YOU READ IT HERE FIRST: Ramsey police arrested an 18-year-old Mahwah man and 17-year-old accomplice who they said held down and robbed a visitor to a Route 17 motel room, sending him to the hospital with cuts on his face.
The 18-year-old victim from Allendale told police that Christopher Balcom and the boy were in the Maple Shade Motel room when he and two friends entered just after 11 o’clock Tuesday night.
He said they assaulted him, held him down and threatened to shoot him, then took $150 in cash and several other personal items, Police Chief Bryan Gurney said.
He was taken to The Valley Hospital in Ridgewood for treatment of his injuries, the chief said.
Gurney said his officers met with Upper Saddle River police at the motel and found Room 13 unoccupied after getting a call from one of the victim’s friends.
They contacted the motel owner, who told them that it had been rented by people known to police, and the caller, who returned to the scene, Gurney said.
The victim then responded to Ramsey police headquarters, he said.
Sgt. Craig Weber, Sgt. Richard Falotico and Officer Michael Thormann found marijuana and alcohol in plain view in the room and quickly identified Balcom and the juvenile.
Detectives Marc Shingelo and Adam Szelag then took both into custody yesterday, assisted by Mahwah police, the chief said.
Balcom was being held on $100,000 bail in the Bergen County Jail, charged with robbery with serious bodily injury, aggravated assault, criminal restraint, theft, making terroristic threats and possession of marijuana and drug paraphernalia.
A Nov. 25 court date was set.
A deliquency complaint against the juvenile was forwarded to the Family Part of Superior Court in Hackensack.
MUGSHOT: Courtesy RAMSEY PD
