Fourth arrest is made in 2007 Easton, Pa., triple slaying tied to earlier gang retaliation killing in Arlington Park in Jersey City

Thursday, September 02, 2010
By MICHAELANGELO CONTE
JOURNAL STAFF WRITER

A fourth arrest has been made in connection with the 2007 execution-style murders of three people in Pennsylvania that came amidst a wave of gang-related violence stretching from Jersey City to Easton, Pa.

Demar J. Edwards, 31, of Newark, was arrested yesterday morning in Irvington on a warrant charging him in the Nov. 29, 2007 homicides of Alphe Rene, 20; Chanel Armour, 23; and Aleah Hamlin, 19, in Easton, according to the Easton Morning Call newspaper.

Warrants for Edwards and another man were issued Aug. 11 and the second man was arrested the following day. Ali E. Davis, 22, is already serving life in prison with no chance of parole for the killings. A third man, Lewis A. Gray, 33, is serving 13 to 26 years, officials said.

On Nov. 27, 2007, Devin Rodriguez, 20, of Jersey City, was shot to death behind the Hutton Arms garden apartments in West Orange. Law enforcement sources said Rodriguez was a member of the Bloods street gang. A second man shot in the head in the incident survived.

That night, James Singleton, 21, of Newark, was shot to death in Arlington Park in Jersey City in what police believe was retaliation for the West Orange shootings. Singleton is believed to have been the gunman in the West Orange shootings.

Two days later, Calvin Vallejo, 21, of Jersey City, was arrested and charged in the Singleton slaying.

The murder of Hamlin, Armour and Rene in Easton also occurred two days after Singleton was killed. Rene was believed to have been in Arlington Park in Jersey City the day Rodriguez and Singleton were killed.

Court papers detail slaying events Three men drove from Newark to Easton before triple shooting.

By Joe McDonald
Of The Morning Call
January 4, 2008

On Nov. 28, three men from Newark, N.J., drove to Easton and parked the car outside an apartment at 128 N. 13th St., where early the next morning three people would be shot to death execution-style.

One of the men in the car, Alphe Rene, would be among the dead found on the third floor of the West Ward apartment on Nov. 29.

Another man who made the trip, Lakimdel Spring, was taking a shower in the apartment and ran away after three hooded men slipped inside and shot Rene, 21, Aleah Hamlin, 19, and her cousin Chanel Armour, 23.

The details about the men who drove from Newark to Easton are contained in a search warrant affidavit that was returned to the office of District Judge Gay Elwell in Easton on Dec. 19. The affidavit reveals for the first time how Rene and Spring got to Easton and also makes a connection between the two men other than their being in the apartment together.

Police won't say if they have interviewed the third man in the car, Tyrell ''Hel Rel'' Manning, or whether Spring, who police said was not ''cooperating fully'' early in the investigation, has changed his mind.

''He could be endangered if I say too much,'' Police Chief Larry Palmer said Thursday.

Investigators have said they are pursuing several angles, including possible links to gangs. Less than two days before he was killed in Easton, Rene was spotted with a dozen alleged gang members at a park in Jersey City, N.J., police said earlier.

Inspector Matthew Gerould wouldn't say Thursday whether the three men in the car were friends. ''We're not releasing any information on anybody, associations or relations.''

Five weeks after the killings, police say they are following leads and conducting interviews but still don't have a motive, or at least one they will discuss publicly.

''We have tons of information coming from a lot of different sources,'' Gerould said, adding that investigators have ''some persons of interest, but we don't know how they play into it.''

Investigators have discussed the case with officials in New Jersey and done more than 50 interviews, Gerould said.

''There are a lot of rumors flying around,'' he said. ''We are trying to determine if any of those rumors are accurate.''

Police have said the people behind the homicides knew their targets and were efficient, killing three people in seconds and quickly slipping away before police arrived shortly before 1 a.m.

Spring ran from the house to Fuglee's Bar, less than two blocks away, to call 911. Police later charged him with giving them a fake name, and he was sent to Northampton County Prison under $50,000 bail despite his pleas that he feared for his life if he went to prison. He remains there.

Gerould would not comment on what, if anything, Spring has told investigators, saying, ''We're not releasing his cooperation level.''

Whether the trip the three men made from Newark to Easton played a role in the shootings was not clear.

''It could be very significant or not significant at all,'' Gerould said. ''And that's with every piece of evidence we have.''

Other than Spring, no one has been arrested in connection with the killings.

Police won't say how many times the three were shot, and county Coroner Zachary Lysek said he has been asked to keep those details secret to preserve the integrity of the investigation.

Palmer said the shootings were labeled executions ''because of the shots to the head.''

''It was brutal, very brutal,'' Javan Shackelford, an uncle to Hamlin and Armour, said Thursday.

Shackelford said Hamlin and Armour had been living with a relative near the courthouse but had decided to stay at the N. 13th Street apartment temporarily before moving out of the area.

''It wasn't meant for them to walk out of there,'' he said. Their crime was being in the ''wrong place at the wrong time.''

joe.mcdonald@mcall.com

610-559-2152

Gangs often kill their own

It's common for different sects of the same gang to squabble. Officials say triple murder in Easton may be a result of strife within Bloods.

Sunday, December 09, 2007
By PRECIOUS PETTY
The Express-Times

When members of the same gang turn on each other, it's usually about power, according to New Jersey State Police Detective Sgt. Ronnie Hampton.

"Gangs are no different than IBM," he said. "Who wants to retire from IBM as a clerk? Everybody has a desire to get better and rise to the top."

Killing a colleague is a permissible means to that end in the gang world, said Hampton, part of the state police Street Gang North Unit that includes Warren, Hunterdon and five other counties.

Pennsylvania and New Jersey authorities suspect the execution-style murders of Bloods member Alphe Rene and two women Nov. 29 in Easton's West Ward resulted from strife within his gang.

"A substantial number of our gang-related murders and aggravated assaults are gang against gang or internal, amongst (fellow) gang members," Hampton said.

No arrests have been made in the triple-killing. The other victims are Aleah Hamlin and Chanel Armour.

Rene's death followed the Nov. 27 slayings of Bloods members Devin Rodriguez in West Orange, N.J., and James Singleton in Newark. Several hours before Singleton's death, police questioned Rene, of Easton, in the park where the murder would occur.

When in trouble, gang members hit the road

Barry Golazeski, a detective in the Northampton County District Attorney's Office, said gang members routinely split their time between Pennsylvania and New Jersey, especially when they're trying to avoid prosecution.

"When they get in trouble here, it's common for them to jet back up to Newark or they come down here to hide in Easton," he said. "It flows both ways here."

Interstates 78 and 80 have made it easy, said Golazeski, who heads the county's gang investigations.

Police believe Singleton, of Newark, killed Rodriguez, of Jersey City, and have charged resident Calvin Vallejo, also of Jersey City, in Singleton's death.

George Volpe, a Northampton County deputy sheriff who specializes in gang intelligence, said it's common for different sects of the same gang to squabble. The Bloods have been known to designate sects that "clean up" problems so as to maintain a balance of power, he said.

Gangs began to make gains in the Lehigh Valley during the early '90s, not long after I-78 opened, Golazeski said. The street price for crack cocaine is higher here than in New Jersey, he explained. "They basically got off the interstate and saw that it's profitable."

Gangs becoming more organized

Street shootings and home invasion robberies began occurring with greater frequency, Golazeski said. The number of inmate fights at Northampton County Prison jumped as rival gang members were arrested and housed together; 22 to 24 percent of today's inmate population is gang-affiliated, he said.

Then in 1996, Richezza Williams was found dead in Easton. The 14-year-old had been brutally murdered by members of the Cash Money Boys, a Brooklyn-based gang operating in the Valley.

"That put the public and law enforcement on notice. That was pretty much a wake-up. She had lost $2,000 worth of drugs. They basically tortured her to death over it," Golazeski said.

Since then, the violence has intensified as gangs become bolder and better organized, carrying out successful bank heists and running counter-surveillance.

"People were getting shot in the arms and legs then it progressed to homicide," he said. "In 2004 and 2005, you started seeing ambush shootings instead of there being a confrontation first."

Even though Easton has experienced two high-profile shootings recently, Robert Reed of the U.S. Attorney's Office in Philadelphia, said crime is down. "The trend is down and that's good news."

Reed said he is working closely with other law enforcement agencies as part of the Route 222 corridor anti-gang task force, sharing information and closely monitoring gang activity.

The task force is a federally funded initiative focused on gang prevention in the Valley's three cities as well as Reading and Lancaster.

"We're meeting regularly with people in Easton and the other cities," he said. "We work closely with the FBI, DEA, ATF, ICE, local police and representatives of the district attorneys' offices in each county."

Editorial Page Editor James Flagg and Reporter Colin McEvoy contributed to this story.

Law enforcement officials of 2 states meet on murders link

Monday, December 10, 2007
By MICHAELANGELO CONTE
JOURNAL STAFF WRITER

New Jersey and Pennsylvania law enforcement officials met last week to connect the dots between what appear to be Bloods-related killings in Jersey City, West Orange and Easton, Pa.

"The meeting was to exchange information and intelligence," said Hudson County Prosecutor Edward DeFazio, whose office was represented at Thursday's meeting, as was the Jersey City Police Department and others. "We want to identify the cast of characters that appear in these three incidents."

The prosecutor would not give details about the meeting, saying it is "law enforcement sensitive."

The first incident was early in the morning on Nov. 27, when Devin Rodriguez, 20, of Jersey City, was killed by a shot to the head behind the Hutton Arms garden apartments in West Orange. A 19-year-old also was shot in the head in that incident but survived; he remains in critical condition at University Hospital in Newark. Law enforcement sources said the 19-year-old Jersey City resident is a member of the Bloods street gang.

That night, James Singleton, 21, of Newark, was shot to death in Arlington Park in Jersey City. Police believe Singleton was the gunman in the West Orange shooting. Two days later, Calvin Vallejo, 21, of Jersey City, was arrested and charged in the Singleton slaying.

The same day as Vallejo's arrest - Nov. 29 - three men were murdered "execution style" in an apartment in Easton, Pa. One of the three men - 21-year-old Alphe Rene - was believed to have been in Arlington Park on Nov. 27, the day Rodriguez and Singleton were killed.

Easton Police Capt. David Ryan said investigators found items in the apartment specifically pointing to the Bloods.

DeFazio said there was nothing new to report concerning the investigation.

2-STATE 'GANG' KILLINGS

Cops asking if 3 Pennsy murders have link to 2 possible gang executions here

Wednesday, December 05, 2007
By MICHAELANGELO CONTE
JOURNAL STAFF WRITER

Police in Easton, Pa., are looking into the possibility that a triple murder there last week is connected to the recent murders of a Jersey City man in West Orange and a Newark man in Jersey City's Arlington Park, because all three have connections to the Bloods street gang, officials said yesterday.

"We are looking to see if those (New Jersey) murders are connected to our murders," said Easton Police Capt. David Ryan.

On Thursday, Alphe Rene, 21; Aleah Hamlin, 19; and Chanel Armour, 23, were all murdered execution-style in an Easton apartment.

Ryan said police have found evidence of "specific gang ties" at the murder scene and they are looking into the possibility that they are "associated with or feuding with Bloods in New Jersey."

In fact, Rene was in Arlington Park on Nov. 27, the day of both the West Orange and Jersey City shootings, according to Easton police. But Ryan said that no direct connection has yet been made between the Easton murders and those in New Jersey and police are also following other leads. He added that police do not know the motive for the Easton shootings.

The Morning Call newspaper reported that keys belonging to the man killed in Arlington Park - James Singleton, 21, of Newark - were found in the Easton apartment. Hudson County Prosecutor Edward DeFazio said yesterday that he has no knowledge of the keys being connected to anyone.

Early in the morning of Nov. 27, Devin Rodriguez, 20, of Jersey City, was killed at the Hutton Arms garden apartments in West Orange near Route 280. A 19-year-old Jersey City man was also shot in that incident and remains hospitalized at University Hospital in Newark, officials said, adding that his condition has been upgraded to serious from critical.

Both West Orange victims were shot in the head, officials said.

Later that same day, Singleton was fatally shot in Arlington Park. Police believe Singleton was the gunman in the West Orange shootings and have charged Calvin Vallejo, 21, of Jersey City, with killing Singleton in retaliation. Vallejo, who is being held on $350,000 cash bail, was a friend of Rodriguez, DeFazio said.

A revolver found in Arlington Park after Singleton was killed is the gun used in the West Orange shootings, DeFazio said, adding that Singleton was shot with a semiautomatic handgun and that weapon has not been recovered.

Singleton is believed to have been a member of the Bloods and the 19-year-old is believed to be affiliated with the gang, DeFazio said.

"They were all premeditated, calculated murders," DeFazio said.

At 12:43 a.m. Thursday, the three Easton victims were killed in a second-floor apartment and Lakindel Spring, 21, of Newark, formerly of Jersey City, who was reportedly in the shower at the time of the killings, ran outside. He was picked up later and charged with giving police a fake name, Ryan said.

Ryan said Jersey City and West Orange police are involved in the investigation, as are the Hudson and Essex county prosecutors' offices.

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If you contact your community relations officer at your district police station I believe that there's a form that you can fill out that lets you call anonymously. you give them a number that you're assigned.

Its amazing to me that witnesses to "gang slayings" are having there names and other information posted about them. Is it really shocking to police that the man from Newark gave them a fake name and was not answering questions. Im sure he doesnt want be the next victim but it wouldnt suprise me if you here about him or the other woman being the newest victims. It seems to me the press puts peoples lives in danger to often just to make there story.

This just gets worse and worse. Healy hire more cops now!

www.mcall.com/news/local/all-a ... ory?coll=all_tab01_layout

N.J. gangs linked to Easton slayings

A Jersey City shooting victim's keys were reportedly found at an Easton apartment where three people were slain Thursday.

By Jarrett Renshaw and Joe McDonald Of The Morning Call

December 4, 2007

Less than two days before he was gunned down in an Easton apartment, Alphe Rene was spotted with a dozen alleged gang members at a park in Jersey City, N.J., according to police. Later that night, a 21-year-old Newark, N.J., man, James Singleton, was fatally shot multiple times in that park, according to the Hudson County prosecutor's office and Jersey City police reports. Singleton's keys were recovered from the crime scene in Easton where Rene, 21, Aleah Hamlin, 19, and Chanel Armour, 23, were shot to death early Thursday, according to a high ranking New Jersey law enforcement official, who declined to be identified because of the ongoing investigation. Singleton's death, Rene's alleged ties to the Jersey City gangs and the discovery of the keys have led Easton authorities to turn their attention toward northern New Jersey for clues in what Northampton District Attorney John Morganelli called the ''gangland'' slayings at 128 N. 13th St. in Easton's West Ward.

''The investigation is looking at connections to North Jersey,'' said Morganelli, adding that he was unaware of the specific details of the investigation. Easton police did not return phone calls Monday. According to Jersey City officials, Rene was with alleged members of a sect of the Bloods gang who gathered at the park on Nov. 27. Jersey City's gang unit had gone to Arlington Park after getting a tip from a confidential informant that someone in the group had a gun. Nobody was arrested, but police took the names of the people in attendance, including Rene's, Jersey City police officials said. Rene reportedly gave a Bethlehem address. The Hudson County prosecutor's office said Singleton, an alleged member of a Bloods sect, was shot less than an hour later in retaliation for fatally shooting one man and injuring another earlier that day in nearby West Orange, N.J. Calvin Vallejo, 21, of Jersey City was charged in connection with Singleton's death on Thursday morning, according to published accounts.

Shortly before 1 a.m. Thursday, Rene, Hamlin, and Armour were shot several times on the third floor of the Easton apartment, Northampton County Coroner Zachary Lysek said. Morganelli and Easton police called the killings a home invasion but had only vague descriptions of three men seen leaving the apartment. They said the three suspects knew their intended target. Morganelli said he concluded the killings were gang-related largely based on the way the victims were killed and early information coming from northern New Jersey. The Easton shootings took place in an apartment rented by Kim Slack, who was home at the time with her two children, according to a family member of Slack's. The family member said Slack was allowing at least one of the victims to temporarily stay at her apartment. Lakimdel Spring, 21, of Newark, was in the shower at the time of the shootings and managed to run to a local bar, where he called police.

Spring was charged with giving police a fake name and is being held in Northampton County Prison under $50,000 bail. He was described by Easton police as being uncooperative. Javan Shackelford, an uncle to Hamlin and Armour, who were cousins, said based on conversations with police, Rene seems to have been the intended target. As part of their investigation, police also are interested in a car reported stolen from Irvington, N.J., that was recovered Nov. 26 behind 1117 Lehigh St. The car had front end damage and all the tires were missing.

jarrett.renshaw@mcall.com

610-770-2151

Copyright ? 2007, The Morning Call

Quote:

You are right Sullyx. However, I understand why people do not call the police. I lived in Lafayette, and there was a very lucrative drug business going on the building on my corner. Nobody, including myself, dared to call the police. You never know who is going to find out that you called. I It was way too scary for me to be down there with my two kids., pissing off the Bloods. I know some cities with good anti-gang programs have plans where people can call and not be traced by anyone, but I don't know if JC has one. It's worth looking into.

Arrest in retaliation 'gang' slay
Friday, November 30, 2007
By MICHAELANGELO CONTE
JOURNAL STAFF WRITER

The Newark man shot to death in Arlington Park in Jersey City Tuesday night is believed to have been the gunman in a West Orange shooting earlier that day that left one Jersey City man dead and another critically injured.

Yesterday morning, police arrested Calvin Vallejo, 21, of Garfield Avenue near Stegman Street in Jersey City, and charged him in the Arlington Park murder after he was questioned by detectives of the Hudson County Prosecutor's Office's Homicide Squad, officials said.

Vallejo is charged with killing James Singleton, 21, of Newark, who was shot multiple times at about 11:15 p.m. Tuesday in the park, located at Grand Street and Arlington Avenue, Hudson County Prosecutor Edward DeFazio said.

Singleton was pronounced dead about 6 a.m. Wednesday at the Jersey City Medical Center.

"We believe Mr. Singleton was killed in retaliation for the prior incident in West Orange," DeFazio said.

Detectives believe Singleton was the gunman in the fatal shooting of Devin Rodriguez, 20, of Jersey City, who was killed early Tuesday morning outside the Hutton Arms garden apartments in West Orange near Route 280.

A 19-year-old Jersey City man was also shot in the West Orange incident and he remained in critical condition at University Hospital in Newark, Essex County Prosecutor's Office spokesman Paul Loriquet said, adding that both Jersey City men were shot in the head.

It's not clear what the motive was for the West Orange shooting, DeFazio said.

"Mr. Vallejo was a friend of Mr. Rodriguez," DeFazio said, adding that investigators also believe Singleton was affiliated with the Bloods street gang. "There is an undercurrent of Bloods activity here. There were and there are a lot of confluences at work, and the investigation is continuing."

Investigators found a half-dozen spent shells in Arlington Park after the Singleton shooting, but the semiautomatic used by Vallejo in the murder has not been recovered, DeFazio said.

Police also found a revolver in the street outside the park and they are running tests on that gun to determine if it was the weapon used in the West Orange shootings, DeFazio said.

Singleton's murder happened a day after four suspected Bloods members were arrested in Arlington Park and a gun and drugs were seized, but the fatal shooting does not appear to be connected to those arrests, DeFazio said.

i read the posts Charlie, and i get tired of the bitching... wah wah wah wah...
i'm on jclist...
i dont like yuppies...
i dont like change...
dog poop...
hamilton park...
public schools private schools...
whole foods and trader joes....
steve fulop...
11 arts building...
performing arts district has no arts...
graffitti on the park benches...
grove pointe...
downtown or west side...
greenville is nice...
i dont like other downtown sites like wiredjc or whatever...
wah wah wah
i'm better than you because i hide behind monikers and bitch on message boards...
i'm better than you because i do neighborhood watch...
i'm better than you because i'm downtown..
i'm better than you because i'm on the west side...
i'm better than you because.....(insert everything else we read here)

bottom line is, i may mock yuppies, but i'm not going to get mugged by one, so he can come in with his new Beemer, and buy a luxury condo... i don't care...

Quote:

From another thread:

Quote:

Oh yeah, we love the crime and the violence, learn to read and comprehend the content before you attempt to make a sharp-edged remark!

it's funny... the "locals" on another post are bitching about "new" residents, and "yuppies"... and not bitching about natives who continue to murder each other on our streets!

way to go!

'Killer' Captured
by Ken Thorbourne
Thursday November 29, 2007, 10:51 AM

Jersey City resident Calvin Vallejo, 21, was arrested this morning for the fatal shooting of James Singleton, 21, of Newark, in Jersey City's Arlington Park on Tuesday, authorities report.

In what authorities described a "calculated" assasination, Singleton was shot multiple times at 11:16 p.m. in the park.

Hudson County Prosecutor Edward DeFazio has also said this killing is connected to the shooting that took place earlier Tuesday in West Orange that left one Jersey City man, Devin Rodriguez, 20, dead, and another Jersey City man clinging to life.

DeFazio said this morning he did not believe Vallejo was involved in the West Orange murder.

DeFazio credited several agencies for Vallejo's arrest, including the Hudson County Prosecutor's Office Homicide Squad, the Essex County Prosecutor's Homicide Squad, and Jersey City Police Department, and the West Orange Police Department.

KILLING WAS 'CALCULATED'
Barrage of bullets in park known for gangs

Thursday, November 29, 2007
By MICHAELANGELO CONTE
JOURNAL STAFF WRITER

Tuesday night's fatal shooting of a Newark man in Jersey City's Arlington Park may be connected to the shootings earlier that day of two Jersey City men - one of whom died - in West Orange, investigators said yesterday.

"It does not appear to be an act of random violence, it looks like a calculated attack," said Hudson County Prosecutor Edward DeFazio.

James Singleton, 21, of Newark, was shot multiple times at 11:16 p.m. in the park, police said. He was pronounced dead at about 6 a.m. yesterday at the Jersey City Medical Center, DeFazio said.

DeFazio would not elaborate on why he believes the killings might be connected, nor did he offer a theory on what the motives for any of the shootings might have been. Devin Rodriguez, 20, was killed Tuesday morning in West Orange and a 19-year-old Jersey City man was critically injured.

Singleton was shot in the forehead, thigh, buttocks and hand, and investigators found five spent shell casings on the ground near the monument in the park, located at Grand Street and Arlington Avenue, DeFazio said. Investigators believe at least six rounds were fired, DeFazio said.

Officers did not locate the murder weapon but did find a revolver on Arlington Avenue. They do not know if that gun is connected to the homicide.

Jersey City police gang unit officers broke up a gathering in Arlington Park only an hour before Singleton was shot, sources said.

A day earlier, on Monday, police had arrested four suspected Bloods street gang members gathered near the park gazebo and officers seized a gun and drugs in that roundup, sources said.

Yesterday, firefighters scrubbed blood stains from concrete in the park not far from the gazebo. There was a shrine in the park gazebo and candles, but they were not for Singleton, a police source said. There was no name or photograph on the shrine.

Area residents said they were not surprised at this most recent episode of violence.

"It's nothing new here," said Gabriel Aponte, who was outside a friend's home when the gunshots rang out. He said crowds of youths pouring into the area from Lincoln High School at dismissal time also wreak havoc on the area.

"They come in here and they make big fights," he said. "This is a disaster. This neighborhood is shot."

Kiyyannah Jackson said someone broke her jaw and robbed her of $500 near the park a year ago.

"It's tough," said Jackson, sitting on a bench outside the park. "It's a lot of fights and a lot of shootings."

A crossing guard cutting through the park yesterday afternoon said, "It's a nice area, but the gangs are right here in the bandstand after school lets out."

http://www.nj.com/hudsoncountynow

Cops: Jersey City murder may be connected to W. Orange killing

by Michaelangelo Conte
Wednesday November 28, 2007, 1:33 PM

Hudson County homicide investigators are looking into the possibility that a Newark man gunned down in Jersey City's Arlington Park last night is connected to the shootings in West Orange yesterday.

James Singleton, 21, was shot multiple times at 11:16 p.m. last night and died this morning at the Jersey City Medical Center, Hudson County Prosecutor Edward DeFazio said today.

Detectives are looking into the possibility that the killing is connected to the West Orange shootings, in which Devon Rodriguez, 20, of Jersey City, was killed and a 19-year-old Jersey City man was wounded.

Jersey City police gang unit officers broke up a gathering in Arlington Park only an hour before Singleton was shot, sources said.

On Monday police arrested four suspected Bloods street gang members gathered near the park gazebo and officers seized a gun and drugs in that roundup, sources said.

===========================================

TWO SHOT IN WEST ORANGE
Wednesday, November 28, 2007
BY PHILIP READ
Star-Ledger Staff

Police are investigating a shooting that took place behind a West Orange apartment building yesterday leaving a 20-year old Jersey City man dead and another in critical condition.

The victims were shot shortly after midnight in a small parking lot behind Hutton Arms, a 10-unit garden apartment house a couple of blocks from the Northfield Ave nue ramp to Route 280.

Devon Rodriguez, an amateur boxer and aspiring rapper, was killed in the shooting. A 19-year old man also from Jersey City was in critical condition late yesterday at University Hospital in Newark. His name was not released.

Essex County Prosecutor Paula Dow said during a noon news conference investigators were strug gling to piece together the circumstances surrounding the shootings.

"The investigation is very much in its infancy," Dow said. "We don't have a motive. We don't know why they were there."

Jack Sayers, West Orange's police director, said it had not yet determined whether the victims had been shot at close range and as serted that any suggestion that the killings were drug-related was "purely speculation at this time."

A 1997 Mercedes believed to be driven by the victims was im pounded as evidence, Dow said, and investigators were obtaining a warrant to search the vehicle.

Dow said there was no description of the shooter, although neighbors reported spotting someone running from the scene and hear ing a sports car with a "loud exhaust" shortly after the shootings.

Yesterday morning, investiga tors searched leaves piled in the street along the curb and nearby hedges.

Nearby, a small crane from a West Orange Department of Public Works truck lifted up a heavy metal grate from a storm sewer, allowing investigators to lower a pitchfork into the sewer and poke into a pile of the leaves for evidence.

"This is such a big area to search, and you're not necessarily looking for the gun or the bullets, just whatever helps," said Capt. Robert Carella, who led a team of crime scene investigators from the Essex County Prosecutor's Office.

Fatal shootings are rare in West Orange. Other than yesterday's in cident, the township recorded just two homicides this decade, according to the state Uniform Crime Report.

West Orange Mayor John McKeon called the shooting an "anomaly -- an isolated incident."

"Our community is safe," the mayor said.

Residents of the quiet, working- class neighborhood yesterday reacted with disbelief.

Willie McDaniel, a maintenance worker for the adjoining Hutton Lafayette Gardens apartments, said the complexes' tenants include police officers.

"Nice, quiet neighbors. Nice, quiet place to live, really," McDa niel said as he collected leaves yesterday.

For many, the sound of gunshots was met with disbelief.

"I just heard four pops," said Leslie Mishell, one of the tenants. "I didn't think it was much be cause you hear doors slam all the time."

Odessa Auguste, a 21-year-old dietitian whose window overlooks the rear parking lot, told a similar tale as she headed off to work yesterday morning. "I went back to sleep because it really didn't register as a gun shot," she said.

Michael Gartenlaub, who lives in the adjoining Hutton Lafayette Gardens, heard it too. "I didn't do anything. I froze," he said. In minutes, however, he spotted his building's superintendent outside with a flashlight.

On his way to the laundry room yesterday, Kevin Bolen, a West Orange police sergeant and tenant, said teenagers can be spotted along a footpath running along the brook behind the apartment houses.

"Do they walk back there sometime? Yeah. But there's nothing going on," he said. "The only thing going on up here are noise complaints, speeding complaints."

Alex Murillo, the apartment houses' superintendent, said he never saw the victims before.

The police asked, "Hey, do you know this guy?" Murillo said of the deceased. "And I said, 'No.' ... They don't live in the building."

Rodriguez attended from St. Aloysius High School in Jersey City, where he played baseball. It could not be immediately determined if he graduated.

Joe Napolitano Jr., president of the Pershing Field Babe Ruth League, described Rodriguez was a good kid. Napolitano coached Rodriguez for three years in the Babe Ruth League when he played for Willow Iron Works. He had previ ously played in the Pershing Field Little League. In April, Rodriguez boxed in the 132-pound division in the New Jersey Golden Gloves.

"I just saw him a couple of weeks ago, and he told me how well he was doing and how happy he was," Napolitano said. "He was involved in boxing and was trying to pursue a music career as a singer, a rapper."

Philip Read may be reached at pread@starledger.com or (973) 392-1851.

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if you see these meetings all the time why not take 2 minutes and call them in so the police can respond?

Good job, unfortunately they'll be back on the streets in no time. I see these meetings all the time, too bad they don't do this more often.

Hey isn't this "Fat Ass Bike" land?

===========================
4 arrests as cops halt 'gang' meeting

Wednesday, November 28, 2007

Jersey City cops broke up a meeting of suspected Bloods street gang members in Arlington Park and locked up a 16-year-old boy found with a gun and arrested three men on various drug charges late Monday night, officials said.

At 11:14 p.m., police arrested the 16-year-old Park Street boy, as well as Michael Lawrence, 19, of Madison Avenue, Quenis Span, 19, of Stegman Street, and Idriys Washington, 21, of Fulton Avenue, charging them with a variety of offenses, reports said.

Cops responded to the park, at Arlington Avenue and Grand Street, on a tip that there was a Bloods meeting and surrounded it in unmarked cars before approaching the group of about a dozen people near the gazebo, reports said.

Police found a 9mm handgun in the 16-year-old's waistband, police said.

Spann tried to walk away and cops saw him toss what turned out to be six vials of suspected cocaine, reports said, adding that 11 more were found in his jacket pocket.

During the arrests, Washington became angry and interfered with the officers and he was arrested too, reports said. A second boy was found to be in violation of the curfew, reports said.

Cops busted Lawrence after seeing him throw away a bag containing three vials of suspected cocaine, reports said.

MICHAELANGELO CONTE