As a Belleville Police Street Crimes unit was patrolling Washington Ave. on April 9 at 12:12 p.m., they noticed a woman walking erratically near Holmes St. As they continued to observe her, the woman sprawled out in the middle of the sidewalk and apparently fell asleep. When police woke her and asked her what she was doing, she replied without hesitation, “I was tired of walking so I took a nap.” A standard background check revealed that the woman carried a $1,000 warrant out of Union. Darla Williams, 23, of Newark was arrested and held in lieu of bail.
Using finger print records, Belleville Police were able to make a positive identification of a suspect involved in a robbery that occurred at 60 Reservoir Rd. on March 19. 18-year-old Jersey City resident Ahmed Dar has been charged with burglary and theft but remains at large. He carries approximately $1200 in warrants out of Belleville. Jersey City Police are assisting Belleville in the investigation.
In other Belleville Police happenings:
April 12
A custodian at School # 5 noticed that certain items at the school had been tampered with. He notified police at 7:22 a.m. A second-floor window was identified as the entrypoint that the thief used to steal a Dewalt cordless drill, custodian’s key ring with keys attached, American flag and multiple cases of juice boxes. Police were able to lift fingerprints from the scene.
A red pickup truck traveling south on Washington Ave. was stopped at the Academy St. intersection at 6:47 p.m., after police noticed that the driver wasn’t wearing a seat belt. It was learned that Manuel Vega, 43, of Belleville, carried a $500 warrant out of Newark and was driving without a license. Vega was held in lieu of bail and received summonses for driving without a license and failure to wear a seat belt.
At 6:55 p.m., police were dispatched to 368 Franklin Ave. on a motor vehicle accident call. While taking the report, they learned that Carlton Adams, 48, of East Orange was driving with a suspended license. He was arrested, transported to headquarters and later released.
At 10:50 p.m., police patrolling Washington Ave. observed a black 4-door vehicle driving fast with its headlights turned off. After they pulled the vehicle over, the female driver accidentally placed her gearshift lever in reverse and nearly struck the police cruiser as a result. As they interviewed the driver, she began to foam at the mouth. The woman was slurring her speech and couldn’t stand unaided. Fittingly, police called paramedics. When they arrived, the woman kicked at them, but they managed to get her to Clara Maass Hospital. After blood and urine tests were conducted, police charged Gina Sparaco, 40, of Newark, with D.U.I., failure to exhibit registration, failure to exhibit an insurance card, failure to wear a seat belt, no headlights, and careless driving. A passenger, 38-year-old Gianine Dieduardo, also of Newark, gave police a fake name before admitting her true identity. She was found to be carrying a nobail warrant from Mercer County, as well as two $500 warrants out of Newark. Dieduardo was arrested and held for pickup from Mercer County.
April 8
Police observed a vehicle speeding along Washington Ave. at 6:33 p.m. After the car passed another vehicle on the right side, it was stopped near the intersection of Rutgers St. Raul Lopez, 24, of Newark, was found to be wanted on two warrants out of Newark totaling $300. He was arrested and issued motor vehicle summonses for improper passing, failure to exhibit an insurance card, and unclear license plates. Lopez was released after posting $300 bail.
April 7
Police noticed a green ford pickup parked in the Belleville High School parking lot at 10:25 p.m. and pulled in to investigate, They found the male driver with a piece of cardboard laying on his lap, and a rolled-up dollar bill and credit card in his hand. Realizing that such a setup is usually used to ingest drugs they investigated further and uncovered 2 Ziploc bags containing what appeared to be marijuana, four yellow clonzepam pills and three Xanax pills. Nicholas Rivera. 19, of Belleville, was arrested and charged with two counts of possession of drugs, and one count of possession of marijuana. He was later released.
– Jeff Bahr
