Axel Rodriguez
KEARNY –
Yes, faithful readers, that is the same mugshot that accompanied last week’s Kearny police blotter — at which time we noted it had earlier appeared with the Dec. 9 blotter. Axel Rodriguez of Kearny, arrested twice in recent weeks — allegedly trying to shoplift computer equipment from Walmart and makeup from ShopRite — was taken into custody yet again last Thursday.
Charged with shoplifting. Among other things.
Considering the circumstances, we thought this merited a separate news story.
(The regular KPD blotter appears on p. 3.)
Rodriguez, 43, had been twice remanded (on Nov. 19 and Dec. 21) to the Hudson County Jail on $50,000 bail, with no 10% option. Each time, this apparently was reduced by the county and he was released from the slammer.
Following the Dec. 21 incarceration, he reportedly was out by Dec. 23.
On or about Dec. 29, police said, bottles of Hennessy and Jameson whiskey began disappearing from the shelves of a Kearny Ave. liquor store. A total of $288 worth of liquor was reported stolen.
Investigating the “pattern of thefts,” KPD Officers Derek Hemphill and Daniel Esteves developed Rodriguez as a suspect, three separate shoplifting warrants were drawn for his arrest, and patrol units were notified, Chief John Dowie reported.
Shortly before 9 a.m. last Thursday, Jan. 7, Officers John Fabula and Daniel Lopez spotted Rodriguez near Kearny Ave. and Halstead St. At the sight of the patrol car, he turned away, and when Fabula exited the vehicle, the suspect started running south on the avenue, police said.
They said he then cut through a used-car lot and fled east on Garfield Ave, to Devon St., where he was apprehended.
In addition to the shoplfiting warrants, Rodriguez was charged with disorderly conduct and resisting arrest. He was also issued two summonses: One for littering (discarding items as he ran through the lot). And one for failure to use crosswalks during the chase.
Following processing at headquarters, Rodriguez was once again shipped off to the county jail. His bail this time was set at $10,000, with a 10% option, on the warrants and an additional $2,500, no 10%, on the other criminal charges.
