By Karen Zautyk
KEARNY –
At 3:40 p.m., Sunday, Oct. 2, police responded to Forest St. and Bergen Ave., where they found two Kearny men, aged 44 and 51, who reported having been hit by BB pellets. Someone, the victims suspected, had been firing from a window in a Forest St. residence.
Police Officers Luis Moran, Dave Rakowski and Tom Sumowski, along with Lt. Anthony Sylvester, began making inquiries in the building and encountered a 47-year-old man who reportedly became “agitated” to the point of having to be restrained.
Inside the residence, Police Chief John Dowie said, they found a 14-year-old East Newark boy who admitted to having fired the shots. Also taken into custody were two Kearny 12-year-olds and a 13-year-old from East Newark — all boys –who were found sneaking through nearby yards, the chief said.
All four were charged with unlawful possession of a firearm. Additionally, the shooter was charged with aggravated assault and possession of a weapon for an unlawful purpose.
In other Kearny police news, Officer Neil Nelson, on patrol on Midland Ave. at 4:20 p.m. Sept. 30, spotted a motorist who he knew to have a suspended license. He stopped the driver on Columbia Ave., and the 34-year-old Kearny man was also found to be wanted on a no-bail warrant from the Essex County Sheriff’s Office and a $1,000 warrant out of Belleville, Dowie said. He was turned over to Essex County.
At 3 a.m. last Wednesday, Officers Sumowski and Wayne Shivers came upon an unconscious man slumped over the wheel of a car at Quincy and Schuyler Aves. The car was in gear and the man’s foot was on the brake, Dowie said.
When Sgt. John Becker, who also responded to the scene, attempted to wake the driver by knocking on the windows, the man allegedly “sprang from the car, screaming and cursing,” the chief reported.
After the officers cuffed him on a disorderly conduct charge, the 35-year-old Kearny resident attempted to pull the handcuffs from back to front, ended up “in a contorted position” and refused their attempts to help him de-contort.
After matters, and the man, were eventually straightened out, he was also charged with DWI, obstructing the passage of other vehicles, careless driving and failure to wear a seatbelt.
Another alleged pot-chomper (reference to last week’s blotter) was arrested at 8:45 p.m. Wednesday on the upper deck of the former West Hudson Hospital garage, where Officer Brian Wisely saw a car parked in a secluded area.
As the officer approached, a passenger, a 22-year-old Kearny man, began to ingest a small cigar, Dowie said. Reportedly found inside the car were an empty cigar wrapper and a small bag containing remnants of marijuana.
The suspect was charged with possession of marijuana, possession of drug paraphernalia and hindering apprehension, for allegedly eating evidence.
Finally, down in South Kearny, an attendant at Tullo’s Truck Stop, 61 Lincoln Highway, was the victim of a strong-arm robbery at 3:30 p.m. Thursday.
The man was followed into a restroom and grabbed from behind by a mugger who took $200 in cash from him.
Police said the robber, described only as a black male, was not armed and the victim was not hurt. The culprit fled in a maroon Chevy Impala with a temporary registration tag.
