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Ilkay “John” Karayel’s record includes drug charges in Fairview and Ridgefield Park, among other towns, as well as aggravated assault offenses on police and resisting arrest in River Edge.
The 5-foot-7-inch, 180-pound Karayel has served time for his crimes and recently spent more than two months in the Bergen County Jail before being sentenced in June on a DWI charge out of Fort Lee — while on probation for a previous conviction.
Records show the Queens-born Karayel has no fewer than a dozen adult convictions.
Most are in Bergen but three are in Ocean County, for drugs and assault. He served time as a result, records show.
Karayel apparently is still serving five years of probation after spending an undetermined amount of prison time for a Bergen County drug conviction in the late 2000s, the records indicate.
Paramus police were looking for two men, including the gunman, following last night’s shooting just after 10 o’clock.
The assailants pulled up to Karayel on a motorcycle as he walked home along Pascack Road near Oradell Avenue, Paramus Police Chief Kenneth Ehrenberg said.
One got off and argued with Karayel, the chief said.
“During the fight the suspect pulled out a handgun and fired several times, hitting [the victim] at least one time in the chest,” the chief said.
Both men then fled, and the Karayel ran several blocks to his Curry Lane home, as CLIFFVIEW PILOT exclusively reported earlier (SEE: Paramus drive-by shooting victim taken by relatives to hospital ER).
Family members then drove him to The Valley Hospital in Ridgewood, where he was listed in stable condition with a gunshot wound in his chest, Ehrenberg said.
Searching area sidewalks, gutters and drains for the weapon, Paramus police found several shell casings, the chief said. Just after midnight, they closed Pascack Road in both directions between Oradell Avenue and Standish Road as the search continued.
Ehrenberg asked that anyone with information about the incident call his department: (201) 262-3400, ext. 553
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