MICHAEL O. ALLEN

Menu
Tag

Weapon

MAHWAH COP SHOOTS SUSPECT WHO HELD RIFLE

By Homepage, The RecordNo Comments

By Michael O. Allen, Record Staff Writer | Sunday, March 22, 1992

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

A Mahwah police officer on Saturday shot and critically injured a 29-year-old man whose father had reported was drunk and firing shots in the basement of their home, Bergen County Prosecutor John J. Fahy said.

Police Officer Richard Kikkert shot Stephen Michael Megles of 83 Eastview Ave. after Megles pointed a .22-caliber rifle at the officer, Fahy said.

“The bullet hit him [Megles] in the left arm in the shoulder area, then traveled into the ribs, and into the abdomen area,” Fahy said.

Megles was taken in a helicopter to University Hospital in Newark, where he was listed in critical condition. Megles, a welder, was recently laid off and was depressed, his father told authorities.

Megles was charged with attempted murder of a police officer, possession of a weapon for an unlawful purpose, and illegal possession of a weapon.

The incident began about 1:10 p.m., when Stephen Megles Sr. called police.

Fahy said that when four officers arrived at the house a few minutes later, they heard loud music accompanied by the sound of gunshots coming from the basement.

Kikkert and police Lt. Thomas Brennan entered the house and tried unsuccessfully to persuade the younger Megles into giving up his gun, Fahy said.

“At a point in time, Officer Kikkert was on the landing at the top of the stairs, trying to get the defendant to come upstairs and put his gun down,” Fahy said.

Megles raised his gun to shoot, and the officer fired his 9mm pistol once, hitting Megles, Fahy said.

In the basement, the officers found an empty vodka bottle and evidence that Megles fired dozens of shots in the room, Fahy said.

The younger Megles was known to Mahwah police, but had not been convicted of a serious crime, Fahy said. He added that the father told police his son had fired shots in the house, of which they were the only occupants, several times before.

Kikkert has been with the Mahwah Police Department for four years. Before that, he spent 12 years with the Carlstadt Police Department. He had never fired his weapon on duty while on the Mahwah force, Police Chief Samuel Alderisio said.

Kikkert, 39, was scheduled to be off work the next four days. He will be on an additional four-day medical leave, after which he will undergo medical and psychological evaluation to see if he is fit for duty, Alderisio said. He would first be assigned to desk duty if he is found to be fit, the chief added.

The Megleses have an unlisted telephone number and could not be reached for comment. A relative living nearby declined comment.

ID: 17372151 | Copyright © 1992, The Record (New Jersey)

March 22, 1992
Love0

ROBBERY SUSPECT AIMS GUN AT COP

By Homepage, The RecordNo Comments

By Michael O. Allen, Record Staff Writer | Saturday, February 1, 1992

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

A robbery suspect who had leveled a gun at a police officer dropped his weapon after a second officer, who came up behind the suspect, ordered him to freeze, police said.

The suspect, Thomas O’Kean, had just walked out of a Roy Rogers restaurant on Route 46. He allegedly had a bag of money in his left hand and a gun in his right when he was confronted by Officer Donald Anzalone, said Police Chief Donald Fleming.

Anzalone and Officer Craig Hartless had responded to a silent alarm at the restaurant about 11:25 p.m. Thursday, then waited for the suspect to come outside, because they did not want him to take the five restaurant employees hostage, Anzalone said.

O’Kean allegedly waited for the last customer to leave before accosting the manager, who tripped a silent alarm. After taking money from a safe, a cash-drop box, and a register, the suspect emerged from a side door into the parking lot, where Anzalone, who was behind cover, ordered him to freeze and drop his gun.

Anzalone said O’Kean instead began to slowly raise his weapon, which turned out to be a pellet gun, before Hartless also called on him to freeze.

“He had the gun leveled at me,” Anzalone said. “I don’t know why I didn’t shoot him. I think we both handled it pretty well. The outcome is what we like to see.”

O’Kean, who gave a Lodi address that police could not confirm, was charged with the armed robbery of about $1,800 from the restaurant. He was being held without bail in the Bergen County Jail.

ID: 17367597 | Copyright © 1992, The Record (New Jersey)

February 1, 1992
Love0

DRIVER USES GUN TO VENT FRUSTRATION

By Homepage, The RecordNo Comments

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

The Record (New Jersey) | 5 Star | NEWS | Page B08

A 19-year-old Englewood man fired several shots in the air, apparently in frustration that the car he was riding in was hemmed into a spot at a parking lot behind The Rink in Bergenfield on Wednesday, police said.

Werner Lewis of East Terrace Circle, being held on $10,000 bail at the Bergen County Jail Annex, was charged with firing the handgun as patrons left the rink about 1:17 a.m. Wednesday, Deputy Police Chief George Grube said.

Two men in the car with Lewis, Miguel Brown of 304 West Palisade Ave., and Marlon Anderson of 217 Wilber St., both 18 and from Englewood, were charged with illegal possession of the same handgun and were being held on $5,000 bail in the Bergen County Jail, Grube said.

About 20 off-duty police officers were working as security guards at The Rink that night, one of the busiest nights there, Grube said. They found a .32-caliber handgun, three spent shells, and nine live rounds in the car, he added.

“Apparently, he didn’t try to hit anybody,” Grube said of Lewis.

The deputy chief said it was the third shooting in Bergenfield during the past nine days. A man fired two shots Sunday into the bulletproof window at the South Washington Street Amoco gas station during a robbery, Grube said. The attendant was uninjured, although the man escaped with $58.

A 27-year-old Englewood Cliffs man was freed on $20,000 bail Dec. 8, after being charged with firing a gun at a crowd outside a Bergenfield Tavern. No one was hit.

Grube said Wednesday’s shooting at The Rink was the second one there this year. A man fired a shot into a crowd in January but did not strike anyone, he said.

ID: 17364080 | Copyright © 1991, The Record (New Jersey)

December 19, 1991
Love0

RISE IN WEAPONS USE ALARMS BERGENFIELD

By Homepage, The RecordNo Comments

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

The Record (New Jersey) | 6 Star | NEWS | Page C01

Police and town officials in Bergenfield are concerned about a spate of recent incidents involving groups of teenagers and young adults armed with weapons such as a rifle, knives, baseball bats, and lead pipes.

In the third such incident in recent days, six teenagers from Hackensack who were armed with a baseball bat and lead pipes were arrested early Thursday as they searched for a youth with whom they had fought, police said.

On Monday, police arrested four men and eight juveniles from Englewood who were armed with a .22-caliber rifle, knives, and baseball bats as they drove into Bergenfield to retaliate against borough youths for a fight the previous Monday.

And in the most serious incident, a 20-year-old borough man was hospitalized last Friday after he was beaten and stabbed twice, Police Capt. George Grube said. Six of the eight young people arrested were from Bergenfield.

The incidents appear to be symptoms of a nascent rivalry between Bergenfield youths and some from out of town, similar to the long-standing rivalry among Hackensack, Teaneck, and Englewood youths that often flares into violence, Grube said.

“It’s amazing that we haven’t had any innocent people get hurt,” he said. “But how long can you go on if things continue like this? We’ve been having this problem for about a year and a half. It’s just that it’s escalated now. There’s more weapons. We are finding groups of kids coming from out of town armed.”

Councilman Vernon Cox said: “It’s obvious this is going to have to be something that is not just a Bergenfield solution, but a regional solution. We are going to have to look for cooperation from our adjoining communities that the other kids with the weapons are coming from.”

Anna L. Ramirez, an unsuccessful Republican candidate for a council seat in Tuesday’s election, said that she had not heard of the recent arrests and that a better effort should be made to inform residents of what is happening.

“I don’t think enough of it is being told to residents of Bergenfield for them to want to do anything about it,” she said.

Ramirez said she hopes the new administration coming into office will have a better plan on how to keep youths out of trouble.

Grube said his main concern is for the safety of Bergenfield residents, and he promised that troublemakers coming into Bergenfield would find police waiting for them.

“We have to send a message out that if they are going to come in here with bats and knives and guns that we are going to take steps to put them away,” he said. “We are dealing with individuals that I believe understand only one thing, and that is enforcement. That is what we are going to do.”

ID: 17360518 | Copyright © 1991, The Record (New Jersey)

November 8, 1991
Love0

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

By Homepage, 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

ID: 17355735 | Copyright © 1991, The Record (New Jersey)

September 19, 1991
Love0

TWO ARE SOUGHT IN GUN ASSAULT; INCIDENT LEAVES 2 WOMEN HURT

By Homepage, The RecordNo Comments

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

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

A 20-year-old city man and an unidentified gunman are being sought for shooting at four people Wednesday, two of whom were injured when a gunshot caused the driver of a car to crash into a tree, police said.

Arrie Moore of 60 Newman St. and the gunman whom Moore allegedly instructed to kill Charles Reyes of 147 Sherman Ave., Teaneck are wanted on two counts of attempted murder, police Capt. John Aletta said Thursday.

Reyes and Theodore Bolden, 18, of 280 American Legion Drive, Hackensack, had arrived at the parking lot of Bolden’s apartment building at 2:35 a.m. Wednesday when the incident occurred. Lisa R. Manago, 21, of 77 Maple Ave., Hackensack, and a friend had driven the two men there, police said.

Moore and the gunman confronted the two men in the parking lot. According to police, Moore told the gunman to kill Reyes.

Reyes and Bolden both ran off when the gunman removed an automatic handgun from his waistband and fired. They were not hit by the gunshot, Aletta said. The gunman then fired at Manago’s car, and it crashed into a tree, he added. Moore and the gunman then ran toward Central Avenue, and have not been seen since, Aletta said.

Manago’s head hit the steering wheel when the car struck the tree, Aletta said. Bullet fragments struck Anita M. Powell, 23, of 41 E. Forest Ave., Englewood, a passenger in the car, on the left arm, he said. She also had cuts on her right foot, head, and chin.

Aletta said the women were taken to the Hackensack Medical Center. Hospital officials said they had no record of their being admitted.

The victims knew the gunman but not his name, Aletta said. Although it was unclear what caused the shooting, he said, they all knew each other.

Keywords: HACKENSACK; WEAPON; ASSAULT; SHOOTING

ID: 17353956 | Copyright © 1991, The Record (New Jersey)

August 30, 1991
Love0

TWO ARE SOUGHT IN GUN ASSAULT; INCIDENT LEAVES 2 WOMEN HURT

By Homepage, The RecordNo Comments

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

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

A 20-year-old city man and an unidentified gunman are being sought for shooting at four people Wednesday, two of whom were injured when a gunshot caused the driver of a car to crash into a tree, police said.
Arrie Moore of 60 Newman St. and the gunman whom Moore allegedly instructed to kill Charles Reyes of 147 Sherman Ave., Teaneck are wanted on two counts of attempted murder, police Capt. John Aletta said Thursday.
Reyes and Theodore Bolden, 18, of 280 American Legion Drive, Hackensack, had arrived at the parking lot of Bolden’s apartment building at 2:35 a.m. Wednesday when the incident occurred. Lisa R. Manago, 21, of 77 Maple Ave., Hackensack, and a friend had driven the two men there, police said.
Moore and the gunman confronted the two men in the parking lot. According to police, Moore told the gunman to kill Reyes.
Reyes and Bolden both ran off when the gunman removed an automatic handgun from his waistband and fired. They were not hit by the gunshot, Aletta said. The gunman then fired at Manago’s car, and it crashed into a tree, he added. Moore and the gunman then ran toward Central Avenue, and have not been seen since, Aletta said.
Manago’s head hit the steering wheel when the car struck the tree, Aletta said. Bullet fragments struck Anita M. Powell, 23, of 41 E. Forest Ave., Englewood, a passenger in the car, on the left arm, he said. She also had cuts on her right foot, head, and chin.
Aletta said the women were taken to the Hackensack Medical Center. Hospital officials said they had no record of their being admitted.
The victims knew the gunman but not his name, Aletta said. Although it was unclear what caused the shooting, he said, they all knew each other.

Keywords: HACKENSACK; WEAPON; ASSAULT; SHOOTING

ID: 17353956 | Copyright © 1991, The Record (New Jersey)

August 30, 1991
Love0

COP’S GUN GOES OFF; TEENAGER HIT IN ARM

By Homepage, The RecordNo Comments

By Michael O. Allen, Record Staff Writer | Tuesday, August 20, 1991

The Record (New Jersey) | All Editions | NEWS | Page B03

A state trooper wounded a Bronx teenager in the arm Sunday when his service gun went off accidentally during a traffic stop, officials said.
Louis Mancuso, the 17-year-old passenger in a car stopped for alleged speeding, was in fair condition at Meadowlands Hospital Medical Center in Secaucus, a hospital spokesman said Monday.
Trooper Joseph Genova, a three-year veteran of the state police, was not criminally negligent in the shooting, Bergen County First Assistant Prosecutor Paul Brickfield said Monday.
“Our conclusion at this point is that it was an accidental discharge of the weapon,” Brickfield said.
The incident occurred about 8:15 a.m. Sunday in the northbound lanes of the New Jersey Turnpike in East Rutherford, said Lt. William Hillis, a state police spokesman.
Genova, on patrol in an unmarked car, clocked a 1990 Nissan 300 ZX driven by Vincent Gaudio, 18, of the Bronx at 31 mph over the 55 mph speed limit, police said.
Hillis said Genova, 23, saw a box of ammunition in an open glove compartment while examining Gaudio’s driver’s license.
“He ordered the driver to step out of the car,” Hillis said. “The passenger was ordered to place his hands on the dash. The passenger did not comply, and was again instructed to place his hands on the dash. He made a movement toward the glove box.
“The trooper, fearing a weapon may be in the glove box, drew his service weapon, and the weapon accidentally discharged and struck the passenger in the right bicep.”
No weapon was found in the car.

Keywords: EAST RUTHERFORD; POLICE; ACCIDENT; WEAPON; SHOOTING; YOUTH

ID: 17352888 | Copyright © 1991, The Record (New Jersey)

August 20, 1991
Love0