Shortly before midnight on Monday, June 15, Kearny police received a report of suspicious persons possibly attempting to enter parked vehicles in the residential neighborhood of Stuyvesant Ave. and Grand Place.
At the scene, Officer Ben Wuelfing encountered three teen boys who, when questioned, “advised him that they were in the area because they were hungry and looking for something to eat,” Chief John Dowie said. (Really? There’s nothing to eat around there except birdseed and squirrel food.)
Officer Joe Martin located a witness who said the trio had been rummaging through a parked van on Grand, Dowie reported.
In a search incident to arrest, the teens were allegedly found to be in possession of: a $10 roll of quarters, loose change, a $20 bill, a $10 Canadian bill, and a silver lighter (but no edibles). A USB phone charger also was found nearby, police said.
All three — a 15-year-old and 17-year-old from Kearny and a 16-year-old from Newark — were charged with burglary, theft and conspiracy.
Hudson County juvenile intake authorities advised the KPD that the suspects could be released to the custody of parents/guardians.
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Other recent reports from the Kearny police blotter included the following:
June 13
Around 8 p.m., Sgt. Dave Rakowski spotted a 1997 Ford speeding north and rolling through stop signs on Devon St. Upon stopping the car and doing a warrant check, he found that driver, William Nash, 24, of Kearny, had a traffic-related one from Elizabeth, police said. Nash was arrested on that and also cited for three MV violations.
June 14
At 9:50 a.m., Officer Rene Crawford was alerted to a suspicious occupied vehicle in the area of Belgrove Drive and Sheridan Ave. Crawford found a Chevy with N.Y. plates and one occupant with a hypodermic syringe in plain view, police said. Driver Jessica Cross, 32, of Elizabethtown, N.Y., appeared to be ill and, accompanied by Sgt. Paul Bershefski, was taken by EMS to Clara Maass Medical Center for observation.
A search of the car, which was impounded, reportedly produced a backpack containing 22 additional syringes and 14 glassine folds of heroin stamped “Draft Day.” After treatment, Cross was charged with possession of a CDS, drug paraphernalia and syringes, being under the influence of a CDS and being under the influence in a MV.
June 15
Sgt. Scott Traynor and Officer Jay Ward responded to Davis and Midland Aves. at 2:45 p.m. on the report of two suspicious individuals in a parked black Honda. Approaching the car, they detected the odor of pot and saw the driver attempting to conceal a marijuana cigarette — which was still lit — in the console, police said. Also observed were several open cans of beer on the floor. Driver Sammie Davis, 36, of Hillside, and passenger Raymond Smith, 27, of Kearny, were both charged with possession of pot and paraphernalia. Davis also was charged with possession of a CDS in a MV and having an open container of alcohol in same.
June 16
Vice detectives were at Davis and Quincy Aves. at 5 p.m. when they stopped a Honda being driven by Owen Lamboy, 26, of Kearny, who they knew to be wanted on a $250 Kearny warrant. Lamboy was arrested on that and also was issued a summons for littering because, when advised of arrest, he threw a napkin and food on the ground. (There were no reports of hungry juveniles in the area at the time.)
June 17
At 6:30 p.m., at Harrison Ave. and Rt. 280, Det. Michael Gonzalez stopped a 2004 Volkswagen for a seat-belt violation. Approaching the car, he saw a rear-seat passenger — Briana Barton, 30, of Franklin –trying to conceal syringes and wax folds in her purse, police said. With Sgts. Rakowski and Charles Smith as backup, Gonzalez reportedly recovered four syringes, five folds of heroin and 38 used drug folds.
In a front-seat compartment, police said they found a second purse, apparently belonging to passenger Jessie Sisto, 29, of Hardyston, and containing six syringes. She was also found to have an NCIC drug-related, no-bail warrant issued by the Sussex County Sheriff’s Office.
Sisto was arrested on the warrant and for possession of the needles; Barton, for possession of heroin, paraphernalia and needles, police said.
Police said the man driving, who apparently was not involved with the drugs, received summonses for the seat-belt violation and failure to produce a driver’s license, registration and proof of insurance.
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At 7 p.m. at Forest St. and Quincy Ave., the Vice unit arrested John Gross, 22, of Kearny, on two outstanding warrants: one from Newark and a no-bail warrant from the Hudson County Sheriff’s Office. He was held for transfer to the county jail.
– Karen Zautyk
