38°
Authorities hope the promise of cash for information in the cases "will generate a call to our hotline, which could be the key to arrests," Detective Capt. Tim Torell told Daily Voice Thursday morning.
"To those who do know something, imagine these victims were you or your family," he said.
A $1000 reward has been offered in the Valentine’s Day home invasion at the Cross Creek Point condominium complex on Broad Avenue.
That night, a 30-year-old resident was unloading items from his vehicle around 10 p.m. when three gunmen -- all in masks and hoodies, surrounded him, Torell said.
The trio forced him into his home, where the robbers grabbed his wife and held her and him at gunpoing while they searched the home and demanded cash and valuables. the captain said.
The robbers fled with valuables about a half hour later, Torell said, adding that the victims weren't physically injured.
However, he said, "this crime has traumatized the victims and nearby residents."
Police posted a surveillance video of the robbers fleeing (see above).
Both private security and city police patrols were increased in the area Torell said. Police also urged residents to be extra aware of their surroundings when going in and out of their homes.
Nothing else has happened there since, the captain said.
"As hard as we are working in this case, we believe there are people in our community that have valuable information that could put us over the top in charging these individuals sooner than later," he said. "We strongly believe that there are people in our community that have that information."
******
Do you have information that could help crack these cases?
"Do the right thing," Torell said. "Call our Hotline at 1-844-466-6789 and talk with our detectives."
OR GO TO: https://bergencrimestoppers.org/
******
A $500 reward has been offered in connection with a series of street robberies on the west side of the city dating back to January 2016.
In all of the 13 holdups, the victims were Hispanic, incuding a dozen males, Torell said.
"The attackers have been described in most of these cases as black males alone, in pairs or in threes," the captain said. "Victims have been beaten or threatened with guns and knives.
"In one area in particular, near the intersection of Wilbur Street and Park Avenue, several robberies have occurred, leading us to believe that at least one of these assailants lives close by."
That belief was reinforced when officers flooded an area seconds after a robbery and didn't find a suspect, he said.
Just after 11 p.m. on March 21, a 29-year-old man told police he was stabbed in the leg while struggling with a pair of robbers on Park Avenue.
The victim was treated at Englewood Hospital and Medical Center and released, Torell said.
He described his assailants as 6 feet tall and black.
Spanish-speaking detectives and patrol officers fanned out this past weekend along West Palisade Avenue and the Park Avenue/Wilbur Street areas handing out flyers in both English and Spanish.
"Some shop owners hung the flyers in their storefront windows or in their restrooms," Torell said. "We wanted the Hispanic Community especially, to know that we care and are concerned for their safety when walking alone in some areas.
"The truth of the matter is that we know from our experience that hard-working Hispanic laborers are often targeted specifically," he said.
"We’ve had suspects we’ve arrested in the past tell us that they know that undocumented individuals usually work in primarily cash-paying type jobs that are sometimes easily identifiable by the type clothing they wear," Torell continued.
"These suspects have also told us that they know that these types of victims will often not report robberies to the police for fear of immigration entanglements," the captain said.
"So, during our conversations," he added, "we asked that residents spread the word that if there are additional victims out there that they could give us tips or report crimes against them without fear of deportation issues.
"Simply put, we don’t check victims’ names through ICE or any other databases."
A $500 reward was being offered in the case.
INFO: https://bergencrimestoppers.org/
You can also call the city police hotline at 1-844-466-6789 or contact detectives directly at (201) 568-4875.
Click here to follow Daily Voice Englewood and receive free news updates.
