On April 19, Officer Brian Wisely was in the area of Chestnut St. and Belleville Turnpike around 5:45 p.m. and found two individuals drinking cans of beer in public. When he asked for identification, a 49-year-old Elizabeth male produced identification and was given a summons. His companion, 21-year-old Newark resident Benito Hernandez produced an identification that was suspicious. Officer Wisely recognized that the identification was phony and placed Hernandez under arrest. He was charged with possession of a false government document and given a town summons for drinking in public. Bail was set at $3,500.
On April 20, Officer Mike Andrews was on patrol in the area of Kearny High School when he observed a teenage male that he knew from prior encounters in the area. While under Andrews’ surveillance, he saw the teenager discard a plastic bag onto the ground. Andrews stopped him and retrieved the bag, which was found to contain a sizable amount of marijuana. The 17-year-old Kearny male was arrested and charged with possession of marijuana with intent to distribute, possession with intent to distribute near a park, possession with intent to distribute near a school, and possession of paraphernalia.
Later that same day, Officer Mike Andrews was in the area of Kearny High when he observed a vehicle around 7:20 p.m. in the area of Quincy Ave. and Devon St. He observed them on Midland Ave making an illegal turn. After stopping them, he saw one of the individuals attempt to conceal an object in his pocket. Officer Neil Nelson responded as backup and during a search of the vehicle, recovered a cellophane package containing suspected marijuana. A search of the driver found another package of marijuana. Both the driver and passenger were then arrested and taken to Headquarters. The two occupants, 19-year-old North Arlington resident James McEnry and 23-year-old Kearny resident Daryl Krug were charged with possession of marijuana and possession of paraphernalia.
On April 22, Officers John Fabula and Sean Kelly responded to the Burger King on a report that a man was being attacked inside the premise with his own cane. When they arrived, they found a 65-year-old north Arlington resident who had a signifigant injury to his eye area. He described the situation by saying he had an altercation some females who then took his cane and beat him with it. Kearny Ambulance Squad was summoned to the scene. Detectives Mike Gonzalez and John Plaugic responded to the scene. Based on information gathered from the scene, they responded to Newark where they located a vehicle believed to be the getaway car. They confronted two individuals who admitted they were in the car. Backup arrived in the form of Officers Steve Hroncich, Dave Rakowski, and Captain Scott Macfie. In Newark, they arrested a 17-year-old female and 21-year-old Indira DeSmith and charged them with conspiracy, aggravated assault, and unlawful possession of a weapon. A third female was issued warrants for her arrest.
On April 24, Sgt. John Becker was on patroin the area of K-Mart where he observed a white box truck back up behind the store. Knowing that the store was closed, he engaged in survalence. With a light from the truck, Becker was able to see the men with a prybar attempt to force entry into the trailer. Becker illuminated the two individuals and held them at gunpoint until backup arrived in the form of Captain Tom Osborne. 33-year-old Patterson resident Luis Frias was charged with criminal attempted burglary, conspiracy, driving with a suspended lisence, and having an open bottle of alcohol of alchohol within the vehicle. The passenger, 30-year-old Nelson Rodriguez, also from Patterson, was charged with criminal attempted burglary and conspiracy.
