36°
Shahan “Situation” Achian (FACEBOOK photos)
Authorities brought Achian to the Bergen County Prosecutor’s Office in Paramus for questioning on Wednesday after discovering that Montvale police had given him a ticket two months ago for having tinted windows on his 2008 black Cadillac Escalade.
As it turned out, the luxury SUV and Achian matched descriptions given by girls in a few towns who said a stranger pulled up to them on the street and offered money for sex.
All are under 16, including one who is 11, police records show.
The 26-year-old Armenian — who sometimes refers to himself as “Shahan Situation” — is being held on $200,000 bail in the Bergen County Jail following his arrest by detectives from the prosecutor’s Sex Crimes Unit on charges of luring and child endangerment.
He is single, unemployed and, records show, attended William Paterson University and Felician College.
Meanwhile, authorities are asking any other girls who may have been approached to contact their local police department immediately.
Allendale police last month issued an alert after two fifth-graders walking home from school were approached on Dale Avenue, just off of West Orchard Street. The driver of the black car was described as white, around 30 years old, with short, dark hair, they said.
“I will give you $1000 for [sexual act],” the girls told police he said.
When they declined, they said, he asked, “Are you sure?” When he persisted, police said, the girls ran home and told their parents. They provided good descriptions of the SUV and of the man behind the wheel.
That same day — Oct. 21: Achian’s 26th birthday — police in Ho-Ho-Kus received a similar report, CLIFFVIEW PILOT has learned.
Similar incidents were reported in Glen Rock and Ridgewood in October.
The most recent was on Nov. 7.
In that incident, an 11-year-old Montvale girl walking home from school on Akers Avenue, near Grand Avenue, was approached by a man she described as about 40, with a thin build and wearing a scruffy beard and sunglasses. He, too, was driving a black SUV.
The youngster later told police that he offered her $1,000 for sexual favors, and said, “I promise you will like it.” So she ran home.
Local police already were having discussions with sex crimes detectives from the prosecutor’s office and getting the word out to the public. They encouraged parents to use the scary incidents as teaching moments, to tell their children to run from trouble and to take notice of particular details.
Then came a big break: As it turns out, Montvale police gave Achian a ticket for having tinted windows on the Escalade the same day as the first reported incident, Bergen County Prosecutor John L. Molinelli said. Detectives investigating the various incidents checked area motor vehicle stops and found a match.
Then they dug a little deeper.
CLIFFVIEW PILOT had the original scoop: Man charged with luring young girls in several Bergen towns
{loadposition log}
Click here to follow Daily Voice Northern Highlands and receive free news updates.
