COCAINE COURIER SUSPECT ARRESTED; HACKENSACK COPS TARGET N.Y.C. RING

By Michael O. Allen, Record Staff Writer | Friday, December 21, 1990

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

A 26-year-old Bronx man carrying cocaine for a New York City drug-trafficking ring walked into a trap Wednesday when he tried to sell an ounce of cocaine to narcotics officers, police say.

Ernesto Restrepo was being held in the Bergen County Jail in lieu of $20,000 bail on charges of possession of cocaine, possession of cocaine with intent to distribute, and possession of the drug within 1,000 feet of a school, police said.

The Hackensack police narcotics division also seized from the suspect a 1989 Ford Taurus equipped with a two-way radio, said Capt. John Aletta, chief of investigations. The New York-based drug ring uses such radios to communicate with potential customers, Aletta said.

The one ounce of almost pure cocaine was worth about $1,500, but its value could have ballooned when processed into other forms of the drug, Aletta said.

Members of the city detective and narcotics divisions began working on the case about a week ago when they received information about the ring’s operation in the area, Aletta said. He declined to tell the exact location of the arrest, but said it was in the area of 400 Hackensack Ave., near the Bergen County Vocational-Technical School.

After ordering the drug by radio and agreeing to meet the courier in a parking lot in the area, Detective Sgts. Michael Mordaga, Robert Wright, Allen Ust, and Walter Krakowski arrived at about 10 p.m. and arrested Restrepo at the conclusion of the transaction, Aletta said.

LINK SOUGHT IN HACKENSACK DRUG BUST, N.Y. SHOOTINGS

By Michael O. Allen, Record Staff Writer | Wednesday, December 19, 1990

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

Police are investigating the connections between three people arrested in the city Monday and the victims of a shootout in New York that left two people dead and two in the hospital.

Acting on a tip from an anonymous caller, the Hackensack Police Narcotics Unit, assisted by the Bergen County Police Canine Unit, arrested Elizabeth Cuevas, 23, her brother-in-law, Jose Cuevas, 24, and Anselmo Pineda on drug and weapons charges at a house at 385 Summit St. at about 1:30 p.m.

Capt. John Aletta, Hackensack’s chief of investigations, said the house is owned by 28-year-old Juan Cuevas, Elizabeth’s husband. He was shot in the chest and lungs during what New York City police called a drug-related shootout Sunday.

Cuevas condition has improved from critical to stable, a spokeswoman at St. Luke’s-Roosevelt Hospital in New York City said Tuesday.

New York City police found the bullet-riddled bodies of four men, including Cuevas, in a basement apartment at 620 S. 147th St. shortly after midnight Sunday.

Two New York City men Ricardo Peguero, 25, of the Bronx, and Julio Olivero, 31, of Manhattan were dead at the scene, said Detective Joseph McConville, a New York police spokesman. Manuel Fortunato of Yonkers was in critical condition at Harlem Hospital.

Police said they found four 9mm automatic handguns in the apartment.

Those arrested in Hackensack and the victims in the New York City incident were part of a large-scale drug operation, Aletta said, adding that he expected to make more arrests.

New York City Police Detective Robert Nugent, the investigating officer, said the shooting was “definitely drug-related. ” He said the men moved as much as $200,000 a day in drugs.

Nugent said his investigation was continuing and that he was in contact with Hackensack police to check any New Jersey connections. Aletta confirmed that Hackensack and New York City police were in contact on the case.

Elizabeth and Jose Cuevas were charged with possession of drug paraphernalia and possession of a .45-caliber handgun. She was released from the Bergen County Jail on $5,000 bail, while he remained in jail with the same bail. Pineda also failed to post $5,000 bail on charges of possession of cocaine and possession of drug paraphernalia.

Aletta said an anonymous caller phoned the narcotics unit about noon Monday and told them about the New York shooting. He said the caller said he was to help move drugs out of 385 Summit St. because police were looking for the drugs and might come to the house.

The Narcotics Unit, including Police Chief William Iurato, Aletta, Detective Sgts. Michael Mordaga and Robert Wright, Sgt. Arthur Mento, and Detective Haywood Powell, went to the residence after getting a warrant, Aletta said.

Aletta said the police did not find drugs, but found the gun, scales used to weigh cocaine and heroin, drug-packaging bags, a 1988 Ford Thunderbird with a false gas tank, and a jacket made with bulletproof material.

The house was equipped with cameras in several rooms and two cameras in birdhouses on a tree in the back yard of the house, Aletta said.

HOSPITAL ESCAPEE IS CAPTURED; FLED IN DUMP TRUCK, THEN IN STOLEN CAR

By Michael O. Allen, Record Staff Writer | Sunday, December 9, 1990

The Record (New Jersey) | All Editions | NEWS | Page A08

A 24-year-old man who escaped from a New York mental hospital by driving a dump truck through a fence and then stole a car in Hackensack was being held in lieu of $15,000 bail in the Bergen County Jail after Atlantic City police captured him Thursday.

Hackensack police charged James Coyle of New City, N.Y., with robbery for stealing the car, and with receiving stolen property the dump truck, which he discarded at a gas station. Atlantic City police charged him with resisting arrest, driving with a revoked driver’s license, and receiving stolen property.

A spokesman for Hackensack Police Chief William Iurato said charges are also pending against Coyle in New York in the theft of the dump truck.

Coyle had been involuntarily committed to the Rockland County Psychiatric Hospital in Orangeburg, N.Y., on Dec. 3, according to a police report by Hackensack Detective Sgt. Hugh J. Farley.

Shortly after dawn Thursday, while workers from P & H Construction Co. of Wanaque were repairing the sewer system on hospital grounds, Coyle allegedly stole the dump truck, which had a trailer attached, and drove it through a fence.

At about noon that day, the truck arrived in Hackensack and pulled into the Exxon gas station at the corner of Johnson Avenue and Orchard Street, Farley said in the report. John Packard, 57, of 630 Main St. was at the pump filling his 1979 Cadillac with gas when Coyle arrived, he said.

Coyle knocked Packard to the ground, finished pumping the gas, and took off in the Cadillac, driving south on Johnson Avenue, police said. After Packard made a report of the robbery, Hackensack police alerted other police departments with a description of the car and Coyle.

At about 6:30 p.m. on the same day, Atlantic City Police Officer Donald Barker responded to a report that a patron at a gas station had refused to pay.

DAILY NEWS INCIDENT TRIGGERS CAR CHASE

By Michael O. Allen, Record Staff Writer | Friday, November 16, 1990

The labor feud between the Daily News and its workers spilled into North Jersey Thursday morning as a management employee and security guards for the newspaper chased a striker through the streets of Washington Township in their cars, police said.

Georgetti said.

The bundle was in front of the Myel Stationery store at the Washington Shopping Center on Pascack Road. When Loftus, 45, returned to his car after inspecting newspapers delivered to a food store at the end of the mall, he was confronted by the security guards and Hulahan, Georgetti said.

“Loftus told police the four men had approached him “in a threatening manner,” Georgetti said.

Loftus “got into his vehicle and tried to drive away. He said he was pursued by two or more vehicles” containing Hulahan and the security people, Georgetti said.

The chase went north on Pascack Road, then into side streets before two police cruisers put an end to it on Jackson Avenue. Loftus, a member of the Washington Township Volunteer Fire Department, called the police desk on his portable radio to inform them he was being pursued.

Loftus signed simple assault complaints against Hulahan, 51; Lemert Joseph Wright, 41, of Houston, Texas; Thomas Bruce Ellis, 33, of Hampton, Va.; and a fourth person who he said escaped. Loftus also signed a complaint of aggravated assault against Ellis, who he said tried to run him off the road with his car.

Hulahan, a Washington Township resident, signed a complaint of malicious destruction of property against Loftus.

Loftus and Hulahan were issued summonses to appear in municipal court and were released.

Bail was set at $1,500 for Ellis and $500 for Wright. Georgetti said the men were being held because they had no permanent local address.

Jay Thakkar, manager of Myel Stationery, said no copy of the Daily News delivered Thursday was damaged.

A YEAR LATER, A SHOOTING SUSPECT

By Michael O. Allen, Record Staff Writer | Friday, November 9, 1990

The Record (New Jersey) | Three Star P | NEWS | Page B03

A 33-year-old New York City man arrested Thursday by city police and charged with possessing a stolen car was wanted for a shooting in Englewood a year ago, police said.

Eric Flake was wanted for two counts of attempted murder, four counts of aggravated assault, and two counts of gun possession in the Nov. 18, 1989, shooting of Neville G. Tyrell of Teaneck, said Englewood Detective Capt. C. Kenneth Tinsley.

Flake was arrested at 1 a.m. Thursday along with Herbert Smith, 35, of New York City, who was a passenger in the car Flake was driving.

Tinsley said Police Officer James Morgan ran a check on the car’s license plate when Flake made a turn without signaling. Morgan learned the car was stolen from Prince George County, Md., Tinsley said.

Morgan, assisted by officers George Coleman and Timothy Riley, pulled the car over and arrested the men. Flake and Smith, also charged with possession of stolen property, were being held in the Bergen County Jail on $5,000 bail.

As they were processing the men at the Englewood police station, Tinsley said, the officers discovered that Flake was wanted for contempt of court, attempted murder, and related charges in connection with the shooting of Tyrell.

Tinsley said the police report of that incident indicated that Flake, who was standing with a friend at Lafayette Place and Parkview Drive, waved Tyrell’s car over and fired several shots as Tyrell rolled down his window.

One shot passed through Tyrell’s arm and struck his chest, according to the report. Tyrell drove to Holy Name Hospital in Teaneck, where he was treated and released.

CLOSTER MAN, 21, SLAIN IN MANHATTAN

By Michael O. Allen, Record Staff Writer | Friday, November 2, 1990

The Record (New Jersey) | One Star | NEWS | Page B02

New York City police are investigating the shooting death of a 21-year-old Closter man found lying next to his car Thursday on an exit ramp of the Henry Hudson Parkway in upper Manhattan.

Police did not know the motive or circumstances surrounding the shooting of Michael Papalia of 21 Oak St., said 34th Precinct Detective Michael Pisano, who is investigating.

Pisano said that although police found $6 on Papalia, they are not ruling out robbery. Papalia was shot once in the head.

Early indications were that the death was not related to drugs or violence connected to Halloween, the detective said.

Emergency Medical Services technicians on patrol found Papalia on the northbound side of the Henry Hudson Parkway at the Cloisters exit ramp at about 3 a.m., Pisano said.

After attempting to revive him, the EMS technicians took Papalia to Columbia Presbyterian Hospital, where he was pronounced dead on arrival at 3:45 a.m., Pisano said.

Papalia was a 1987 graduate of Northern Valley Regional High School in Demarest, school officials said.

The Rev. Simon Kenny of St. Mary’s R.C. Church in Closter said the family belongs to his parish.

Capt. John Rose, Closter acting chief of police, said he did not know the Papalias, but knew the family had lived in the borough for a long time.

SOVIET EMIGRES HELD IN GLASSES THEFT

By Michael O. Allen, Record Staff Writer | Sunday, October 28, 1990

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

Englewood Cliffs police have arrested a Queens, N.Y., couple they suspect of belonging to a group of Soviet emigres who steal designer sunglasses in the United States to sell on Russian black markets.

Eduard Fridman and Victoria Feldmus were being held in the Bergen County Jail on Saturday, each on $6,500 bail. They were charged with shoplifting and possession of four pairs of sunglasses, valued at $996, taken from a store in Fort Lee, said Englewood Cliffs Police Capt. George Kirschbaum.

Kirschbaum said authorities in Union City have an outstanding warrant forFeldmus, 30, on a shoplifting charge.

Police seized from the couple two key rings with about 60 keys for display cases and a notebook containing addresses of optical stores in New York City, eastern Pennsylvania, and New Jersey.

Kirschbaum said Fridman, 32, and Feldmus are part of a large, well-organized group that ships stolen designer sunglasses to black markets in Russia for sale at more than three times their U.S. retail value.

“I’m sure there are a lot of victims in Bergen County, people who sell designer glasses,” Kirschbaum said, appealing for people to come forward with information. “Right now, if they make bail, they are going to hit the street and disappear. But, if we have more charges, they might panic and rat out their friends. “

Vahe Casparian, the owner of Crystal Optics in Englewood Cliffs, said he called the police when the couple hurriedly left his store Friday after he had become dissatisfied with their answers to his questions. Casparian said he has been wary of walk-in customers since two gunmen came into his store in April, handcuffed him, and stole about $30,000 in merchandise.

Kirschbaum, Patrolman James Rice, and Sgt. Thomas Bauernschmidt arrested the couple as they boarded a New York City taxicab parked across the street from Casparian’s store. Police traced the sunglasses to Sunny Vision at 2500 Lemoine Ave. in Fort Lee.

Sun J. Yoon, who owns the Fort Lee shop, said that when the couple came to his store on Friday, the woman obscured his view while the man, who was eating doughnuts out of a paper bag, roamed the store. The couple then left, he said.

“I turned around and saw the display case was empty,” Yoon said. “Then the Police Department called me and said, `You lost some glasses? “