At 3:30 a.m., Sept. 14, Officers Jay Ward and Dean Gasser responded to a report of a fight in progress on the 100 block of Sanford Ave., where they encountered two Kearny men having “a loud, heated argument.” The pair were advised to cease and desist and to leave the area.
Police said they seemingly complied, but about five minutes later, they were found on Harrison Ave., near Sanford, “engaged in the same disruptive conduct.”
In a magnanimous gesture of community policing,” KPD Chief John Dowie said, Gasser and Ward offered to transport them out of the area, “so the neighborhood could sleep.”
One of the men accepted the offer and was driven to his home on Devon St. The other, Jacob Nash, 24, declined. However, police said, Nash then showed up at the Devon St. address and tried to instigate another confrontation.
The officers said he was again told to leave, refused, and attempted to go up the stairs to his adversary’s residence. At that point, the chief noted, the cops had had enough and attempted to place Nash under arrest, but he refused to put his hands behind his back. Police said he had to be forcibly cuffed, and at one point elbowed Ward in the chest.
At headquarters, Nash reportedly assaulted Ward again, trying to push him into a wall, refused to cooperate with the booking process and refused to sign for his property.
He was charged with disorderly conduct, resisting arrest, and two counts of aggravated assault on a police officer.
The reason for the initial argument? Dowie said it was over a “love triangle.”
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Other recent reports from the Kearny police blotter included the following:
Sept. 11
Vice and ABC Unit detectives, suspecting that sales to minors were occurring at a Davis Ave. liquor store, set up surveillance and, shortly before 10 p.m., observed a teenager enter the establishment. When he left, they confronted 18-year-old Kelvin Ochoa- Mayo of Kearny and found him to be in possession of two 25 oz. cans of Natural Ice beer, police said. He was charged with possession of an alcoholic beverage by an underage person. The store clerk, and co-owner, Tushar Parikh, 56, of North Bergen, was charged with offering alcoholic beverages to an underage person.
Sept. 12
Officers Tom Pontrella and Jay Balogh, answering a 2 a.m. call about a disorderly person on the 600 block of Elm St., encountered Nicholas Dow, 26, of Kearny. He was arrested for disorderly conduct and on a $500 warrant out of Holmdel, and the Holmdel PD was notified.
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At noon, Officer T.J. Hernandez responded to an auto-theft report at Kearny Ave. and Afton St., where a man had jumped into a running car and fled south on the avenue. Police said the owner of the black 2010 Chevy was supervising a group of youths collecting for a high school recreation program and had left the engine on while checking on them. Some canisters containing donations were in the vehicle.
Det. John Plaugic and Capt. Scott Macfie were able to track the stolen Chevy to Newark, and within an hour it was recovered near Branch Brook Park.
It was brought to Kearny HQ for processing, and police are checking security videos from both Kearny and Newark.
Sept. 16
Sgt. Dave Rakowski and Officers Cesar Negron and John Fabula investigated a 9:15 p.m. report that a man known to have a warrant was seen in the area of Prospect Place. Fabula located Jayson Mercado, 24, of the Bronx, and verified that he had a Kearny contempt warrant for simple assault. Mercado was arrested and remanded to the Hudson County Jail on $1,000 bail.
Sept. 18
Officer Steven Hroncich, taking an unrelated report on the 200 block of Devon St. at 7 a.m., observed a pedestrian whom he knew to be wanted by Harrison. Confirming the $200 warrant, he arrested Bartlomiej Mikolajczyk, 33, of Kearny, took him to HQ and notified Harrison PD.
–Karen Zautyk
