Sometimes, the enforcement of basic traffic laws can lead to discovery of a more serious crime. Such was the case on Friday, Oct. 30, when Officers Daniel Esteves and Dominic Dominguez, on patrol at 4:30 p.m., witnessed a 2008 Chrysler minivan fail to yield to pedestrians in a crosswalk on Kearny Ave. near Boyd St., police reported.
Esteves and Dominguez followed the van south on the avenue, pulling it over at Hoyt St. Meanwhile, they noted that the vehicle bore a temporary N.J. tag and also confirmed that it had been reported stolen out of Clifton. The officers also observed that it was occupied by five people.
The driver and passengers were ordered out and held at gunpoint until backup — Sgt. Pete Gleason and Officers Phil Finch, Chris Levchak and Sean Podolski — arrived. The suspects, all Jersey City residents, were cuffed without incident and taken to headquarters, where each was charged criminally with receiving stolen property.
In addition, driver Da’Jour Riley, 18, was charged with being unlicensed and given a summons for the crosswalk violation. The passengers were identified as Javon Maxwell, 18; Syquil Rogers, 18; and two 17-year-old boys.
Clifton police were notified that the stolen vehicle had been recovered.
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Other recent reports from the Kearny police blotter included the following:
Nov. 3
Speaking of “routine” enforcement: Shortly after 6 p.m., Officers Jordenson Jean and Jon Dowie observed a 2004 Pontiac with an invalid inspection sticker in the area of Kearny Ave. and Liberty St. Police said a check of their onboard computer revealed that the registered owner, Alfuquan Braime, 34, of East Orange, had a suspended license and two traffic warrants — one each from Newark and Orange.
Police said Braime parked the car, and a woman, Jovan Sylvester, 32, of Newark, approached and got in the driver’s seat as Braime moved to the passenger side. She then drove west on Liberty, where the cops brought the vehicle to a halt at Windsor St. There, they reportedly smelled the odor of marijuana about the car and saw a hand-rolled, burnt cigar in the area where Braime was sitting.
He was subsequently charged with possession of pot and drug paraphernalia, with the license and inspection violations, and on the warrants — and Newark and Orange were notified that he was in custody. Police said Sylvester also turned out to be suspended and was charged with that and failure to surrender a suspended license.
Nov. 4
At 8:30 a.m., Officers Damon Pein and Renee Crawford responded to a report of a workplace assault at a business on Basin Drive in South Kearny, where Geoffrey Daly, 68, of New Hampshire — a contractor doing work at the Kearny site — had allegedly struck a co-worker with a chair. The victim, a 45-yearold Bloomfield man, suffered an arm injury and was treated at the scene by EMS, police said. Daly was arrested and charged with aggravated assault, possession of a weapon and possession of a weapon for unlawful purposes. (Note: A “weapon” does not necessarily have a trigger.)
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Officers Cesar Negron and Victor Girdwood, patrolling on the 300 block of Beech St. at 1 p.m., spotted a parked 2010 Ford whose two occupants reportedly began making “erratic and furtive movements” when they saw the police car approaching. The erratic furtiveness turned out to involve drugs, and the cops recovered one marijuana blunt, police said. Both youths, 17-year-old North Arlington boys, were charged with possession of pot and paraphernalia.
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Another parked car, a Honda Civic with several people congregating around it, caught the attention of Officers Esteves and Dominguez at 9:45 p.m. at Midland Ave. and Elm St. When that driver saw that patrol car, police said, he quickly reversed and headed down Elm, where the officers stopped him and saw him apparently trying to conceal something in the vehicle. Police said it was found to be a hand-wrapped cigar and that two vaccuum-sealed bags with suspected marijuana were also recovered.
The driver, a 17-year-old from Kearny, was arrested and charged with possession of pot and paraphernalia and given MV summonses for double-parking, careless driving, a seatbelt violation and possession of a CDS in an MV.
– Karen Zautyk
