At 1 p.m. last Wednesday, Jan. 18, Officer Luis Moran responded to Bergen Ave. and Elm St. to interview a 55-year-old Irvington woman whose pain medication had apparently been stolen. Police said the victim pointed out as the likely suspect a male acquaintance, also from Irvington, who was standing with another man near a parked 2013 Acura.
As Moran approached the pair, the suspect — despite the officer’s orders to stop — entered the passenger side of the car. Police said the driver, later identified as Wesley Carrion, 19, of Maplewood, put the vehicle in gear and headed off — with Moran hanging onto the still-open passenger door. The officer was reportedly dragged for about 30 feet before managing to free himself.
Moran, who was not injured, returned to his patrol car, issued a BOLO and followed the Acura, which he found parked on the 100 block of Kearny Ave., with Carrion still at the wheel, police said. (The passenger had apparently fled on foot.)
With Officer Jose Resua and Sgts. Charles Smith and Joseph Vulcano as backup, Carrion was arrested and charged with aggravated assault on a police officer, eluding, reckless driving and disregarding a police officer’s signal.
He was then released. Without bail. “Thanks to bail reform,” a source told The Observer.
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Other recent reports from the Kearny police blotter included the following:
Jan. 13
At 3 a.m., Officers David Bush and Jonathan Dowie pulled over a 2008 Subaru for running a red light and crossing the double-yellow line at the Belleville Pike and Elm St., police said. While waiting for driver Julian Keene, 25, of Newark, to produce his credentials, they reportedly observed burnt marijuana cigars in the car and then retrieved 12 more hand-rolled stogies from the driver’s area. Keene was charged with possession of pot/paraphernalia, operating a MV while in possession of a CDS, careless driving, and the red-light violation.
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The free air for your tires offered at Wawa set off a 10:45 a.m. dispute that led to one woman allegedly threatening another with a baseball bat. Police said a 38-year-old Lyndhurst woman was waiting to use the air pump, when a car driven by Telesha Austin, 29, of East Orange, cut the line. When the other woman objected, Austin reportedly exited her vehicle, yelling and swinging the bat — luckily just hitting the ground with it. The Lyndhurst woman called 911. Sgt. Smith and Officers Resua and Phil Finch confiscated the bat and arrested Austin for simple assault, possession of a weapon and possession of a weapon for unlawful purposes.
Jan. 14
At 9:45 p.m., Officers Jose Castillo, Vic Girdwood and Jose Perez responded — for the second time — to a disturbance in a residence on the 100 block of Duke St. and again encountered a reportedly hostile and uncooperative Damian Fumero, 31, of Kearny. While Castillo was attempting to interview him, Fumero allegedly pushed the officer in the chest and flipped over a kitchen table. He was eventually wrestled to the floor, cuffed, taken to headquarters and charged with two counts each of resisting arrest and aggravated assault on an officer. Police said he was offered, and refused, medical attention.
Jan. 17
On patrol in South Kearny at 12:30 a.m., Officers Bush and Dowie stopped a 2006 Chevy for inoperable brake lights and reportedly detected the odor of pot.
Despite the 30-degree temperature, driver Kyle Robe, 20, of Newark, removed his coat and left it in the car, which naturally led the cops to examine same. The garment was found to contain a marijuana cigar, and a plastic bag of the drug was behind the driver’s seat, police said. Robe was charged with possession of pot/paraphernalia, operating a MV in possession of CDS, and the brake-light violation.
Jan. 18
Vice officers were passing Town Hall at 11:30 a.m. when they saw Jonathan Morales-Rios, 24, of Kearny, walking north on Kearny Ave. while apparently hand-rolling a suspicious-looking cigar — which he reportedly tried to swallow when they stopped him at Quincy Ave. Police said he eventually spit it out, after repeated advice to do so, and was charged with possession of pot/paraphernalia and hindering apprehension — for attempting to destroy evidence.
Jan. 19
At 11:30 a.m., Vice officers found a group of teenage males huddled in an alleyway on the 200 bock of Maple St., detected the odor of marijuana and arrested Jason Dukhi, 18, of Kearny, for alleged possession of three burnt cigars and a plastic bag containing suspected pot. Police said the other boys were admonished at the scene and the Juvenile Bureau will likely follow up.
— Karen Zautyk
