September 12, 2012 THE VILLADOM TIMES I • Page 7 Area A Wyckoff man has been arrested for attempting to throw a child in front of a train at Ramsey’s New Jersey Transit station on Main Street. The child’s mother and grandmother intervened, tackling the man and holding him until police arrived. “The mother and the grandmother without a doubt acted heroically and stopped what could have been a tragic crime and I can’t say enough about them,” Ramsey Police Chief Bryan Gurney told Villadom TIMES last week. Chief Gurney noted that the suspect, 48-year-old David Howard, had been arrested by Allendale police earlier this year. Allendale Police Chief George Scherb confirmed that Howard was the same individual his department had charged with trespass for bathing in the overflow from Crestwood Lake, and with lewdness, as he was not properly dressed. Following the incident in Ramsey, Howard was charged with two counts of attempted murder in the second degree, two counts of kidnapping in the first degree, two counts of aggravated assault in the second degree, and one count of aggravated assault on a police officer. Ramsey police received the 911 call at 2:25 p.m. on Sept. 3. Patrolman Thomas Banta, Lieutenant David Stitz, and Sergeant Timothy Flanagan responded to the scene and found the suspect being subdued on the ground by two women next to the Main Street station. Officers of the Ramsey Police Department were able place Howard under arrest. During the arrest, Howard spat in Patrolman Banta’s face. Officers observed that Howard may have been Train station arrest was man’s second this year under the influence of intoxicating liquor or drugs. During the investigation, it was determined that the victims were two Glen Rock boys, ages nine and seven. The victims were sitting on the bench in front of the train station waiting for the 2:20 p.m. train to Glen Rock. The boys were accompanied by their mother and grandmother. The victim’s mother said she observed Howard sitting on the bench to her left, spitting on the ground. She said he appeared to be visibly intoxicated. As the train was slowing to come into the station, the two boys stood up and moved closer to the tracks for a better view of the oncoming train. As the boys stood up, Howard reportedly stood up and started to approach them on the platform. Howard then grabbed the seven-year-old victim in a “headlock” and the nine-year-old victim by the left shoulder and started moving them toward the train tracks while the train was still moving toward the station. The mother and grandmother immediately were able to stop Howard from moving the children toward the track. The children were able to break away, and the mother and grandmother tackled Howard and held him. “It’s a shocking incident, but we’re grateful for the quick actions of the people involved and the police department so there was no injury or tragedy,” Ramsey Mayor Christopher Botta said the day after the arrest. Bail was set by Judge Venezia at $500,000, with no 10 percent option. The suspect was remanded to the Bergen County Jail. The Ramsey Police Department, under the command of Chief Bryan Gurney, and the New Jersey Transit Police Department, under the command of Chief Christopher Trucillo, are continuing to investigate this matter. The case will be forwarded to the Bergen County Prosecutor’s Office. The Ridgewood Village Council took the first steps toward a comprehensive property tax reassessment at last week’s special meeting because the figures in the village’s tax books no longer withstand tax appeal challenges. “The majority of the cases are not defensible,” Ridgewood Tax Assessor Michael Barker told the council last week. The slump in actual sale prices of real estate have taken Ridgewood’s actual property values far below what the homeowners are billed for in their municipal property taxes. Officials note that the majority of appeals to the Bergen County Tax Board result in findings for the tax appellants and against the village. Barker told the council that Ridgewood lost $34 million in property values in 2010, which led to tax losses of $680,000. In 2011, Ridgewood losses sank further, to $40 million, for tax losses of $800,000. The figures are not complete for 2012, but when Councilwoman Bernadette Walsh asked if the losses had reached $1 million, Barker told her the actual loss was probably closer to $1.3 million. The Ridgewood Village Council -- minus Walsh, who had opposed the last budget vote in anticipation of some similar problem -- voted to approve a comprehensive inspection and reassessment of all of Ridgewood’s residential and commercial properties. The resolution the council approved 4-1 approved an emergency appropriation of $240,000, with $48,000 in each budget over the next five years. The resolution also covered notification of all county and state officials. Another resolution voted as part of the same package provided for the retention of Appraisal Systems of Whippany, for an initial sum of $17,500 through the remainder of 2012. The reassessment is scheduled for completion by the end of March 2013. The reassessment will involve internal inspections of all houses and businesses for a fresh look at what the premises would bring in fair market prices, as opposed to their present values for taxation purposes. “The values which are on the properties will be discarded,” Barker said. The resolutions were approved without much discussion, since the problem of indefensible tax appeals was considered an urgent matter. J. KOSTER Ridgewood Council votes property tax reassessment