BUS DRIVER SAYS PUPILS ATTACKED HIM BEFORE

By Michael O. Allen, Record Staff Writer | Saturday, November 16, 1991

The Record (New Jersey) | Two Star B | Section: NEWS | Page A02

The school bus driver who police say was assaulted by five students he was taking to Leonia High School said Thursday’s attack was not the first.

George Sanint, 25, of Fort Lee is in Englewood Hospital, where he is being treated for a broken nose and a fractured left eye socket. Some of the same students attacked him 10 months ago when they were in middle school, but the school failed to do anything about it, he said Friday.

Dr. Frank Marlow, Leonia schools superintendent, said he has no record of an earlier attack.

Meanwhile, one of the accused youths signed a simple-assault complaint against Sanint on Friday, Police Chief John Orso said.

Police planned to have patrol cars follow school buses at random to prevent further incidents. A Taranto Bus Co. spokesman said an aide will be assigned to each bus.

Sanint said that upon boarding the bus in Edgewater, one of the youths blew him a kiss, which sparked unruly behavior and harassment throughout the trip.

“When you are driving a school bus with 52 kids every day,” Sanint said, “you have to concentrate on what you are doing. So it’s very difficult to drive when everybody is harassing you.”

Sanint said one of the students punched him in the eye as he stood in the back of the bus warning the students to behave. Four others then joined in.

Marlow said the district is investigating a report that the fight began after Sanint grabbed a student by the shirt collar. Sanint denies the report.

The youths, 15 to 17 years old, are from Edgewater, which sends its middle and high school students to Leonia. They were charged with aggravated assault-juvenile delinquency.

One youth’s family declined to comment; the others could not be reached.

The students were suspended for two weeks, and other disciplinary measures are possible, Marlow said.

SCHOOL BUS DRIVER IS BEATEN BY STUDENTS

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

The Record (New Jersey) | 5 Star | | NEWS | Page B01

A 25-year-old school bus driver was attacked by five of the students he was taking to Leonia High School Thursday morning and was hospitalized with facial injuries, police said.

George Sanint, an employee of the Taranto Bus Co., suffered injuries to his nose and left eye, Fort Lee Police Chief John Orso said. Sanint was in stable condition in the Englewood Hospital emergency room Thursday, a hospital spokeswoman said.

The youths, Edgewater residents between the ages of 15 and 17, were each charged with aggravated assault-juvenile deliquency and were released to the custody of their parents, Orso said. Edgewater sends students from seventh grade through high school to Leonia.

Dr. Frank Marlow, superintendent of the Leonia school district, said the five boys have been suspended for two weeks.

“The school district has taken very strong actions against the youngsters involved, and we are investigating the alleged involvement of the bus driver as well, the extent to which he instigated this,” Marlow said. “This is not to excuse the students. They’ve been severely punished. We just don’t tolerate behavior like this.”

The incident occurred about 7:50 a.m. on Anderson Avenue, near Route 5 in Fort Lee. Marlow said the school was investigating a report that Sanint stopped the bus when he heard two students, one black, the other white, hurl racial insults at each other in jest.

“From what I heard, the bus driver thought the remarks were directed at him,” Marlow said.

FIRED WORKER CHARGED WITH ATTACKING BOSS

By MICHAEL O. ALLEN | Saturday, November 2, 1991

The Record (New Jersey) | Two Star B | NEWS | Page A02

A 31-year-old man who police said attacked his supervisor when she fired him for showing up drunk for work at the Dwight-Englewood School was being held in the Bergen County Jail on Friday.

Raymond Todd Walker of Morris Avenue, Englewood, was charged with aggravated assault, criminal mischief, and disorderly conduct, said Englewood police Capt. C. Kenneth Tinsley. Bail was set at $9,000.

The supervisor, whom police declined to identify, noticed that Walker was drunk when he arrived at work shortly before 8 a.m. Friday, authorities said. She told him his employment at the school was terminated. Tinsley said the supervisor told police Walker became irate, showering her with obscenities.

She said Walker then grabbed her by the arms, choked her, threw her over a desk, and banged her head over a partition. She was treated at Englewood Hospital for minor injuries and was released.

Police arrested Walker near the school on Palisade Avenue a few minutes after the incident. School officials could not be reached for comment.

FIRE EMPTIES SCHOOL

MICHAEL O. ALLEN | Friday, February 22, 1991

The Record (New Jersey) | Four Star B | NEWS | Page A03

Twice-a-month fire drills at Harry L. Bain Elementary School paid off Thursday when an early morning fire in a storage room forced the evacuation of more than 800 students from the K-8 school at Broadway and 62nd Street.
No one was injured in the fire, and it was brought under control in about 15 minutes, said Principal Donald Rocker.
Much to the delight of the students, classes were disrupted for about two hours. During that time, the children played in the West New York Community Center on Hudson Street, two blocks from the school.
The cause of the fire, which destroyed desks as well as the walls of the storage room, is under investigation, said Deputy Fire Chief John Gannon.

Keywords: WEST NEW YORK; SCHOOL; FIRE

Caption: 2 PHOTOS – STEVE HOCKSTEIN / THE RECORD 1 – The West New York Community Center, above, where students were bused after a fire broke out at the Harry L. Bain School early Thursday. 2 – A sign on the school door, below, explained where the children were.

KIDS EXCITED BY DRUG LESSONS PARAMUS PROGRAM DRAWS ENTHUSIASM

By Michael O. Allen, Record Staff Writer | Wednesday, February 13, 1991

The Record (New Jersey) | Four Star B | NORTH CENTRAL BERGEN/YOUR TOWN RECORD | Page 1

To fifth-graders at the Paramus public schools, the Police Department’s DARE program urging children to stay away from drugs is a hit.
And to Paramus Police Detective Kevin Smith and Patrolman Bill Nutland, who are coordinating the 18-week pilot Drug Abuse Resistance Education program at Eastbrook and Westbrook middle schools, the students enthusiasm has been infectious.
The excitement was evident at DARE flag-raising ceremonies at the two schools. A rousing ovation, punctuated with “woof, woof, woof,” a la Arsenio Hall’s “dog pound,” greeted Nutland and Smith when they spoke before 115 10- and 11-year-olds and their teachers gathered at the gymnasium of the Westbrook School last week.
The officers were treated to a similar reception several weeks earlier at the Eastbrook School.
Both times the children had gathered to hoist the DARE flag and recite the pledge to say no to drugs. Rainy weather moved last week’s ceremony indoors. The change did not discourage the children, however. They remained as rambunctious as ever.
“What are you going to say when someone comes to you on the street and says, `Hey kid, you want to try some drugs? ” Nutland asked.
“No!” came the deafening reply, their voices bouncing off the walls of the gymnasium.
“Do you really mean it?” asked Nutland, like a preacher warming to the task.
“Yes!” echoed the chorus.
The DARE flag black with DARE in red letters and the credo, “To Keep Kids off Drugs,” in white is to remind visitors to the school that DARE is there, working everyday of the year, Nutland told the students.
The message seems to be sinking in. The children excitedly talked about what they are learning and how they feel about Nutland, Smith, and the other officers from the Police Department who come and help out.
Westbrook School’s Sumon Nandy, 10, said he learned that drugs are bad for him and could kill him. Jennifer Ward, 10, of the Eastbrook School said all the children were always excited to have “Kevin” Detective Smith around.
The officers go to the schools Nutland at Westbrook and Smith at Eastbrook three times each week. They play softball and football with the children and teach the DARE curriculum, which Eastbrook Principal Barbara Hyde said focuses on self-esteem and drug-related education.
Hyde said the school district and the Police Department chose the fifth grade to start the pilot program because it is a critical age to try to reach the children: They are under less parental supervision; they are sometimes with older students; and they are exposed to bad influences from the television and other media.
“There are more chances for them to make wrong decisions,” Hyde said. “There’s no guarantee that this is going to turn the world around, but a lot of things haven’t worked and this is a really positive program.”

Keywords: PARAMUS; DRUG; ABUSE; STUDENT; CHILD; SCHOOL; POLICE

Caption: COLOR PHOTO – ED HILL / THE RECORD – Fifth-graders standing with policemen who taught them how to avoid drugs. From left, Keith Smollin, Detective Kevin Smith, Laura Hofsommer, Patrolman Bill Nutland, and T.J. Cullen.

YOUTH WHO HAD GUN IN HIS LOCKER TO BE HELD

By Michael O. Allen and David Voreacos, Record Staff Writers | Wednesday, November 28, 1990

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

A 17-year-old Teaneck High School senior, arrested this week after officials found a loaded semiautomatic pistol in his locker, will be detained until a juvenile court hearing scheduled for Dec. 7, police said.

The student, whose identity was withheld by police, faces a juvenile delinquency charge of possession of a weapon within an educational institution, said Capt. Gary Fiedler.

He was arrested Monday morning and was being held Tuesday in the Bergen County Juvenile Detention Center in Paramus.

The student also has been suspended from school, said Judy Distler, a school spokeswoman who said she had no further information on any disciplinary measures.

Authorities were alerted to the location of the gun by Principal James DeLaney, who called police at 9:15 a.m. Monday after receiving a confidential tip, said a report written by Detective Frank McCall of the Youth Bureau.

McCall went to the school and, with DeLaney and Assistant Principal Joseph White, removed a California-made .380 Kurtz semiautomatic pistol from a first-floor locker. The gun was loaded with four bullets in a magazine and one in the chamber, McCall said.

Police were attempting Tuesday to determine how the youth got the gun, Fiedler said.
He said the senior has a police record but he would not elaborate on it.

FOOTBALL-GAME FIGHT ESCALATES INTO MELEE; POLICE CALLED TO CLIFTON STADIUM

By Michael O. Allen, Record Staff Writer | Sunday, November 18, 1990

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

A dispute between a Bloomfield coach and a Clifton football player boiled over Saturday into a melee between players at a game between the freshman teams from the two communities high schools, according to witnesses.

Details of what occurred at the Clifton High School stadium were sketchy, but witnesses said the players scuffled after the traditional postgame handshake.

Pete Colesano, a Clifton Board of Education member who attended the game, said the melee lasted about 15 minutes and that police were called to help restore order. Colesano said a coach for the Bloomfield team attempted to assault a Clifton player and the scuffle followed.

Chet Parlavecchio, varsity coach at Bloomfield High, said there had been an “incident,” but denied that the Bloomfield coach tried to assault a Clifton player.

Parlavecchio, who was not at the game, refused to identify the coach allegedly involved, but said the coach was consulting a referee, not intending to assault a player, when he left his bench.

“If a coach of mine went after their player, there is no excuse for that and he would be dismissed right away,” Parlavecchio said. “We were on their 10-yard line, ready to score. It was a good football game. They are undefeated and we were ready to pull an upset and all this happened.”

Gerald Robinson, 16, the Clifton player who reportedly was the target of the Bloomfield coach’s anger, traced the dispute to a play late in the fourth quarter.

Robinson said that after the game, players were beginning to shake hands when the Bloomfield coach started running after him. “One of my teammates said, `Gerald, look out. I turned around,” Robinson said. “There was a big riot on the field. Everybody was fighting.”

Robinson was uninjured, but Bobby Capo, 14, a teammate who intervened, was struck on the helmet by the Bloomfield coach, according to Capo’s father, Kenneth.

Clifton High School Principal Robert Mooney and police Sgt. John Zipf both described the incident as minor. There were no serious injuries and no one was arrested.

Clifton won the game, 26-14. The varsities of the two schools are scheduled to play in Clifton on Thanksgiving Day.