Theft Archives - MICHAEL O. ALLEN

SHE LOSES CASH, STEREO TO CON MEN

By michael o. allenHomepage, The RecordNo Comments

By Michael O. Allen, Record Staff Writer | Thursday, March 26, 1992

The Record (New Jersey) | 5 Star | NEWS | B03

Two men conned a 32-year-old Paterson woman out of $300 and stole her car stereo Tuesday after persuading her to give them the money in exchange for a share in lottery winnings, police said.

The woman was shaken but not injured, police Capt. C. Kenneth Tinsley said. He gave this account from a report written by Patrolman Ronald Schaarschmidt:

The scam occurred between noon and 12:45 p.m. Tuesday. One man approached the woman as she stood at a phone booth on Engle Street and asked for directions to a church. A second man then walked up and they talked.

“The first man indicated that the second male had won money from the New York State lottery, a large sum of money,” Tinsley said. “He told her that the second male would give her part of that money if she would give him some money to hold as trust.”

Tinsley said it was unclear how much money the man said he won or how much he said he would give the woman. She drove the men to the Midlantic Bank at 1 Engle St. in her car, cashed a $300 personal check, and gave the money to the supposed lottery winner.

They asked her to drive up Engle Street to a friend’s house. When she and one of the men got out of the car to go to the apartment, he ran. When she returned to her car, the other man had removed the stereo and fled, Tinsley said.

March 26, 1992

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FOILED BURGLARY SUSPECT COULDN’T HOLD UP PANTS

By michael o. allenHomepage, The RecordNo Comments

By Michael O. Allen, Record Staff Writer | Saturday, January 18, 1992

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

Police said Michael Bailey’s pants pockets contained 36 nickels, 20 dimes, 12 quarters, lots of pennies, $44 in bills, a black flashlight, a crack pipe, and a razor knife.

He was not wearing a belt.

With two detectives hot on his heels in Hackensack and one in a car trying to cut him off, Bailey was in trouble Thursday night. The weight of what police now say were fruits of his night’s work was too much: His pants dropped around his ankles and tripped him.

“That’s a lot of weight to be carrying in one’s pocket,” said Hackensack Deputy Police Chief John Aletta of Bailey, who is charged with breaking into a Main Street deli and stealing several of those items.

Bailey, 28, of 67 Kansas St., Hackensack, was being held Friday in lieu of $7,500 bail in the Bergen County Jail.

It began to unravel for Bailey when Detective Sgts. Mike Mordaga, Robert Wright, and Louis D’Arminio noticed him carrying two big brown bags as he walked along Main Street about 11:30 Thursday night. The detectives knew warrants were out for Bailey’s arrest on charges of burglary and drug possession, Aletta said.

Bailey took off running when he saw the detectives turn their car around. Wright and D’Arminio chased while Mordaga followed in an unmarked car until Bailey tumbled to the ground four blocks away.

Police found a telephone, a scale used to weigh sandwiches, a small cash register, and a small television in the brown bags Bailey dropped when the detectives chased him. Police say Bailey got the loot by breaking into Mento’s Deli, 602 Main St.

January 18, 1992

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2 CHARGED IN ASSAULT, THEFT TRY; ALLEGEDLY ATTACKED GUARD WITH PIPE, BAT

By michael o. allenHomepage, The RecordNo Comments

By Michael O. Allen, Record Staff Writer | Wednesday, January 15, 1992

The Record (New Jersey) | 5 Star | NEWS | Page B03

Two men were charged Tuesday with attempted robbery and assaulting a security guard who walked by as they were trying to steal a truck, police said.

Abundio Cortes, 27, of Brooklyn and Francisco Contreras, 32, of 87 Park Place, Passaic, were arrested at Tonnelle Avenue and 76th Street, about 1 1/2 miles from 4401 Dell Ave., an office building where the men tried to steal the truck, said Lt. Timothy Kelly.

Security guard Guiseppe Occhano, 22, of Union City noticed a broken window on the truck while talking to the men, whom he had seen walking from the side of the building about 1:30 a.m. The men attacked Occhano and a friend who was with him, Jose Zenon, 21, of Union City, with a metal pipe, baseball bat, and a crutch, Kelly said.

They defended themselves, hitting one man and breaking his arm and giving the other a deep cut on the mouth, Kelly said.

Cortes and Contreras then fled in a black Chevrolet Trans Am, and Occhano called police. They were arrested a few minutes later by Patrolman Robert Scudieri. Occhano was taken to the scene and identified the two men as his attackers, Kelly said.

In an unrelated incident, two men robbed the McDonald’s restaurant at 2126 Tonnelle Ave. at 6:45 p.m. Monday, Kelly said.

The two drove to the drive-up window, and one of them brandished a gun and demanded money. They escaped with an undetermined amount of cash, Kelly said.

January 15, 1992

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POLICE NAB 3, THWART TWO THEFT ATTEMPTS

By michael o. allenHomepage, The RecordNo Comments

Byline: By Michael O. Allen, Record Staff Writer | Saturday, January 11, 1992

The Record (New Jersey) | Two Star B | NEWS | Page A05

Two men were arrested after police got a tip that they were stealing luggage from a warehouse in the city, police said.

Officers George Alston and George Coleman, responding about 10:10 a.m. Thursday, arrested Ivan Torres, 34, and Alberto Vega, 37, both of West New York, after a short foot chase, Police Capt. C. Kenneth Tinsley said.

The two were charged with burglary, theft, and resisting arrest and were being held Friday in the Bergen County Jail on $10,000 bail.

The warehouse, located at 35 S. Van Brunt St., is an unmanned storage building for a North Bergen luggage store, Tinsley said. Vega and Torres backed a truck up to the rear of the warehouse and had filled it with 45 cases of portfolios worth about $12,000 when the officers arrived.

They fled on seeing police, but the officers found them hiding near the Englewood Municipal Building a few minutes later, Tinsley said.

In an unrelated incident later Thursday, police arrested William T. Blaine, 19, of 248 W. Forest Ave., Englewood, on charges of attempted armed robbery, aggravated assault, and resisting arrest, Tinsley said.

Officers responding to a report of a robbery in progress about 8:45 p.m. arrested Blaine after a short foot chase. Blaine was one of five men who allegedly tried to steal a bicycle at knifepoint from a 36-year-old Englewood man near the McDonald’s restaurant on West Palisade Avenue.

Blaine was being held on $7,500 bail in the Bergen County Jail.

January 11, 1992

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POLICE NAB 2 IN MIDST OF BREAK-IN; NEIGHBOR SPOTS MAN, TEEN IN ACT

By michael o. allenHomepage, The RecordNo Comments

By Michael O. Allen, Record Staff Writer | Saturday, January 4, 1992

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

Responding to a call Friday in which a Franklin Road resident said that intruders had just broken into his neighbor’s home, police caught a 20-year-old man and a teenager going through the house.

Mikko Benjamin of Elmwood Avenue was charged with burglary, theft, and resisting arrest and was to be remanded to the Bergen County Jail Annex in Hackensack on $6,000 bail. His 17-year-old accomplice, charged with the same offenses, was being held in the Bergen County Juvenile Detention Center in Paramus, acting Police Chief William Luciano said.

The neighbor called police about 11:15 a.m., and told them the two had entered the home through a back door. Patrolman Anthony Cureton and Sgt. Warren Lewis entered while six officers surrounded the house.

“Once inside, they saw one suspect running through a room and they grabbed him. While they were scuffling with him, the other ran out through the back door,” Luciano said.

Leaving Lewis grappling on the ground with the juvenile, Cureton ran after Benjamin. Patrolman John Holdsworth strained a neck muscle as he jumped a fence running after Benjamin, Luciano said. Cureton hit his head on a rock as he tackled Benjamin, but he was able to subdue the suspect, the chief said.

Luciano said Lewis injured his hands and back bringing the youth under control. The officers received medical treatment and are expected to return to work next week, he added.

January 4, 1992

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POLICE CHASE, CHARGE SIX TEENS AFTER REPORT OF HOUSE BREAK-IN

By michael o. allenHomepage, The RecordNo Comments

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

The Record (New Jersey) | 5 Star | NEWS | Page B02

Six Dwight Morrow High School students were charged with burglary and theft after police, responding to a report of a break-in at a house, caught the suspects after a chase.

Five of the students four girls ages 14 to 17, and a 15-year-old boy were taken into protective custody after the chase, which ended a few minutes after noon Tuesday in a field at the rear of the high school, police said. The five were released to their parents.

Police were looking for the sixth student, a 14-year-old girl, on Wednesday, Police Capt. C. Kenneth Tinsley said.

Several police officers on patrol, including Police Chief William Luciano, heard the report of the burglary at a house on Liberty Avenue, Tinsley said. A resident called police and told them he saw youths carrying brightly colored knapsacks coming out of his neighbor’s house.

Luciano and several patrolmen caught the students after a short foot chase.

The students had several rings and other jewelry determined to have been stolen from the Liberty Avenue home, along with a sealed United Parcel Service packet that had just been delivered to a Lantana Avenue address, police said.

A Bergen County police dog, employed to search the area because of the distance between where the students were caught and where the break-in was reported, found a knapsack containing wrapped presents and jewelry in a bush behind the burglarized home, police said.

Police could not say whether the students had been involved in other burglaries in the area.

“There have been previous burglaries in that area, and we’ve made arrests of young adults, but we haven’t linked these youngsters to other burglaries in the area,” Tinsley said.

Dwight Morrow Principal Richard Segall said he was unaware of the arrest but that the students would be appropriately punished if they had been charged with such crimes.

December 19, 1991

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2 MEN ARRESTED IN STRING OF BURGLARIES

By michael o. allenHomepage, The RecordNo Comments

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

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

Town police say they have solved four recent burglaries, including three in which victims were asleep in their homes during the crime, with the arrest of a 21-year-old man and an accomplice who helped him in at least one of the break-ins.
Police arrested Joseph Baker of Hagen Place about 8 p.m. Tuesday as he walked near the Plaza Motor Inn, the scene of one of the burglaries about three weeks ago, Lt. Howard Lenz said.
Arrested with Baker and charged with conspiracy to commit burglary was Thomas Calicchio, 21, of 90th Street in North Bergen, Lenz said.
Calicchio was waiting outside a window for Baker in the most recent burglary, about 2 a.m. Tuesday, Lenz said. Baker broke into a Roosevelt Place apartment but left hurriedly when the 60-year-old woman who lives there awoke and saw him, Lenz said.
Baker was also tied to three other burglaries, police said.
An apartment on Hagen Place also was broken into sometime between midnight and 6 a.m. Tuesday. The thief took $10 and five cartons of cigarettes, police said.
“About three weeks ago, we had a similar incident where a house was broken into,” Lenz said. “People were asleep in the house, and a man’s wallet containing $250 was taken from a kitchen table.”
Around the same time, a burglar stole cigarettes and about $500 from vending machines in a storage area of the Plaza Motor Inn on Route 3, Lenz said.
Baker, charged with four counts of burglary and three counts of theft, was being held on $2,500 bail in the Hudson County Jail. Calicchio was released on his own recognizance.

Keywords: SECAUCUS; THEFT

September 19, 1991

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

By michael o. allenHomepage, The RecordNo Comments

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

September 19, 1991

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A BURGLARY SPREE ENDS ON NIGHT OUT; UNION CITY POLICE ARREST PAIR OF TEENS

By michael o. allenHomepage, The RecordNo Comments

By Michael O. Allen, Record Staff Writer | Friday, August 9, 1991

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

A nightmare ended for Roosevelt Street residents Tuesday night when they came out on their front porches to mark National Night Out against crime, Mayor Robert Menendez said.
Police led two teenagers who may have burglarized as many as 50 homes in the city including eight that night, and many of them on Roosevelt Street out of a house on the street about 30 minutes after the Night Out events began.
“One of them, a juvenile, told us they did so many he lost count,” Union City police Detective Brian Barrett said.
The juvenile, a 17-year-old boy, confessed to more burglaries 50 than police could charge him with. They could verify only 18.
Jeffrey Sweeney, 18, was arrested with the youth and was charged with eight of the burglaries. Sweeney is a student on the dean’s list at St. Peter’s College in Jersey City, Menendez said.
It was ironic that the two were arrested on National Night Out in a neighborhood where residents were beginning to feel besieged by the rash of burglaries, Menendez added.
Barrett and Detective Thomas Callahan had been investigating the burglaries since a Roosevelt Street home was broken into on May 5, the mayor said.
Barrett said the first lead came last week when an informant told authorities that the juvenile was responsible for the burglaries.
The two were arrested at an apartment the youth rented from a homeowner who found him in his hallway, about to burglarize his home last week, Barrett said. The youth had convinced the man that he wanted to rent an apartment, paid a month’s rent on the spot, and moved in Aug. 1, Barrett said.
“The juvenile told the man he was 22 years old,” Barrett said. The youth, who had lived alone for about two years and weighed about 220 pounds, looked older than his age, Barrett added.
The youth told police that when word got to him that the police were on his trail, he staged a burglary of his own apartment and the one below his on Tuesday to make himself look like a victim, rather than a suspect, Barrett said.
The plan backfired because police, while investigating that burglary, found credit cards, jewelry, and electronic and video equipment from other burglaries during the past three months in his apartment, Barrett said.
Barrett and Callahan began watching the house about 6 p.m. National Night Out events began on Roosevelt Street at 8 p.m.
McGruff the Crime Dog was on hand. The block was closed off, a searchlight went on, and a band started playing.
“We thought that would blow it for us,” Barrett said.
But they saw the two suspects going up the stairs right about then. The teens cooperated when they were confronted, Barrett said.
Barrett said Sweeney was released to the custody of a parent and that the youth was being held in the Hudson County Juvenile Detention Center.

Keywords: UNION CITY; THEFT

August 9, 1991

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SUSPECT CAPTURED, WITH HELP OF TIPSTER; LEFT SON WITH COPS AS HE DUCKED ARREST

By michael o. allenHomepage, The RecordNo Comments

By Michael O. Allen, Record Staff Writer | Friday, July 19, 1991

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

An anonymous tip Wednesday led to the capture of a 42-year-old man who last week had fled police leaving his son in their custody after being recognized as wanted on several charges.
Officers from five municipal police departments chased Nicola Lomuscio after he bolted from his home at 176 Woodland Ave. and arrested him about 4:45 p.m., said Little Ferry Detective Sgt. Michael Walsh.
Lomuscio was being held on $56,536 bail in the Bergen County Jail on Thursday. Little Ferry police charged him with eluding police and with two counts of resisting arrest. Police in Hackensack, where the case originated, charged Lomuscio with violating a restraining order, harassment, theft, and escape from custody.
Hackensack Police Capt. John Aletta said the incident began July 11 at their headquarters, when an officer recognized Lomuscio as the man they wanted in connection with a domestic abuse case and other charges. Lomuscio had come to report that someone had assaulted his 10-year-old son. He fled, leaving the boy, Aletta said. The assault claim was determined later to be unfounded, police said.
Hackensack police released the boy to his mother, who lives in the city.
Police had been unable to find Lomuscio at home since that incident, until a caller told police Wednesday that Lomuscio was heading toward Little Ferry, Aletta said. Four borough officers were waiting outside his home when he arrived. He defied the officers, entered the home, and escaped out the back door, Walsh said.
Police from South Hackensack, Moonachie, and Ridgefield Park and a Bergen County Police K-9 unit joined the brief chase before Lomuscio was arrested on Route 46 in Little Ferry, Walsh said.

Keywords: POLICE; LITTLE FERRY; HACKENSACK; ABUSE; THEFT; ASSAULT

July 19, 1991

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