GRIM TALES, HARD DRUGS, TOUGH LESSONS; THESE DEGREES HAVE NO VALUE

By Michael O. Allen, Record Staff Writer | Wednesday, October 23, 1991

The Record (New Jersey) | 6 Star | NEWS | Page B01

They met informally after a talk on drug addiction given by two Bergen County Jail inmates. A handful of Fair Lawn High School students walked onto the stage to meet the prisoners, to ask a question, or make a statement.

One of the students, a 17-year-old senior, felt a special kinship with the pair: He is a recovering cocaine addict.

“It’s true everything they said,” the student said. “You can go to alcohol, and it will bring you right back to drugs.”

The cycle had just been vividly recounted for him and about 270 other Fair Lawn seniors at a forum Tuesday morning in the school auditorium. The program is being offered this month in county schools by the Sheriff’s Department’s “Hit Team.”

The two inmates Michael, 48, and Greg, 28 told of lives disrupted because of addictions, beginning with alcohol and escalating to illegal drugs.
“If you play the game of drugs, you are going to end up one of three ways: addicted, in jail, or dead,” said Michael, who is serving a five-year sentence for possession of cocaine.

Greg said his descent began in the eighth grade, when he tried to use alcohol to mask the pain of mental, physical, and sexual abuse by his father. It soon escalated to nocturnal walks in New York City, looking for crack.

“You have to understand that these little six-packs and cases of beer you drink at victory parties . . . I don’t know, does it really make the music sound all that better? I don’t think so,” Greg said.

“It just doesn’t happen overnight. It started at a young age. It started with drinking. It started as fun. All my friends did it. So I did it, too.”

Michael said he was from Washington and once had a well-paying job and a family. But his addiction put him in the wrong place at the wrong time in a car when police busted the driver with a kilo of cocaine.

Joelynn Lisa, 17, said the two men’s stories were powerful. “It makes you think twice about doing drugs,” she said.

The Hit Team is two inmates, a corrections officer, a deputy sheriff, and an undersheriff or Sheriff Jack Terhune.

Student at Fair Lawn High School fires a pistol in class.

Keywords: FAIR LAWN; SCHOOL; STUDENT; MEETING; BERGEN COUNTY; PRISON; DRUG; ABUSE

Caption: COLOR PHOTO – BOB BRUSH / THE RECORD – Fair Lawn High School seniors listening to Bergen County Jail inmates Greg and Michael tell the stories of their addictions.

MAN AND FIREFIGHTER INJURED IN BLAZE

By MICHAEL O. ALLEN | Wednesday, May 15, 1991

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

An 82-year-old man and a borough firefighter remained hospitalized Tuesday after a fire that heavily damaged a single-family home.
Although police said Justin D. Mahon of 4 Rutgers Terrace suffered a heart attack, a spokeswoman at The Valley Hospital in Ridgewood could not confirm the report. Mahon was listed in stable condition.
Fair Lawn firefighter Joseph Jasinski, who was overcome by smoke during the Monday evening blaze, was in stable condition at the hospital, Fair Lawn Fire Chief John Mamo said. Two firefighters were treated for heat exhaustion at the hospital and released. Three others were treat at the scene for heat exhaustion.
Mahon was unconscious in the kitchen when firefighters reached him, Mamo said. Mahon’s wife and daughter were not home when the fire broke out.
“He was apparently trying to make his way out of the house and was overcome by the heat,” Mamo said.
Mahon had no pulse when they found him, but was revived by two firefighters, said Mamo. About 50 firefighters fought the blaze, which appeared to be accidental, and had it under control in about 15 minutes, he said. It started in the family room and spread quickly through the house, causing heat and smoke damage.

Keywords: FAIR LAWN; HOUSING; FIRE

PRESS COVERAGE OF DEAD TEEN ASSAILED

By Laura Impellizzeri and Michael O. Allen, Record Staff Writers | Sunday, May 5, 1991

The Record (New Jersey) | All Editions | NEWS | Page A06

Fair Lawn residents said Saturday that autopsy results showing that alcohol played no role in the death of a local 15-year-old at a New Year’s Eve party also indicate that her family and the party hosts were treated unfairly by the press and the justice system.
They agreed, however, that teenage drinking is a dangerous problem and should not be ignored by parents or prosecutors.
Autopsy results released Friday show that Coleen Draney, captain of Fair Lawn High School’s junior varsity soccer team, died of heart failure while attending a party given by a classmate, Susan Gennat.
Susan’s mother, Gisela Gennat, was ordered in March to pay a $1,000 fine, perform 25 days of community service, and write an essay on “Why One Should Not Serve Alcohol to Minors,” which was published in The Record on Friday. Gennat declined to comment Saturday.
Fair Lawn Prosecutor Ira Levine said Gennat was prosecuted because alcohol was made available to minors, not because of Draney’s death. Fair Lawn police initially suspected that Draney died of an alcohol overdose after drinking and consuming “Jell-O shots” gelatin laced with vodka.
Margaret Wilde, a neighbor of both families, said: “The media . . . crucified the Gennats. That same thing that happened to the Gennats and the Draneys could have happened to anyone who has teenage kids. “
“It’s unfortunate they had to be in the spotlight for no reason,” agreed another neighbor, who would not give her name.
Prosecutor John J. Fahy said: “It’s the media that made that portrayal, not my office. We didn’t have the toxicological report, and I know I was very careful not to say what the cause of death was. “
Draney’s father, Robert, criticized the release of the autopsy report, but would not elaborate. He, too, complained about press coverage, which he said “crucified” his daughter.
Jerome Weiner, president of the Fair Lawn Board of Education, said: “I certainly hope that it’s a lesson, whether it’s a teenager or adult, what might happen when you are not careful. I would really hate to think that students would have the perception that it was OK [to drink] since it [Draney’s death] has not been related to drinking. “

Keywords: FAIR LAWN; ALCOHOL; ABUSE; YOUTH; FAMILY; DEATH; VICTIM; HEALTH; FINE

MAN DIES AS JEEP HITS DISABLED TRUCK ON ROUTE 17

MICHAEL O. ALLEN | Wednesday, December 5, 1990

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

A 20-year-old Fair Lawn man died early Tuesday morning after he was pinned between two tow trucks on Route 17, officials said.

Raymond A. Schotanes was between the two vehicles preparing to have his disabled tow truck hauled away when it was struck by a Jeep Cherokee about 11:50 p.m. Monday, said Bergen County Prosecutor John J. Fahy.

Schotanes was pronounced dead at Hackensack Medical Center at 2:05 a.m. Tuesday, Fahy said.
The driver of the Cherokee, Scott Taub, 31, of Chestnut Ridge, N.Y., was listed in good condition at the medical center, a spokeswoman said.

Two other people were injured in the accident, which involved a fourth vehicle. William Prince, 48, of Jersey City was in fair condition at the medical center. David Kramer, 28, of Hackensack was treated and released.

Police were unable to say how the fourth vehicle became involved in the accident, or which vehicle Prince and Kramer were in.

Fahy said the Bergen County Fatal Accident Unit and the Hasbrouck Heights Police Department’s Traffic Bureau were investigating the cause of the accident, which occurred in the northbound lane of Route 17 across from the Holiday Inn.