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Teen with gun breaks in, tries to strangle relative in wheelchair, police report

YOU READ IT HERE FIRST: Fairview police said they took a 9mm handgun from a 17-year-old boy who they said broke into a wheelchair-bound relative’s home and tried to strangle her.

Photo Credit: Cliffview Pilot

“We’ve responded to that residence on past problems within the last couple of weeks,” one officer told CLIFFVIEW PILOT, “but nothing like this.”

Fairview Police Officers Ralph Guastella and Bryan Yannuzzi were dispatched to the Fairview Avenue after the 49-year-old victim called around 10:45 a.m. Saturday.

She said “she has just been assaulted, [and that the assailant] was still on the premises and he was in possession of a gun,” Police Chief Frank Del Vecchio said.

The woman told the officers that her relative — identified by police as “J.T.” — got into her apartment through a window, began arguing with her “and then came up behind her placing something around her neck and attempted to strangle her,” the chief said.

All the while, “death threats were made toward the victims,” he said.

The officers took the teen into custody and reported finding an unloaded 9mm handgun, marijuana and prescription medications he apparently had hidden.

“The victim was given medical attention on scene by the officers but refused further attention by ambulance,” the chief said.

The teen — who lives with his grandfather in Ledgewood — is being held in the Bergen County Juvenile Detention Center in Paramus pending a hearing in front of a Superior Court Judge.

He is charged with:

Possession of a firearm for unlawful purposes;
Attempted murder;
Terroristic threats;
Various drug possession counts.

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