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TRENTON
– Attorney General Paula T. Dow, Criminal
Justice Director Stephen J. Taylor and Colonel
Rick Fuentes, Superintendent of the New
Jersey State Police, announced that a New
York man pleaded guilty today to making
a false 911 call last year in which he reported
that three gunmen exited a van at a rest
stop on the New Jersey Turnpike. The call
caused the State Police to stop the van,
which was transporting students from Queens,
N.Y.
According
to Director Taylor, Rodney A. Tanzymore,
20, of St. Albans (Queens), N.Y., pleaded
guilty before Superior Court Judge Robert
Billmeier in Mercer County to a third-degree
charge of causing a false public alarm.
Because he has no prior felony convictions,
Tanzymore faces a term of probation of three
to five years, rather than a prison sentence.
The state will recommend that he be sentenced
to 90 days in jail as a condition of the
probation. Judge Billmeier scheduled sentencing
for Tanzymore for Sept. 30. Deputy Attorney
General Mark Eliades, Chief of the Division
of Criminal Justice Gangs & Organized
Crime Bureau, took the guilty plea.
On
Nov. 21, 2009, Tanzymore was part of a group
of students who were traveling home with
their chaperones after a trip to a Washington,
D.C., university. In pleading guilty, Tanzymore
admitted that during the trip, he phoned
911 and described three members of the student
group, falsely reporting that they got out
of a van at the Woodrow Wilson service plaza
on the Turnpike with handguns. He described
the Mercedes passenger van with tinted windows
in which the group was traveling, and gave
a partial license plate for the vehicle.
Tanzymore made the call from a cell phone
while he was at the service area during
a stop for food.
The
call prompted a high-risk response by numerous
troopers who located the van and evacuated
the 15 occupants at the side of the Turnpike
in Hamilton, Mercer County. Tanzymore gave
troopers a false name and date of birth
at that time. The group was placed back
in the van when the search turned up no
weapons. When a person involved with the
group publicly questioned the credibility
of the report, the State Police released
audio of the 911 call and video from in-car
cameras to show the critical nature of the
incident and the professional response by
the troopers.
Detective
Sgt. Ray Smink and Detective Ken Hoppe were
primary investigators for the State Police.
Tanzymore was located by the New Jersey
State Police Fugitive Unit, assisted by
the U.S. Marshals Task Force. He was initially
charged on Feb. 22 and detained by the New
York Police Department until his extradition
to New Jersey.
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