MAN, 63, CRITICALLY HURT IN ROBBERY

By MICHAEL O. ALLEN | Friday, November 8, 1991

The Record (New Jersey) | 6 Star | NEWS | Page C08

A 63-year-old city man was hospitalized in critical condition after he was beaten and robbed in the basement of his Windsor Road home Thursday morning, officials said.

The robbery occurred about 12:45 a.m. when the victim returned home from his liquor store in New York City, police Capt. C. Kenneth Tinsley said. Police declined to identify the victim.

The victim’s wife had heard a noise downstairs and thought it was her husband coming home from work; she went downstairs when she heard a second noise and didn’t hear him call out to her, Tinsley said.

“She went to the basement and saw her husband bleeding, and his hands were handcuffed. He was incoherent and was bleeding from the nose,” Tinsley said. The victim had been struck on the head with a blunt object.

“We don’t have any information as to how many suspects we are dealing with right now,” Tinsley said.

Tinsley added that police have not been able to talk to the victim, who was being treated at Englewood Hospital on Thursday.

Police were investigating whether the victim was followed home from New York City, Tinsley said, adding that two gold rings and a brown briefcase were stolen. It was unclear what was in the briefcase, or whether anything else in the house was stolen, he said.

STORE IS ROBBERY’S SECOND FATALITY; SHOP CLOSING AFTER N.J. MAN IS KILLED

By Michael O. Allen, Record Staff Writer | Sunday, October 6, 1991

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

Daisy Benitez says being held up is something the merchants in her area learn to live with. But after a robbery claimed the life of a Tenafly man in her store, she says she’s closing up shop.
Benjamin Braddock Peisch, 24, of Oak Street was shot and killed Thursday night when he walked in on a robbery of the Daisy Bariete clothing store in Upper Manhattan and intervened.
Benitez, 34, of Queens said Saturday that she would sell her stock T-shirts, jeans, socks and close her doors for good.
“If he hadn’t had a fight with them, they wouldn’t have shot him,” Benitez said in Spanish, translated by her 24-year-old niece, Florence Ramos. “They threw him on the floor twice and told him to stay there. He kept getting up.”
John Mullin, a Tenafly High School social studies teacher, said Peisch was just the kind of person to intervene if he saw something amiss.
“This kid was a gentleman through and through; he’s always stood up for the underdog,” Mullin said. “It would have been a surprise to me that something wrong was going on and he didn’t try to set it right.”
Tenafly High School Vice Principal Bernard Josefsberg said the death was a shock to everyone at the school.
“This was really a great kid,” he said.
On graduation from the school in 1986, Peisch was given a $500 scholarship by the Tenafly Lions Club, in part for demonstrating seriousness of purpose and civic consciousness, Josefsberg said Friday.
His family declined to comment.
Peisch, a junior at Montclair State College, first came to the store about two weeks ago and stopped to talk with one of the saleswomen, Benitez said. He seemed to like the woman and returned to talk to her twice, she said.
The three robbers came in about 6 p.m. Thursday, put guns to the backs of three employees, and herded them into the back of main area of the store, in the basement of a residential building at 568 W. 171 St.
“He came down in the middle of all this and went to the girl’s defense,” Benitez said.
The robbers knocked him to the ground twice, Ramos said, the second time hitting him with the butt of a handgun and opening a gash in the back of his head. In the ensuing struggle, as the three men ganged up on Peisch, one shot him in the chest, she said.
No one else was injured, and the men escaped with an unspecified amount of money. Benitez said the employees working in the store at the time of the robbery had quit and would not return.
Police on Saturday were looking for witnesses, said New York City police Sgt. Tina Mohrmann.

Keywords: ROBBERY; STORE; CLOSING; NEW JERSEY; MURDER; TENAFLY; SHOOTING; NEW YORK CITY; CLOTHING; BENJAMIN BRADDOCK PEISCH

ROBBERS KILL N.J. SHOPPER; TENAFLY MAN INTERVENED

By Michael O. Allen, Record Staff Writer | Saturday, October 5, 1991

The Record (New Jersey) | All Editions | NEWS | Page A01

A 24-year-old Tenafly man who walked in on an armed robbery at a New York City clothing store and intervened was shot and killed by one of the robbers, police said Friday.
Benjamin Peisch of 91 Oak St. died at the scene on Thursday, 34th Precinct Detective Matthew Fallon said.
“He had an altercation with one of the people committing the robbery. They hit him a couple of times, then shot him,” Fallon said.
Peisch was shot once in the chest as he struggled with one of three men during the robbery, which occurred about 6:25 p.m. in the basement of Daisy Bariete Store, a unisex clothing store at 568 W. 171 St., Fallon said.
Peisch was an innocent bystander who “seemed to have walked into an apparent robbery in the store” and decided to get involved, Fallon said, adding that police were looking on Friday for witnesses.
No one else was injured, and the men escaped with an amount of money police would not disclose.
Peisch is believed to have been a 1986 graduate of Tenafly High School.
Sgt. Norris Hollmon, a police spokesman, said police used identification in Peisch’s wallet to trace him to Tenafly late Thursday. Tenafly Police Chief Allen Layne said he was called by New York police about the death at 10:19 p.m., and that his officers notified the family. Hollmon said the family identified Peisch’s body later that night.
A man reached at the family residence on Friday declined to comment.

Keywords: TENAFLY; ROBBERY; NEW YORK CITY; SHOOTING; MURDER; CLOTHING; STORE

TEANECK ROBBERY SUSPECT HAD BEEN ON PAROLE 3 DAYS

By Michael O. Allen, Record Staff Writer | Thursday, October 3, 1991

The Record (New Jersey) | 6 Star | NEWS | Page B03

A Jersey City man who robbed a Teaneck savings and loan twice in a two-month period committed the first crime three days after he had been paroled for robbing another bank, authorities said.
Alfred N. Ferguson, 34, was charged Wednesday in U.S. District Court in Newark with one count of robbery, Assistant U.S. Attorney Tom Brown said. On Tuesday he jumped over the counter at Oritani Savings and Loan at 560 Cedar Lane and took about $5,000 from tellers drawers, police said.
Ferguson, being held without bail in the Union County Jail in Elizabeth, also is expected to be charged with the Aug. 1 robbery of the savings and loan, in which $10,000 was taken, and with the July 31 attempted robbery of the United Jersey Bank branch at 21 Park Place in Englewood, authorities said.
After his capture following the robbery Tuesday, Ferguson confessed to the two robberies of the savings and loan and to the attempted robbery at the Englewood bank, in which his note demanding money was refused, police said.
That attempt occurred two days after Ferguson was released from the Albert C. Wagner Youth Correctional Institution in Bordentown. He had been paroled after serving three years of an eight-year term for robbing a Jersey City bank in 1988, a spokeswoman for the New Jersey Corrections Department said.
Teaneck Police Detective Lt. Warren White said Ferguson walked into Oritani Savings and Loan about 2:25 p.m. Tuesday and vaulted over the bank counter including a transparent, protective barrier that was installed after he allegedly robbed the bank in the same manner two months earlier.
Sweeping past two tellers, both of whom were on hand for the first robbery, Ferguson reached into their cash drawers and took about $5,000 before running out the door, police said.
A customer in the bank ran after Ferguson as he dashed across Cedar Lane. The customer, who got into his car and drove after the suspect, saw him jump into his car and drive away. He gave upthe chase when police pulled behind Ferguson and arrested him a short time later. The customer is expected to testify as a witness.
The FBI, which had been investigating because bank robbery is a federal offense, questioned Ferguson late Tuesday and charged him under federal statutes. Also instrumental in the investigation, said FBI spokesman William Tonkin, were the Bergen County Prosecutor’s Office and the Bergen County Sheriff’s Department.

Keywords: TEANECK; BANK; ROBBERY

2 N.Y. MEN HELD IN ARMED THEFT OF CAR IN FORT LEE

By Michael O. Allen, Record Staff Writer | Thursday, September 19, 1991

The Record (New Jersey) | 6 Star | NEWS | Page B06

Two New York City men were arrested after they robbed a couple of their car at gunpoint in a store parking lot near the police station Tuesday, police said.
Dwayne McDaniel and Ross Ramseur, both 21, were arrested shortly after the 11:35 p.m. robbery in the parking lot of the ShopRite at 1355 Inwood Terrace, a couple of doors from police headquarters at 1325 Inwood.
Patrolman Philip Ross was pulling out of the Police Department parking lot when he was stopped by two people who told him that their car had just been taken from them by two armed men, Police Chief John Orso said.
Ross relayed descriptions of the suspects, the car they came in, and the stolen car over the police radio.
Fort Lee Detective Tom Sweeney saw the stolen car, a blue 1991 Acura, heading north on Center Avenue, near Main Street, and pulled it over at the Bridge Plaza South intersection, Orso said.
The suspects had the .44-caliber revolver used in the robbery, the chief said.
Orso declined to identify the victims, except to say the woman, 23, is a borough resident, and the man, also 23, is from Connecticut.
The charges against McDaniel and Ramseur, now being held in the Bergen County Jail on $20,000 bail each, are two counts each of aggravated assault, possession of a weapon, and receiving stolen property.

Keywords: FORT LEE; ROBBERY; WEAPON; MOTOR VEHICLE; THEFT

2 JUNE ROBBERY SUSPECTS HELD IN SIMILAR CASE

By Michael O. Allen, Record Staff Writer | Friday, August 30, 1991

The Record (New Jersey) | All Editions | NEWS | Page B04

Two men charged in June with pulling a bank messenger from his car and robbing and beating him were arrested Wednesday for a similar offense, authorities said.
Christopher Camacho and Alan Amador were two of four men on foot who demanded money from the driver of a commuter van as he waited at a red light at 79th Street’s intersection with Boulevard East, then attacked him when he refused, Police Lt. Timothy Kelly said.
A resident who saw the 5:40 p.m. attack called police, Kelly said. Police chased the men and arrested them a short while later, Kelly added.
The van driver, Jose Mucha, 35, of Kearny, suffered bruises, Kelly said. He said Mucha was treated at the scene by North Bergen Ambulance Corps paramedics.
Charged with robbery were Camacho, 20, of 7521 Bergenline Ave.; Amador, 18, of 6223 Liberty Ave.; Carlos Castro, 18, of 7721 Bergenline Ave., North Bergen; and Alberto Arroyo, 18, of 30 Prospect St., Palisades Park.
All four suspects were being held on $2,000 bail each in the Hudson County Jail.
A messenger for the Trust Co. of New Jersey was robbed of $12,000 in cash and $4,000 in checks on June 24. Raymond Ayala, the messenger, was hospitalized for severe bruises over his body, a fractured eye socket, a broken nose, and a broken jaw.
Amador and Camacho were among eight men arrested three days later in connection with that attack. Accused of helping plan that robbery, they were charged with conspiracy, aggravated assault, and robbery.

Keywords: NORTH BERGEN; ROBBERY

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

8 CHARGED IN ROBBERY OF BANK WORKER

By Michael O. Allen, Record Staff Writer | Friday, June 28, 1991

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

Police have arrested eight men for Monday’s assault and robbery of a bank messenger, who was pulled from his car and beaten as he waited at a red light.
Raymond Ayala, a messenger for the Trust Company of New Jersey, was in his 1984 Dodge waiting at 70th Street and Tonnelle Avenue when he was pulled from the car by three men who then assaulted him. The men got away with $12,000 in cash and $4,000 in checks that Ayala had just picked up from a business, Police Chief Angelo Busacco said.
The three who attacked Ayala, 35, of Jersey City, along with the driver of the getaway car were charged with robbery and aggravated assault, Busacco said. The other four helped plan the crime and were charged with conspiracy, the chief said.
“The victim, he took a pretty bad beating,” Busacco said. “He has a fractured eye socket, a broken nose, and a broken jaw. He was fairly bruised about the entire body.”
Ayala was taken to Palisades General Hospital on Monday and was discharged Thursday, a hospital spokesman said.
Charged with robbery and assault were Sergio Ariz of 7200 Grand Ave., North Bergen, who was released on $5,000 cash bail; Alan Amador of 6223 Liberty Ave., North Bergen, who posted 10 percent of $5,000 bail; Gary Bohanan, 22, of 6 River St., Little Ferry, and Christopher Camacho, 20, of 7521 Bergenline Ave., North Bergen, who each posted 10 percent of $2,500 bail.
Charged with conspiracy and posting 10 percent of their $2,500 bail were Michael Tomicich, 18, of 335 71st St., Guttenberg; Joseph Lalicata, 32, of 6601 Cottage Ave., North Bergen; Richard Zedower, 18, of 7108 Cottage Ave., North Bergen, and Joseph Occhipinti, 23, of 6024 Newkirk Ave., North Bergen.
Bohanan, Camacho, Lalicata, and Amador turned themselves in at headquarters; the other four were arrested at home or at work, the chief said.
Bohanan and Camacho appeared in court Wednesday. The others are scheduled to appear July 3, Busacco said.
For security reasons, Busacco declined to say how many men were involved in the investigation. He said key officers in the case were Lt. Timothy Kelly, Lt. Robert Heldman, Sgt. Joseph Bode, Detective Joseph Gener, and Detective James Onderdonk.

Keywords: NORTH BERGEN; ROBBERY; ASSAULT

TERROR, A CRASH, A CHASE, AND ARRESTS 3 TOWNS, 20 CARS, 100 MPH

By Michael O. Allen, Record Staff Writer | Wednesday, May 15, 1991

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

Two men were captured Tuesday after breaking into an Oradell home, tying up and robbing two women, and leading police on a chase involving about 20 patrol cars through three towns, police said.
Robert J. Davis, 37, of Little Ferry and Gary M. Pereira, 29, of Hackensack had entered a Soldier Hill Road home sometime before 10:30 a.m., tied up the residents, and stole their jewelry, Oradell Detective Sgt. Scott Bonsper said.
The victims, whom Bonsper declined to identify, were not injured. One of them removed the tape the suspects had used to cover her mouth, and then she called police.
Bonsper said he went to the house with other Oradell police officers and interviewed the victims. “I came out of the house to go to my car, and I was flagged down by a witness to an accident that had just happened a block away from the house,” he said.
The descriptions of the people in the car matched the suspects described by the victims, Bonsper said. They apparently had parked in a parking lot at an office building on Kinderkamack Road; when they tried to make a hasty escape, their car collided with another northbound car.
Bonsper said he then radioed area police departments. A Rochelle Park officer saw the car traveling south on Route 17, and a chase began, he said.
“The speed at which the men were traveling, they could not be allowed back on a main thoroughfare,” said Bonsper, who added that the cars drove as fast as 100 mph during the chase. The suspects were going through stop signs and red lights without stopping, he said.
By the time the chase ended at a police roadblock on Pascack Road, at the Paramus-Washington Township line, police from the two communities and from Oradell, Emerson, Rochelle Park, and Westwood had become involved.
Jewelry from the home was found in the car, Bonsper said.
Davis and Pereira were each charged with kidnapping, robbery, theft, and burglary, and their case will be referred to the Bergen County Prosecutor’s Office, Bonsper said. Paramus police are expected to charge Davis and Pereira with resisting arrest, he added. They were being held in the Bergen County Jail on $100,000 bail each.

Keywords: ORADELL; ROBBERY; MOTOR VEHICLE; ACCIDENT; VIOLATION

Caption: 2 COLOR PHOTOS – JOHN DECKER / THE RECORD – Police handcuffing the two suspects in a robbery in Oradell that led to a high-speed car chase through three towns Tuesday.

WOMAN ROBBED OF FURS, JEWELRY

MICHAEL O. ALLEN | Sunday, April 28, 1991

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

A simple trip to Saks Fifth Avenue to store her three fur coats valued at $80,000 for the season turned nightmarish for a 43-year-old Englewood woman on Saturday when two men shoved her into the trunk of her Rolls-Royce and stole her furs and jewelry, police said.
Karen L. Kitzis told police her gold-and-silver wristwatch and gold-and-silver bracelet were valued at about $13,200, said city police Capt. John Aletta.
The robbery occurred about 12:15 p.m. in the east parking lot of the Riverside Square mall, Aletta said.

Keywords: WOMAN; ROBBERY; ENGLEWOOD; JEWELRY; CLOTHING; THEFT