TheDiamondangel
Shiny_Rock
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- Mar 12, 2003
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Monday, August 4, 2003
By RICHARD COWEN
STAFF WRITER
CLIFTON - A jewelry salesman who had previously been robbed believed it was about to happen to him again Friday.
But some coolness under pressure and a quick call to police allowed him to keep his jewels - and led to the arrests of four people, authorities said.
Police say the salesman had left a jewelry store on Route 4 in Bergen County shortly after noon Friday when he noticed a van with Illinois plates tailing him.
The jeweler attempted to lose the van by cutting across two lanes of traffic and onto the southbound side of the Garden State Parkway, but the van veered also and kept following him, police said.
"This guy had been robbed before, and he knew he was being followed," said Clifton police Capt. Robert Rowan. "He tried slowing down and speeding up, and when he did that the van did the same thing."
Rowan said the salesman, whose name is being withheld, exited the parkway onto Route 46 into Garfield. With the van still behind him, the salesman managed to call Garfield Police on his cellphone, the captain said. The salesman headed west into Clifton.
Garfield police alerted Clifton police, who were waiting when the salesman pulled into Exxon station on Route 46 near the Valley Road exit. The van pulled into the adjacent lot, where Patrolman William Hernandez stopped the vehicle and searched it, police said.
Inside were three men and a woman - and a sharpened screwdriver that police say jewelry thieves often use to puncture tires.
"The idea is to puncture the tires when the salesman goes into the store, then follow him when he leaves," Rowan said. "When he pulls over to the side of the road to fix a flat, that''s when they rob him."
But the suspects never got a chance to use their tool, Rowan said. Instead, police arrested all four and charged them with conspiracy to commit theft, weapons possession, and stalking.
Arrested were Jonathan Palasious, 22; Jeanth Garzone, 20; and Danilo Fiero, 21, all of New York City; and Uriel Buena Ventura, 33, of Elizabeth. They remained in the Clifton lockup Saturday, with bail set at $60,000 for each, police said.
By RICHARD COWEN
STAFF WRITER
CLIFTON - A jewelry salesman who had previously been robbed believed it was about to happen to him again Friday.
But some coolness under pressure and a quick call to police allowed him to keep his jewels - and led to the arrests of four people, authorities said.
Police say the salesman had left a jewelry store on Route 4 in Bergen County shortly after noon Friday when he noticed a van with Illinois plates tailing him.
The jeweler attempted to lose the van by cutting across two lanes of traffic and onto the southbound side of the Garden State Parkway, but the van veered also and kept following him, police said.
"This guy had been robbed before, and he knew he was being followed," said Clifton police Capt. Robert Rowan. "He tried slowing down and speeding up, and when he did that the van did the same thing."
Rowan said the salesman, whose name is being withheld, exited the parkway onto Route 46 into Garfield. With the van still behind him, the salesman managed to call Garfield Police on his cellphone, the captain said. The salesman headed west into Clifton.
Garfield police alerted Clifton police, who were waiting when the salesman pulled into Exxon station on Route 46 near the Valley Road exit. The van pulled into the adjacent lot, where Patrolman William Hernandez stopped the vehicle and searched it, police said.
Inside were three men and a woman - and a sharpened screwdriver that police say jewelry thieves often use to puncture tires.
"The idea is to puncture the tires when the salesman goes into the store, then follow him when he leaves," Rowan said. "When he pulls over to the side of the road to fix a flat, that''s when they rob him."
But the suspects never got a chance to use their tool, Rowan said. Instead, police arrested all four and charged them with conspiracy to commit theft, weapons possession, and stalking.
Arrested were Jonathan Palasious, 22; Jeanth Garzone, 20; and Danilo Fiero, 21, all of New York City; and Uriel Buena Ventura, 33, of Elizabeth. They remained in the Clifton lockup Saturday, with bail set at $60,000 for each, police said.
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