By Karen Zautyk
KEARNY–
A Jersey City man was the victim of a bump-and-run carjacking Sept. 25 in South Kearny by armed thugs who also assaulted the motorist, police reported.
Shortly after 3:30 a.m., Kearny police received a call from Tullo’s Truck Stop on the Old Lincoln Highway reporting the crime. When officers arrived, they found the 22-year-old victim bleeding from the mouth and with broken teeth. The two front pockets on his pants had been ripped open.
The motorist said he had driving west on Rt. 1/9 when his 2009 BMW was rear-ended by a white Mercedes occupied by at least two men, one of whom got out and asked him “if everything was okay,” police reported. A second man then joined his accomplice, and they ordered the driver to get on the ground. Both were armed, and both reportedly struck him in the face with their guns.
From their victim, they took money — about $8 — his cell phone, a checkbook and his wallet, containing his driver’s license and student ID.
They got into his car, and he started to walk away, but when the carjackers realized they didn’t have the keys, they returned, again held him at gunpoint and then fled in the stolen BMW.
The suspects were described as possibly Hispanic, both about 5-9 and of thin build.
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In other Kearny police news, a 23-year-old Newark man was arrested on marijuana-possession charges Sept. 23, despite his trying to destroy the evidence — by eating it.
Officer Mike Andrews was on patrol at 3:20 p.m. when he spotted a suspicious individual with a small cigar in his mouth an alley near Brighton Ave. and Afton St. and detected the odor of marijuana, Police Chief John Dowie said.
(Editor’s note: Small, hollowed-out cigars apparently have replaced joints as the preferred method of pot-smoking.)
As the officer approached, the suspect stuck something in his mouth and began to chew, Dowie said. The man reportedly ignored an order to cease and desist, and continued to masticate. (We said “masticate.”)
Andrews put him in a compliance hold and was eventually required to use OC spray, but the suspect continued to struggle and managed to swallow the evidence, the chief reported.
Nevertheless, the chomper was charged with possession of drugs and drug paraphernalia, along with resisting arrest and hindering apprehension.
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Andrews made another narcotics bust at 8:45 p.m. the same date after investigating an idling car in a desolate location on Ann St. known to be frequented by drug violators.
As he approached the vehicle, and its three occupants, the driver reportedly dropped a rolled-up dollar bill out the window — and it landed right at the patrolman’s feet. Accepting this invitation to investigate further, Andrews unrolled it and found a “green, leafy substance,” Dowie said. Two hollowed-out cigars also were allegedly in the car.
The 18-year-old driver from Harrison was charged with possession of pot and paraphernalia, operating a motor vehicle while in possession of a CDS — and with discarding an object from a motor vehicle.
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Another “invitation” to investigate was provided by a 16-year-old Kearny youth at 1:30 a.m. Sept. 24 at Kearny and Oakwood Aves.
Officers Christian Medina and Wayne Shivers were on patrol when they reportedly saw the teen smoking a small, brown cigar — which would have been illegal in any case since 16-year-olds are not supposed to smoke. As they drove up, the chief said, the boy tossed a baggie into the street — directly under the patrol car.
He was charged with possession of pot and paraphernalia and was turned over to his mother.
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At 2 a.m. on the 24th, Officers Tom Pontrella and Tom Sumowski responded to a report of an accident on Tappan St., between Davis and Schuyler Aves., where they found that a car had struck several parked vehicles.
The motorist, a 38-year-old Tappan St. resident, was charged with DWI and careless driving. Police said he was also wanted on a Kearny warrant for a domestic violence charge.
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After spotting a double-parked car with four occupants on Forest St. at 4 a.m. on Sept. 24, Officers Shivers and Medina followed it to Oakwood and Davis Aves., where they stopped it for the parking violation.
Dowie said the driver, an 18-year-old Kearny resident, admitted that she had only a learner’s permit, not a driver’s license, which meant she had violated two rules of a conditional license: She was driving after midnight and she had more than one other person in the car.
Inside the auto, Dowie said, were: two open cans of beer, three small plastic bags containing suspected marijuana, a vial of suspected crack cocaine and a “crack kit” containing a pipe, razor blade, matches and a ball of Brillo (used in the “cooking” of the drug).
The driver and the passengers — two 17-year-olds, a male and a female, from Kearny, and a 47-year-old Orange man — were all charged with possession of a CDS and paraphernalia. The driver also faces charges of possession of a CDS in a motor vehicle, underage possession of alcohol and the probationary-license violations.
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On Sept. 26, at 5:30 p.m., Officers Dave Rakowski and John Fabula and Capt. Scott Macfie responded to the report of a fight at Kearny and Midland Aves. One of the alleged combatants was located, cut and disheveled, on New Lawn Ave.
Police said the man, a 44-year-old from Newark, admitted fighting and said he had lost the bout — with “Capt. America.“ Asked if he had ever been arrested, he reportedly answered, “Not in Hudson County.”
A records check proved this to be true. However, police said he had three outstanding warrants from Bloomfield.
