If one were inclined to speculate, one might say that two alleged shoplifters collared at Walmart were planning a heckuva man cave. They are accused of taking eight 32-inch television sets. Plus an inflatable couch.
Kearny Police Chief John Dowie said that on April 12, at 3:30 p.m., Officers John Fabula and Rich Pawlowski were dispatched to Walmart after store security reported that two men who had stolen four television sets earlier in the day had returned and attempted to take four more. Plus the inflatable couch.
As Fabula pulled into the parking lot, he saw Pawlowski chasing one man and joined the foot pursuit. Both officers tackled and cuffed 18-year-old Jeancarlos George of Newark.
Pawlowski then confronted and took into custody the second suspect, Edgar Guzman, 33, of Newark.
Police said store security placed a total value of $2,215 on the merchandise. Including the inflatable couch.
George and Guzman were both charged with robbery and conspiracy. In addition,
George was charged with resisting arrest.
Other recent reports from the KPD blotter included the following:
April 11
Police arrested Davante Hamilton, 18, of Union, at 6 p.m. at Applebee’s, where, a week before, the restaurant employee had allegedly used a “skimmer” to steal the credit card information of a customer.
The info theft had occurred the afternoon of April 8, after which Hamilton allegedly went to Walmart and used the card data to purchase an Xbox One and a flat screen TV, worth a total of $588, police said.
Officer Rich Carbone, who had responded to the initial incident, made the connection between the two crimes, and Det. John Telle subsequently identified the suspect on Walmart security video, police said.
Hamilton was charged with credit card theft, forgery, using a stolen credit card and theft by unlawful taking.
April 12
At 4:15 a.m., Officer Patrick Becker reportedly found a 2006 Chrysler stopped in the middle of the intersection of Kearny and Bergen Aves. with the driver apparently asleep at the wheel. Becker and backup Officer Tim Castle conducted field sobriety tests and Keith Jones, 31, of Kearny, was charged with DWI.
April 13
Officer Jay Ward, patrolling at Quincy and Highland Aves. at 4 a.m., noticed that
a parked SUV had sustained recent rear-end damage and been pushed into another parked vehicle. In the roadway were broken glass and vehicle fluids. Ward followed the trail of these fluids down to Davis Ave., where it ended. Searching the area, he found a parked, still-leaking Honda with front-end damage, police said.
Ward located the owner, Homni Parra-Perez, performed field sobriety tests and took him to headquarters for an Alcotest. Parra-Perez, 25, of Kearny was charged
with DWI, reckless driving and leaving the scene of an accident.
At 4:13 a.m., Officer Ben Wuelfing was dispatched to the 100 block of Forest St.
on the report of a parked car having been hit by another vehicle. Wuelfing arrived to find the driver of the latter still at the scene, police said. The officer conducted field sobriety tests and was also advised by headquarters that the driver had a suspended license and three outstanding warrants — one from Kearny and two from Jersey City. Rudy Rodriguez-Cabrera, 31, of Bayonne, was charged on those warrants and with DWI, DWI in a school zone, the license offense, careless driving, failure to exhibit an insurance card and refusing to take an Alcotest.
April 14
Officers Derek Hemphill and Chris Medina and Sgt. Pete Gleason responded to a 3 a.m. report of a man, dressed in black and apparently having a weapon, striking car windows on the 200 block of Maple St.
The officers searched the area on foot and spotted the suspect running into a backyard at Maple and BergenAve. and then emerging in a driveway, where Hemphill confronted him. The man was reportedly holding a bow saw, which he was ordered to drop.
The police also checked dwellings and other structures and found an open garage with tools similar to the bow saw on the wall. The owner was contacted and reported that one saw was missing, police said.
Arrested was Fernando Solorzano, 23, of Harrison, who was charged with burglary and theft.
April 16
Officers Jordenson Jean and Brian Wisely, on patrol at 8 p.m. at Davis and Wilson Aves., got a hit on the mobile data computer regarding a suspended
driver and stopped a car operated by Miguel Gordillogonzaga, 34, of Harrison. He was charged with driving while suspended and failure to surrender a suspended license.
– Karen Zautyk
