Last Thursday evening, Kearny police responded to the report of a man with a gun in a home on Linden Ave. What they found, Chief John Dowie said, were several guns, including an assault rifle. And lots of ammo.
Officers Frank West and Chris Levchak and Sgt. Pete Gleason went to the residence on the 100 block at 7:30 p.m. and confronted occupant Robert Conlin, 32, who allegedly had threatened another man during a verbal altercation. In plain view in the home, police said, was a .45-caliber automatic pistol. But West also reportedly noticed a .223 rifle round, which was not ammunition consistent with the handgun. And, protruding from under a bed, was a rifle case.
In that, police said, the officers discovered a .223 Bushmaster assault rifle.
A second case reportedly contained a pistol-grip Mossberg 12-gauge shotgun.
Also found, police said, were a high-capacity magazine, two blackjacks, a can of OC spray and several boxes of ammunition for the three weapons.
Conlin was charged with aggravated assault, unlawful possession of a weapon, possession for unlawful purposes, possession of a prohibited weapon (the assault rifle) and making terroristic threats.
He was remanded to the Hudson County Jail in lieu of $45,000 bail.
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Other recent reports from the Kearny police blotter included the following:
Jan. 16
At 6:30 p.m., a tenant in an apartment complex on the 700 block of Schuyler Ave. returned home from work and walked in on a burglary in progress. In her bedoom, she encountered a man in the process of stuffing her jewelry box into a pillowcase. She began shouting, and the thief dropped the loot and fled out a back door. Police said he had gained entry by kicking in the front door. The suspect was described as a black male with a short beard, about 40 years old and more than 6-feet tall. He was wearing a gray jacket.
Officer West, who had responded to the call, checked the area, but to no avail. Det. John Telle processed the crime scene and is conducting the follow-up investigation.
Jan. 19
Officer John Fabula, on patrol on Maple St. at 3 p.m., arrested John Rodrigues, 24, of Kearny, on an outstanding warrant from Lyndhurst. Rodrigues was processed at headquarters, and the Lyndhurst PD was notified.
Jan. 20
At 8 p.m., Fabula was at Garfield and Davis Aves. when he saw an apparently intoxicated man quaffing a bottle of Chardonnay. The 50-year-old Newark resident was issued a town-ordinance summons for drinking in public.
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On Bergen Ave., at 9:30 p.m., vice detectives stopped a car operated by Eric Castellanos, 21, of Kearny, whom they believed had just engaged in a drug transaction, and confiscated marijuana that reportedly was in the center console.
He was charged with possession of the drug and drug paraphernalia.
Jan. 21
At 8:30 p.m., a resident of the 100 block of Brighton Ave. reported he had returned home to find his house had been burglarized and several watches and assorted jewelry were missing from a second-floor bedroom. Police said a rear window had been pushed in. Officer Jay Ward took the initial report, and Dets. Scott Traynor and Ray Lopez processed the scene and are investigating. Jan. 22 Officer Levchak was on patrol at Passaic and Johnston Aves. at 4:30 p.m. when his onboard license-plate reader alerted him that a passing 2000 Volkswagen had a suspended registration. He stopped the car on Passaic and found that the driver, Guadalupe Martinez, 23, of Newark, also had a suspended license and a $250 Harrison warrant, police said. She was arrested, charged on the MV violations, which also included failure to surrender a suspended license, and her vehicle was impounded. Harrison police were notified.
