ENGLEWOOD, N.J.—On Monday, June 10 at about 7:19 p.m., Englewood Police Department was alerted that there was a house being shot at, in the area of Shepard Avenue, with what appeared to be paintballs.
Officer Adolfo Gutierrez was the first officer on scene, arriving within seconds of the call.
Upon arrival, he was advised that a gray vehicle made a left turn onto Mattlage Place from Shepard Avenue, just prior to his arrival and the occupants of the vehicle shot at the residence of 33 Mattlage Place with the paintballs.
Seconds later, an individual later identified as Sammuel Castillo was observed running from the vicinity of 33 Mattlage Place, towards the side of 35 Mattlage Place with a long gun type weapon in his possession.
Castillo reportedly discarded the weapon alongside 35 Mattlage Place in order to avoid detection by approaching police officers.
The weapon was recovered by Officer Gutierrez and Castillo was taken into police custody. He is charged with possession of a weapon and tampering with evidence.
“The City of Englewood, as well as Hackensack, I believe have experienced a spate of such incidents,” said Deputy Chief Gregory Halstead. “Some of these weapons look incredibly realistic, are illegal for street usage and in the wrong hands can be dangerous.”
The City of Englewood Police Department would like to stress that there are venues for the safe and legal usage of these guns and further, implore that those in possession of these weapons avail themselves of these places.
The Englewood Police Department encourages anyone with information relative to this or any other crime to contact CrimeStoppers group (Bergenfield, Bogota, Englewood, Teaneck & Hackensack). Crimestoppers offers up to a $1,000 cash reward for any information that significantly assists the police in their investigations.
Tips can be made anonymously on the group’s website at www.bergencrimestoppers.org or by calling (844) 466-6789 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Citizens also have the option of calling detectives directly at (201) 568-4875.
This section is based on data provided to the Northern Valley Press by neighborhood police departments. Due to pending court appearances and other variations, the following information shall be read in “press time”
context.