The Courier-News du lieu suivant : Bridgewater, New Jersey • Page 30

A-2 SATURDAY, JANUARY 3, 1998 NEW JERSEYREGION THE COURIER-NEWS Utility Dime breaks start it i i -I i Girl, 5, probably died from smoke By MICHELLE SAHN Staff writer Authorities said Friday the 5-year-old girl killed in a house fire Thursday most likely died from smoke inhalation. Although authorities don't yet have an official cause of death for Elena Razmenov, they said the nature of the fire led them to that conclusion. The fire at her home in the township's Fords section was caused by malfunctioning Christmas lights that were strung on a very dry Christmas tree that stood in the living room, said Assistant Middlesex County Prosecutor Ralph G. Cretella. When a tree catches fire, it goes up very quickly, Cretella said.

Once the tree is completely burned, the flames die out on their own, but they leave smoke behind, he said. In this case, there was some damage to the home, but most of the flames were confined to the tree, he said. The fire broke out at 39 Concannon Drive about 3:45 p.m., authorities said. Elena's aunt, Elena Solakov, 26, was watching the child while her mother, Nicolina Lozito, was at work at the Target store in Edison, authorities said. When Solakov realized the tree was on fire, she tried to get both her son, William Solakov, 3, and Elena, 5, out of the house, Cretella said.

But the little girl apparently got scared and ran into her aunt's bedroom, he said. Solakov burned her hand as she took her son outside, then tried to return to the house for her niece, but it was just too hot to get back in, Cretella said. William also suffered minor burns. Other neighbors, as well as the first two police officers who arrived on the scene, tried to get inside, but there was too much smoke and heat. Firefighters pulled Elena from the bedroom and emergency workers administered CPR until a state police helicopter arrived to take the child to Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital in New Brunswick, authorities said.

She was pronounced dead at the hospital at 4:52 p.m. Both Solakov and her son were treated at the Perth Amboy division of Raritan Bay Medical Center for minor bums to their hands and face. Township officials have set up a relief fund, and are collecting food and clothing for the family. Donations can be mailed to The Family Relief Fund, attention: Wood-bridge Mayor's Office, 1 Main Woodbridge, N.J. 07095.

Donations of food and clothing can be brought to the Woodbridge Department of Heath, George Frederick Plaza, on Route 35 in Woodbridge. Associated Press photo A car, top left, is losing its battle to stay above the flood waters covering parts of lower Manhattan Friday. Above, flames jet out from a broken gas main at the site of the ruptured water main. New York shows signs of age as problems plague Manhattan. By DINO HAZELL The Associated Press NEW YORK While celebrating its 100th birthday, New York continued showing its age Friday as broken utility lines brought flood and fire to streets around the Flatiron Building in lower Manhattan.

In recent days, wary New Yorkers have been looking up to see masonry facades and even a whole side of a building falling to the ground in various parts of Manhattan. On Friday, the danger came from below when a 48-inch, 128-year-old water main burst around 3 a.m., flooded basements and put streets under more than a foot of water. It also opened a 30-to-40-foot-deep crater "f.l nllli ff Region briefs Officials rule teen was stabbed to death MOORESTOWN The Burlington County Prosecutor's Office has ruled the suspicious New Year's death of a teen-ager here a homicide. First Assistant Prosecutor Mike Riley said Friday's autopsy results show that 16-year-old Adam Suopys was stabbed to death. He would not speculate on a motive for the attack.

A neighbor found the body on the side of Linden Avenue, just a few hundred yards from the teen's North Stanwick Avenue home around noon Thursday. Riley would not say where the Moorestown High School junior was stabbed, but prosecutor's office spokesman Jack Smith said Suopys suffered severe trauma to his face and head. Suopys lived with his parents and was last seen by family members at about 9 p.m. New Year's Eve. Newark man nabbed in murder of cabbie NEWARK A Newark man walking in the neighborhood where a cab driver was slain was arrested and charged with the driver's murder.

Police arrested James Bennett, 30, at about 7 p.m. Thursday after neighbors called and said he resem- bled one of two men who approached cabbie Ivan Alava's car earlier that day. Alava, 35, of Bloomfield, was shot in the head at 3 a.m., just after he picked up a woman who was on her way to Penn Station. The second suspect has not been found. Glenn wouldn't say whether the man arrested was believed to be the shooter.

Officials claim boy killed transvestite JERSEY CITY A 12-year-old boy fatally stabbed a transvestite who tried to have sex with him, authorities said. The boy was arrested Wednesday and charged with last weekend's stabbing of Sulton Williams, 36, who also went by the aliases Vianna Faye and Felicia. Williams was found dead at his home Sunday evening, partially clad in a nightgown. He died of nine stab wounds to the torso and back. A tip from a man arrested on stolen property charges led police to the 12-year-old, whose name was not released because of his age, authorities said.

I From wire reports (- Lotteries Drawings for Friday, January 2, 1998 NEW JERSEY Pick 3: 042 Straight bet $343, Box $57, Pairs $34 Pick 4: 2497 Straight bet $1,766, Box $73.50 Cash 5: 2,6,13,22,24 PENNSYLVANIA Daily number: 522 Big 4: 8816 Wild Card Lotto: 1,4,17,33,38,48 Wild Card: 11 NEW YORK Daily number: 692 WinFour: 6997 Take 5: 1,4,7,12,16 Pick 10: 2,8,13,15,16,18,24,32,35,41,42,44, 45,50,51,58,62,66,69,75 Correction Edward Kennedy Jr. is the son in Friday's editions was incorrect. met with about 25 displaced area residents to arrange emergency housing. "Water's leaking, gas is leaking. It looks as though these folks and their children certainly won't be going home tonight," said Red Cross spokesman Robert Wingate.

The sidewalk on the east side of Fifth Avenue collapsed and the sidewalk on the west side of Fifth Avenue is damaged. Bus and rail service through the area was temporarily disrupted, but Court rules get rid of porn store sv the number of riders affected was less than usual because many people took Friday off for a long post-New Year's Day weekend. Environmental Protection Commissioner Joel Miele said the main would probably be repaired by early Friday night, but "it'll probably be at least a week before we get a complete opening of Fifth Avenue." Another concern was erosion and undermining of streets and building foundations. town can In the Saddle Brook case, the town's attorney, Brian Chewcaskie, said Pleasure Plus Video opened up under false pretenses two years ago, getting municipal business approvals to open a standard video-rental outlet. Even the store's legal incorporation name, A.B.

Family Center, was misleading. Once the nature of the business became evident, local officials tried to withdraw approval but Pleasure Plus Video protected its right to stay open. The store sells pornographic magazines, rents videos and might even have a massage parlor on the premises. Staff Writer Sharon Silke contributed to this report. j-jii'nnacua I Shop Today O) $2 3331 sMim fa'- Bystanders study the caged, 300-pound female black bear that was captured while wandering behind a Little Falls home Friday.

Bear with taste for town life sedated, captured in suburbs across Fifth Avenue just below 19th Street that swallowed a car. Then, with the break sealed and water draining, a gas pipe ruptured inside the hole at 9:30 a.m., and flames shot two stories into the air. That leak was capped just before noon. Six buildings lost gas and service to 32 others was later cut because of low gas pressure and water in the pipes, said Con Edison spokeswoman D. Joy Faber.

Three buildings were without electricity, she said. Gas flow to 10 buildings was restored by mid-afternoon, and Con Edison repair crews were expected to work through the night, she said. No one was hurt, but as many as 50 residents were evacuated from their apartments, and people arriving for work were turned away by police. The area is primarily filled with office buildings, clothing stores and other retail shops. Red Cross officials said they had Mi niM It llli imJ Bob Eriksen, of the Division of Fish, Game and Wildlife, said Friday her tag shows she is the same bear.

She was groggy from three tranquilizer darts when a wildlife official nudged her from a tree in a back yard here. She was not seriously injured in the fall, officials said. Officials speculate the bear had not yet begun its long winter hibernation. There are more than 550 bears in New Jersey more than there were a century ago and encounters with them are becoming more frequent. More than 500 complaints were filed with wildlife officials last year, up from 350 in 1996.

Though no human has been hurt by a bear, some say that as bears and people cross paths more and more, it's only a matter of time before someone gets hurt. Most of the bears are concentrated in a area generally north of Interstate 78 where hikers, hunters and homeowners in Passaic, Morris, Warren and Sussex counties are growing used to seeing them. Sightings are far less common in the developed areas of Essex County. The bear will be released soon in a state wildlife area in western New Jersey. All MALE REVUE In Our 14th Year Perfect for Bathlonttt Surprise Birthday Parties Or Just Utiles Night (Ml e1 TUESDAY 9:0011:00 ft 5 DIFFERENT DANCERS every Weekl iff Reservations Suggested 18 To Enter 21 To Drink GreeoNj 32 968-3338 Off Any Meal of $9.50 or more with this ad.

Phone: 908-429-8822 Fax: 908-722-7286 Route 22 East, Branchburg, NJ By RALPH SIEGEL The Associated Press TRENTON A state appeals court ruled Friday that Saddle Brook officials can apply a state law setting buffer zones for sex-oriented businesses to get rid of Pleasure Plus Video even if it means chasing the store out of town. The decision could help officials in North Plainfield, who may be facing a similar lawsuit with the owners of Pleasure Plus Video there. The video store opened an outlet on Route 22 next to Siperstein's Paint Store at the end of 1997. Borough officials weren't aware the X-rated store was opening until the hot pink awnings were erected. In the Saddle Brook case, a ruling with statewide applicability, appellate Judge Edwin Stern wrote for a three-judge panel that a buffer-zone law requiring sex-oriented shops to be located 1,000 feet away from homes or schools was proper even if it, in effect, barred such businesses from the confines of a small municipality such as Saddle Brook.

Superior Court Judge Patrick Fitzgerald ruled in the fall that the state's buffer-zone law violated the U.S. Constitution precisely because it barred the store from Saddle Brook. North Plainfield has a similar zoning law. "If this store was in an industrial area, I don't think anyone would have noticed or would have cared," said North Plainfield Councilwoman Theresa Frosoni. "But kids pass it every day.

The giant obnoxious pink signs are staring right into people's homes." Frosoni said the owners of Pleasure Plus have threatened to sue North Plainfield for blocking the store. fmciue immed to seriom mmr cmes. mH) 7m-mw H( in IMI All. Yd. Panes nit titii ii m- 1 if LITTLE FALLS (AP) One New Jersey bear apparently is sold on the suburbs.

A 300-pound female black bear was captured here Friday after roaming through back yards and crossing streets. The bear had been seen in West Orange, seven miles away, the day before. She had no serious encounters with people, police said. This was not the bear's first adventure in suburbia. She wandered into a populated area near Hackettstown last year, was tagged and returned to the western New Jersey wilderness.

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