What started as a hit and run led Kearny PD to a suspect who, initially, eluded them while leaving his small child home alone, according to police, but who ultimately gave himself up.
At 8 a.m., on Nov. 5, Office Peter Jahera responded to a report of an accident at Passaic and Bergen Aves. where the driver of a 2012 Toyota said her car was struck by a white vehicle which then left the scene with extensive front end damage.
A few hours later, police said Officer Damon Pein was called to the 30 block of Highland Ave. where the owner of a white 2010 Nissan told the officer his car had been hit overnight while parked at that location.
But after conferring with Jahera, who observed that the Nissan matched the description of the hit-and-run car and that the Nissan was allegedly missing certain body parts that Jahera had recovered from the hit-and-run site, Pein confronted the Nissan owner, Jayme Diaz-Cobo, 23, at his residence about the prior incident, and police said Diaz-Cobo admitted having fled from the scene because his license had been suspended.
When asked to accompany the officer, however, police said Diaz-Cobo replied that he couldn’t leave because he was the “sole custodian” of a 2-year-old girl, slammed the door in the officer’s face and ran out the back door.
Police said Pein remained with the child and notified the state Division of Child Protection & Permanency Involved Families who arranged to turn over the child to the custody of a relative.
Meanwhile, police issued warrants for Diaz-Cobo’s arrest on charges of driving with a suspended license, resisting arrest, hindering prosecution and endangering the welfare of a child. Police said Diaz- Cobo was also wanted on a Clifton warrant for allegedly leaving the scene of an accident.
On Nov. 7, police said Diaz- Cobo surrendered peacefully to Kearny PD pending a court appearance on the charges.
– Ron Leir
