The Harrison Police Department is investigating a strong-arm robbery of an out-of-town man who was reportedly waylaid while walking on Harrison’s south side last Monday evening, Feb. 15.
Police said Officer Albert Pearson was sent to 301 Passaic Ave., at 10:09 p.m. on a report of a possible assault.
At that location, police said the officer met the apparent victim, a 51-year-old Princeton resident, and a second individual who told the officer she observed the incident, which happened earlier that evening.
Police said the witness reported that as she was traveling west on Hamilton St., at about 7:50 p.m., she saw three males assaulting the victim in the parking lot just under Rt. 280 and said they fled the area in a silver 4-door Audi which, she believed, turned west on Passaic Ave. and continued over the Bridge St. Bridge into Newark.
It’s unclear what happened in the time between the incident and the time it was reported to police.
After taking the victim, who is Chinese, to police headquarters, police said he told them, through an interpreter, that he was walking back to his son’s house in East Newark when he was approached from behind while crossing the Hamilton St. parking lot under the highway.
He told police that three black males pushed him to the ground and began searching through his pockets.
Police said the man told them that his assailants removed his cellular phone and wallet from his pocket, then entered a car and fled the scene.
Inside his wallet, he told police, were three Chinese credit cards, two Chinese debit cards, $300 of Chinese running di currency (worth $6 in American money) and $300 in U.S. cash.
Police said the victim was evaluated by EMS at HQ but he refused medical treatment.
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Among other incidents logged by the HPD last week were these reports:
Feb. 14
At about 12:30 p.m., an 18-year-old Harrison man came into HQ with his father and a friend to report that around midnight, he was speaking on his mobile phone in front of his residence, in the 100 block of Patterson St., when a black 4-door Honda with tinted windows pulled up near him.
He told police that after the vehicle came to a stop, someone inside asked him to come over.
As he approached the vehicle, the front seat passenger brandished a large knife in his direction, attempting to make contact with him, he told police.
Instead, he told police, he jumped away from the car and while doing so, swung his right hand at the passenger, hitting the vehicle which then drove away.
The man told police that inside the car, there appeared to be five black males, who appeared to be in their late teens to early 20s.
It is unclear why the man waited so long to inform police about the incident.
Feb. 17
Officer Joseph Sloan was on patrol, at 10:46 p.m., when he observed a 2011 maroon 4-door Kia Sorrento traveling westbound on Harrison Ave. at a high rate of speed, police said.
Police said Sloan followed the vehicle, activating his emergency lights and siren, and tried to conduct a motor vehicle stop at Harrison and Davis Aves.
After the officer got out of his car and approached the vehicle, the driver reportedly threw a clear plastic bag out of the driver’s window, quickly accelerated, turning right onto Davis.
Sloan recovered the bag, inside of which he found green vegetation believed to be marijuana, police said. He then got back in his patrol car and resumed pursuit of the vehicle northbound on Davis, at which point the driver turned left onto William St. and came to a stop at the dead-end. Sloan pulled up behind the vehicle, ordered the driver to shut off the engine and called for backup.
After Officer Michael Halpin arrived, Sloan and Halpin approached the vehicle and Sloan ordered the driver, Junior Northover, 30, of Newark, to exit. After he was handcuffed and read his rights, police said Northover told the officers, “OK. I’m sorry, I got nervous and threw the bag of weed out the window.”
Inside the vehicle, police said, was a passenger who was found to have no active warrants and was released. The Kia was towed from the scene.
Northover was charged with possession of 50 grams or more of CDS, hindering apprehension of prosecution and resisting arrest. He was also issued three motor vehicle summonses and was instructed to appear in Hudson County Central Judicial Processing Court in Jersey City on March 1.
