KEARNY –
Is there a bicycle shortage in Brooklyn?
We ask because three teenage residents of that borough were arrested last week for allegedly stealing three bikes in Kearny. How they got to this town, and whether they intended to peddle all the way home, is up for speculation.
Kearny police got the call at 3:45 p.m. on Sunday, Sept. 13, that the cycles had been stolen from in front of a store in the Walmart mall. Officers Jordenson Jean, Jay Ward, Phil Finch and Chris Levchak and Sgt. Peter Gleason responded, and Gleason spotted the suspects riding near Harrison and Schuyler Aves., police said.
The cops rounded up Matthew Rodriguez, 18, and two male juveniles, ages 16 and 17. Police said the victims of the theft identified the bicycles and the trio.
In a search incident to arrest, the suspects were found to be in possession of a paintball gun and a Samsung Galaxy tablet, both of which Walmart security identified as having been stolen from that store, police reported.
All three were charged with theft, conspiracy and receiving stolen property.
Rodriguez was later released on a summons. Police said the two younger suspects had been reported missing from a group home in Brooklyn. That facility was contacted, and representatives came to Kearny to take custody of them.
During the booking procedure, the juveniles reportedly had an interesting anti-cop conversation, with one of them “verbalizing his hatred for police officers and his vision of killing officers if he had the chance,” KPD Chief John Dowie said. The teen also “told the cops he didn’t care that they were listening.”
– Karen Zautyk
