i wonder if the carjacker is the same POS that committed the March attack.

Jersey City police arrest carjacking suspect after van driver fights back with pepper spray outside Newport mall

Friday, September 03, 2010
By MICHAELANGELO CONTE
JOURNAL STAFF WRITER

A commuter van driver turned the tables on an accused carjacker Wednesday night at the Newport Centre Mall in Jersey City - leaving the suspect coughing, teary, and disoriented after he pepper-sprayed him, officials said.

Antonio Almonte, 27, of 48th Street in Union City, the take-no-prisoners van driver, said yesterday he prepared himself to fend off potential attackers after a fellow van driver suffered spinal damage on March 5 when he was shot and run over during a carjacking at Pavonia and Summit avenues.

Almonte said the 48-year-old Guttenberg driver injured March 5 was his friend.

"I thought about my daughter and I thought about my friend, who is an invalid as well," Almonte said in Spanish. "He (the accused carjacker) could have taken my life . I wasn't going to let him go that easy."

Danny J. Lorenzana, 27, of Sherman Avenue in Jersey City, was arrested at 30 Mall Drive at about 10 p.m. Wednesday and taken by ambulance to the Jersey City Medical Center to be treated for the lingering effects of the painful irritant, reports said.

Almonte said he was parked and waiting to be dispatched when Lorenzana kicked his bus' folding door, smashing the glass and flinging it open, reports said. He said Lorenzana jumped in and began punching him and saying "Give me the money you piece of s-," reports said.

Almonte was having none of it.

He reached for his pepper spray canister and blasted the side of Lorenzana's face, reports said. Lorenzana jumped into the driver's seat and tried to put the bus in gear, but that earned him a second close-range blast of pepper spray to both eyes, reports said.

Lorenzana fell backwards and tumbled off the bus to the ground, where he ripped off his shirt and was on all fours when the cops pulled up and cuffed him, reports said.

Almonte said Lorenzana was "crying and crawling like a baby."

Almonte also was also suffering some pain from the pepper spray and was treated at the scene by emergency medical technicians from the Medical Center, reports said.

No arrest has been made in the March 5 incident. Anyone with information about that case is asked to call the Jersey City police tip line at (201) 547-JAIL.

Journal staff writer Karina Arrue contributed to this story.

Sketch released in mini-bus robbery
Wednesday, March 17, 2010



The suspect is described as an Hispanic male, 18 to 25 years old, 150 to 180 pounds, with an average build. Anyone with information is asked to call Jersey City Police at 201-547-5246. (WABC Photo)

JERSEY CITY (WABC) -- Police in Jersey City have released a sketch of the man who they say shot, robbed, and ran over a mini-bus driver with his own bus.

The driver was left paralyzed.

It happened on the jitney March 5th just after midnight at Summit and Pavonia Avenues in Journal Square.

The 48-year-old victim, an Ecuadorian immigrant, says the lone passenger on his bus robbed him, and then shot him in the back as he tried to escape.

A $4,000 reward is being offered for any information about the crime.

Anyone with information is asked to call Jersey City Police at 201-547-5246.

gosh that is so very sad.why did he have to shoot him.

Commuter bus driver robbed and shot at Summit and Pavonia avenues in Jersey City

Video of commuter van driver robbed and shot by passenger is released by police By The Jersey Journal March 10, 2010, 3:02PM The Jersey City Police Department released this 90-second video this morning at a news conference, showing the private commuter van driver who was shot on Summit Avenue near Pavonia Avenue by a passenger early Friday morning. The passenger then ran over the driver, a 48-year-old Guttenberg man, as he fled. At the news conference it was announced that there is a $4,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of the assailant. The video, recorded by a few surveillance cameras stationed on Summit and Pavonia avenues, shows the van pulling up and hazard lights blinking. Then later it shows the van driver on the ground in the street, apparently struggling to get someone's attention. It appears that a car pulls up and slows down, and then leaves the area. A few seconds later a man walks over to the victim and appears to make a call on his cell phone, apparently calling 911. Police have offered a $2,000 reward for information leading to the attacker's arrest, and fellow commuter van drivers have matched that sum. ========================= $4,000 reward for info leading to arrest of man who shot commuter van driver By Tom Shortell March 10, 2010, 1:11PM Tom Shortell/The Jersey Journal The commuter bus driver from Guttenberg who was robbed, shot and ran over in Jersey City on Friday is paralyzed from the waist down. Jersey City police this morning announced that the department is offering a $2,000 reward for information that leads to the arrest of the man who robbed, shot and ran over a commuter bus driver in Journal Square in the early hours of March 5. A group of fellow commuter van and bus drivers have decided to match that total, a spokesman said. The victim, a 48-year-old Guttenberg man, is paralyzed from waist down, a kidney was removed and his colon was destroyed, said sister-in-law said this morning at a press conference held jointly by police and the man's family. The man was shot in the back and the bullet severed his spine, she said. The name of the man and the hospital where he is being treated are being withheld for his protection, police said. The names of his family members are also being withheld. About 20 commuter van drivers interrupted the press conference with chants of "We want justice! We want justice!" They also complained that police are doing little about what they call a spike in attacks against drivers. Jersey City Police Chief Thomas Comey responded that the drivers often don't report the crimes, so police were unaware of the alleged string of robberies. The passenger, who was picked up by the Guttenberg bus driver at First Street in Union City, demanded the driver's wallet, shot him in the back and threw him off the bus on Pavonia Avenue near Summit Avenue. The assailant then the vehicle, running over the driver's body as he fled. Police later found the Ford commuter bus abandoned a short distance away at Beacon and Oakland avenues.

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It is hard to keep calm when certain identities are omitted such as race and nationality. Today's society is no different than other so called societies of the past. I just hope we don't see a monkey see monkey do effect.

wow i rode those things probly 500 times at least......i think its a target cause u go on the bus and dont have to pay until u get off plus they usually have money in plain view.

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Good gravy, calm down fella. We all know the JJ gives vague interpretations. On another note what a horrible story, we live in a sick society.

The robber is described as being between 18 and 20 years old with short hair and wearing a black jacket and black hat, reports said.


To the editors of the Jersey Journal:
GET A FU*KING CLUE.

Commuter bus driver is shot, run over in Jersey City when attacker steals his vehicle By Michaelangelo Conte/The Jersey Journal March 05, 2010, 12:46PM
View Larger Map A K&T Express private commuter bus picks up passengers at the intersection of Summit and Pavonia avenues in Jersey City where a Guttenberg bus driver working for the same company was shot during a robbery by a passenger he picked up in Union City this morning. A private commuter bus driver was shot in the back in Jersey City by a passenger he picked up in Union City this morning and the robber then threw the driver out of the bus and ran him over as he carjacked the vehicle, reports said. "It was horrible -- I just hope they catch this guy," said a 49-year-old Jersey City man who was walking through the area of Summit and Pavonia avenues when the robbery and carjacking occurred at 12:17 a.m. The witness did not want to be identified out of fear that the assailant would come after him. "He was thrown on the street and when he landed half of his body was still under the van so when he took off, he ran him over," said the witness, who called 911 and ran to the aid of the 48-year-old Guttenberg man driving for K & T Express, also of Guttenberg. "He was screaming before, but when he ran him over, he was really screaming." The driver was later listed in stable condition at an area hospital, but police would not say where he was being treated. Police later found the commuter bus, a Ford Areobus, abandoned a short distance away at Beacon and Oakland avenues. It was impounded. The witness told police he had gotten off a PATH train at Journal Square on his way home and was about 60 feet from the bus when the robbery occurred. "I didn't hear the shot, I heard some guy screaming and then he was thrown out of the van. I thought it was a passenger," the witness told The Jersey Journal this morning. He said the van was facing north on Summit Avenue and the driver was thrown out he landed in the middle of the street. When the gunman sped away in the bus its rear wheel ran over the driver's midsection, the witness told police. "I was right up on him," the Jersey City man said, adding that he did not realize the driver had been shot. "I saw blood coming from his side but I thought it was from getting run over. He was just screaming. I couldn't hear any words, I just heard screaming. He was conscious the whole time. He looked critically injured." The driver told police he picked up the gunman on First Street in Union City and when the bus arrived at the scene of the shooting, the man was sitting in the right front seat and was the only passenger aboard. The man took the driver's wallet and shot him, reports said. The robber is described as being between 18 and 20 years old with short hair and wearing a black jacket and black hat, reports said. Anyone with information on the crime is asked to call the Jersey City police department tip line at (201) 547-JAIL.