Between 1934 and 1942 when Jack Ryan was appointed to the West Milford Police Force, Police Chief Moeller was the lone lawman for the entire eighty-plus square mile Township of West Milford. Later Louis Hall, James Kemble and James Semento were appointed individually, creating a five-man force until 1959 when five additional patrolmen were appointed. The force grew rapidly after that. Pictured from left that year are Court Clerk George Eckhardt, Judge T. Harry Cahill, Prosecutor Marcus Mandelbaum and Police Chief John H. Moeller. (Photo Ann Genader) (
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People who say there is too much violence in current movies just might have justified that opinion in January 1977 when there was an attempted hold-up at West Milford’s movie house – the Abby Cinema. The theater was in a building where the TJ Max store is now. There was an exchange of gunfire between police and two very surprised masked perpetrators. One was wounded and both were captured.
It was 10:23 a.m. on a Thursday, according to a police report, that Patrolman Raymond Ackerman drove to the quad movie theater, responding to a person calling from the theater lobby about a suspicious person. Entering the building Ackerman interrupted a robbery already underway in the manager’s office. Police said the bandit, who had taken $1,500 from the manager, was pursued by Ackerman, as he ran out an exit door. Ignoring the officer’s demand to halt, the fleeing suspect turned and fired a shot at the officer. The single bullet from the officer’s service revolver struck the robber in the thigh.
When police back-up units arrived, they found the wounded man hiding under a parked truck near the theater. The 21-year-old man injured man from Wyckoff was taken to Chilton Memorial Hospital where he was admitted and placed under police guard. His accomplice, 28, from Hawthorne, was apprehended a short distance from the theater. The thief was charged by police with robbery and robbery while being armed and he was held in West Milford jail facing charges. Further information was not immediately found about the robbery almost 50 years ago. Officers at the scene along with Ackerman were Detective Lieutenant William Ohlmeyer, Detective John Elvin, and Patrolmen Clayton Morley, Paul Costello and Dennis Shanahan.
In 1964 there was an incident when a 15-year-old Jacksonville, Florida youth with three pistols threatened two women. Police said he apparently was attempting to have the women drive him out of town. He hid in the parked car of a 28-year-old Adelaide Terrace woman while she was in a nearby bank. When she returned to her car with her two year old daughter, the boy aimed a .45 caliber pistol at her.
“Get in the car and you won’t get hurt,” he told her. “I just want you to drive me out of town.” The woman screamed and ran down the street to a service station. George Day, the attendant, called police. Meanwhile the teenaged gunman left the car and ran into the Walter Cahill family home on Ridge Road. He told Mrs. Cahill that he wanted to be driven out of town. The 60-year-old woman who was mother of five children and had grandchildren started speaking to the intruder and finally convinced him to surrender. He asked her to call police. But when she picked up the telephone to do so he abruptly changed his mind and threatened her. “Put down the phone or I’ll blow your head off,” he told her. Calmly Mrs. Cahill began addressing her unwelcome visitor again and she was able to persuade him to give her his weapons. Besides the .45 caliber pistol he also had .38 and .22 caliber pistols. The guns were reportedly stolen from Circle G Ranch where the boy had stayed two days. After turning the guns over to Mrs. Cahill, he ran out of the house and was captured by Patrolman John Way. For immediate action, the youth was held in the Passaic County Juvenile Shelter to await further action.
In 1957, a young West Milford unarmed business employee was attempted to burglarize the office of the Otto Born turkey farm in Oak Ridge in the early morning hours apparently aware of a cash drawer. Money was disappearing regularly without a clue who was taking it. To catch the night intruder Police Chief John Moeller hid in an office closet in the main office at the farm. After a short wait, the young thief, jimmied the cash drawer open and fished out $68 – while unbeknown to him, he chief was watching from the closet. Apprehended, the boy meekly surrendered and admitted to previous burglaries.
