YOUTH PULLED FROM RIVER DIES

By MICHAEL O. ALLEN | Sunday, May 26, 1991

The Record (New Jersey) | All Editions | NEWS | Page A09

A 13-year-old boy pulled from the Hudson River after being submerged for nearly an hour died before dawn Saturday, a Jersey City Medical Center spokeswoman said.
Frank Williams of Jersey City had been swimming with friends in the river, at the foot of Sixth Street near Grundy Park, when he slipped from sight, said city police Lt. Robert Taino.
The friends stopped Police Officer Jack Bennett about 4 p.m. Friday, and told him their friend had disappeared while swimming, Taino said. Bennett called for a rescue team, then flagged down a passing boat, and they began searching for the boy. New York harbor police assisted Jersey City officers in pulling the boy from the river.
Williams was admitted to Jersey City Medical Center in critical condition about 6 p.m. Friday. He was placed on a respirator but died during the night, the hospital spokeswoman said.

Keywords: JERSEY CITY; YOUTH; RIVER; SWIMMING; ACCIDENT; DEATH

2 CHARGED WITH SELLING PHONY IDS TO MINORS

By Michael O. Allen, Record Staff Writer | Saturday, April 27, 1991

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

A 32-year-old Jersey City man who police said sold “several hundred” fake New Jersey driver’s licenses to underage students in four states was released Friday from a Delaware jail on $15,000 bail.
For the past two years, Howard A. Lubowsky produced and sold the bogus licenses to high school students in the Cresskill area and to college students in Delaware, Philadelphia, and New Rochelle, N.Y., police said.
“The only purpose of a 17-year-old getting one of these is so they could get served in bars and liquor stores,” said Cresskill Detective Sgt. William Macchio, noting that 17-year-olds can obtain legal New Jersey driver’s licenses. Charges are pending against Lubowsky in Cresskill.
About a month ago, Cresskill and Newark, Del., police discovered that they were investigating the same man, Macchio said, when Newark police called borough police about a fake New Jersey license they had confiscated. The license bore a borough address.
On three separate occasions, Macchio said, Lubowsky came to Cresskill for photo sessions at a teenager’s house. At least 20 students would pay $25 to have their pictures taken, then pay $25 a week later at a license-signing and laminating session, Macchio said.
At a University of Delaware dormitory Wednesday night, one of the people Lubowsky photographed was an undercover Newark, Del., police officer, a university security official said. Lubowski had sold 58 licenses at the school in October and was prepared to sell 55 Wednesday, the security official said.
In Delaware, charges against Lubowsky include 12 counts of forgery, unlawful production of driver’s licenses, and possession of forgery devices. A Morris Plains woman, Claudia Silverberg, 31, also faced similar charges. She was being held Friday in a Delaware correctional facility, authorities said.

Keywords: JERSEY CITY; CRIME; LICENSE; YOUTH; SALE; CRESSKILL

BROTHER OF JERSEY CITY MAYOR CHARGED WITH DRUNKEN DRIVING

By Michael O. Allen, Record Staff Writer | Sunday, March 10, 1991

The Record (New Jersey) | All Editions | NEWS | Page A05

Thomas W. McCann, acting head of the Hudson County Parks Division and brother of Mayor Gerald McCann, was charged Saturday with drunken driving.
Police said tests revealed that McCann, 38, of 238 Pearsall Ave., had a blood-alcohol level of 0.21 percent, more than twice the level of 0.10 percent at which a driver in New Jersey is presumed to be drunk.
Jersey City police Officer Ed Jennings was dispatched at 7 a.m. to Coles Street and Newark Avenue where a man was reported to be asleep behind the wheel of a stopped vehicle. McCann, police said, was behind the wheel of a white 1988 Dodge Ram, a Hudson County government vehicle.
Jennings, in his report on the arrest, said McCann was “slumped” over the steering wheel and the motor was running. The car was in gear, and McCann had his foot on the brake, Jennings said. Jennings said he and other officers tried to wake McCann up and succeeded after “repeated” attempts.
Neither McCann, who was released on his own recognizance, nor his brother, the mayor, could be reached for comment Saturday.

Keywords: PARK; HUDSON COUNTY; ALCOHOL; ABUSE; TEST; NEW JERSEY; JERSEY CITY; GOVERNMENT; OFFICIAL

5 ARRESTED IN COCAINE, GUN STING

By Michael O. Allen, Record Staff Writer | Friday, February 15, 1991

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

Francisco Torres double-parked his white 1989 Porsche in front of a Hackensack house Wednesday, put a “Doctor On Call” sign on the dash, and, briefcase in hand, walked into a police narcotics sting.
The arrest of the 30-year-old Jersey City man and an accomplice culminated an investigation that yielded 2 1/2 pounds of cocaine and the arrests of three other men Tuesday night, city Police Chief William Iurato said Thursday.
Tuesday’s arrests came in “a volatile situation that was defused with no gunplay” when an officer disarmed a suspect who appeared ready to fire a machine gun, Iurato said.
Detective Sgt. Arthur Mento, who backed up narcotics officers posing as weapons and drug dealers, credited Detective Sgt. Michael Mordaga with saving his and other officers lives when he disarmed the suspect, who had trained the gun on Mento.
Police had decided to act as “middlemen” after they got wind of an operation in which people were trading guns for cash or cocaine, said Iurato, who gave the following account:
The first leg of the investigation was the purchase of the machine gun in the parking lot of a diner on Essex Street at about 10:45 p.m. Tuesday.
Mordaga and Officer Al Guitierrez were at the open door of a truck negotiating the $2,300 asking price for the gun with Eduardo Gomez, 26, of Union City, and Jairo Gondolo, 32, of Weehawken.
The third suspect, Abel Maldonaldo, 29, of Paterson, who was standing watch, saw other undercover officers approaching and yelled, “It’s a rip. “
“They thought they were being ripped off,” Iurato said. “They didn’t realize we were police officers until after the arrest. “
Gondolo picked up the machine gun, which was at his feet in the back seat, and raised it.
Mordaga jumped into the truck, and jammed his thumb in the trigger housing of the machine gun, slightly injuring his thumb as he disarmed Gondolo.
“We were in a situation where we couldn’t shoot,” Mento said. “If Sgt. Mordaga had not done what he did, we would have been seriously hurt. “
The gun was loaded with 30 rounds of 9mm ammunition. A .45-caliber handgun was also seized.
Tuesday’s arrests led police to Torres and Domingo Acosta, 29, of Union City, who were to provide 2 1/2 pounds of cocaine at a price of $30,000, a figure less than the street value, Iurato said. Torres and Acosta agreed to reduce the price if the undercover officers would buy 5 pounds of cocaine a week.
Iurato declined to say how police connected the suspects in Tuesday’s arrests with Torres and Acosta.
Torres and Acosta, who were arrested without incident, were charged with possession of and conspiracy to distribute cocaine, and possession of a semi-automatic handgun. Torres was freed on $25,000 bail and Acosta was released on $50,000 bail.
Gondolo, charged with aggravated assault on a police officer, weapons charges, and resisting arrest, was released on $50,000 bail.
Gomez was being held in the Bergen County Jail on $50,000 bail on weapons charges and a charge of resisting arrest. Maldonaldo was held on $26,000 bail on the same charges.
Police confiscated the Porsche and the 1988 Toyota truck.

Keywords: DRUG; JERSEY CITY; WEAPON; HACKENSACK; POLICE

MAN, 27, IS CHARGED WITH DEATH BY AUTO

By Michael O. Allen, Record Staff Writer | Thursday, November 22, 1990

The Record (New Jersey) | All Editions | NEWS | Page A76

A 27-year-old Jersey City man has been charged with death by auto stemming from an alleged drag race with a Plainfield youth that killed a Ridgefield woman.

Franco Castella of 135A North St. was also charged with assault with an automobile and driving on a suspended license, stemming from the Nov. 7 crash on Tonnelle Avenue in North Bergen, said North Bergen Police Officer George Alburtus.

Castella, whom police originally identified as Antonio Castella, was released on $1,000 bail following his arrest Tuesday, police said.

The Plainfield youth, who is 17, was charged on Tuesday with the same felony counts that Castella faces. The teenager, whose identity is being withheld by police because of his age, also faces a charge of driving without a license.

He remained in stable condition at the Jersey City Medical Center Wednesday.

Alburtus said at least one more person involved in the pileup on Tonnelle Avenue and 49th Street faces motor-vehicle violation charges. Allen Betancourt, 19, of Piscataway will be charged with allowing an unlicensed driver to operate a motor vehicle and allowing people to sit in a compartment not designated for passengers.

Betancourt borrowed the red 1985 Porsche, driven by the 17-year-old, from its owner, and was one of four people packed into the two-seater when the accident occurred, Alburtus said.

Carmela Berardo, 49, of 414 Abbott St., Ridgefield, was killed instantly when the Porsche crossed into the northbound lane of Tonnelle Avenue and struck the car she was riding in. Her husband, Florindo, who was driving, suffered a broken right foot and facial abrasions. His mother, Michelina Berardo, 69, broke both legs, suffered a fractured skull, and remained unconscious in critical condition at St. Vincent’s Hospital in New York City on Wednesday.

DRAG RACING CITED IN FATALITY

By Michael O. Allen, Record Staff Writer | Wednesday, November 21, 1990

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

North Bergen police Tuesday charged a Plainfield youth and issued a warrant for the arrest of a 27-year-old Jersey City man in connection with a fatal collision that police now say was the result of drag racing.

A Ridgefield woman was killed instantly in the head-on collision Nov. 7, and her mother-in-law remains unconscious and in critical condition from the accident.

The youth, a 17-year-old whom police would not identify because of his age, was charged with death by auto and assault by auto in the crash at 49th Street and Tonnelle Avenue in North Bergen.
An arrest warrant on the same charges was issued for Antonio Castella of 135A North St. in Jersey City.

Police said Castella was driving with a suspended license, and the youth was driving without a license. Four people were packed into the red 1985 two-seat Porsche that the youth was driving, police said.

The two “wantonly, willfully, and carelessly drove their vehicles . . . with disregard for life or property,” said North Bergen Police Officer George Alburtus. “According to witnesses, they were traveling at a high rate of speed, leaving smoke and screeching tires. “

Carmela Berardo, 49, of 414 Abbott St., Ridgefield was killed instantly when the Porsche crossed into the northbound lane on Tonnelle Avenue and struck the car she was riding in. Michelina Berardo, 69, of the same address, remained Tuesday in St. Vincent’s Hospital in New York City with a fractured skull and two broken legs.

The youth, who also was injured in the crash, was in stable condition Tuesday at Jersey City Medical Center.

In all, six cars were involved in the pileup that followed the collision, and six people were injured.

Berardo’s husband, Florindo Berardo, 50, left the hospital Nov. 12 to attend his wife’s funeral.

Berardo, who was driving when the collision occurred, suffered a broken right foot and facial abrasions.

Madeleine M. Sheldrick, 30, a pregnant North Bergen resident, and Tamburas Ortiz, 18, brother of the arrested youth, were treated and released the same day. Allen Betancourt, 19, of Piscataway was released Nov. 14 from Jersey City Medical Center.

“No one is interested in retribution,” De Vito said Tuesday. “We are interested in justice, but justice here pleads out for severe penalties to be imposed and incarceration.

“Words like disgusting, tragic, and senseless don’t even begin to define the horror and the loss to this family. “

The family was returning in two cars from visiting an aunt in Jersey City at about 10:30 on the night of the accident.

The Berardos 27-year-old daughter, Michelle Sosa, who was driving ahead of her parents, said she was stopped at a light at 51st Street when she noticed the Porsche and Castella’s Mustang.

“As soon as the light changed, they pulled out, like, they peeled out so fast that there was smoke and noise and everything,” she said.

“It was just overwhelming how much smoke and noise. And all of a sudden I looked in my rearview mirror. I noticed that the red Porsche was in the opposite side of the lane, in the northbound lane. He must have hit my parents then.”