If your husband smashes up your car, why not just report it stolen? According to police, that’s what a Bloomfield woman did.
Authorities said that, at 3:48 a.m., Sunday, June 21, KPD Officer Jay Ward and Sgt. Jack Corbett found a red Acura with heavy front-end damage and the keys still in the ignition abandoned near Chestnut St. and Bergen Ave.
The Kearny Fire Department was called to deal with the fluids leaking all over the road and the vehicle was impounded. Inside, police reportedly found an expired driver’s license, registration and insurance card.
Investigation revealed that the Acura had been reported stolen from Belleville, police said. And when the KPD contacted the Belleville cops, the auto’s owner — Johanna Lopez-Rodriguez, 34, of Bloomfield — was still at their headquarters. She was directed to go to Kearny’s HQ and arrived with her husband, Leslie Rodriguez, 33.
During questioning, suspicions were raised. When police explained that there were security cameras in the area where the Acura was found, the husband reportedly said that he had been driving and thought he might have collided with an SUV. He said he left the car and ran because he was afraid, police stated.
According to the KPD, Lopez-Rodriguez admitted she knew he had the car and decided to report it stolen so neither would be responsible for the damage.
Rodriguez was charged in Kearny with reckless driving, failure to report an accident and leaving the scene of an accident. Police said he also had a DWI warrant from Bloomfield.
Lopez-Rodriguez was held for the Belleville PD, which was notified of the false police report.
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Other recent reports from the Kearny police blotter included the following:
June 20
At 11:43 a.m., ShopRite security reported they had detained a woman for taking two cakes and a box of diapers, valued at a total of $84.97. Sgt. Joseph Vulcano and Officer Damon Pein responded and arrested Sade Way, 28, of Newark, on charges of shoplifting, hindering apprehension and on an outstanding Newark warrant.
June 21
At 3:40 p.m., Officer Daniel Esteves responded to Walmart, where store security reported that a shoplifter stole nine cans of hairspray, immediately took them to the return counter and, using an old receipt, got a cash refund of $46.39.
He reportedly was under observation the whole time. Taken into custody on a shoplifting charge was 37-year-old Kearny resident Christian Garcia-Carretero (see June 24 entry), who was released on a summons.
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About an hour later, at 4:43, Esteves was back at Walmart, this time to arrest Axel Julio Rodriguez, 42, of Kearny, who security said had removed the alarm tags from two computer routers, worth a total of $348, and walked out the door with them concealed in a Walmart bag. He was charged with shoplifting and released on a summons.
June 24
Acting on information they had obtained, Vice detectives confronted Christian Garcia- Carretero on Bergen Ave. after seeing him exit a bus from Newark on Belgrove Drive shortly after 2 p.m. Police said he was in possession of nine wax folds of heroin. He was charged with possession of a CDS and drug paraphernalia and was released on a summons.
June 25
At 2:12 p.m., at Devon St. and Bergen Ave., Vice detectives arrested Amanda Walsh, 26, of Kearny, on a $3,000 Bayonne warrant. Police said that, when taken into custody, she admitted she was in possession of a small amount of marijuana and turned over a small baggie containing weed. She was charged on the warrant and with possession of the drug and paraphernalia.
– Karen Zautyk
