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Arrests made in fake gun holdup
(by Daniel O'Keefe - April 02, 2008)
Two Maywood youths, one 12 and one 16, were arrested for robbing a Rutherford resident on his way home on the evening of March 27.
A Rutherford resident got off the bus and was walking home on Beech Street when two youths wearing green and black bandanas over their faces stopped him, pointed a gun at his face and demanded he give them the BlackBerry he was holding and his money. He gave them the two items and they then fled on Washington Avenue. The man called 911 and gave a description of the two, though at the time he didn’t know they were juveniles.
Sergeant Anthony Nunziato and Officer Sean Farrell were searching the area in a patrol car when they noticed several juveniles walking along Washington Avenue who looked like they could meet the description. As soon as the officers reversed the patrol car to stop and approach them two of them ran off and fled down Washington and onto Prospect Place. Nunziato and Farrell ran in pursuit and chased them through several yards until they lost sight of them when they rounded a corner onto Montross Avenue. A witness claimed he saw the two enter the first door of an apartment complex on the corner of Washington and Montross avenues.
Nunziato and Farrell called for assistance and soon about a dozen officers from Rutherford, East Rutherford and Lyndhurst responded to the area and established a perimeter around the building. Officers entered and began knocking on doors and asking if anyone had seen the two. Eventually several East Rutherford officers noticed part of a jacket under the bushes near the building. Officers Farrell and Kevin Scannell of Rutherford and Sergeant Jeff Yannacone, Officer Mike Giancaspro and Officer Daniel Perry of East Rutherford jumped on them to subdue them.
Neither the stolen items nor a weapon were found on the juveniles. Officers retraced the path of the pursuit and found the BlackBerry, the stolen money and what turned out to be a highly realistic fake gun.
The two juveniles were arrested and charged with first degree robbery and fourth degree theft. They went to court the following morning and are currently under house arrest and wearing GPS ankle bracelets while awaiting trial in early April.
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