And the first person to be locked up in Kearny in the New Year was (sound of drumroll): Segundo Yunda, 44, of Plainfield, arrested at 5 a.m., Jan. 1.
Yunda was reportedly found drinking a Corona beer while sitting behind the wheel of a 2009 Cadillac that was stopped in the middle of the intersection at Devon St. and Woodland Ave. The car, police said, had heavy front-end damage.
Officer Brian Wisely came upon this interesting vignette while on patrol and approached the driver, who reportedly was also “revving the engine excessively,” Police Chief John Dowie noted. Ordered from the vehicle, Yunda was said to be unsteady on his feet and nearly toppled over twice, but Wisely kept him from falling.
While this was happening, Dowie said, a concerned citizen came by and told the officer that he had witnessed the Caddy strike a parked vehicle at Kearny and Johnston Aves. Yunda was charged with DWI, reckless driving, leaving the scene of an accident, failure to produce a driver’s license, and refusing to take a breath test.
Other recent reports from the Kearny Police Department blotter included the following:
Dec. 21
At 2:45 a.m., at Johnston and Passaic Aves., Officer Ben Wuelfing stopped an auto he had seen speeding south on Passaic, police said. The driver, 24-year-old Lizmarie Velez of Newark, reportedly failed field sobriety tests and was charged with DWI, careless driving and failure to exhibit registration and an insurance card.
Dec. 22
At 1 a.m., Officer Luis Moran, Det. Michael Gonzalez and Sgt. Richard Poplaski responded to a disorderly conduct complaint on the 300 block of Maple St. and found a 27-year-old Kearny man bleeding profusely from a head wound. Police said he had been hit with a bottle. After interviewing witnesses, the officers arrested David Emanuel, also 27 and from Kearny, on charges of aggravated assault and possession of a weapon (the bottle) for unlawful purposes.
Lt. Tim Wagner and Officer Barry Green, on off-duty, uniformed detail at Walmart at 9 a.m., placed under surveillance a customer who appeared to be under the influence. The man was reportedly seen ripping open packages in the electronics department and then forcing open a jewelry display case.
As he attempted to leave the premises, he saw Lt. Anthony Gouveia arriving and, pursued by all three cops, ran back into the store, “literally knocking other customers out of the way,” Dowie reported. Green tackled him in the deli section, where, police said, pieces of jewelry were found on the suspect and strewn about the area.
Charged with robbery and resisting arrest was Reginald Flowers, 29, of East Hanover.
Dec. 27
Officers Dean Gasser, Chris Levchak and Melinda Esposito responded to the 6:15 p.m. report of a dispute in a Liberty St. residence and arrived to find a man and a woman in a heated argument. They separated the parties and advised the man to leave, but he reportedly became hostile and profane. Once outside, this behavior escalated, police said. Alejandro Guzman, 29, of Kearny was arrested on charges of disorderly conduct and criminal mischief (for allegedly smashing a mirror inside the residence).
At 11:15 p.m., headquarters received a call about a car traveling westbound on Dukes St., which is one-way eastbound. Officers Wuelfing and Gasser responded and located the vehicle at Schuyler Ave. and Dukes St., where it had ended up after the driver reportedly hit two parked cars, made a k-turn, and headed back downhill. Police said the driver was still behind the wheel and the car was still in gear.
After Wuelfing secured the auto and field sobriety tests were conducted, Jose Solano, 32, of Kearny was charged with DWI, DWI in a school zone, careless driving and being an unlicensed driver. He was also charged criminally with possession of a false government document, a Social Security card that police said appeared to have been altered.
Dec. 29
Det. Gonzalez was on off-duty, uniformed detail at Walmart at 11:20 a.m. when he was alerted by a cashier that a woman was attempting to pay for purchases with what appeared to be a counterfeit $100 bill. Detained and questioned, the 31-yearold Montclair resident said she had just been given the money by an ex-boyfriend for child support. He was no longer in the area, but police said the woman’s story seemed credible and she was released. The currency was confiscated and the Secret Service was advised.
Officer Peter Blair was on mall patrol on Kearny Ave. at 6 p.m. when his mobile data terminal alerted him to a vehicle owned by an individual with a suspended license. Blair stopped the car and was advised by HQ that the driver, Mohamed Selim, 39, of Jersey City, had an outstanding warrant from the Hudson County Sheriff ’s Office, police said. Selim was arrested on that and the MV violation and the HCSO was notified.
– Karen Zautyk
