KPD: Argued himself into jail
What started as an argument at Town Hall ended with a Kearny man sitting in the Hudson County Jail on $50,000 bail. Full. No 10% option.
Police offered the following account of what transpired:
At about 1 p.m., May 5, a heated dispute among several individuals disrupted the Municipal Court session. Called to the scene, Sgt. Peter Gleason and Officers Chris Levchak and Sean Wilson arrived to find two men and two women now arguing outside the building. While attempting to gather information and calm the situation, the officers “were continually interrupted by a very animated and vulgar” Ramon Luis Umana, 28, of Kearny.
Advised several times to cease and desist, “he only became more agitated and threatening.”
Asked for identification, Umana reportedly produced a suspended driver’s license. Because he had failed to surrender that suspended license to the DMV, Levchak wrote him a summons, which Umana proceeded to tear up and throw in the officer’s face, police said.
Advised that he was now under arrest, Umana reportedly pushed the officer and had to be forcibly restrained and cuffed. Police said he “continued his combative behavior” at headquarters, where he was booked on charges of disorderly conduct, resisting arrest, obstructing the administration of law, and aggressive assault on an officer. Thanks to the torn-up ticket, he also got a summons for littering.
Police said a charge of criminal mischief was added after Umana shoved his holding-cell blanket into the toilet. He was transported to the county jail on that 50G bail. Full. No 10%. (Editor’s note: Maybe the county will give him a new blankey. For “security” purposes.)
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Other recent reports from the Kearny police blotter included the following:
May 8
Shortly before 9:30 p.m., Sgt. Glenn Reed and Officers Mina Ekladious, Esteban Gonzalez and Joe Martin responded to an accident on the Belleville Pike near the eastern spur of the N.J. Turnpike and found there had been a head-on collision between a westbound 2006 Infiniti and an eastbound 2004 VW Jetta.
While interviewing Infiniti driver Wendell Smith, 53, of Bloomfield, Ekladious reportedly detected the odor of alcohol and observed an open bottle of champagne on the center console.
Police said Smith appeared so heavily intoxicated that field sobriety tests could not be conducted at the scene. These were performed later at HQ, along with an Alcotest, after which Smith was charged with DWI, assault by auto, reckless driving, consumption of an alcoholic beverage in a MV and having an open container of alcohol in a MV.
Police said the Jetta driver, a 22-year-old Union woman, faced no charges and that she declined medical attention.
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Shortly after 9:30 p.m., Officers Michael Alvarez and Darwin Paulino stopped a 2006 BMW on Fish House Road to issue a summons for having heavily tinted windows. While interviewing driver Edy Tapia, 21, of Belleville, they detected the odor of marijuana and he handed over a bag containing suspected pot, police said. Tapia was charged with possession of the drug and paraphernalia (a grinder), having a CDS in a MV and the tinting violation.
May 9
Pursuant to an ongoing investigation, Det. John Fabula went to a Hoyt St. address at 10 a.m. and arrested Kathy Jo Smith, 44, of Kearny, on one count of credit card theft and three counts of using a stolen credit card. Police said the case dated to April 10, when another township woman reported that someone had found her wallet on Kearny Ave. and a card was missing. Fabula tracked the subsequent transactions on the card and found it was used at QuickChek ($81.29 worth of purchases), a liquor store ($41.12) and Walmart ($214.10). He also viewed security videos, which police said led to Smith’s arrest.
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At about 7 p.m., near Kearny and Oakwood Aves., Lt. Paul Bershefski observed Joseph Fauser, 30, of Kearny, whom police had developed as a suspect in the April 20 burglary of a Kearny Ave. tavern. Bershefski and back-up Officer Chris Manolis arrested him on a burglary/theft warrant and also for possession of a hypodermic needle, police said, and Fauser was remanded to the county jail.
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Officer Jon Dowie, on patrol at 10:30 p.m., saw a 2002 Acura parked at Gunnell Oval, which is closed to the public at night. While advising the occupants of this, he spotted a grinder at the feet of a rear-seat passenger — David Flores, 20, of Kearny — who then turned over a bag of marijuana, police said. Flores was charged with possession of the drug and paraphernalia and with hindering apprehension, for allegedly originally lying about his birthdate.
May 11
At 3 a.m., Officers Dowie and Dominic Dominguez found a 2002 Honda, with someone apparently slumped behind the wheel, parked at Schuyler Ave. and Duke St. Police said that when they got the attention of driver Malik Nutter, 34, of Bloomfield, and he rolled down the window, the odor of burning marijuana was evident. When he stepped from the car, the officers reportedly saw on the front seat a “smiley-face” grinder and an unlabeled prescription bottle, containing an unknown white powder. Police said there were also a half-dozen burnt “roaches” in the ashtray.
Nutter was arrested for possession of pot and paraphernalia and having a CDS in a MV. The white powder was sent for analysis and, depending on the results, additional charges could be forthcoming.
May 12
The Vice Unit was in the area of Kearny and Elizabeth Aves. at 11:30 a.m. when they saw John Gross, 23, of Kearny, alight from a vehicle with a hypodermic protruding from his pocket, police said. He was also allegedly found to be in possession of 12 wax folds of heroin, stamped “Game of Thrones.” Gross was charged with possession of the needle, heroin and paraphernalia.
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Officer Ekladious, near Kearny and Johnston Aves. at 10 p.m., observed Miguel Vargas, 51, of Kearny, sitting on a stoop, reportedly consuming the contents of a 24 oz. container of Keystone beer. With Officer Esteban Gonzalez as back-up, Ekladious asked Vargas for ID, but he refused to comply, began shouting obscenities and refused orders to cease and desist, police said.
Officer Vic Girdwood advised him he was now under arrest, but he again reportedly refused to comply and had to be forcibly cuffed. So, instead of receiving just a summons for drinking in public, Vargas ended up at HQ, charged criminally with disorderly conduct, obstructing the administration of law, and resisting arrest.
— Karen Zautyk
