MAN CHARGED IN WIFE’S ORDEAL; HE DRENCHED HER WITH GAS, COPS SAY

By Michael O. Allen, Record Staff Writer | Friday, December 20, 1991

The Record (New Jersey) | 5 Star | NEWS | Page C05

A 27-year-old man abducted his estranged wife from a Teaneck street, drenched her with gasoline, and threatened to set both of them afire if she did not reconcile with him, police said.

Russell J. Kutcher was arrested in a Ridgefield motel where he had taken her, police said. Kutcher was being held Thursdau on $500,000 bail in the Bergen County Jail. His wife, whom police declined to name, was not injured.

The couple, separated since September, were in the process of getting a divorce. The woman had obtained a temporary restraining order against Kutcher on Dec. 13 because he was bothering her, Teaneck police Detective Leonard Pinto said. They were married in February.

Kutcher, a former Garfield resident who had been living at the motel, abducted the 24-year-old Elmwood Park woman about 12:45 p.m. Wednesday as she was talking with a friend at Bergen Street and Blauvelt Avenue near Ridgefield Park, Pinto said.

He dragged her into his 1978 Ford Thunderbird, then pulled a container from the back seat and poured gasoline over her head, Pinto said.

“He held a lighter to me and threatened to kill us both if I didn’t stop screaming,” the woman later told police.

A few minutes later, the frantic friend hailed Ridgefield Park police Sgt. Timothy LaTour, who had just left his house after a lunch break, and told him what had happened. LaTour broadcast a description of Kutcher’s car, and police from Teaneck and Ridgefield joined Ridgefield Park police in the search.

About 1:30 p.m., LaTour found Kutcher’s car in the parking lot of the Turnpike Motor Hotel on Route 46 west.

LaTour said he waited for backup from Ridgefield Park Capt. William Morton and Officer Philip McEntee, Pinto, and Ridgefield Detective Richard Stoltenborg, Investigator William Candeletti, and Officer William Pych, and that police then kicked in the door of Room 59.

“She was inside the room, sitting on the bed, crying,” LaTour said. “He was just walking around with pants, no shirt on.”

Kutcher gave up without incident, police said. Ambulance personnel found his wife covered with gasoline, Stoltenborg said.

Police said Kutcher, an unemployed chef, was staying in the motor hotel for the past week. His last known address was 271 Lanza Ave., Garfield.

He was charged Thursday in Teaneck Municipal Court with abduction and aggravated assault. Bail was set at $100,000. He was charged in Ridgefield with criminal restraint, unlawful imprisonment, making terroristic threats, and contempt of court for violating the restraining order. Bail there was set at $400,000.

WIFE OF FORMER OFFICIAL IS FOUND DEAD

By Michael O. Allen, Record Staff Writer | Thursday, September 26, 1991

The Record (New Jersey) | 6 Star | NEWS | Page B03

Josephine Irene Mary Schmid, wife of former Teaneck Township Manager Werner Schmid, has died in an incident police are investigating, officials said.
Josephine Schmid, 60, died Monday of multiple fractures, internal injuries, and hemorrhaging after she tumbled from a bridge on the New Jersey Turnpike’s western spur in Kearny, Pat Raviola, a Hudson County assistant prosecutor, said Wednesday.
Police did not know what happened. State Trooper Nick Cagnole found what appeared to be an abandoned car along the turnpike. He found Schmid’s body on a dirt road under the spur, adjacent to the Conrail tracks, police said.
Schmid was pronounced dead at the scene, and her husband identified her body, Raviola said.
Werner Schmid retired as township manager in July 1988 after 33 years in office. He could not be reached Wednesday.
Frank Hall, a Teaneck councilman and former mayor, expressed regret at the death. Werner Schmid is a private man who shielded his family from his public life, Hall said in declining to comment further.
Acting Township Manager Gary A. Saage called Werner Schmid the most honest public official he knew in the 25 years he worked with him, but declined to comment further.

Keywords: TEANECK; OFFICIAL; MARRIAGE; WOMAN; DEATH; PROBE

WOMAN ROBBED OF FURS, JEWELRY

MICHAEL O. ALLEN | Sunday, April 28, 1991

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

A simple trip to Saks Fifth Avenue to store her three fur coats valued at $80,000 for the season turned nightmarish for a 43-year-old Englewood woman on Saturday when two men shoved her into the trunk of her Rolls-Royce and stole her furs and jewelry, police said.
Karen L. Kitzis told police her gold-and-silver wristwatch and gold-and-silver bracelet were valued at about $13,200, said city police Capt. John Aletta.
The robbery occurred about 12:15 p.m. in the east parking lot of the Riverside Square mall, Aletta said.

Keywords: WOMAN; ROBBERY; ENGLEWOOD; JEWELRY; CLOTHING; THEFT

WOMAN’S ASHES WASHED ASHORE; REMAINS FOUND IN CAN AT RESERVOIR

By Michael O. Allen, Record Staff Writer | Thursday, February 21, 1991

The Record (New Jersey) | Four Star B | NEWS | Page B02

Woodcliff Lake police are waiting for relatives to reclaim a canister containing the ashen remains of a Westwood resident.
A Hackensack Water Co. maintenance crew found the canister on the bank of the Woodcliff Lake Reservoir.
It was the wish of the deceased, whom police declined to identify, that her remains be scattered over the reservoir, said Woodcliff Lake Police Capt. Richard Poliey.
“They just didn’t use the proper procedure or contact the water company for permission,” Poliey said.
Martha Green, a Hackensack Water Co. spokeswoman, said that, much as the water company respects a person’s last wish, this was one she thought the company could not grant.
“This comes somewhat as a surprise to me that that is how it got there. I haven’t seen a formal request, and I don’t think that is something that we could or would grant a request for. “
Poliey said he didn’t know how long the canister had been in the water or when it washed ashore.
The canister was sealed and the ashes did not get into the water, Green said. Workers found the canister while cleaning the bank of the reservoir Friday.
Woodcliff Lake is a storage reservoir that feeds the larger Oradell Reservoir, where the Hackensack Water Co. draws water for treatment and purification, before piping it to customers in 60 towns in Bergen and Hudson counties.

Keywords: WESTWOOD; WOMAN; DEATH; WOODCLIFF LAKE; LAKE; WATER; SUPPLY; UTILITY

SHOPLIFTING SUSPECT IN MINK; TOOK 3 SLIPPERS, DUSTER, POLICE SAY

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

The Record (New Jersey) | Four Star B | NEWS | Page B01

Emerson police called in the Bergen County Police Department canine unit Wednesday to catch a 64-year-old New York State woman who stole three slippers and a house coat from a clothing store and eluded police and the store owner, authorities said.
Robert Malto, the 67-year-old owner of Wendy Drew Inc., a women’s clothing store at 368 Kinderkamack Road, said Garfinkel came in shortly before noon, wearing a full-length mink coat.
“As she left the store, my wife called my attention to the fact that a duster a house coat was hanging beneath the mink,” Malto said. “You couldn’t miss it. She left the store quickly and walked at a very fast pace across the parking lot. “
Malto said he thought Garfinkel was going to her car, and he and a store manager chased after her.
“She turned around and shouted, `Why are you following me? Why are you after me? ” Malto said.
Garfinkel ran behind the department store, dropped three slippers, and ran through the woods onto Kinderkamack Road, then Highland Avenue, with Malto and the store manager in pursuit, Malto said.
“Just as police came, she disappeared from our view,” he said.
Police saw her on Kinderkamack, then on Highland Avenue and Orchard Street, before losing her in the back yards, a police spokesman said.
County Police Officer Robert DiPalma and his dog, Connie, caught Garfinkel hiding behind the bushes about 30 minutes after the chase began.

Keywords: EMERSON; STORE; WOMAN; SHOPLIFTING