At 2:45 p.m. on Saturday, Jan. 7, Kearny police received a report of a burglary in progress on the 200 block of the Belleville Pike. As Officers Jordenson Jean, Pat Becker and Kyle Plaugic were en route to the crime scene, they came upon an altercation on the 800 block of Kearny Ave. Turned out the incidents were connected.
Police said the burglary victim, a 46-year-old Kearny woman, encountered the thief exiting the rear entrance of her residence and saw him try to surreptitiously discard a laptop and a cell phone. He then took off, running up the Pike and onto the avenue. And she followed, shouting at him all the way, until the cops encountered the pair and arrested the suspect — Wendell Pittman, 59, of Newark.
In a search incident to arrest, Pittman was allegedly found to be in possession of a glass pipe packed with Brillo, four wax folds of “Blackjack” heroin, and three prescription bottles — one containing 28 OxyContin tablets, one with 11 suspected opioids, and one with suspected liquid methadone. Police said he also had a pair of pliers. And two warrants, one from Newark ($100) for a MV offense, and a no-bail warrant out of Dillon, S.C., for possession of stolen property.
Pittman was charged in Kearny with: burglary, theft, possession of burglar tools, possession of the drugs and drug paraphernalia, and was sent to the Hudson County Jail.
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Other recent reports from the Kearny police blotter included the following:
Jan. 6
At 6 p.m., Officer Jean observed a 2011 Lexus parked illegally at Kearny Ave. and the Pike, then head south on the avenue, make a U-turn and turn east on the Pike. When Jean pulled it over at Schuyler Ave., police said he found that driver Tymir Wilcher, 21, of Jersey City, had a suspended license and a $200 Irvington warrant — for driving while suspended. He got a new charge for DWS, along with tickets for the parking and U-turn violations, and Irvington PD was notified.
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Officers David Bush and Jonathan Dowie stopped a 1997 Honda on Midland Ave. at Devon St. at 8 p.m. after observing it cross the center line several times and reportedly detected the odor of pot and saw a marijuana grinder and two cigars on the floor.
Fabian Arroyo, 21, of Kearny, was charged with possession of the drug and paraphernalia and summonsed for careless driving.
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Officer Michael Gontarczuk stopped a 1998 Honda with just one headlight at 10:15 p.m. at Schuyler Ave. and Radley St. [Google it], detected a familiar odor and reportedly observed three plastic bags of pot on the center console. Police said the car also yielded four empty bags and a plastic tube, all containing residue of the drug. The items allegedly belonged to passenger Katelynd Molina, 29, of Newark, who, in a search incident to arrest, was found to have two additional plastic bags of pot in her pocket, police said. She was charged at HQ with possession of pot/paraphernalia. The driver, a 28-year-old Maplewood man, got a summons for the lighting violation.
Jan. 10
Officer Mina Ekladious, responding to a 3 a.m. accident at Kearny and Oakwood Aves., arrived to find that a 2007 Ford Escape had apparently rear-ended a 2012 Mercedes. Police said the Ford’s radio “was blaring at probably the loudest setting and despite the high decibel level,” driver Pedro Arriola, 25, of Newark, was asleep at the wheel.
When Ekladious awakened him, police said, he became loud and boisterous, lamenting the Giants’ recent loss to the Packers. When asked for his license and registration, Arriola reportedly produced an E-Z Pass letter and some mail from a lawyer’s office.
Police said that when Ekladious and backup Officers Tim Castle and Jose Perez removed him from the car for field sobriety tests, he was unable to stand. Following an Alcotest at HQ, he was charged with DWI, reckless driving and failure to maintain distance between vehicles.
– Karen Zautyk
