On May 29, at 12:33 p.m., Belleville Police officers were dispatched to the area of Main and Rutgers Sts. on a report of a stolen white commercial GMC pickup truck. The vehicle’s driver furnished the police with the vehicle’s license plate number. Shortly thereafter, the man’s boss contacted police to say that he was currently tailing the stolen vehicle on Rt. 21 south in Newark. Working with real-time information, Belleville and Newark Police were able to corner the vehicle at the intersection of Governors St. and take the thief into custody. Manuel R. Estevez, 29, of Port Ritchie, Fla. was arrested and charged with receiving stolen property. He was transported to Belleville headquarters where it was subsequently learned that he carried an extradition warrant out of Florida, as well as two Newark warrants totaling $600. Estevez was taken to the county jail to await extradition to Florida.
In other Belleville Police happenings:
May 31
While officers were patrolling the Franklin Ave. and Clara Maass Drive area at 10:36 p.m., they observed a green Acura blow through a stop sign at Rocco St. and Sanford Ave. After stopping the vehicle, police learned that the driver, Raul Lopez, 24, of Newark carried a $205 Elizabeth warrant, and the passenger, Miguel A. Padilla, 19, of Newark carried a $350 warrant out of Newark. Both men were arrested and the vehicle was left at the scene.
The mother of a 16-year-old girl who lives at 53 Overlook Ave. visited Belleville headquarters at 8:37 p.m. to report that her daughter was missing. The woman stated that she had last seen her daughter at 5 p.m. in her bedroom doing her homework. Two hours later when she went to check on her, she found the room empty. She noted that the bedroom window, which leads to a fire escape, was wide open. At press time, the girl was still missing.
May 29
Officers patrolling Franklin St. observed a man speaking with a woman at the intersection of Naples Ave. at 9:41 p.m. They saw the woman hand over “several white-colored items” to the man and in return receive “paper currency” from him. Believing that it was a drug transaction, officers stopped the man and discovered that he was in possession of several “small white glassine envelopes” containing a “white powdery substance.” The items field-tested positive for narcotics. Ronnie E. Baker, 55, of Montclair was charged with possession of C.D.S. and arrested.
May 28
A motor vehicle was reported stolen from N.J. Grinding, 14 Franklin St. at 5:19 p.m. The vehicle’s owner told police that his work van, a red 2006 Dodge Caravan, was taken while parked in a lot adjacent to the business. The theft was recorded by the company’s surveillance camera. The suspect is described as an Hispanic male with dark hair. He was wearing blue jeans, a grey jacket, and a dark shirt. The vehicle was later recovered in Elizabeth, N.J.
May 27
Officers witnessed a vehicle traveling in the wrong direction on Eugene Pl. (a one-way street) early in the morning. As they were about to pull the vehicle over, they learned that a shooting had just occurred in Bloomfield with multiple shots fired. The white Nissan with New York plates being sought in connection with the Bloomfield incident fit the description of the vehicle they were about to stop. Fittingly, officers conducted a “felony motor vehicle stop” (all occupants are removed from the vehicle) when they pulled the car over at North 9th St. A handgun, one round of ammunition and an open bottle of liquor were found inside the car. The driver, Javier C. Montas of Elmhurst, N.Y. was arrested and charged in Belleville with possession of a handgun and possession of hollow-point ammunition. He also received several motorcycle vehicle summonses. The vehicle and recovered items were turned over to Bloomfield Police.
Jeff Bahr
