Surveillance of a suspicious car in the Walmart parking lot paid off big time for the Kearny Vice Unit last week when detectives discovered a significant stash of heroin and marijuana in the vehicle, police reported.
At 11:30 a.m. Thursday, Oct. 1, Vice officers were watching the 2003 Pontiac and its occupant, whom they suspected of selling narcotics from the car. When they were “reasonably sure he was engaged in CDS activity,” Chief John Dowie said, they approached on foot and saw the man “quickly shove a plastic bag into the glove compartment.”
At first, the suspect refused their commands to open the door and identify himself, but he eventually complied, and when that door opened, a “very strong odor” of marijuana wafted out, police said.
Resting on the center console was a small bag of pot, but the mother lode was in the glove box, police said. There, the officers reportedly found a large bag of weed, 29 grams worth, along with 100 wax folds of heroin. The suspect, Dorrien Appling, 30, of Newark, was also said to be in possession of $502 in cash.
Appling was arrested and charged with possession of pot and heroin and possession with intent to distribute.
Authorities said he had six prior entries in his adult criminal history (four in Newark and one each in Union and Irvington), including CDS possession and distribution, along with prowling and loitering. In Union, he was reportedly convicted on a firearm-possession charge and sentenced to 180 days incarceration.
• • •
Other recent reports from the Kearny police blotter included the following:
Sept. 25
Shortly after 6 p.m., Vice stopped a 2008 Acura that was travelling against the flow of traffic on one-way Maple St., recognized the passenger and confirmed that he had an outstanding $250 warrant out of Harrison, police said. Xavier Cantillo, 23, of Kearny, was taken into custody and the Harrison PD was notified.
Sept. 28
At 2:20 a.m., units were advised of a three-vehicle accident — and a dispute — at Kearny and Wilson Aves. Officer Angelo Palagano, the first to arrive, found evidence of a crash involving a 2002 Lexus, a 2007 Mazda and a 2007 Honda pickup truck. Police said they also found several people in the street attempting to control the pickup’s combative driver, Leonardo Vigo, 25, of Kearny, who was described as having the strong odor of alcohol about him.
Vigo allegedly ignored the commands of the cops — now including backup Officers Ben Wuelfing and Jay Balogh and Sgt. Glenn Reed — to cease his disruptive behavior and had to be taken to the ground and forcibly cuffed.
Transported to headquarters, he also had to be forcibly removed from the patrol car, police said.
Vigo was issued summonses for DWI and refusing to take an Alcotest and was charged criminally with disorderly conduct and resisting arrest.
• • •
At 3 p.m., Sgt. Dave Rakowski was monitoring heavily congested schooldismissal traffic at Kearny and Stewart Aves. when he saw a 2015 Mini Cooper ignoring the directions of a crossing guard. Rakowski notified units of its license plate number and direction of travel, and Officer Pat Becker located and stopped the car at Kearny and Locust Aves. Along with disregarding the guard, George Mayoral, 49, of Kearny, was charged with driving while suspended.
• • •
Officer Daniel Esteves, on patrol at 3:45 p.m., observed a Chevy box truck parked in a prohibited area near Kearny Ave. and Halstead St., then pull away and enter traffic without signalling. Police said his onboard computer advised him that the owner’s license was suspended, and he stopped the truck at Quincy Ave. and Elm St. Vinicius Silva, 32, of Kearny, was arrested for driving while suspended and failure to surrender a suspended license. Police said he also had a $250 DWI warrant from Harrison, and Harrison police were notified.
Sept. 30
Vice officers were driving east on the Belleville Pike near Passaic Ave. at 10:40 a.m. when they pulled alongside a ‘93 Honda and observed its passenger apparently snorting something from a straw. They conducted a motor vehicle stop and found Lisa Timmann, 49, of Lyndhurst, to be in possession of the cut straw and four wax folds of heroin, police said. Timmann was charged with possession of the drug and drug paraphernalia and on a defiant-trespass warrant from Newark. She was later released when someone posted her $200 (10% of $2,000) bail.
– Karen Zautyk
