Douglous Welfl
A Kearny man was remanded to the Hudson County Jail following his arrest May 9 on five outstanding warrants, totaling more than $50,000, Kearny police reported.
Chief John Dowie said that Officer John Fabula was on patrol at 7 a.m. at Kearny and Pavonia Aves. when he recognized 29-year-old Douglas Welfl from past police interaction. Fabula confirmed that Welfl was the subject of three Kearny warrants: one for $25,000 for simple assault; another for $25,000 for violating a final restraining order, and, the most recent, a $2,000 warrant for criminal sexual conduct, police reported.
Additionally, police said, Welfl was wanted by North Arlington for defiant trespass and contempt of court.
He was arrested, processed at headquarters and shipped to the jail.
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Other recent reports from the Kearny police blotter included the following:
May 8
Officer Jay Ward was on the 200 block of Wilson Ave. at 5:30 p.m. when his onboard computer alerted him that a parked 2001 Hyundai had a suspended registration and that its owner had three warrants, police said.
Ward located the owner — Kevin Baez-Castillo, 19, of Kearny — who was charged with the registration violation, failure to surrender a suspended license and failure to have the vehicle inspected. Police said the warrants, from Kearny, Montclair and East Orange, were all motor-vehicle related.
The Hyundai was impounded and so was Baez- Castillo.
May 11
Lubier Campos, 25, of Harrison, was arrested at 6 p.m. at Johnston and Grant Aves. after Vice detectives confirmed that he was the subject of a no-bail warrant from the Hudson County Sheriff’ s Office. In a search incident to arrest, the officers reportedly found in his waistband a knife outfitted with brass knuckles.
Campos was charged with unlawful possession of a weapon, possession of a prohibited weapon and on the count of “certain persons [convicted felons] not to have a weapon.” Also, on the HCSO warrant and another, for $5,000, out of Kearny. He was sent to the county jail.
May 12
At 1:15 a.m., Officer Dean Gasser found a car sitting at a stop sign at Afton and Windsor Sts., with its driver reportedly slumped over the wheel, sleeping. Gasser awoke Roberto Nieves, 32, of Kearny, who, police said, reeked of alcohol and became confrontational. After field sobriety tests, he was charged with DWI, refusal to submit to an Alcotest, driving while suspended and failure to surrender a suspended license.
May 13
At Schuyler and Quincy Aves., at 7 p.m., Officer Fabula recognized another wanted individual, confirmed the warrants and arrested Aaron Taylor, 27, of Harrison, police reported. The KPD said Taylor was remanded to the county jail on three Kearny warrants — two for assault and one for harassment — and one from Harrison for an ordinance violation.
May 14
At 3:30 p.m., units were alerted to a fight in the intersection of Highland and Woodland Aves. Officer Kevin Arnesman, first at the scene, arrived to find Ahmad Smelly, 34, of Kearny, bleeding from a head injury. Police said witnesses identified him as one of the combatants. [The other, unidentified, had apparently fled.]
When approached by Arnesman and backup Officers Chris Levchak, Jay Ward and Daniel Esteves, police said Smelly became “defiant and confrontational,” tried to push past the cops and finally had to be forced to the ground and handcuffed. Kearny EMS was summoned, but Smelly reportedly refused medical treatment. He was taken to HQ and charged with obstruction, assault and resisting arrest.
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Det. Ray Lopez, on patrol at Maple and Patterson Sts. at 7 p.m., saw a bicyclist “lurking” near a parked 1997 BMW and then try to open the right rear window, police said. The individual then went into a backyard, was confronted as he was leaving and could offer no explanation for having entered the property, police said. Jeremy Postel, 18, of Newark, was charged with criminal trespass and attempted burglary. Postel was also found to be the subject of an NCIC probation-violation warrant from the Essex County Sheriff›s Office.
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At 8:15 p.m., vice officers witnessed Murat Chich, 50, of Kearny, apparently engage in a drug transaction. They confronted him at New Lawn Ave., and he reportedly turned over one plastic bag of suspected cocaine. He was charged with possession of the drug and paraphernalia and was released on summonses.
– Karen Zautyk
