Hostage

By Michael O. Allen, Record Staff Writer | Saturday, June 29, 1991

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

A gunman hijacked a cargo-filled Caldor truck on Route 46 near the George Washington Bridge on Thursday night and then met up with an accomplice who took the driver to upstate New York, where he was released unharmed, authorities said.
“Evidently traffic was a little heavy or the guy was going slow enough for someone to jump into his cab,” Fort Lee Police Chief John Orso said.
Orso said the driver is a 32-year-old man from North Bergen but declined to identify him further. The truck valued at $47,000 and carrying about $80,000 worth of clothing belonged to Caldor Distribution Center at 601 Westside Ave., North Bergen, Orso said.
The driver told FBI agents a gunman jumped into the cab of his tractor-trailer about 10:30 p.m. Thursday as the truck slowed in eastbound traffic on Route 46, Orso said.
“When the suspect jumped in the car, he told the driver to keep driving. When he got to the Major Deegan, he was handcuffed and transferred to a white minivan. They took him to a town called Deposit in upstate New York, about a four-hour drive,” Orso said.
Store officials on Friday declined to comment on the hijacking, the shipment’s origin, or its destination.

Keywords: FORT LEE; NEW YORK STATE; KIDNAPPING; HOSTAGE; CLOTHING; STORE; MOTOR VEHICLE; THEFT

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.

Tag: Hostage

GUNMAN HIJACKS TRUCK ON ROUTE 46

DAD HELD GIRL HOSTAGE BEFORE, COPS SAY