Tag: Restaurant

SUSPECT SHOOTS HIMSELF; WAS CORNERED AFTER HOLDUP TRY, COPS SAY

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

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

A man who tried to hold up a fast-food restaurant was in critical condition at The Valley Hospital in Ridgewood Friday, the victim of a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head after the robbery attempt went awry, authorities said.
The man, whom police have not been able to identify, tried to rob the Roy Rogers Family Restaurant at 31 Godwin Ave. in Midland Park at about 12:40 a.m. Friday, said Midland Park Police Chief Thomas Monarque.
About 40 minutes later, the suspect rather than surrender to Ridgewood Police Sgt. Richard Maier and three Glen Rock police officers who had him cornered in the driveway of a Lincoln Avenue home pointed his gun at Maier briefly, then to his own right temple and pulled the trigger, Monarque said.
The incident started at about 11:30 p.m. Thursday when the man, clad in a Roy Rogers uniform, knocked on the door and asked to be let in to use the phone, Monarque said. He claimed to have car trouble.
“They did not let him in,” Monarque said. “About an hour later, when they were all leaving the restaurant property, they noticed this person still loitering around the restaurant.”
The suspect waited until all the vehicles, except for the manager’s van, had pulled out of the parking lot, Monarque said. He then approached the manager, took a gun out of his waistband, and ordered the manager out of his van, telling him to go back into the restaurant for money, Monarque said. However, the manager stalled.
The suspect at one point aimed the gun at the manager, whom Monarque declined to identify, then turned away at the last minute and fired in the direction of the van but did not hit it.
The other employees returned to the parking lot when they realized the manager wasn’t driving behind them, the chief said. The suspect fled on foot without any money when he saw the employees.
About 1:20 a.m., Ridgewood and Glen Rock police responded to a report of a hitchhiker on Lincoln Avenue fitting the description of the suspect, Monarque said.

Keywords: RIDGEWOOD; ROBBERY; SHOOTING; MIDLAND PARK; RESTAURANT

ID: 17348029 | Copyright © 1991, The Record (New Jersey)

FIRE GUTS PARKWAY RESTAURANTS

By Michael O. Allen, Record Staff Writer | Sunday, February 24, 1991

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

A predawn fire destroyed the two restaurants at the Garden State Parkway’s Montvale service area Saturday and forced the closure of the southbound lanes for five hours as firefighters ran a hose across the road.
Only the walls of the building that housed the Roy Rogers and Bob’s Big Boy restaurants remained standing.
Trooper Peter Kempe said water pressure in the fire hydrants at the service area was so low that state police had to close the southbound lanes so a fire hose could be run across the roadway to a hydrant at an office building.
But Montvale Fire Chief Jerry Dellabella said the hose was run because “with the number of equipment operating, we needed more water. “
About 80 firefighters from Montvale, Park Ridge, and Woodcliff Lake, with support services from the Teaneck Fire Department, combined to combat the fire, Dellabella said. The first call came into the station at 1:29 a.m., about 25 minutes after the restaurants manager first saw smoke, he said.
“We had no difficulty getting to the fire,” Dellabella said. “The biggest thing that hampered us was the high winds. It just fans the fire. It just blew the fire right through the building. . . . When the call came through, the fire [had] already broken through the roof. The building was totally involved. “
Investigators ruled that the fire was accidental and that the cause was probably electrical, Dellabella said.
State Trooper John Soto, in his report on the fire, said Fritzner Demoin, the restaurants night manager, noticed smoke inside Roy Rogers about 1 a.m. A customer informed Demoin about the same time that smoke was coming from the roof. Demoin checked, then ordered all customers out of both the restaurants, Soto said.
It was unknown how many patrons were evacuated.

Keywords: FIRE; RESTAURANT; MONTVALE

Caption: 3 PHOTOS – JOHN DECKER / THE RECORD 1, 2 & 3 – Above and at left, firefighters attacking a blaze that was fanned by high winds early Saturday at the Garden State Parkway’s Montvale service area. Two restaurants were destroyed by the fire.

ID: 17334089 | Copyright © 1991, The Record (New Jersey)