May 31
A Howard Place resident reported 16 fraudulent transactions with more than $4,000 in total estimated withdrawals on their bank card. An investigation determined that the account was linked to a horse race gambling network, police said. The account has been closed and the card canceled.
June 1
At 1:02 a.m., a Prospect St. resident called police to report that someone sounding intoxicated was calling her husband’s cellular phone from an unknown number and making inappropriate comments. Police said they determined that a Photo Chat cell phone application was the source of the annoying calls and that they warned the caller that they could be slapped with a harassment complaint if they persisted.
At 2:16 a.m., police responded to a Cottage Place residence whose occupant reported having heard a car door slam and, going outside, noticed that the interior dome light in their car – parked in their driveway – had been switched on. Police said the car was left unlocked but it appeared nothing had been taken nor had anything been removed from two other unlocked family cars also parked in the driveway.
June 3
Youths who were “horsing around” fell into the door of a Franklin Ave. business, damaging it, police said. The business owner called police at 12:16 p.m. to report that he heard a noise at the front door and then saw five boys walking away from the door which couldn’t be closed because the frame was dislodged. After getting descriptions of the boys, police said they found a group matching those descriptions in the north parking lot of the high school. Asked about the door, the youths told police they were “horsing around” after eating lunch and didn’t realize that the door was broken.
At 1:36 p.m., police got a report of illegal dumping at a St. Paul Place location where a container of used motor oil was found in a backyard. Police disposed of the oil.
June 4
A suspected “phishing” scam was reported to police by a Kingsland Ave. resident who said that someone claiming to work for the IRS called them to say they owed $1,600 in back taxes which had to be paid immediately. After the resident denied he owed anything and hung up, the alleged IRS representative called back. The resident reported the incident to the IRS.
June 5
Someone punctured both passenger side tires of a vehicle whose owner told police they’d left their Honda wagon in a Park Ave. parking lot to handle an errand and, upon returning, found the tires flat. The incident was logged at 9:36 a.m.
An Oak St. resident who collects sneakers as a hobby has twice been stung by fraud, police said. The resident reported that they’d paid $210 for sneakers, via PayPal, on a sneaker exchange website but never got the sneakers he ordered. The resident has a claim with the credit card company pending. In another incident, the resident told police they’d sent sneakers to another individual as part of a “trade” but after learning that the individual allegedly has a history of not fulfilling their obligations, tried unsuccessful to stop the order. Detectives are investigating.
— Ron Leir
Learn more about the writer ...
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.