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2 HAWTHORNE TEENS STILL IN HOSPITAL INJURED IN WEATHER-RELATED CRASH

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By Michael O. Allen and Gregory Beals, Record Staff Writers | Wednesday, March 18, 1992

The Record (New Jersey) | 4 Star | NEWS | B03

Two Hawthorne teenagers remained hospitalized from injuries in what police say was a weather-related, head-on collision in the village last week.

Edward Mullins III, 17, the driver of one of the cars, was in fair condition at Hackensack Medical Center on Tuesday, a spokeswoman said.

His passenger and classmate at Hawthorne High School, Corinne Dockray, 14, was in stable condition in the surgical intensive care unit with head injuries at the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey in Newark, a spokesman said. A helicopter took Dockray to the hospital after the accident on March 11, police said.

Two of Mullins other passengers, and the driver of the other car and her passenger, suffered minor injuries. Treated at The Valley Hospital in Ridgewood and released were Patrick Murphy, 17, and Allison Taylor, 14, both of whom were riding in Mullins car; Judith M. De Boer, 42, the driver of the other car; and Kirk De Boer, whose age and relationship to Judith De Boer were unavailable.

Murphy and Mullins have been friends since the age of 7, when they began playing football together, said Theresa Murphy, mother of Patrick Murphy. Both are members of the Hawthorne High School football team. Mullins is a halfback, Murphy an outside linebacker.

Murphy suffered a few abrasions to the face and required a few stiches, his mother said, adding that he was in shock after the accident and was deeply concerned about Mullins.

“It was very upsetting,” said Theresa Murphy, a 17-year Hawthorne resident. “He didn’t go to school for two days. He’s been at his buddy’s all the time.”

Mullins father, Edward Mullins, said: “My family, my friends, and my faith have kept me going. We are very, very positive right now.”

Students at Hawthorne High School have been kept advised of the condition of their injured classmates. One student said announcements have been made over the public address system.

Mullins had been traveling eastbound on Godwin Avenue about 6:45 p.m. last Wednesday when his car moved into the path of oncoming traffic and struck De Boer’s car at a bend in the road, according to the police report.

Ridgewood Police Capt. Louis Mader on Tuesday attributed the accident to the weather, saying it had snowed and there was a patch of ice in the roadway where the accident occurred.

Richard Sperito, the assistant superintendent of schools in Hawthorne, said: “Unfortunately, I think a lot of times when this happens we say, `Oh, they were speeding, or `Oh, they were drinking. But that was not the case here. It could have happened to you or me.”

Correction: Allison Taylor, one of the six Hawthorne residents injured last week in an accident in Ridgewood, remained in the hospital Friday and was in good condition, a hospital spokeswoman said. A story in Wednesday’s editions said she had been released from the hospital. Also, the name of one of the injured was misspelled. She is Corin Dockray. (PUBLISHED, SATURDAY, MARCH 21, 1992, PAGE a02.)

ID: 17371731 | Copyright © 1992, The Record (New Jersey)

March 18, 1992
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SPECTATOR SEATS AREN’T ALL NEEDED BUT PRESS OVERFLOWS COURTROOM

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By Michael O. Allen, Record Staff Writer | Thursday, January 16, 1992

The Record (New Jersey) | All Editions | NEWS | Page A11

Although spectators started gathering outside the Bergen County Courthouse about 7 a.m. on Wednesday, several of the 53 seats set aside for the public went begging on the day of opening arguments in Gary S. Spath’s reckless manslaughter trial.

The spectators who lined up before a double-glass door leading to the first-floor courtroom were waved in 10 at a time by Sheriff’s Officer George Kellinger shortly before the 9 a.m. start of the trial.

The initial seating included 39 spectators, plus six representatives of families of Spath and Phillip C. Pannell, as well as members of the press. Only 31 spectators attended in the afternoon.

Everyone entering the courtoom was frisked, sent through a walk-through metal detector, and then reinspected with a hand-held metal detector. Bergen County Undersheriff Jay Alpert attributed the tight security to anticipation of heavy demand for seats and the number of witnesses expected to testify at the trial.

All of the 19 seats set aside for the press were taken, and a special media room was set up on the second floor to handle the overflow. Nearly a score of reporters, cameramen, and technicians crammed into the 12-foot-square room to stare intently at two television monitors tuned to coverage of the trial provided by Court TV, a cable network. Space was so tight many sat cross-legged on the floor.

Several of the spectators including Beverly Lefkowitz, president of the Teaneck Parent-Teacher Association said they were drawn to the trial because they had closely followed the case since Spath shot Pannell in April 1990.

“The case reflects a lot of turmoil in the town that many of us are trying to address,” she said.

Lloyd Riddick, 57, a retired Teaneck resident, said he was attending to show support for the Pannells.

“Something happened to a friend of mine, an African-American, and I see the way the system is leaning. So, if my appearance here evens the scales of justice a little bit, then I’ll do so. Anything I can do to help,” he said.

Caption: PHOTO – AL PAGLIONE / THE RECORD – The trial of Teaneck police Officer Gary S. Spath getting under way in a Hackensack courtroom Wednesday morning.

Notes: MAIN STORY FILED SEPARATELY – OPENING ARGUMENTS FOCUS ON ISSUE OF PANNELL’S GUN. DID SPATH KNOW OF WEAPON? THE SPATH TRIAL – Page a01

ID: 17366199 | Copyright © 1992, The Record (New Jersey)

January 16, 1992
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ROBBERY VICTIM PURSUES SUSPECTS

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By Michael O. Allen, Record Staff Writer | Sunday, January 5, 1992

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

There was no smooth getaway for two Bronx men Saturday afternoon when they encountered a jeweler who chased them after the pair held up his store at gunpoint, Police Chief William Luciano said.

Officer Emma Jackson was patrolling the business district about 3 p.m. when she saw the owner of Goldfinger Jewelry Store running after two men on West Palisade Avenue.

“They just robbed my store, at gunpoint,” said the owner, whom police declined to identify. Jackson radioed headquarters for backup and followed the men in her patrol car.

Eight patrol cars raced to the area and chased the pair through McKay Park, into a nearby brook, and through back yards on Elmore Avenue, where police arrested them, Luciano said.

James Cornick and Lamonte Hampton were being held in the Englewood Police Department lockup Saturday night, awaiting a bail hearing, he said.

They were charged with armed robbery and illegal possession of handguns for unlawful purpose.

“You know the old saying: `You can run but you can’t hide’?” a jubilant Luciano asked later. “Too many blue uniforms, too many cops for them to get away. ”

For Jackson, a 16-year veteran of the department, it was the second chase in about two weeks. A robbery victim stopped Jackson’s car as she drove past a bar on West Street and, gesturing because he could not speak English, told her to follow a car occupied by four men he claimed had just robbed him.

The suspects abandoned the car and escaped on foot after crashing into Jackson’s patrol car at a traffic light.

Saturday’s suspects were not so lucky, Luciano said. Patrolman Timothy Torell chased Cornick, who was seen coming out of the window of a home on Elmore Avenue, in the direction of Lt. James Crowley, who arrested him.

Patrolman Joseph Archer saw Hampton about 100 feet down the street, walking at a leisurely pace, Luciano said. The store owner identified him later as one of the men who came into his store and robbed him and his wife, the chief said.

ID: 17365167 | Copyright © 1992, The Record (New Jersey)

January 5, 1992
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MAN, 18, CRITICALLY HURT IN PRE-DAWN CAR ACCIDENT

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By MICHAEL O. ALLEN | Thursday, January 2, 1992

The Record (New Jersey) | All Editions | NEWS | Page A08

An 18-year-old North Bergen man was hospitalized in critical condition Wednesday after he crashed his mother’s car into a telephone pole shortly before dawn on New Year’s Day, police and hospital officials said.

Bergen County Prosecutor John J. Fahy said Paul Ghibesi will be charged with having an open container of beer in the car, possessing alcohol while being under age, and driving a car after his driver’s license had been revoked.

“He has not been charged with DWI,” Fahy said. “The investigation is continuing as whether that charge would be brought. ”
Fahy said it was also unclear whether Ghibesi had been speeding.

Two passengers in the car, James Lucarelli of Guttenberg and Robert Baker, visiting from North Carolina, suffered minor injuries. Baker, 18, was in good condition at Hackensack Medical Center. Lucarelli, also 18, was in satisfactory condition at Englewood Hospital. Ghibesi was being treated at Hackensack Medical Center.

The crash occurred about 4:50 a.m. on Broad Avenue, at the intersection of Prospect Avenue, when Ghibesi lost control of the car and crashed into the pole, Fahy said.

ID: 17364947 | Copyright © 1992, The Record (New Jersey)

January 2, 1992
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POLICE TAUGHT ABOUT ABUSE LAW

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By Michael O. Allen, Record Staff Writer | Thursday, November 14, 1991

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

A police officer responds to a call about a woman’s screams. He arrives at the home where the screams were heard and is confronted by a man who tells the officer to leave. Nothing is amiss, says the man.

Should the officer break down the door or walk away?

Under the state’s Domestic Violence Prevention Act, which took effect Tuesday, the officer may decide to enter the home. Under the old law, he could not.

More than 150 officers from Bergen County were briefed Wednesday at a workshop on provisions of the new law, which places a burden on police to make arrests in domestic violence situations if they see injury or other evidence of battery.

“It’s a very pro-victim law,” said Paul Brickfield, Bergen County first assistant prosecutor. “If you have injuries, the defendant is going to be arrested, even when the victim is opposed to the arrest.”
Under the old law, police could not do anything if the victim declined to file a complaint. The new law, in effect, says police must file criminal and civil complaints against the person suspected of committing the violence, then arrest him or her.

Even as they welcomed the law, several officers Wednesday pointed out ambiguities that they say may hamper enforcement. River Edge Police Lt. Ron Starace, echoing a concern of many in the audience, said the new law appears to address obvious cases but not the gray areas where evidence of domestic violence is not apparent.

“There’s going to come a point in time when somebody is going to have to go inside that house,” Starace said. “The law, as it is now written, says we can’t walk away.”

Among other provisions, the law:

– Permits police to seize weapons at the scene of violence if they determine that they present a risk to the victim;

– Expands the definition of whom domestic violence law covers to include not just family or blood relations but also other people who live in the same household, including same-sex roommates, partners in a homosexual relationship, and people staying with a family though not related by blood;

– Requires a court order to rescind a restraining order, and mandates that police must arrest the person being restrained from the victim if they are found together, even in cases of apparent reconciliation.

In some areas, the law raises constitutional questions, Oakland Police Sgt. Robert Haemmerle said. He cited the provisions on the seizure of weapons and the forcible entry of a residence as two aspects that could pose constitutional problems.

Midland Park Police Chief Thomas Monarque advised officers to err on the side of caution and protect the victim by entering the house and seizing weapons. Monarque is a member of the county domestic violence working group that advises the prosecutor’s office on the issue.

“That’s what I would want my officers to do,” said Monarque. “We are in untried constitutional grounds here, but we also have protections built into the new law.”

The officer is protected under the law for any good-faith action taken to protect a victim in an area where the law mandates an arrest, Brickfield said.

“It’s always an emotional situation,” Brickfield said. “Usually, the victim wants the defendant out of the house, the defendant is surprised police are going to remove him from his home to take him to jail.”

As police officers in the county implement the law, the Prosecutor’s Office will address problems and issues when they develop, he said.

Also participating in the day-long workshop were Lucia Van Wettering, an assistant Bergen County prosecutor who handles domestic abuse cases; Mary Pillarella, team leader of the domestic violence intake unit at the Bergen County Superior Court, Family Court; and Gina Plotino of Alternative to Domestic Violence, a county counseling agency for victims and defendants in domestic violence cases.

Caption: 2 PHOTOS – AL PAGLIONE / THE RECORD 1 – Ridgefield Park policeman Frank Schwarz listening to 2 – Susan Kulik, an assistant Bergen County prosecutor, at a domestic violence workshop.

ID: 17361000 | Copyright © 1991, The Record (New Jersey)

November 14, 1991
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