Friday by an officer, accompanied by a police dog, from the Bergen County Police Canine Unit.

Residents had reported two burglaries and a “suspicious person” in the area, Englewood Police Detective Robert Keane said. Police charged DeJesus with burglaries of seven homes, including the three Friday, and are holding him as chief suspect in about 30 burglaries, Keane said.

“This takes care of him, at least,” Keane said. “People in the community should be happy.

Unfortunately, there are others out there. They [the burglars] should know, with the canine unit out there, that they are going to be caught. “

Englewood police have strong evidence linking DeJesus to the burglaries, he said, although he did not elaborate.

The most recent wave of break-ins and burglaries to hit the city began in the East Hill section early in November, about a month after city police arrested a suspect in a series of burglaries in that area.

Most of the burglaries took place during the day, Keane said. County police assigned four officers from its canine unit to assist the city in the search, he said.

Physical descriptions of the suspects in the burglaries were similar, Keane said. The first sighting of a suspect was on Nov. 26 when a Linden Avenue resident saw a man inside his bedroom moments after he observed the same man ringing his doorbell.

Friday, a second floor apartment at 2080 Sheffield Ave., was broken into but the suspect did not take anything, Keane said. Shortly following this report, Englewood police received another report of a “suspicious person” coming out of an apartment at 25 East Sheffield Ave., he said.

County Police Officer Robert DiPalma, accompanied by the canine, arrested DeJesus near the site of the most recent apartments burglarized, Keane said.

Police recovered from DeJesus jewelry and coins later determined to have been stolen from 25 East Sheffield, Keane said.

Notes: Bergen page

PAIR MAY BE LINKED TO 23 BREAK-INS; CHARGED IN NOV. 17 THEFT

By Michael O. Allen, Record Staff Writer | Sunday, December 2, 1990

The Record (New Jersey) | All Editions | NEWS | Page A46

Two men arrested during a domestic dispute were charged with theft and burglary for one of 23 recent break-ins in the city and are suspected of being involved in the others, police said.

Walter Wiggins, 36, of 230 Central Ave., Hackensack, and Howard J. Hutchinson, 30, of Englewood were to be transferred from Englewood to the Bergen County Jail on Friday.

Englewood Police Capt. C. Kenneth Tinsley said the men were being charged with the Nov. 17 break-in of a garden apartment at 530 Broad Ave. Tinsley said items stolen from the apartment were recovered from the two.

Patrolmen Tim Torell and George Austin Jr. were responding to a call Thursday night about threats to Hutchinson’s sister, Georgia, 32, at 9-22 Rock Creek Terrace, Englewood, where they arrested Wiggins and Hutchinson, Tinsley said. A 9-inch kitchen knife was found imbedded in a wall where Wiggins had been jabbing it, he said.

Tinsley declined to say how police were able to connect the men with the burglary.

Wiggins was being held on $10,500 bail on charges of unlawful possession of a weapon, making terroristic threats, theft, and burglary. Hutchinson, being held on $5,000 bail, was charged with theft and burglary.

BURGLARY STREAK IN ENGLEWOOD; WAVE OF BREAK-INS IS 2ND OF THE SEASON

By Michael O. Allen, Record Staff Writer | Wednesday, November 28, 1990

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

One month after police arrested a suspect in a series of burglaries, the East Hill section of the city is again experiencing a wave of break-ins, including two in broad daylight on Monday, police said.

Most of the 22 burglaries happened during the day, while residents were away at work, Capt. C. Kenneth Tinsley said. Eight garden apartments and 14 homes were hit, he said.

Englewood detectives and patrol officers, with assistance from the Bergen County Canine Unit, swarmed the area Tuesday afternoon and will continue to patrol until a suspect is caught, Tinsley said.

“For the first time since the burglaries began in early November, we got a good description of this guy yesterday,” he said.

A Linden Avenue resident saw the suspect before his apartment was broken into about 3:30 p.m. Monday, Tinsley said.

The resident, who police declined to identify, said he looked out of his second-floor window after someone rang the doorbell. He did not recognize the person and, thinking the caller was a salesman, did not open the door.

“A few minutes later, he heard a noise in his bedroom. He went to investigate and he found the suspect in his bedroom,” Tinsley said. The burglar fled when he saw the resident.

Although police are waiting for a full list of items stolen in the burglaries, at least $14,000 in cash and $80,000 in jewelry, televisions, and videocassette recorders have been taken, Tinsley said.

A composite of the suspect will be drawn from the description given by the Linden Avenue resident, Tinsley said.

He urged residents, as a precaution, to remove air conditioners from windows and to leave lights on.
“This is the ideal time for burglars. It gets dark early. If you can, put lights on timers. Although this is occurring during the day, light is definitely a deterrent.”

Tinsley said the latest wave of burglaries is frustrating, since a suspect in about 40 cat burglaries in Englewood and three other Bergen County communities during September and October is behind bars. Celious Lee Harmon of Teaneck is being held without bail for violation of parole and faces burglary charges.