Axel Rodriguez
At 10:30 a.m., Nov. 19, KPD Officers Pete Jahera and Jon Dowie responded to a report from Walmart that a shoplifter had assaulted a female security guard when she tried to stop him from leaving with $378 worth of computer equipment. The cops arrived to see a shirtless man running through the store parking lot. They pursued him in their patrol car, repeatedly ordering him to stop, but he continued to flee, finally vaulting a fence onto adjacent industrial property, police said.
At that point, it turned into a foot pursuit, with the officers also scaling the fence, overtaking the runner and arresting him. He was brought back to the store, where security identified him as the assailant, police said.
The suspect, Axel Rodriguez, 42, of Kearny, was charged with robbery and resisting arrest and was remanded to the Hudson County Jail on $50,000 bail, with no 10% option.
As for the missing shirt, police said Rodriguez had come out of it while fighting with the guard. [Editor’s note: We do not know if Rodriguez was reunited with the garment or got a new one, but by the time his mugshot was taken, he was fully clad.]
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Other recent reports from the Kearny police blotter included the following:
Nov. 21
At 2 p.m., headquarters received a call from a concerned citizen who had seen a man entering the now-shuttered Lincoln Theater through a side door. Officers Victor Girdwood, Jordenson Jean, Esteban Gonzalez and Sean Kelly responded, searched the building and reportedly found William Lupkovich, 24, of Jersey City, sitting in the “audience” in one of the defunct mutliplex’s cinemas. Police said he explained that he had been “wandering around and was tired.” He was charged with criminal trespass.
Nov. 26
Call this one the Name Game: At 8 a.m., Officers Chris Manolis and Cesar Negron, on patrol in the Walmart lot, observed a man sitting “for quite some time” in a 1999 Saturn station wagon, which bore no license plates, front or rear.
When they asked him for identification and MV documents, he reportedly gave his name as Frederick Jean Love and produced a Virginia state I.D. card. Police said a records check revealed that his driver’s license was suspended and the vehicle was unregistered.
When Sgt. Paul Bershefski, with backup Officers Jahera and Dowie, arrived on the scene and advised the man he was to be arrested, he allegedly began struggling with the cops and had to be forcibly cuffed. Police said he also had to be forcibly placed in a patrol car (which he allegedly assaulted with his feet).
At HQ , police said a fingerprint check indicated he was Frederick Love Brian Goodhue. However, they said, it was finally determined that his actual identity was Brian Daniel, a 30-year-old resident of Milothian, Va.
The multi-monikered man was charged with driving while revoked, driving an unregistered MV, obstructing the administration of law and resisting arrest. He was then taken by Kearny EMS to Clara Maass Medical Center for evaluation.
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At 4:15 p.m., HQ received calls about a hit-run on Devon Terrace, where a gray Acura had reportedly struck another car and a van and fled the area. Officer Luis Moran and Sgt. Charles Smith were advised that the Acura was being followed by a witness, who was keeping in touch with people at the scene via cell phone and had reported the vehicle’s last location as Johnston and Kearny Aves. There, Moran found the car, with Jesus Vilarchao, 29, of Kearny, attempting to move from the driver’s seat to the rear seat, police said. Following field sobriety tests, and an Alcotest at headquarters, Vilarchao was charged with DWI, careless driving, leaving the scene of an accident and having an expired license.
Dec. 1
A 45-year-old Kearny man reported that he had been walking on the 400 block of Kearny Ave. at about 1:40 a.m. when he was attacked from behind by someone who knocked him to the ground and took his wallet. The victim, who suffered a cut lip, chased the mugger south on the avenue and west on Grove St. but then lost sight of him. Police said the assailant was described only as a white male, probably in his 30s. Det. Bryant Obie is conducting a followup investigation.
Dec. 2
Officers John Fabula and Victor Girdwood were on patrol at Stewart Ave. and Elm St. at 9 a.m. when they observed Brendan McCall, 24, of Kearny, with whom police reportedly are familiar. McCall apparently also observed them, because the officers said he immediately reversed direction, attempted to obscure his face with a hoodie and a hat and then disappeared into a deli.
There, he was reportedly found trying to hide behind a display rack.
Police said McCall provided evasive answers as to his identity and destination and that a warrant check showed he had a $250 one from Lyndhurst on a hypodermic- needle charge. In a search incident to arrest, the Kearny cops said he was found to have a glass pipe. He was charged with possession of drug paraphernalia, processed on the warrant and held on an additional $1,000 bail pending pick-up by the Lyndhurst PD or transfer to the Hudson County Jail.
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At 8:15 p.m., Officers Jean and Gonzalez spotted Alfonso Parada, 26, of Newark, on the 100 block of Kearny Ave., confirmed that he was wanted and arrested him on two outstanding Kearny warrants, both for $500 (no 10% option), stemming from DWI and drug-possession charges, police said. He was subsequently released on bail.
Dec. 3
At 6:30 a.m., Officers Fabula and Renee Crawford came upon Adam Szczachor, 31, of Garfield, apparently passed out in the cab of a Dodge Ram pick-up, its engine still running, at Jefferson and W. Bennett Aves. When efforts to rouse the driver were unsuccessful, Fabula managed to unlock the door to turn off the truck, and reportedly observed in the center console a piece of suspected crack cocaine.
When Szczachor was eventually awakened, police said, he was aware neither of where he was nor how he got there, Following FSTs, he was arrested for driving while under the influence of alcohol and/or drugs. After processing at HQ , he was additionally charged with possession of crack, operating an MV while in possession of a CDS, refusing an Alcotest and driving while suspended.
– Karen Zautyk
