May 17
The owner of a Camaro called police at 1:45 p.m. to report that a white substance had been splattered all over their Camaro while it was parked at a Hillside Ave. location.
May 18
A Belleville man landed in trouble in the wake of police responding to a 12:28 a.m. call about a disturbance at a Summit Way location. Police said they arrested Justin Alberto, 21, after learning he had an active warrant from Jersey City. Alberto was released after posting bail.
At 3:29 p.m., police responded to a Harrison St. location on a report of a lewd act. Police said a man described as white, in his mid- to late-20s, with dark hair, clean-shaven, possibly wearing a grey T-shirt and driving a newer model boxy-shaped black Jeep with a New Jersey license plate, was seen “gratifying himself while exposing himself” to someone. Police searched the area to no avail.
May 19
At 10:13 a.m., the manager of a Washington Ave. business called police to report a suspected shoplifting incident. Police said the manager told them a customer tried to conceal merchandise in their pockets and didn’t pay for them at the checkout. Police said the patron told them they had so many items they put some in their pockets and forgot they had them at the check-out and, when confronted, offered to pay for those items. The manager told police this wasn’t the first time this type of incident had happened with this customer and requested that the patron be advised not to return.
May 20
A Cadmus St. resident called police at 1:29 p.m. to report that someone had broken the rear glass window of their vehicle sometime after they’d parked it at that location.
At 12:21 p.m., police were alerted to a suspicious incident at a Highfield Lane location. A resident told them that a man described as white, thin, with a beard, wearing a hat, T-shirt and jeans, rang the doorbell and, when the resident responded, “Who is it?”, the man left and drove off in a black car with tinted windows, heading west on Highfield. Police said they searched the area but found no vehicles matching that description.
At 2:31 p.m., a customer at a Washington Ave. car wash called police to report that their car had been dented on the passenger side door while coming out of the wash. Police noted the presence of a posted sign saying that the business was not responsible for damage.
May 21
At 2:05 p.m., police were called to a Cambridge Heights location where the owner of a vehicle told them the passenger side window was damaged while it was parked in their driveway. During that time, the resident said a construction crew was working nearby on their steps. Police said it was unclear whether the crew had any connection to the damage.
An elderly resident reported a suspected case of identify fraud to police. The victim told police that they’d received a bill for $1,205 from DTE Energy in Detroit but that they owned no property there. Police said whoever sent the fake bill also has access to the victim’s home phone number and address.
Police received a report from another fraud victim that their bank card had been lost or stolen and that, since then, someone has used the card on five separate occasions to charge a total of $238 in purchases. The account has been canceled and an investigation is continuing into the circumstances of the fraud, police said.
May 23
At 3:23 a.m., police received a report of a possible theft from an individual at a Franklin Ave. eatery. The apparent victim told police they’d placed the pocketbook down and, when they went to retrieve it later, their money — $300 – was missing.
At 9:42 a.m., the owner of a vehicle parked at a Howard Place location told police their front driver’s side fender had been damaged.
— Ron Leir
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Kevin A. Canessa Jr. is the editor of and broadcaster at The Observer, an organization he has served since 2006. He is responsible for the editorial content of the newspaper and website, the production of the e-Newspaper, writing several stories per week (including the weekly editorial), conducting live broadcasts on social media channels such as YouTube, Facebook, and X, including a weekly recap of the news — and much more behind the scenes. Between 2006 and 2008, he introduced the newspaper to its first-ever blog — which included podcasts, audio and video. Originally from Jersey City, Kevin lived in Kearny until 2004, lived in Port St. Lucie. Florida, for four years until February 2016 and in March of that year, he moved back to Kearny to return to The Observer full time. Click Here to send Kevin an email.