KPD: Armed robbery on Alpine
Alpine Place off N. Midland Ave. is a quiet residential street that dead-ends at the old railroad cut. It’s not exactly a high-crime area. But last week, it was the scene of an armed robbery.
Shortly after 9 p.m. on Tuesday, June 21, a resident was parking in his driveway when he noticed that a black Jeep Wrangler had stopped in the street behind him. When he exited his vehicle, he was approached by a man who pointed a handgun at him and demanded his money, phone and car keys, Kearny police reported. The victim was relieved of same, including $900 in cash, and also his watch.
The robber, described only as a black male with dreadlocks, fled back to the Jeep, which was last seen traveling east on Midland. Patrol units and detectives responded, and surrounding communities were notified, but the getaway vehicle was not located.
The investigation is continuing.
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Other recent reports from the Kearny police blotter included the following:
June 16
At 10:30 a.m., police received a report that a man had reached into a car on Davis Ave. at Oakwood Ave. and had taken a wallet. Officer Sean Wilson obtained a description of the individual and his direction of travel and alerted patrol units and Det. Ray Lopez reported seeing the suspect turn west on Midland Ave., which is where Officers Richard Carbone and Alan Stickno found him, walking near Beech St.
Police said Deran Stenborg, 44, of Elmwood Park, was identified by the witness and the theft victim and was found to be in possession of a bank card, two medical cards and an I.D. card, all bearing the victim’s name. Lopez found the wallet near Hickory St. and Oakwood, where it had been discarded, police said. Stenborg was charged with burglary and theft, and also with possession of drug paraphernalia and a hypodermic needle.
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Vice officers were near the Kearny-East Newark border at 4:30 p.m. when they observed Ramon Sosa, 19, of Kearny, engage in what they believed to be a drug transaction and then enter a VW operated by Luis Rodriguez, 34, of Kearny. The officers stopped the car on the 100 block of Elm St. and reportedly saw Sosa with a plastic bag of suspected marijuana. He was charged with possession of pot and paraphernalia; Rodriguez, with driving while suspended and on a $500 motor-vehicle warrant out of Dover.
June 18
At 1:40 a.m., Officer Michael Alvarez responded to a report of an accident on the 100 block of Hoyt St., where he found that a 2015 Chrysler, operated by Josuin Rodriguez, 24, of Harrison, had apparently hit a parked 2013 Honda. Following field sobriety tests conducted by Officer Tim Castle, she was charged with DWI and subsequently also with refusing an Alcotest, reckless driving and improper passing.
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Around midnight, Officer Mina Ekladious reportedly observed a 30-year-old Kearny man “multi-tasking” near Midland Ave. and Argyle Place: urinating with one hand and drinking from a bottle of Majorska vodka held in the other. Asked what he was doing, the man responded, “Fertilizing the dirty earth.” While fertilization is not necessarily illegal, urinating in public and drinking in public are, so the officer confiscated the booze and issued summonses for the aforementioned offenses.
Police said the man stuck the tickets in his mouth, chewed them up, spit them out and began to growl like a dog. He was given an additional summons for littering.
(The town does not yet have an ordinance against growling in public.)
Since he was not arrested, his identity was withheld.
June 21
Officer Jason Rodrigues responded to a 4:45 a.m. accident at Harrison Ave. and Rt. 280, where a 2014 Honda had apparently hit a 2015 Lincoln. Police said Honda driver Cedric Lewis, 24, of Irvington, claimed he did not have his license on him, but a records check revealed it was suspended and that he had a $500 traffic warrant from Newark. He was arrested and brought to headquarters and the Newark PD was notified.
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At 11 a.m., Vice officers stopped a 2005 Infiniti on Grand Place after they saw its driver, Angel Colon, 23, of Belleville, talking on a cell phone. Displayed on the car was a state PBA shield for which Colon reportedly could provide no plausible explanation. Police said a check of its serial number revealed it had been stolen several years ago from a retired Bergen County Sheriff’s officer, and a warrant check showed that Colon was wanted by the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office on a theft-related charge. He was arrested for receiving stolen property, and the Florida authorities were notified. He also got a summons for the original cell-phone violation.
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Officer Stickno, with Officer Ben Wuelfing as backup, responded to ShopRite at 2:45 p.m. after store security reported they had in custody a shoplifter who had tried to leave with $462 worth of merchandise. Police said the suspect identified himself as Matthew Dumett, 29, of Newark, but following a fingerprint check at HQ, he turned into Darrell Thomas, 29, of East Orange. He was charged with shoplifting and hindering apprehension and was sent to the Hudson County Jail on $5,000 bail.
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Sgt. Michael Gonzalez, on off-duty security detail at ShopRite, was patrolling the lot on foot at 9 p.m. when he reportedly detected the odor of marijuana wafting from a 2004 Chevy. When it parked, he approached the passenger side, asked Crystal Sizemore, 39, of Harrison, to step from the vehicle and saw two partially smoked joints in the door, police said. On-duty Officer Derek Hemphill arrived on scene to escort Sizemore to HQ, and a search incident to arrest reportedly uncovered a pipe in her purse. She was charged with possession of pot and paraphernalia. The driver, a 53-year-old Harrison man, was given a summons for having an open container of alcohol in the vehicle.
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At 10:45 p.m., police said, Officer Jon Dowie stopped a 2001 Dodge operating without headlights on Devon St., detected the scent of guess what, asked the driver to exit the car and found several loose pieces of the drug on the driver’s seat (meaning the one in the car, not his pants). Christian Rodriguez, 18, of Kearny, was arrested for possession of pot and given summonses for possession of a CDS in an MV and the lighting violation.
— Karen Zautyk
