PATROLS UP AFTER FOUR ROBBERIES

By Michael O. Allen, Record Staff Writer | Friday, March 8, 1991

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

Police have beefed up patrols of city streets after a 40-year-old woman walking to her car in a municipal parking lot was robbed, the fourth such incident in a week.
Police Capt. C. Kenneth Tinsley said three of the robberies appeared to have been committed by the same two young men.
The woman, whom Tinsley declined to identify, was robbed about 6:30 p.m. Wednesday as she returned to her car in the parking lot off West Street, after leaving the McDonald’s restaurant on West Palisade Avenue with her 8-year-old son.
“She was pushed to the ground and the suspects took her purse, which contained approximately $140 and other valuables worth about $250,” Tinsley said. Neither the woman nor her son was injured.
A 30-year-old man reported that two young men grabbed him and one punched him in the face as he walked along Engle Street, in front of the public library, about 8 p.m. Sunday, Tinsley said.
The man, robbed of the $45 in his wallet, was treated at Englewood Hospital for facial wounds and released, Tinsley said.
The other two robberies took place Friday night. In what was first reported to police as a fight about 7:30 p.m., a 45-year-old man was assaulted by about eight people as he walked along James Street near Palisade Avenue, Tinsley said. The man’s wallet was stolen, along with $400 and identification cards, including an alien-immigration card.
Tinsley said a 30-year-old woman was robbed of her gold ring and necklace by two young men who asked her the time as she walked along Demarest Avenue about 6:30 p.m.
Police are also investigating whether the assault and attempted armed robbery of a 14-year-old boy at about 4 p.m. Monday was related to the spate of robberies, Tinsley said. One youth was in custody, and police expect more arrests in the case.

Keywords: ENGLEWOOD; ROBBERY; POLICE

MAN FIGHTS OFF GUNMEN WHO TIED UP, ROBBED WIFE

By Michael O. Allen, Record Staff Writer | Saturday, February 23, 1991

The Record (New Jersey) | All Editions | NEWS| Page A02

A 32-year-old building superintendent Friday fought off three armed robbers after they forced their way into his apartment, tied up his wife, stole money and jewelry, and then shot an elderly woman as they fled, said Police Chief John Orso.
A woman walking her dog outside the robbery scene, at 293 Elsmere Place, was slightly injured by a bullet fired by one of the fleeing robbers. The woman, who was not identified, was in good condition at Holy Name Hospital in Teaneck, where she was being treated for a wound in her right arm.
The robbers, pursued by Fort Lee, Port Authority, and New York City police, escaped in a red Mercedes-Benz over the George Washington Bridge into New York City, Orso said.
The incident began about 1:30 p.m. when the trio, pretending they were to check a gas leak, pushed past Faviola Rodrigues, 30, tied her up, and stole $800 and jewelry, Orso said.
Her husband, Gabriel Rodrigues, was working outside the building when he saw one of the men in his apartment. He ran to the front door and confronted the three as they ran out. One man saw Rodrigues carrying a portable radio and told a partner to shoot, Orso said.
“They thought he was a police officer,” he said. “Gabriel grabbed the guy with the gun and he was wrestling the guy. The guy shot off two or three rounds. “
With Rodrigues in pursuit, the robbers ran two blocks and joined a fourth man waiting in the car. Rodrigues jumped on the trunk of the car as it pulled away and put his right fist through the rear windshield. He fell off the car and was treated at the scene for cuts and abrasions, Orso said.

Keywords: ROBBERY; FORT LEE; SHOOTING

COPS HUNT GUNMEN IN STRING OF HOLDUPS

By Michael O. Allen, Record Staff Writer | Sunday, February 17, 1991

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

Police departments are on the lookout for two or more armed men following a series of gas station holdups that authorities believe may be related.
Over the last week, police reported six similar armed robberies in Clifton, Passaic, Wallington, and Rutherford. Most were at service stations on highways, and all but one were committed by a single gunman confronting a lone attendant.
“We’re coordinating with those departments and alerting other departments in the area with gas stations on highways,” said Detective Sgt. William De Vos of Clifton, where three holdups occurred on consecutive days last week.
The latest robbery was at a Getty station in Rutherford on Thursday evening. It was the only one in which a shot was fired, police said.
A 37-year-old attendant was sitting behind a desk at the Getty station about 8:30 p.m. when a man came into the office, asked for change of a dollar, and then produced a gun and announced a robbery, said Rutherford police Detective Lt. Steven Nienstedt.
The gunman took about $300 from the attendant and pushed him into a boiler room next to the office, Nienstedt said. A second man joined the gunman, rifled through the desk, and took more money. They fled on foot, police said.
Before leaving, the gunman shot at the attendant but struck the door, Nienstedt said.
Police said the method in that robbery resembled the other five under investigation.

Keywords: ROBBERY; GARAGE; CLIFTON; PASSAIC; WALLINGTON; RUTHERFORD

GLEN ROCK MAN CHARGED IN GAS STATION HOLDUP

MICHAEL O. ALLEN | Thursday, February 14, 1991

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

A 27-year-old Glen Rock man who robbed a gas station attendant at gunpoint Tuesday night was arrested 45 minutes later in Paramus, police said.
Roberto Perez of 132 Gaynor Place was charged with armed robbery and was being held in the Bergen County Jail Wednesday on $20,000 bail.
The incident began about 9 p.m. Tuesday, when Perez pulled his van up to a pump at the Route 4 Exxon gas station in Englewood. Englewood Detective Capt. C. Kenneth Tinsley said the gas station attendant told police that when he approached the van, he saw Perez point a paper bag, with what appeared to be the barrel of a pistol poking out, at him.
“Don’t run. Give me all the money you have or I’ll blow your head off,” Perez told the attendant, according to Tinsley.
The attendant gave Perez about $200, and he drove east on Route 4. Englewood police sent descriptions of the suspect over police radio, Tinsley said.
A Paramus police officer arrested Perez as he traveled west on Route 4, at the Forest Avenue exit. Police recovered $66 of the stolen money but did not find a gun, Tinsley said.

Keywords: ENGLEWOOD; GARAGE; ROBBERY

2ND SUSPECT IN PARAMUS HEIST NABBED

By Michael O. Allen, Record Staff Writer | Wednesday, February 6, 1991

The Record (New Jersey) | Four Star B | NEWS | Page B04

A 40-year-old Fairview man who was arrested Monday night in Woodbridge for credit-card fraud has been identified as the second suspect in a Jan. 16 Paramus bank robbery in which a 15-year-old Bronx boy was arrested, police said.
Leon Busiello, also known as John Rizzo, of 685 Prospect Ave., was being held in the Middlesex County Jail on Tuesday, Paramus Police Chief Joseph Delaney said.
On Tuesday, a Paramus Municipal Court judge set $100,000 bail for Busiello on charges of bank robbery and possession of a weapon while committing the robbery, Delaney said.
Busiello gave the youth, whom police declined to identify because of his age, a note that he read to a teller at the Midland Bank in the Bergen Mall on the day of the robbery, Delaney said.
“Give me all the money, large bills, no singles, or I’ll kill everyone. I have a gun,” Delaney said the youth told the teller. Busiello, who Delaney said drove the boy and a third suspect to the mall, was standing nearby with a gun.
Busiello took most of the $8,772 that the teller handed the boy and escaped, as did the third suspect, Delaney said. A Bergen County police officer driving nearby arrested the boy, who had $1,600 in his possession, in the parking lot behind the bank.
The boy is being held in the Bergen County Juvenile Center in Paramus, awaiting a hearing on charges of bank robbery and threatening to kill people in the bank.
Busiello faces charges of fraud and illegal possession of a weapon in Middlesex County. Delaney could not provide details about the incident.

Keywords: PARAMUS; BANK; ROBBERY

RAIDS BY BURGLARY TASK FORCE YIELD 3 ARRESTS IN BERGENFIELD

By Michael O. Allen, Record Staff Writer | Sunday, February 3, 1991

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

Three borough residents were charged Saturday with receiving stolen property following raids on their apartments.
The raids were performed by investigators with a task force formed two weeks ago by 15 Bergen County communities caught in the throes of a wave of burglaries and break-ins.
Leroy Saulter, 27, of 16-B Morrissey Walk was being held on $100,000 bail in the Bergen County Jail, and Sandra Hicks, 31, of 12 Carnation St. was being held on $15,000 bail. Florence Beckford, 25, of 16-B Morrissey Walk, was released after she paid $2,500, 10 percent of her $25,000 bail.
Detectives from Bergenfield, Teaneck, Englewood, Fort Lee, and the burglary squad of the Bergen County Prosecutor’s Office raided Hicks and Beckford’s apartments about 9:30 Friday night.
Police seized items they believe were stolen, including jewelry, fur and leather coats and jackets, stereo equipment, automatic handguns, silver dollars, and rare coins, said Bergenfield Police Chief Richard G. Baroch.
The items are believed to have been stolen in a wave of robberies that has gripped many Bergen County communities in recent months, he said. Bergenfield alone had 75 burglaries in the past six months, including 16 in the first 11 days of 1991, Baroch said.
Teaneck, Englewood, River Edge, Oakland, and several other communities saw several break-ins in late 1990, Baroch said.
Bergen County burglary victims who want to determine if their property is among the items seized should should take a copy of their police report to the Bergenfield Police Department at 198 N. Washington St. on Monday or Friday from 5 until 8 p.m. or on Wednesday from 9 a.m. until noon, the chief said.
Saulter was charged with three counts of criminal possession of firearms, possession of marijuana, possession of marijuana with intent to distribute within 1,000 feet of a school, two counts of receiving stolen property a 9mm semiautomatic pistol and a .357 Magnum revolver criminal possession of six hollow-nose .357 Magnum bullets, criminal possession of a switchblade knife, and possession of a weapon after being convicted of a crime in the state of New Jersey.
Hicks was charged with receiving a stolen leather jacket valued at $900 and criminal possession of .380-caliber automatic pistol, which was loaded with five rounds. Charges against Beckford include possession of a switchblade knife, hollow-nose bullets, marijuana, and items used to smoke marijuana.

Keywords: BERGENFIELD; THEFT; ROBBERY

Notes: Bergen page

ASSAULT PROBE LOOKS AT PAIR; ENGLEWOOD MAN, TEEN ARE SUSPECTS

By Michael O. Allen, Record Staff Writer | Wednesday, January 30, 1991

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

A 20-year-old city man and a 16-year-old accomplice who have been charged with robbery are being investigated in connection with 12 other assaults in the past two weeks, police said.
Malik McKinnon of 210 First St. was being held Tuesday on $10,000 bail in the Bergen County Jail. The juvenile, whom police declined to identify because of his age, was released to the custody of his parents.
A 20-year-old employee of Chicken Magician of Teaneck had just delivered food to a West Palisade Avenue residence when he was accosted by two males about 9:15 p.m. Sunday and robbed of about $100, Englewood Detective Capt. C. Kenneth Tinsley said.
Police arrested the juvenile later that night after the victim, who recognized the juvenile from a playground basketball game, gave police a description.
McKinnon turned himself in Monday, Tinsley said.
The money was returned to the victim, he said.
Starting with a Jan. 7 mugging of a 50-year-old man in the parking lot of a church, 13 people were assaulted in separate incidents, Tinsley said, and eight of them were robbed in dark and isolated areas in the 1st and 3rd wards.
“We haven’t confirmed it yet but we are checking to see if they [the two suspects] were involved with the other incidents,” Tinsley said.
He added that increased patrols in the 1st and 3rd wards would continue.

Keywords: ROBBERY; ASSAULT; PROBE; ENGLEWOOD; YOUTH

TEEN AWAITING HEARING ON BANK HEIST AT MALL

By Michael O. Allen, Record Staff Writer | Saturday, January 19, 1991

The Record (New Jersey) | Two Star B | NEWS | Page A07

A 15-year-old Bronx boy faces a hearing in juvenile court on charges he robbed a Bergen Mall bank, police said.
The juvenile was holding a torn bag containing $1,600 of the $8,772 taken from Midland Bank on the mall’s lower level when two police officers arrested him outside the bank shortly after 6 p.m. Wednesday, Police Chief Joseph Delaney said.
Police charged him with bank robbery and threatening to kill people at the bank.
“Give me all the money large bills, no singles or I’ll kill everyone. I have a gun,” Delaney said the youth told the teller as he slid a note to her. The youth did not have a weapon, he said.
The youth tore the bag when he pulled it through the teller’s window, and he was picking up money that was falling from the bag as he fled, Delaney said.
Bergen County Police Officer Charles Banks and Paramus Officer James Gormley arrested the youth in the bank parking lot shortly after the robbery.
A hearing on the charges against the youth, who is being held in the Bergen County Juvenile Detention Center in Paramus, will probably be next week.

Keywords: PARAMUS; BANK; ROBBERY

2 HELD IN ARMED ROBBERY IN HACKENSACK

MICHAEL O. ALLEN | Sunday, December 30, 1990

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

Two men were being held in the Bergen County Jail on Saturday on $20,000 bail each after their arrest in a city apartment building following a report of an armed robbery outside a convenience store, police said.
Bryan Miller, 26, of Ridgewood and Troy Jones, 30, of Englewood, who police say were staying at 370 Park St., were charged with armed robbery, Police Chief William Iurato said in a news release.
Iurato said that at 11 p.m. Friday, Miller held a gun to three men coming out of Simon Sez, a convenience store at 281 State St., while Jones emptied the men’s pockets and took about $40 and cigarettes. Miller and Jones then ran from the scene in opposite directions, Iurato said.
One of the victims stopped a passing police car, reported the robbery, and described the men, the chief said.
An investigation led to the arrest of the men at 370 Park St., Iurato said.

Keywords: ROBBERY; HACKENSACK; BERGEN COUNTY; PRISON; STORE

CITY PROBES BURGLARY WAVE; SAYS ARMED ROBBER FITS PATTERN

By Michael O. Allen, Record Staff Writer | Friday, December 28, 1990

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

A 28-year-old Hackensack man who last week admitted committing three armed robberies is being investigated in connection with more than 20 burglaries in the city and several more in surrounding communities, city police said Thursday.

A Municipal Court judge Thursday set bail at $25,000 for Michael Dunlap of 179 Union St. on three counts of armed robbery and possession of a crack vial, and released him on his own recognizance.

In one of the robberies to which Dunlap confessed, he entered AAA Home Video store at 29 State St. on Sept. 24, asked about joining the club, and then announced a robbery, said Capt. John Aletta, Hackensack Police investigations chief. Dunlap said he had a gun wrapped in his coat, but the store attendant did not see it, Aletta said.

Dunlap is said to have repeated the pattern at the Arena Diner on Essex Street on Oct. 1 and at the Shell gas station across the street from the diner on Dec. 9. Approximately $300 was taken in all the robberies, Aletta said.

Detective Sgt. Fred Puglisi is investigating other armed robberies fitting the pattern, Aletta said. Hackensack also will share its information with surrounding communities that have reported robberies fitting the pattern, he said.

Robbery victims will be shown a photo lineup, including a photograph of Dunlap, to see if they could identify their assailant, Puglisi said.

Detective Sgt. Michael Mordaga arrested Dunlap on Dec. 20 as he walked along Union Street, near Central Avenue, at about 7 p.m. Aletta said Mordaga recognized Dunlap from descriptions and a composite drawing of the suspect in the armed robberies.

Police said when Mordaga patted Dunlap down before taking him into custody, the detective felt what appeared to be a bullet in Dunlap’s pocket. The object turned out to be a crack vial, Aletta said.