On the night of Feb. 18, Kearny police responded to several reports of paintballs being fired from a passing car at unsuspecting pedestrians. Incidents were recorded at Kearny and Pavonia Aves., Brighton Ave. and Halstead St. and near Town Hall.
At least two people were reported injured, one suffering a facial laceration.
Now, thanks to the followup investigation by Det. John Traynor, three suspects have been identified, Police Chief John Dowie reported. They are Kevin Telfair, Caavon Hinson and Dashawn Singleton, each 24 years old and all from Newark.
Warrants have been issued for their arrest on charges of aggravated assault, unlawful possession of a weapon, possession of a weapon for unlawful purposes, and conspiracy.
Dowie said the same trio are suspects in a similar incident near Essex County College in Newark, also on Feb. 18.
Other recent reports in the KPD blotter included the following:
Feb. 27
After confirming he was the subject of an outstanding Harrison warrant, members of the Vice Unit arrested 53-yearold Kearny resident Bryan Couch at Kearny Ave. and Patterson St. at 9:30 p.m., police said. In a search pursuant to arrest, Couch was reportedly found to be in possession of four glassine folds of suspected heroin, stamped “300.” He was charged on the warrant and with possession of the drug and paraphernalia.
March 2
Officer Luis Moran, dispersing a disorderly group on Washington Ave. at 9 p.m., observed 18-year-old Gabriel Xavier of Kearny holding a blunt cigar, which was found to be hollowed out and containing marijuana, police said. Xavier was charged with possession of pot and paraphernalia.
March 3
Officer Chris Levchak was dispatched to Walmart at 5 p.m. after store security reported a customer “blatantly” cutting open packages of cell phone, car and bicycle parts. Levchak confronted the man in the store and removed from his possession two pairs of pliers, a screwdriver, a utility knife and a razor knife, police said.
Eric Perez, 46, of East Newark was charged with shoplifting and possession of burglar tools. Police said he also had outstanding warrants from Newark and Union City.
At 7:30 p.m., Officer John Fabula observed Francis Perez, 25, of Kearny — whom he knew to have a suspended driver’s license — make an illegal u-turn on Kearny Ave. near Wilson Ave. and then park next to a fire hydrant, police said. When Perez alighted from the vehicle, Fabula arrested him on charges of: driving while suspended; failure to surrender a suspended license; failure to have his vehicle inspected; blocking a hydrant, and failure to notify the DMV of an address change.
March 4
Shortly after 5 p.m., Vice detectives reportedly observed Aaron Taylor, 26, of Harrison drinking beer from a clear plastic cup at Kearny Ave. and Boyd St. Taylor might have gotten away with just a summons for violation of the town ordinance against drinking in public, but for the fact that a warrant check, police said, showed he was wanted by Harrison — for drinking in public. He was arrested on that warrant.
At 9:15 p.m., on the 300 block of Kearny Ave., Vice officers observed an individual known to them enter a vehicle and, under police surveillance, reportedly travel at a high rate of speed to Belgrove Drive and Bergen Ave., disregarding a traffic signal at Bergen and Kearny, and then return to the 300 block, where they conducted a motor vehicle stop. There, police said, they saw him put a small plastic bag containing a white substance in his mouth and swallow it.
The driver, Glenn Yakabofski, 41, of Kearny, reportedly also appeared to be under the influence of alcohol and/or drugs. He was arrested on charges of: hindering apprehension; possession of cocaine; possession of drug paraphernalia; operating a motor vehicle under the influence, and possession of a CDS in a motor vehicle.
March 5
At 11 a.m., while conducting a foot search on the 100 block of Beech St. in connection with an unrelated investigation, Officer Thomas Bannon, Det. Michael Gonzalez and Sgts. John Taylor and Michael Cardella were checking a backyard when they found Marllon Marques, 19, of Kearny, allegedly ingesting marijuana on the rear deck of a house (not his). He was charged with possession of a CDS.
March 6
At 5:30 p.m., on the 100 block of Midland Ave., Vice officers, pursuant to observation of an earlier drug transaction, approached Christian Vasile, 36, of Kearny and found him to be in possession of two glassine folds of suspected heroin, stamped “187,” police said. He was charged with possession of the drug and paraphernalia.
Vice officers, conducting surveillance at Kearny Ave. and Afton St. at 9:30 p.m., reportedly witnessed a hand-to- hand drug transaction and took into custody the alleged customer, Jesus Cintron, 37, of Kearny, on charges of possession of marijuana and paraphernalia.
The reputed seller, Manuel Dean, 27, of Kearny, was in possession of money believed to be proceeds from the sale, and a later search at his residence produced a large bag of suspected marijuana, police said. He was charged with distribution of the drug and distribution within 1,000 feet of Kearny High School and 500 feet of the Kearny Public Library.
–Karen Zautyk
