KEARNY –
As they say, you can’t make this stuff up.
Arrested Thursday in Newark was a man who reportedly: crashed one truck into another, carjacked an auto (by diving through its sunroof), broke into a home, stole a second auto and hit at least four more vehicles before being apprehended at Rt. 21 by Newark police.
And what has all this to do with Kearny?
The adventure started here, in the meadows, where the suspect apparently thought he was being chased by vicious snakes.
We shall now attempt to sort this all out for you:
At 3:48 p.m., June 25, Kearny Police Officers Richard Carbone and Sean Kelly responded to the report of an accident on Jacobus Ave. in South Kearny.
There, they were flagged down by a tractor-trailer driver, who pointed out a U-Haul truck abandoned on the side of the road. Its operator, the trucker said, had hit the big rig, then bailed out and ran.
The cops were searching the area when they received an alert that an individual was attempting to carjack vehicles stopped in traffic on Rts. 1/9. At that site, they encountered a driver who said a man had jumped onto the hood of his car, dove through the sunroof — landing in the back seat — pointed something at the back of his head and indicated he wanted the auto. The owner readily exited the red Chrysler, and the thief reportedly drove toward Newark.
KPD Sgts. Anthony Limite and Dave Rakowski picked up the trail, having been advised by dispatch that the stolen car may have crashed in Newark. Sure enough, at Raymond Blvd. and Waydell St., near the eastern edge of the Ironbound neighborhood, they came across an accident.
The victims in the vehicle that been struck provided a description of a hit-run driver that matched that of the Kearny carjacker, police said. However, he was driving a silver Mercedes, not a red Chrysler.
Limite and Rakowski were then flagged down by a woman who said a man had been running through the backyards on Waydell St. (where he fell into a swimming pool), then forced his way into a home, “yelling and demanding keys to a car.” The occupants had no keys.
The intruder, police said, then ran to Academy Auto Sales on Waydell, where he stole a silver Mercedes, slightly injuring an employee in the process and crashing into a parked Volkswagen and a forklift while fleeing the garage. He reportedly hit yet another parked car before colliding with the auto the KPD officers had found on Raymond Blvd.
The suspect, later identified as Hamed Ayala, 31, of Union City, was nabbed by Newark cops at Raymond Blvd. and Rt. 21. Police said he was taken to University Hospital in Newark, where he was positively identified by the Kearny carjacking victim — whose missing red Chrysler was finally found, abandoned at Waydell and Ferry Sts.
Ayala was arrested by the Newark PD on various charges. (Specific information and a mug shot were not available by press time.) In Kearny, he has been charged with carjacking. For now. The KPD said there could be additional counts filed against him.
While he was at the hospital, Ayala reportedly stated that, in Kearny, he had been running away from snakes that were trying to bite him.
