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SEX-ABUSE CASE TIED TO SNAPSHOTS; Bergen Teen in Photos, Not Baby Hope

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By Michael O. Allen, Record Staff Writer | Sunday, March 15, 1992

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

The Baby Hope mystery will have to endure, for now at least.

New York City detectives, who attached the moniker “Baby Hope” to a dead girl whose body was found last year in a cooler near the Henry Hudson Parkway in Manhattan, continue to search for the girl’s identity and the circumstance of her death.

Bergen County prosecutor’s sex crime investigators identified a 13-year-old Paterson girl who last week reported that she had been sexually assaulted as the person in photographs widely held to be of the dead girl.

Welling Wedemeyer, 54, of 123 Kennedy Drive, Lodi, was charged Friday with aggravated sexual assault on the girl, Bergen County Prosecutor John J. Fahy said. He was being held Saturday in the Bergen County Jail in lieu of $100,000 bail.

Though she is older than Baby Hope is believed to have been, authorities are sure they have the right girl, attributing the difference in age to the fact that the photographs show only the victim’s head and shoulders.

The mystery of the photographs began June 14 when an unidentified man walking west on Route 46, near the Midland Avenue overpass in Garfield, found a brown paper bag containing five glossy snapshots that show a girl being sexually assaulted and being forced to perform a sex act with man whose head is not visible. He turned the bag over to police.

Construction workers found the body of a girl in a cooler near the West Side Highway more than a month later. The girl, thought to be 3 to 5 years old, was malnourished and had been beaten, sexually abused, bound, and suffocated.

A Bergen County prosecutor’s sex crimes investigator made the connection between the two cases in October when he noticed similarities in the features of the girl in the snapshots and New York City police composites of Baby Hope, leading to cooperation between the two departments.

There were other clues that seemingly tied the dead girl to the girl in the snapshots: Route 46 is one route leading to the George Washington Bridge, which has an exit to the Henry Hudson Parkway.

An anthropologist working at the FBI crime laboratory in Washington, D.C., created a single photograph from the five snapshots, then compared the photograph with the skull of the girl in the cooler.

Saying he was 90 percent positive the highest degree of certainty in cases like this, Fahy said Saturday the anthropologist three months ago concluded the dead girl and the girl in the photographs were the same.

The mystery of the girl in the snapshots began to unravel last week, however, Fahy said. A 13-year-old girl, accompanied by her mother, went to Lodi police Monday. Directed to the Bergen County Prosecutor’s Office, which investigates all sexual abuse cases in the county, the girl alleged that Wedemeyer sexually assaulted her, Fahy said.

Wedemeyer was arrested Tuesday and charged.

An investigator, who noticed the similarities in the features of the girl and the girl in the snapshots, asked her more questions and she told them that photographs had been taken of her. Authorities executed a search warrant at Wedemeyer’s home and found several photographs.

“The background of the house was the same as the background in the pictures found on [Route] 46 the drapes, the couch, windows, and things like that,” Fahy said. “I mean, there is no doubt that this girl is the girl in those photographs.”

Wedemeyer was charged with aggravated criminal sexual assault and Superior Court Judge William C. Meehan added $75,000 to the $25,000 bail from his arrest on the initial charge Tuesday.

ID: 17371520 | Copyright © 1992, The Record (New Jersey)

March 15, 1992
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CRASH KILLS ONE, INJURES THREE; Teen in Stolen Car Dies Fleeing Police

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By David Gibson and Michael O. Allen, Record Staff Writers | Wednesday, March 11, 1992

The Record (New Jersey) | All Editions | NEWS | B01

A car theft in Paterson ended tragically in Elmwood Park near midnight Monday when the stolen car, driven by an unlicensed driver who had arrived from Puerto Rico four months ago, tried to elude pursuing police and slammed head-on into a car driven by a Garfield woman.

The driver of the stolen car, 19-year-old Manuel Cardona, was killed on the spot, and his two teenage passengers were badly injured. The Garfield woman, Sophie Soltys, 45, of Summit Avenue, also was seriously injured, authorities said.

Soltys suffered head injuries and bruised ribs and was listed in stable condition in the intensive care unit of St. Joseph’s Hospital and Medical Center in Paterson, where the two other survivors were taken.

A 14-year-old passenger in the stolen car was in stable condition in the pediatric intensive care unit with multiple trauma. A 16-year-old passenger was on life-support, said Bergen County Prosecutor John J. Fahy.

Cardona, who was driving the steel-gray 1986 Hyundai, was pronounced dead at 12:06 a.m. at the River Drive and Summit Avenue accident scene, Fahy said.

Fahy, whose office is investigating the crash along with the Clifton and Elmwood Park police departments, said the Clifton and Elmwood Park police officers who chased the teenagers followed state guidelines regarding pursuits.

Police said Cardona had arrived in Paterson from Puerto Rico with his family two months ago and was not licensed to drive in New Jersey. He was living with relatives at 163 Redwood Ave. His family said Cardona had never been in trouble before.

The chase, which covered about two miles at speeds approaching 60 mph, came after a surveillance that began in Clifton about 11:40 p.m. Monday, said city Detective Capt. James Territo. He gave the following account:

Patrolmen Warren Lee and Pat Ciser, who was behind the wheel of their squad car, were parked at Randolph and Knapp avenues when the Hyundai passed them on Randolph Avenue moving toward Passaic. The officers began to follow. Noticing that the passengers were behaving nervously, they decided to check the police computer to see if the Hyundai was stolen.

The officers continued to follow as the car proceeded at the speed limit to Parker and Ackerman avenues. There, it abruptly made an illegal left-hand turn from the right-hand lane and headed over the bridge above the Passaic River, and into Garfield.

The car went north on River Road toward Elmwood Park, with the Clifton officers still following. At that moment, the officers were able to confirm that the car had been stolen in Paterson.

The officers then decided to pull the car over and issue a summons for the illegal turn made earlier.

“They activated their lights and, `Boom, the car takes off,” recounted Territo. The Clifton car gave chase and put out a bulletin for area departments to watch for the vehicle.

As the cars passed into Elmwood Park at Market Street and River Road, Elmwood Park Patrolwoman Debra Lysiak joined the pursuit. Two blocks later the car Cardona was driving sped up, police reports said, and went airborne as it hit a rise at a railroad crossing by River Drive and Summit Avenue. It was 11:53 p.m.

“As it came down on the pavement, the driver seemed to lose control,” said Elmwood Park Police Chief Byron Morgan II. “He veered into the oncoming traffic and hit a car in the southbound lane.” The car was a 1986 Oldsmobile driven by Soltys.

The fire department had to use the “jaws of life” to extricate the drivers of both the Oldsmobile and the Hyundai.”

Police said the Clifton patrol car was about 150 feet behind the Hyundai, followed immediatley by the the Elmwood Park police car, when the crash occurred.

No charges have been filed in the case.

Territo said the two Clifton patrolmen remained on duty and said they acted properly: “At this point we’re not looking at it as if anything was done wrong. We’re really looking into it as a matter of course.”

“It wasn’t like a high-speed, lengthy chase,” he added. “It was almost over before it started.”

Fahy called the pursuit a “proper chase,” and said the police did not exceed the speed limit.

Anna Cardona, the victim’s mother, was leaving late Tuesday for Puerto Rico, said Cesar Adorno, with whom she has lived for several years. Adorno said he would follow today with Cardona’s body, which will be buried in Puerto Rico.

“If this hadn’t happened we would have stayed here,” Adorno said. “Maybe to make a life.”

The dead man was a “real good guy” who had “never been in trouble with the police anytime or anywhere,” said Cesar Adorno, who has lived with the victim’s mother, Anna Cardona, for several years.

Cardona’s family, including his younger brother, came to Newark in November to be with an ailing cousin, Adorno said. They moved in with relatives in Paterson in December.

Adorno said Manuel Cardona, who was born and raised in the Bronx until his family went to Puerto Rico when was 4 years old, was studying for his high school equivalency diploma and was working part-time in construction. Adorno said the family did not know the juveniles

involved in the crash, or how Cardona came to be behind the wheel of a stolen car.
They last saw Cardona early Monday evening before he went to “hang out” with friends.

Police arrived at the home about 2 a.m. Tuesday with the news of his death.

Caption: The wreckage of the 1986 Hyundai whose teenage driver was killed Monday in a crash while reportedly fleeing police. Police said the car was stolen in Paterson. 2 – Below, police investigating the scene of the accident Tuesday. 3 – (4s, 3s, 2s, 1s) PHOTO – Manuel Cardona and his family moved to New Jersey in November. 2 COLOR PHOTOS – PETER MONSEES / THE RECORD

ID: 17371116 | Copyright © 1992, The Record (New Jersey)

March 11, 1992
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MAN CHARGED IN REVENGE ATTACK ON TEANECK TEEN

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

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

A man who retaliated for an alleged assault on his brother by attacking a Teaneck High School student with a bat was charged Friday with criminal trespass, police said.

Kimathi Knox, 19, also known as Kimathi Muhammad, was released on a $5,000 personal recognizance bond, said Detective Lt. William Broughton, who added that police are considering other charges against him.

On Thursday, Knox, of Griggs Avenue, hit the 16-year-old student on the right arm with an aluminum baseball bat but did not injure him, police said. He pulled a fire alarm to get students to the school parking lot, where the attack occurred, a vice principal said.

The night before, two 16-year-old high school students, one of whom was Knox’s brother, were attacked by other Teaneck students as they got off a school bus returning from a basketball game, police said.

Charges may be brought against the youths identified as the attackers, Broughton said. The victim of Thursday’s assault was identified as one of the attackers in Wednesday night’s incident, police said.

ID: 17365699 | Copyright © 1992, The Record (New Jersey)

January 11, 1992
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AFTER-SCHOOL FRAY LEADS TO 7 ARRESTS; SOME FORMER STUDENTS INVOLVED

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By Michael O. Allen, Record Staff Writer | Friday, January 10, 1992

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

A fight involving a handful of current and former Ridgefield Park High School students broke out as a crowd of about 100 students walked home from the school, police said.

Police arrested seven people, including three students, during the fight Wednesday at about 2:30 p.m. at Overpeck Avenue and Union Place, about one-fourth mile west of the high school, Police Chief Walter Grossman said.

The dispute continued that evening in Little Ferry, where one of those arrested in the afternoon filed a simple assault charge against another who was involved in the after-school fight, Little Ferry police said. Little Ferry sends its high school students to Ridgefield Park.

“It’s all individuals who knew each other,” Grossman said. “Some were former students, and somehow or the other we don’t know how it happened they wound up at that intersection at that time.”

“There was a lot of pushing and shoving, some punching, that type of thing,” Grossman added, but he said it was unclear who fought with whom, or why. “That’s the big question. We don’t know if it’s from the past, when they knew each other.”

Charged with disorderly conduct were two 16-year-old boys who are high school students, one from Ridgefield Park, the other from Little Ferry; Lionel Quarales of Ridgefield Park, who was the third student; Horatio Hemmings of Englewood, Lawrence Pfaff of Hackensack, and Christopher Kaplan of Little Ferry, all 18-year-olds; and Amir Hakim-Davoud, 23, of Little Ferry. Hakim-Davoud and Pfaff also were charged with resisting arrest.

“They were all at one point fighting with each other,” Grossman said. “Right now, I couldn’t tell you who was fighting whom. Our officers got there just in time to pull them apart.”

No one was injured.

Later that night, the juveniles were released to the custody of their parents and the adults were released on their own recognizance pending a court date later in the month, the chief said.

“We’ll look into it further to determine why this thing happened,” Grossman said. “Occasionally, we’ve had kids have a little argument here and there, but not with the kind of number that we had here. And, of course, some of the kids were from out of town, which is dangerous.”

Little Ferry Police Capt. Dennis Hofmann said officers responded to a report of a crowd and a disturbance on Main Street at about 8:40 p.m. The crowd had thinned out by the time police arived, but Quarales, alleging that he had been hit with a pipe or a stick, signed a complaint of simple assault against Hemmings, Hofmann said.

ID: 17365615 | Copyright © 1992, The Record (New Jersey)

January 10, 1992
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POLICE CHASE, CHARGE SIX TEENS AFTER REPORT OF HOUSE BREAK-IN

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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.

ID: 17364091 | Copyright © 1991, The Record (New Jersey)

December 19, 1991
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RISE IN WEAPONS USE ALARMS BERGENFIELD

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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
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ARREST OF 12 AVERTS FIGHT, POLICE SAY

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By Michael O. Allen, Record Staff Writer | Wednesday, November 6, 1991

The Record (New Jersey) | 6 Star | NEWS | Page B02

Four men and eight youths from Englewood were arrested Monday night as they headed into Bergenfield to retaliate against borough youths for a fight last week, police said.

Working on an anonymous tip, police were waiting for the suspects when they arrived on Howard Drive about 9:45 p.m., said Bergenfield Police Capt. George Grube.

The suspects, traveling in two cars when Bergenfield police Officers Mark Richards and Russell Stuebe stopped them, had a loaded .22-caliber rifle, three knives, and four baseball bats, Grube said.

“They were looking for some of the guys who were involved in an incident last Monday,” he said. “Fortunately, we got to them before somebody really did get hurt.”

A Bergenfield youth apparently punched a youth from Englewood last week, Grube said. He did not know what sparked the fight.

The suspects were charged with illegal possession of weapons, and Grube said police were considering other charges.

Seven youths were released to their parents, and one was being held in detention.

Louis Aguilar, 20, of 208 Waldo Place, was released on $5,000 bail.

Darrius Griffin, 21, and Edward Russell, 20, both of 245 Central Ave., and Maximo Colon, 18, of 32 Brookway Ave., were being held in the Bergen County Jail on $5,000 bail each.

ID: 17360203 | Copyright © 1991, The Record (New Jersey)

November 6, 1991
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TEANECK YOUTH SHOT IN LEG

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By MICHAEL O. ALLEN | Sunday, October 13, 1991

The Record (New Jersey) | All Editions | NEWS | Page A10

A 16-year-old Teaneck youth was shot in the leg accidentally Friday as he and three other township youths played with a gun at the victim’s home on Genesee Avenue, police said.

The victim, whom police declined to identify because of his age, was treated at Holy Name Hospital for a wound above his left ankle and was released, said Detective Sgt. Robert Adomilli.

A 15-year-old boy who was being questioned by police Saturday about the shooting was charged with illegal possession of the .22-caliber handgun used in the shooting and aggravated assault, the sergeant said.

The shooting occurred about 5 p.m., Adomilli said. Someone reported a drive-by shooting, but police were able to determine within an hour that the youths had not been telling the truth, Adomilli said, adding that it did not appear that the shooting occurred as a result of an argument.

The investigation was continuing, Adomilli said.

Keywords: TEANECK; YOUTH; SHOOTING

ID: 17357985 | Copyright © 1991, The Record (New Jersey)

October 13, 1991
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MEETING TACKLES TEENAGE DRINKING; GAP IN STATE LAW AROUSES CONCERN

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By Michael O. Allen, Record Staff Writer | Wednesday, October 9, 1991

The Record (New Jersey) | 6 Star | NEWS | Page B01

Who is responsible when Johnny throws a keg party for a few of his teenage friends after Mom and Dad leave for the weekend?
That gap in state law which prohibits teenagers from drinking in most places but does not address who would be responsible when they drink on private property was the major topic of a meeting in Hasbrouck Heights on Tuesday.
“This is an important issue for all of us,” Bergen County Executive William “Pat” Schuber said in his opening address to a breakfast meeting of more than 270 people, including legislators and police officers who deal with juveniles.
“On the issue of host liability and teenage drinking, there cannot be any greater priority for government and our leaders than saving a generation,” Schuber said.
Tuesday’s program at the Sheraton Heights Hotel was organized by the Bergen County Council on Alcoholism and Drug Abuse.
County Prosecutor John J. Fahy, the keynote speaker, said the program was not arranged to deal with issues raised by the death of Coleen Draney, a Fair Lawn teenager who died of heart failure at a New Year’s Eve party where there had been drinking.
But, he said, her death helped focus people’s attention on the issue of teenage drinking.
“The consequences are so serious, because young people can die, if the problem is not addressed,” Fahy said.
He raised the point of the ambiguities in the law concerning private property, saying it sends mixed messages to youths and their parents.
Also, he said, youths are constantly bombarded with messages in advertisements that they can enjoy themselves only if they drink.
“The message is not subtle: To be a better lover, you have to drink scotch; to be a better skier, you have to drink beer; to sit at a table with a beautiful woman, you have to drink wine,” Fahy said.
The law states clearly that no one under the age of 21 is allowed to consume alcohol except in a religious ceremony or with the permission of a parent or guardian.
So some parents allow alcohol to be used as a rite of passage, or allow prom-bound teens to drink at home as a way to prevent them from drinking in public, Fahy said.
“I find that to be complete insanity,” Fahy said.
“Those parents, perhaps, are well-intentioned, but . . . the message that we have to send out is that teenage drinking is not going to be tolerated.”
The Bergen County Juvenile Officers Association has developed a model amendment to the state law that would specifically include private property among the places where youths cannot drink.
Cresskill police Detective Sgt. William Macchio, a member of the association, said tougher and clearer laws are needed all over Bergen County.
Cresskill, for instance, has an ordinance that closes the loophole in the state law, and has effectively cut down on teenage parties, he said. But it is unclear whether youths move their parties to surrounding towns.

Keywords: HASBROUCK HEIGHTS; MEETING; YOUTH; ALCOHOL; VIOLATION

ID: 17357557 | Copyright © 1991, The Record (New Jersey)

October 9, 1991
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COP’S GUN GOES OFF; TEENAGER HIT IN ARM

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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
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