Mahwah
November 11, 2009 THE VILLADOM TIMES IV • Page 9
Alert officers capture bank robbery suspect
by Frank J. McMahon
Quick action by two alert Mahwah police detectives and other township police officers resulted in the capture and arrest of a suspect in the attempted robbery of the Bank of America branch on Route 17 at its intersection with Ridge Road. The police department was alerted to the attempted robbery when it was reported Nov. 3 at approximately 11:41 a.m. via a 911 call from a teller at the bank. The teller advised the 911 dispatcher that an individual had just attempted to rob the bank by passing a note to another teller, who returned the note to the suspect without passing any money to him. She then notified her coworkers who activated the bank’s alarm. The suspect, who appeared to be unarmed, fled the bank with the note. Bank employees described the suspect to police as a black male in his early 30s and advised that he had already left the bank and reportedly fled the area. However, Detective Lieutenant Martin Clancy and Detective Kevin Hebert, had just observed an individual who fit the suspect’s description. The individual was on foot in the vicinity of the bank heading in the direction of Ridge Road when the officers heard the radio broadcast about the attempted robbery. Being in the immediate area, they responded to the bank, as did the Mahwah Police K-9 team and several uniformed police officers. A perimeter of the vicinity in which the suspect was last observed was set up, and a search was conducted. According to Mahwah Police Captain Stephen Jaffe, a man who fit the suspect’s description was observed
within a few minutes after the attempted robbery. That individual was exiting a nearby office building parking lot where he had parked his motor vehicle. The robbery note was found in his car. The suspect, a 33-year-old Westwood man, is employed by a business in the Palisades Center Mall and has a New York driver’s license. He was taken into custody by detectives Hebert and Guido Bussinelli and K-9 officer Robert Rapp. He was subsequently positively identified by an employee of the bank as the individual who passed the note. Assisting in the arrest were Sergeant Jeffrey Dino, K-9 Officer Rapp’s K-9 Domey, and Police Officer
Robert Loveman. During the investigation, the Mahwah schools located along Ridge Road were placed in a lockdown that was lifted a short time later when it was concluded that the suspect acted alone in the robbery attempt and was in police custody. The suspect, who is currently on probation for several bank robberies that were committed in Georgia, was charged with second degree robbery. Bergen County Superior Court Judge Robert Polifroni set bail at $250,000. The suspect was to have been remanded to the Bergen County Jail if he was not able to post that bail.
Chai retreat
(continued from page 7) the proposed use constitutes a single family dwelling inasmuch as the Chai Lifeline occupants would not live there permanently. “It just seems diametrically opposed to what a true dwelling is,” Burgis said, “in the context of what we conventionally talk about in zoning and master planning.” In his report on the application, Burgis contends that the proposed use of the dwelling for a transitional nature conflicts with the township zoning ordinance’s definition of family, which specifically notes that transient housing does not constitute family housing in the context of the township’s zoning. He also stated that the ordinance definition of a one family dwelling specifically provides that it is a dwelling occupied exclusively by one family. Chai Lifeline is asking the board overturn a ruling by the township’s former zoning administrative officer that their use of the house as a retreat for widows and families suffering from a range of devastating familial issues is not permitted by the zoning ordinance. If the board decides not to overturn that decision, Chai Lifeline intends to ask for a variance to be allowed to use the house and its 4.4-acre property, which overlooks the Ramapo River.
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