A man with an apparent affection for the U.S. Constitution, but not perhaps for DWI laws, was arrested last week after he nearly hit a patrol car in front of KPD headquarters, police reported.
Police said Officer Chris Levchek was stopped at the light at Laurel Ave. and Elm St. at 10 p.m., Tuesday, Sept. 30, when a 2002 Buick made a wide turn at the intersection, nearly hitting the squad car, then continuing south on Elm.
Levchek gave chase and stopped it at Columbia Ave.
When asked for his driving credentials, the motorist, Edward Sallustro, 64, of North Arlington, reportedly handed Levchek several business cards and a health insurance card.
After failing field sobriety tests, police said, he was arrested and taken to HQ , where he refused to take an Alcotest, citing the Fifth [protection against self-incrimination], 14th [the right to due process] and 15th [The right to vote “shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude”] Amendments.
(Editor’s note: The right to vote? For an Alcotest?)
Nevertheless, Sallustro was charged with DWI, DWI within 1,000 feet of a school, careless driving and refusal to take the Alcotest.
• • •
Other recent reports from the Kearny police blotter included the following:
Sept. 26
Det. Sgt. Robert Maguire interviewed a Pine St. resident who reported that his garage had been broken into sometime within the previous four days. Missing were several thousand dollars’ worth of tools, including two jackhammers, an air compressor, various power saws, a hammer drill and a Honda generator. The case is under investigation, and police are also monitoring pawnshops, eBay and other internet sites, etc., via which the equipment might be sold.
Sept. 27
At 12:45 a.m., HQ received a report of an erratic driver on Kearny Ave., approaching Midland Ave. Officer Tim Castle checked the license plate number provided and learned it was registered to a white Kia, which he soon spotted at Oakwood Ave., weaving in traffic and with its headlights off.
When Castle stopped the vehicle, he detected an odor of alcohol, police said.
Driver Johana Alvarez, 32, of East Rutherford, was administered FSTs and an Alcotest and was charged with DWI and careless driving.
Sept. 29
At 6:30 a.m., Officer Steven Hroncich responded to Walmart after store management reported that a cashier they had been monitoring via video had pocketed more than $4,000 in proceeds during the month of September. On the 29th, she had stolen an additional $400, which was found in her possession, police said. Charged with theft was Gerecia Clark, 21, of Hillside.
Sept. 30
Officer Levchek was on patrol at Passaic and Johnston Aves. at 8 p.m. when his license-plate reader advised him that a passing vehicle had a suspended registration. After stopping the 2002 Honda, he also learned that the plates belonged on a Nissan. Elmer Martinez, 20, of Elizabeth, was charged with driving while suspended, being an unlicensed driver, using fictitious plates and operating an uninsured vehicle. The car was impounded.
• • •
At 9 p.m., Vice Squad officers, having knowledge of an earlier drug transaction, stopped Michael Franqui, 37, of Kearny, at Chestnut and Dukes Sts. and confiscated two plastic bags of suspected cocaine. He was charged with possession of the drug and of drug paraphernalia.
Oct. 1
At 5 p.m., Sgt. Peter Gleason and Officers Jay Ward and Malinda Esposito responded to Windsor St. near Bergen Ave. on a report of a man threatening bodily harm to a 45-year-old Kearny woman. Upon the cops’ arrival, the suspect fled on foot but was chased down and caught at Afton St. William Murray, 52, of Kearny, was arrested for making terroristic threats and was remanded to the Hudson County Jail on $10,000 bail.
– Karen Zautyk
