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John Tassillo, 42, left behind a cache of drugs and counterfeit cash -- along with instructions on how to use the money on hooker, drug dealers and others -- in his home, Capt. Laurence Martin said Thursday.
Wayne detectives captured Tassillo Wednesday night at the Hyatt Place Hotel on Park Plaza Drive in Secaucus, where Martin said he'd been holing up.
They were assisted by Secaucus police, Passaic County prosecutor's detectives and federal Homeland Security officer from the Transnational Organized Crime Gang Unit, he said.
Tassillo, who was arrested without incident, had Adderall tablets and suboxone, along with $5,656 in cash, the captain said.
The drugs and cash were seized, and the motorcycle -- parked in the overhead garage -- was impounded, he said.
Members of the department's Special Operations Unit, along with uniformed patrols, were investigating drug distribution complaints in the Riverside Drive neighborhood when they spotted Tassillo with a black duffel bag slung over the left side of his body, Martin said.
A check of the 2005 Suzuki found it had bogus license plates, Martin said.
Police also determined that Tassillo's driver's license was suspended, the captain said. The vehicle wasn't insured, he added.
When officers tried to pull him over, Tassillo took off, "recklessly driving at a high rate of speed" and "passing a stopped school Bus discharging students," Martin said.
"Tassillo actually ran through and splintered the extended school bus protective arm, then proceeded at a high rate of speed eastbound on Route 46 toward the interchange of Routes 80-23-46."
Officers at that point broke off the chase for safety reasons, the captain said.
Detectives Vinnie Ricciardelli and Paul Kindler from the Special Operations Squad determined that Tassillo "had been receiving shipments of narcotics," prompting them to obtain a search warrant for his home, Martin said.
They ended up filing 17 drug-related charges against him -- among them, possession of marijuana, counterfeit bills, anabolic steroids, E-Cigarette cartridges containing THC oil, prescripton pills, 185 hypodermic needles and other drug paraphernalia -- after a search of Tassillo's Riverside Drive apartment, the captain said.
Along with a dozen counterfeit $20 bills and five bogus $100 bills, police found "detailed instructions on using the phony money targeting strippers, hookers and drug dealers, he added.
Police also issued several summonses to Tassillo -- including for reckless driving and leaving the scene of the accident involving a discharging school bus.
Tassillo was being held without bail in the Passaic County Jail pending a court hearing.
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