Gas station attendant killed in Verona

A gas station attendant was killed in Verona today, authorities said.

The unidentified man was killed at a Sunoco gas station on Pompton Avenue, said Paul Loriquet, a spokesman for the Essex County Prosecutor's Office.

Verona police responded to a panic alarm at the station around 5 p.m., Loriquet said. When officers arrived, they found the attendant dead in the gas station's office.

Loriquet said the man's identity will not be released until his family has been notified. Further details about the slaying were not immediately available. The investigation is ongoing.

Anyone with information about the killing is asked to call Verona police at (973) 239-5000 or the prosecutor's office homicide squad at 877-TIPS-4-EC.

Attendant slain at gas station in Verona
Monday, February 23, 2009
BY ROHAN MASCARENHAS
Star-Ledger Staff

Police responding to a panic alarm at a Verona gas station last night arrived to find the attendant dying of a gunshot wound in the station's office, authorities said.

Daniel Pritchard, 29, of Boonton died at the Claridge Sunoco shortly after 5 p.m., Essex County Prosecutor Paula Dow said.

He had been shot at least once and died at the scene, Dow said at a 9:45 news conference at Verona police headquarters. Pritchard was found in the office of the station at Route 23 and Cambridge Road, but authorities did not say whether he was shot inside the office or outdoors.

Earlier last night, prosecutor's office spokesman Paul Loriquet would not comment on a motive or possible suspects.

Authorities said Pritchard was single and grew up in Verona, graduating from Verona High School in 1997. They did not know when he moved to Boonton or how long he had worked at the station.

Neighbors in the residential area of Route 23, also called Pompton Avenue, said the man they described as humble and quiet had worked at the station for several years.

"He never got into any trouble," said Angel Camacho, who lives across the street. "Everybody must be so desperate, but it makes no sense to take a life."

Bob Snyder, who said his son Bobby works a day shift at the same Sunoco, said he and his wife raced to the gas station when they saw flashing lights.

"The kid -- what a super kid," Snyder said of Pritchard.

Kashmir Singh, an employee at the Enrite gas station across the street from the Sunoco, said this is the first violent crime he knew of at either gas station during his years on the job.

"I've been here 12, 13 years. This is the first time I'm seeing this ..." he said.

Loriquet said the investigation is ongoing.

Anyone with information about Pritchard's slaying is asked to call Verona police at (973) 239-5000 or the prosecutor's office homicide squad at 877-TIPS-4-EC.

R.I.P. Danny

Reward offered in slaying of NJ gas station clerk

The Associated Press

VERONA, N.J. - A reward is being offered for information leading to an arrest in the slaying of a gas station attendant in northern New Jersey.

The Essex County Sheriff's CrimeStoppers program is offering a $5,000 reward.

Twenty-nine-year-old Daniel Pritchard of Boonton was found shot to death on Sunday inside the office of the Claridge Sunoco station in Verona.

A panic alarm signal had been placed from the station at about 5 p.m.

The Essex County Prosecutor's Office says the motive of the crime was robbery. An undisclosed amount of cash was taken from the office.

Police: Robbery likely motive in Boonton man's death

BY TEHANI SCHNEIDER
DAILY RECORD

A Boonton man who worked part-time at an Essex County gas station was shot and killed in an apparent robbery on Sunday.

Police responded to the Claridge Sunoco in Verona after the station’s panic alarm was activated around 5 p.m. and found 29-year-old Daniel Pritchard had been shot inside the station’s office, according to the Essex County Prosecutor’s Office.

Pritchard, who was pronounced dead at the scene a short time later, was the victim of an apparent robbery at the Pompton Avenue station, said Paul Loriquet, a spokesman for the prosecutor’s office.

The investigation is ongoing, and the Essex County Sheriff’s Office Crime Stoppers is offering a $5,000 cash reward for information that leads to the arrest of the suspect or suspects, authorities said.

A Verona native who had recently moved to Morris County, Pritchard was a 1997 graduate of Verona High School and earned a degree in business management from Berkeley College in West Paterson, according to his Web page on the social networking site MySpace.com.

For the past several years, he had been employed full time as a sales representative for Wayne-based Scotts Lawn Service, a division of Scotts Miracle-Gro Corp., according to his page.

Donna Baiata, general manager of the Passaic County facility, said employees were grappling with Pritchard’s death on Monday.

“We’re all in shock,” said Baiata. “The only thing I really want to say is he was a really great person and a wonderful employee…Our thoughts and prayers are with his family and he’s going to be sorely missed.”

In Boonton, little was known about Pritchard, who had lived with his parents, Chuck and Susan, on Dawson Avenue for a little over two years.

Neighbor Jim Palazzo recalled meeting Pritchard when the family first moved in on the quiet, tree-lined street, but was more familiar with Pritchard’s father through his mutual work in the automotive business.

Chuck Pritchard owns Bunky’s, an auto repair shop near the station where his son was slain, Palazzo said on Monday afternoon.

“Every so often, I’d see him pull up in a car,” Palazzo said, of Daniel Pritchard. “He was a nice kid.”

Palazzo, who lives a few doors down from the Pritchards, said he learned about the shooting on Sunday night—when various police officers came to the neighborhood to alert the family.

“It was horrible,” Palazzo said. “I have kids myself…I couldn’t imagine someone coming to my door and telling me that.”

No one answered the door Monday afternoon at the Pritchard home—a tan and white stucco that lies on the corner of Holmes Street. Palazzo said he had not seen the family since the night before, but believed they were staying with family in Verona.

Essex County detectives are urging anyone with any information about the shooting to contact the Verona Police Department at (973) 239-5000 or the Essex County Prosecutor's Homicide Squad at 1-877-TIPS - 4 - EC.

Drove down to Verona today and They had the services at The Lady Of the Lake church. Lots of police activity.

Later on in the day, drove past the murder scene and its back to normal.

I knew alot of ppl at the funeral...it REALLY sucks to bury a friend, especially such a decent soul...He didn't deserve this, no one does....He was a kind and funny-ass guy....I truely loved his personality. I'm glad I got to spend the time I did being his friend...Again, RIP Danny...

2 held in murder of gas attendant

By Tehani Schneider
Daily Record

NEWARK -- A pair of Newark men -- including one with a prior murder conviction -- have been arrested and charged in the Feb. 22 shooting death of a gas station attendant from Boonton.





Raymond Perry, 43, and David Fate, 24, are in custody this afternoon, charged in connection with the slaying of 29-year-old Daniel Pritchard at a Verona gas station, as well as six other gunpoint robberies in East Orange, Montclair, Bloomfield and Verona during a three-week crime spree in February.

Both were charged with the murder of Pritchard, as well as additional counts of assault, robbery, conspiracy and weapons offenses that occurred during the string of crimes leading up to the murder.

Perry is being held in the Essex County jail in lieu of $1 million bail and is expected to be arraigned at 9 a.m. Wednesday before Superior Court Judge Peter J. Vazquez. He was arrested Thursday at a friend's home in Newark and was charged at that time in connection with the other crimes. Fate, found at a family member's home in Bishopville, S.C., was arrested at 6:30 a.m. today by members of the Essex County Prosecutor's Homicide Squad and U.S. Marshal's Fugitive Task Force.

Fate's bail also has been set at $1 million. He remains in South Carolina awaiting an extradition hearing.

"We have a lot more work to do and this investigation is still ongoing," Essex County Prosecutor Paula Dow said during a press conference this morning, crediting the members of the task force comprising officers from the prosecutor's office, Essex County Sheriff's Office and local police departments where the crimes occurred, as well as U.S. Marshals.

Dow said both suspects have prior felony convictions.

Perry has nine felony convictions, including felony murder in 1982 and served the maximum sentence. Fate was convicted of a felony handgun offense in 2006.

"He did his time and came out," Dow said. "He's back out on the streets … and we need a system in place to monitor what they're doing to keep everyone safe."

The earlier robberies included a deli, a laundromat, dry cleaners, all at gunpoint. Gunshots were fired during at least some of the earlier stickups, but Pritchard was the only death during the spree.

The men were linked to the gas station shooting by a stolen white Mitsubishi authorities learned was linked to one of the earlier robberies. The car was seen by a witness in the parking lot of the Claridge Sunoco in Verona on Feb. 22 at the time Pritchard was shot. An undisclosed amount of cash also was taken from the gas station.

Three days after the shooting, the Essex County Prosecutor's Homicide Squad received a tip from a caller interested in the $5,000 reward who provided information linking one of the suspects to the string of earlier robberies. Investigators then linked the crimes.



Additional Facts
Timeline of a Robbery Spree

Feb. 4: Gunpoint robbery, shots fired at Jefferson’s Laundromat, 84 Maple Ave., Montclair.

Feb. 6: Gunpoint robbery, victims bound, at A&L Deli, 17 Maolis Ave., Bloomfield. Proceeds later recovered.

Feb. 21: 2002 white Mitsubishi Diamante, New Jersey license plates stolen at 95 Wright St., Newark.

Feb. 21: Gunpoint robbery at Sunstar Cleaners, 50 N. Park St., East Orange.

Feb. 22: Gunpoint robbery at Exxon gas station, 491 Bloomfield Ave. Bloomfield. Proceeds later recovered.

Feb. 22: Call for suspicious persons at Liberty Travel, 45 Bloomfield Ave., Verona, in a white vehicle, possibly casing the location at 4:41 p.m.

Feb. 22: Daniel Pritchard shot inside a Sunoco gas station, 195 Pompton Ave., Verona, during a robbery at 5:05 p.m. Proceeds later recovered.

Feb. 23: 240 Johnson Ave., Newark, stolen white Mitsubishi Diamante involved in a hit-and-run at 12:45 p.m.

Feb. 23: 174 Ridgewood Ave., Newark, Stolen white Mitsubishi Diamante recovered unoccupied.

Feb. 26: Arrest and search warrants executed at 860 S. 15th St., Newark. Raymond Perry is arrested; search warrant reveals alleged murder weapon, proceeds from numerous robberies.

Feb. 27: Additional charges of murder, felony murder and numerous robberies and weapons offenses added.

March 3: David Fate is arrested in South Carolina by detectives from Essex County Prosecutor’s Office and U.S. Marshals.

It makes me sick to look at them. I want to kick the ever-living crap outta them. if it were up to me, I would let the mob know what they did, let them handle 'em...They seem to have some unique ideas...

good start for a Mississippi windchime