At 11:40 p.m. on Sunday, Match 16, a 22-year-old Newark man was walking at Devon and Hoyt Sts., “minding his own business,” when two other males accosted him and knocked him to the ground, Kearny Police Chief John Dowie reported.
The muggers “ran his pockets” and left him lying beaten and bloody on the sidewalk, police said.
However, he managed to get good descriptions of his attackers.
A police search of the immediate area came up negative, but a short time later, Officers Chris Medina and Joe Martin spotted two men matching the descriptions walking on the 600 block of Kearny Ave., Dowie said. When questioned, the men reportedly gave evasive answers.
On his hands, one of the suspects had numerous scrapes and dried blood, which he could not explain, and during a pat-down, he was found to be in possession of a butterfly knife, Dowie said. He also was reportedly in possession of suspected marijuana.
The two were taken to headquarters, where they were identified by the victim as his assailants, the chief said.
Mark Webb, 21, of Newark, and Xavier Guridi, 19, of Kearny, were both charged with robbery and conspiracy. Webb, the one who allegedly had blood on his hands, was also charged with unlawful possession of a weapon and possession of a CDS.
Other recent reports from the KPD blotter included the following:
March 16
At 7 p.m., Sgt. Peter Gleason and Officers Jay Ward and Pat Becker responded to a Kearny Ave. establishment after receiving reports of fights breaking out and of a bartender having been bitten by one patron, identified as Kenny Negrin, 25, of North Arlington.
Negrin resisted being arrested and cuffed, and another man, Brian Scheckter, 26, of Kearny, attempted to intercede on Negrin’s behalf, police said. Scheckter was himself arrested on a charge of disorderly conduct.
Several police units went to the area to disperse crowds that were gathering.
March 17
Officer Leroy Bibbs responded to the Rite Aid Pharmacy on Kearny Ave. at 12:30 p.m. on a report of a shoplifting- turned-robbery. The officer was told that a woman had filled a bag with unpaid merchandise and tried to leave by the rear door. Confronted there by a store employee, she reportedly fought with the worker and fled to a waiting car — but the employee managed to get the license plate number.
Dets. Michael Gonzalez and Bryant Obie tracked the plate to a rental car and, after a review of the store’s security tapes, the suspect was identified as Vanessa Shaarawy, 29, of Kearny, police said. A warrant was issued for her arrest.
At 7:15 p.m., at Kearny and Midland Aves., Vice detectives, armed with knowledge of a prior drug transaction, stopped two individuals and confiscated five glassine bags of suspected heroin, stamped “Magic City,” police said. Charged with possession of heroin and drug paraphernalia were Michael Daly, 39, of Harrison, and Ulises Rebozo, 40, of Kearny.
March 19
Officer Chris Medina, on patrol at Davis and Quincy Aves. at 2 a.m., was alerted by his license-plate reader to the approach of an unregistered vehicle. Medina stopped the car on Ivy St. and found it to be operated by Luis Huillcapoma, 53, of Kearny, who police said also had a suspended license and an outstanding Belleville warrant. The unregistered vehicle was impounded, Huillcapoma was charged on the license offense, and Belleville PD was notified that he was in custody.
At 3:30 a.m., on the 200 block of Davis Ave., Officer Michael Santucci took into custody Aaron Taylor, 26, of Harrison, who, during an altercation with a female, allegedly took her cell phone and smashed it. He was charged with simple assault and criminal mischief.
— Karen Zautyk
