CAMDEN BARS - Obsession Lounge

The Obsession Lounge was known as the U-Needa-A Cafe, which was a fixture on Federal Street in East Camden for over 50 years. In the mid-1990s the bar was sold, and was known as the Obsession Lounge for a few years.

As The Obsession Lounge, the bar began to attract an unsavory element, and was the site of several arrests and a murder, which led to the bar eventually changing hands.

Shortly after a January 31, 2002 shooting outside of the bar, it was sold again, and as of this writing in September of 2003 was known as the Tierra Dominicana Bar, and caters to the Community in Camden that hails from the Dominican Republic. Further criminal activity led to the bar's permanent closing shortly thereafter.

OFFICE OF THE SHERIFF
CAMDEN COUNTY, NEW JERSEY
MICHAEL W. McLAUGHLIN, SHERIFF
PRESS INFORMATION, CRIME & GENERAL NEWS

Fugitive from Louisiana since 1997 arrested in Camden
2300 block of Federal St.
Friday, November 16, 2001

Sheriff Michael W. McLaughlin announced that on November 16, 2001, at approximately 1125 hours Stephan Pongratz, 48 years old, was arrested without incident in the 2300 block of Federal Street, Camden, New Jersey by members of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, South Jersey Violent Crime Task Force and members of the Camden County Sheriff's Office Special Investigations Unit.

Mr. Pongratz was charged with the armed robbery and murder of two (2) Dominican males from Avondale, Louisiana on October 12, 1997 and has remained a fugitive until this date. The Federal Bureau of Investigations Task Force developed information that led investigators to the Obsession Lounge in the 2300 block of Federal Street, Camden, New Jersey where he was apprehended outside the lounge.

Stephan Pongratz was charged with being a fugitive from Louisiana and remanded to the Camden County Correctional Facility without bail pending extradition to Louisiana

Sheriff McLaughlin said his officers are actively involved in the Task Force and use their knowledge of the area to help bring the areas most wanted Federal fugitives to justice.

2002 Media Releases:

CAMDEN COUNTY PROSECUTOR'S OFFICE
VINCENT P. SARUBBI, CAMDEN COUNTY PROSECUTOR
MEDIA INFORMATION

September 4, 2002

Camden County Prosecutor Vincent P. Sarubbi and Camden City Police Chief Robert Allenbach announced today that Allen Rivera, M/22, of the 2300 block of Mickle Street in Camden, N.J., has been charged with Murder in connection with the death on Jan. 31, 2002, of Alexander Velazco, M/23, in Camden. The suspect remains at large.

Police found the victim, who lived in the 700 block of North 28th Street in Camden, lying on the street at 23rd and Federal streets at approximately 11:04 p.m. on Jan. 31. The Camden County Medical Examiner's Office ruled the cause of death to be gunshot wounds and the manner of death to be homicide.

Investigators recently developed new information, which led to the signing of a complaint.

Anyone with information as to the whereabouts of Allen Rivera is asked to call the Camden County Prosecutor's Office Homicide Unit at (856) 225-8400 or the Camden City Police Department at (856) 757-7400.

All persons charged with criminal offenses are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty in a court of law.

Rivera, Allen

AKA: Ayala, Edward; Rivera, Allen; Rivers, Allen

Last Known Address: 2305 Mickle Street, Camden, NJ; 161 N. 34th Street, Camden, NJ

Allen Rivera is wanted by the Camden County Prosecutor's Office for Outstanding Warrants and Questioning in reference to a Homicide. CONSIDER DANGEROUS

CAMDEN COUNTY PROSECUTOR'S OFFICE
VINCENT P. SARUBBI, CAMDEN COUNTY PROSECUTOR
MEDIA INFORMATION

October 7, 2002

Camden County Prosecutor Vincent P. Sarubbi, Camden City Police Chief Robert Allenbach and James Plousis, United States Marshal for the District of New Jersey, announced that Allen Rivera, M/22, a fugitive from justice, was arrested today in Camden, N.J., on a Murder warrant issued in connection with the death of Alexander Velazco, M/23, on Jan. 31, 2002. The defendant had been on the Camden County Prosecutor's Office list of its Top 10 Most Wanted Fugitives.

Capping an investigation by the U.S. Marshal's Office, the Camden County Prosecutor's Entry Team arrested Rivera at approximately 6:40 a.m. today at the residence of a female friend in the Myrtle Place Apartments on Myrtle Avenue in Camden. Rivera had previously lived in the 2300 block of Mickle Street in Camden.

Velazco, of the 700 block of North 28th Street in Camden, was shot to death at approximately 11:04 p.m. on Jan. 31 at 23rd and Federal streets in Camden, outside the Obsession Lounge. Investigators believe the two men were involved in a dispute over money.

An arraignment in front of Superior Court Criminal Assignment Judge Linda G. Baxter is scheduled for 2 p.m. today in Courtroom 33 of the Camden County Hall of Justice, 5th and Mickle streets, Camden.

All persons charged with criminal offenses are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty in a court of law.