On Sunday, Nov. 6, at 4:40 p.m., Officers Mina Ekladious and T.J. Hernandez responded to a report of a shoplifter at Walmart and, just outside the store, spotted Mark Perez, 24, of Newark, who police said fit the description of the suspect — a man wearing camo pants and a shirt with a marijuana insignia on the front. He reportedly also had several bulges in his clothing.
When Perez was patted down, police said, the officers found him to have on his person: a speaker, a wireless speaker, a set of headphones and a pair of earbuds, with a total Walmart value of $163.23.
Police said a more extensive search revealed: 34 wax folds of suspected heroin, stamped “Bone Crusher”; one fold stamped “Ether”; two baggies of suspected marijuana; one clear pipe and one Suboxone pill. He was also found to have a $500 drug-related warrant from Stafford Township.
Perez was charged in Kearny with shoplifting, possession of the drugs and drug paraphernalia and possession of heroin with intent to distribute, and Judge Thomas D. McKeon tacked $25,000 onto his bail.
* * *
Other recent reports from the Kearny police blotter included the following:
Nov. 4
At 8:30 p.m., Officer Ekladious was approached near Kearny High School by a 13-year-old town boy who said he had just had an altercation with a 14-year-old from Irvington who then fled, running west on Garfield Ave. The officer checked the area, to no avail, but about 20 minutes later spotted the older youth near the school stadium, where a football game was in progress.
When he approached the boy to ascertain what had happened earlier, police said, the teen became confrontational, belligerent and profane, expressing such sentiments as, “You can’t tell me s—,” and “This is why you pigs get murdered.”
Onlookers soon gathered around, themselves became unruly and had to be dispersed by Sgt. Tom Pontrella and Officer Tim Castle. The Irvington teen was eventually taken into custody on charges of disorderly conduct and resisting arrest, processed at HQ and released to the custody of his grandmother. (See Nov. 10 item.)
Nov. 5
At 2:40 a.m., at Passaic and Laurel Aves., Officer Ekladious stopped a 2013 Toyota with Texas plates and only one headlight. Police said the odor of pot was evident and a bag of the drug was recovered, but both the driver — Jeremy Castillo, 34, of Fort Worth — and passenger Krystal Long, 29, of Irvington, denied knowledge of same. Nevertheless, both were arrested for possession of pot and paraphernalia. In addition, Castillo was charged with being an unlicensed driver, operating an unregistered vehicle, possession of CDS in a MV, and the lighting violation.
Nov. 7
At 5 a.m., Officer Ekladious stopped a 2008 N.Y.-registered Jeep for making an illegal U-turn at Midland Ave. and Franklin Place and, illuminating the interior, reportedly saw five blue wax folds of suspected heroin in the lap of driver Thalia Kritsotakis, 37, of Howard Beach, Queens. Police said a search incident to arrest produced a syringe, one Xanax pill, and two glass pipes with CDS residue. She was charged with possession of all the aforementioned and also got a summons for the illegal turn.
- ••
At 10 p.m., at the Belleville Pike and Devon St., Officer Michael Gontarczuk pulled over a 2006 Mustang with illegal heavily-tinted windows and reportedly observed a nugget of marijuana in the driver’s lap and remnants of the drug scattered throughout the car and also found a cigar wrapper filled with same.
Joseph Muriale, 18, of Lyndhurst was charged with possession of pot and paraphernalia, possession of a CDS in a MV, and the tinted-windows violation.
Nov. 8
Officers David Bush and Jon Dowie, at Harrison and Bergen Aves. at 11:30 p.m., were alerted by their MDC that the registered owner of a passing 2004 Chevy had a suspended license. While waiting for Ronnie Walker, 43, of Summit, to produce his paperwork, they reportedly saw a burnt marijuana cigar next to the driver’s seat and, when he exited the car, found a baggie of suspected pot in the same area. Walker was charged with driving while suspended and possession of pot, paraphernalia and a CDS in a MV.
- ••
Officers Bush and Dowie, back at the same intersection at 4 a.m., were again alerted to a suspended driver and when they stopped a 2008 Pontiac reportedly found within it a prescription vial containing 25 Oxycodone tablets and seven Percocets. Lavell Malone, 25, of Newark, was charged with the license offense, possession of the drugs and paraphernalia and possession of a CDS in a MV.
Nov. 10
Shortly after 8 a.m., Officer Giovanni Rodriguez responded to a report of a suspicious person on the 100 block of Elm St. and arrived to find the same Irvington teen who had been arrested Nov. 4, now “very obviously trying to conceal something in his left pants leg,” police said. The “something” reportedly was a red Samurai sword, which Rodriguez confiscated. The youth was arrested again, this time for weapons possession, booked and released to the custody of an adult sister. Police said that sometime between the two incidents, he turned 15. Was the sword a birthday present?
