22°
Increasing shootings has brought a spotlight to the neighborhood on and around the corner of Essex and Madison streets, Public Safety Director Jerry Speziale said.
Drug detectives worked undercover to build a case after wires were cut to a city camera on a utility pole at that corner, the director said.
In just a few short hours, they watched several deals go down and identified a bunch of locations where the stashes were kept, he said.
They quickly arrested eight buyers and five dealers -- four of whom were working together, Speziale said.
Two male buyers were from out of town -- one 32 years old from Fairview and the other 52 years old from Budd Lake. The rest live in Paterson and are mostly middle-aged or older, including a 60-year-old man and a 62-year-old woman.
One of them, 61-year-old John Lacitignola, tried to elude police before being caught with 50 heroin folds, Speziale said.
The detectives also seized 22 vials and 12 bags of crack and nearly $1,000 in proceeds, the director said.
Charged with dealing and/or having drugs for sale, all from Paterson, were:
- Keith Brown, 32;
- Jermaine Scott, 30;
- Jose Roman, 30;
- Christopher Gass, 27;
- James Dunn, age 19.
The neighborhood has come under increased scrutiny since a 15-year-old girl North Haledon girl was killed and four men wounded in a shooting at Essex and Madison.
Early last month, detectives nabbed an 18-year-old accused heroin dealer who they said was carrying a loaded a .380-caliber Ruger semi-automatic handgun equipped with a ”drum”-style magazine capable of firing more than 30 rounds close to the spot where the girl was slain.
SEE: Crack, Gun, High-Capacity Mag Seized, Teen Nabbed At Spot Where Paterson Girl, 15, Was Killed
A week or so later, Paterson investigators seized 2,584 heroin folds, 327 bags of crack and a loaded gun in an apartment at the same corner. They also found various amounts of crystal meth, cocaine, oxycodone, Ecstasy and methadone along with a loaded .25-caliber handgun.
A man arrested by police in that case was using a multi-family home at the corner of Essex and Madison to package and store the drugs, authorities said.
SEE: 2,584 Heroin Folds, 327 Crack Bags Seized At Same Corner Where Girl Was Killed In Paterson
A predawn shooting at Essex and Madison in late June sent five people to the hospital -- one of them 30 years old, another 25, two of them 19 and a 17-year-old juvenile.
SEE: Deadliest Corner In Paterson? Five Wounded In Hail Of Gunfire Where Girl, 15, Was Killed
Click here to follow Daily Voice Newark and receive free news updates.
