New menu item Sadly, no.
In a press conference at the New Jersey State Police barracks in Totowa earlier today, Attorney General Jeffrey Chiesa announced that the New Jersey State Police had arrested Georgios Spyropoulos, 45, for an alleged conspiracy to murder his uncle, Alexandros Sgourdos.
According to Chiesa, Spyropolous, who co-owns and manages Clifton’s infamous Tick Tock Diner, “planned in great detail” to have his uncle tortured, robbed, and murdered. Spyropolous went so far as to hire two men “who he thought were going to carry out his ruthless plot.” Little did he know that one of the men was an informant for the New Jersey State Police.
Authorities say that Spyropolous was “driven by greed” when he provided the informant with a $3,000 down payment on April 2nd, along with an unregistered handgun, his uncle’s address and a recent photograph, and instructions on how to disarm the security cameras at his uncle’s home. The purported “hit man” was told to torture Spyropolous’ uncle until he turned over the combination to a safe where Spyropoulos believed his uncle hid a large amount of cash. Spyropoulos also told the “hit man” to dispose of the body in a manner that would ensure it would not be found, believing that if his uncle was thought to be missing, there would be less of an investigation.
Spyropolous agreed to pay a total of $20,000 for the murder and the combination to the safe, Chiesa said today. He also gave the “hit man” permission to kill his uncle’s wife, who would likely be home at the time of the murder.
Spyropolous apparently believed that his uncle, who co-owns the family’s diners and manages the one located on 8th Avenue in Manhattan, was making more money from the family business than he was.
Spyropolous was taken into custody yesterday at the Tick Tock Diner by detectives from the Violent and Organized Crime North Bureau of the New Jersey State Police. A subsequent search of his home revealed two semi-automatic handguns, a shotgun, and an assault rifle. Six cell phones and a large amount of cash were found in his silver Mercedes.
The uncle was only advised of the plot after Spyropolous was in custody.
Spyropolous’ bail was set at $1 million. He has been charged with Conspiracy to Commit Murder, Attempted Murder, and various Weapons offenses. He is scheduled to appear before the Honorable Marilyn C. Clark at the Passaic County Superior Court in Paterson on Friday.
For more information, see the NorthJersey.com article entitled, “Tick Tock Diner manager arrested in foiled murder-for-hire plot.”
