Student Fatality, Letters of Intent, Parking Authority: Top Bloomfield Stories of the Week

A pedestrian was struck and killed Wednesday morning by an NJ Transit bus on Bay Avenue and Broad Street.

“The man was chasing the bus and was trying to board it but he wasn’t able to gain access,” said one Bloomfield man.  “He fell under the back wheels of the bus.”

“The only one who saw what happened was a kid in black pants and a black shirt,” said an employee of the Exxon gas station.  “The kid was screaming.”  He said a woman -- who was at the scene and called the police -- nearly fainted.

The Essex County Prosecutor’s Office has identified the man who was killed by a NJ Transit bus yesterday as Deshon L. Johnson, a 22-year-old Essex County College student living in Montclair.  

A press release from the Prosecutor’s office said, “The preliminary investigation indicates Johnson was rushing to catch the #709 bus to get to his job when he was struck and killed yesterday morning by a NJ Transit Bus."

“The driver of that bus was not a NJ Transit employee," said a spokeswoman from NJ Transit. "He was employed by Community Transportation Company. We have many private companies that operate NJ Transit bus routes throughout the state.” 

“The only information we were able to gather was that he was knocking on the windows of the back door of the bus,” said Bloomfield Mayor Raymond McCarthy. “I guess the driver didn’t see him or hear him as he was making the turn."

The Parking Authority was a contentious subject at Monday night’s council meeting, when residents protested excessive parking tickets, the tax burden of the new parking garage and finally, from Councilman Michael Venezia, the very existence of the Parking Authority itself.

“Whether it’s giving 12,000 parking tickets to residents or [incurring] debt . . . I plan to put it on the agenda to abolish the Parking Authority,” stated Venezia.  “It should be under township control.”

Bloomfield residents Russell Mollica, Carol Humphreys, James Wollner and Sue Ann Penna came forward to discuss the Bloomfield Parking Authority’s $9,000,000 bond application hearing (see full statement can been seen here: ".)

The residents’ remarks were followed by protests from other residents about excessive ticketing practices.

A letter of intent has been signed by Metro Real Estate Development Corporation to lease retail space to a Foodtown supermarket and a Subway sandwich shop in Bloomfield’s new development, according to Principal Developer Bill Colgan.

“Subway will be opening up, and we’re negotiating right now for a lease with Foodtown,” Colgan told Patch at a recent meeting.

"They promised us they wouldn't bring in a Foodtown or a Pathmark," said one disappointed business owner after the council meeting. "We wanted a Trader Joe's."

“We would like to get Trader Joes, but they said, no way, no how,” insisted Colgan. "We’re glad that Foodtown is considering it.  We think it’s a good fit.  We’re excited by getting it on board.”

Robert Claybrook, 31, of Orange sentenced to 14 years in state prison for stabbing his former girlfriend with a 12” butcher’s knife, Acting Essex County Prosecutor Carolyn A. Murray announced Thursday.

On September 16, 2011, the victim was found lying in the street near Linden Avenue in Bloomfield with severe stab wounds on her head, hands, face, upper torso and rear thigh.

A Bloomfield man was one 48 people charged with the unlawful diversion and trafficking of hundreds of millions of dollars’ worth of prescription drugs, the FBI announced this week.

Lazaro Ospina of Bloomfield was sentenced to five years in prison for a list of charges that included Conspiracy to commit wire fraud, mail fraud, and healthcare fraud, as well as Conspiracy to commit adulteration and misbranding offenses and the unlawful wholesale distribution of prescription drugs.  

The Manhattan U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara said the fraud involved the entire US health care system: “As alleged, these defendants ran a black market in prescription pills involving a double-dip fraud of gigantic proportions."

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