KEARNY —
A Newark woman was arrested at Walmart last week for allegedly using a juvenile — her own niece — in a shoplifting caper.
On Monday, May 29, at 6 p.m., KPD Officers Mina Ekladious and Jose Perez were dispatched to the store, where a 13-year-old Newark girl had been detained for reportedly trying to leave with a stolen RCA Voyager 3 electronic tower, valued at $51.58. Walmart security told the cops that she had previously been seen with an adult female who had already left the premises.
According to police, the juvenile said the woman was her aunt, who had encouraged her in the theft, saying, “Take it. You’re not gonna get caught.”
Wrong.
The officers got a description of the woman’s car and found the 2005 Acura with Massachusetts plates in the parking lot, where they also found the aunt, 50-year-old Michele Smith. Police said she was identified by security and had also been caught on store surveillance video in the company of the girl.
Smith was charged with shoplifting, use of a juvenile to commit a criminal offense, and on two Newark failure-to-appear warrants, $300 and $500.
The niece was released to the custody of her mother, and N.J. Child Protection Services responded to KPD headquarters to gather information on the case.
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Other recent reports from the Kearny police blotter included the following:
May 26
Officer Sean Podolski, at Kearny and Washington Aves. at 10:10 p.m., was advised by a concerned citizen that the driver of a white Toyota was possibly intoxicated. Police said he located the car, its engine running, parked in a crosswalk with Deborah Zambrana, 41, of Kearny, at the wheel.
According to police, her speech was slurred and Podolski detected the odor of alcohol and observed a cup filled with dark red liquid in the center console. When asked for her credentials, she reportedly produced the registration for a different vehicle.
While looking for the correct paperwork, police said, Zambrana tried to “surreptitiously” dump the liquid in the cup onto the rear floorboard. Apparently, this was noticed.
Following field sobriety tests and an Alcotest, Zambrana was charged with DWI, the crosswalk violation, not having an insurance card, having an open container of alcohol in the car — and DWI with minors in the vehicle. Police said her passengers were three girls: two 13-year-olds from Kearny and a 15-year-old from Newark. The KPD took the girls to their respective homes, and Child Protection was notified.
May 27
At 2:20 a.m., police said, Officers Michael Gontarczuk and Jason Rodrigues pulled over a northbound 2003 Infiniti for a lighting violation and failure to maintain its lane on Rts. 1/9, detected the odor of marijuana and saw a marijuana cigar on the rear seat.
Police said driver Andre Ho-On, 27, of Bloomfield, was argumentative, refused to provide his license, began yelling and rambling about “ancient treaties and delegation of law” and demanded that Hudson County Sheriff Frank Schillari be summoned to the scene. (We do not know if any ancient treaty requires sheriff-summoning, but in any case, this was not done.)
Ho-On reportedly also refused to exit the car for FSTs and had to be physically removed by Gontarczuk, Rodrigues and back-up Sgt. Jack Corbett. He was taken to HQ and charged with resisting arrest, obstructing the administration of law, DWI, refusing to take an Alcotest, possession of pot and drug paraphernalia, and on a $1,000 (full) Hillside theft warrant. His passenger, Joselin Reyes, 24, of the Bronx, was also charged with possession of pot/paraphernalia.
May 28
Officer Jordenson Jean, on uniformed off-duty detail at BJ’s, was patrolling the rear of the store at 6:45 p.m. when he encountered Luciano Yuelling, 33 — formerly of Harrison; now claiming to be homeless — and ran him for warrants.
Police said he had four: three from Harrison for contempt of court ($100, $100 and $250) and a no-bail NCIC/Hudson County Sheriff’s warrant for assault and harassment. Yuelling was turned over at the scene to on-duty Officer David Bush, processed at HQ and provided with at least a temporary home at the Hudson County Jail.
May 29
Officers Rodrigues and Gontarczuk were dispatched to Sanford Ave. and Radley St. at 2:30 a.m. to check on a report of someone passed out in an illegally parked car. Police said they found Leonso Mendoza, 51, of Harrison, asleep behind the wheel of a 2007 Nissan, its engine running and its headlights/tail lights on. When repeated knocks on the window failed to rouse him, police said the officers opened the door and he stumbled into the street. FSTs reportedly had to be terminated after he nearly fell.
Mendoza was charged with DWI, DWI in a school zone, refusing an Alcotest, parking in a prohibited area and failure to produce registration and an insurance card.
May 30
At 5:20 p.m., Vice officers observed two 18-year-old Kearny males apparently engaged in CDS use in the area of Maple St. and Bergen Ave. Police said Jason Dukhi was found to be holding a plastic bag containing 16 smaller bags of suspected marijuana. Daniel Mendes reportedly was seen trying to discard another plastic bag of the drug. Both were charged with possession of pot and paraphernalia. Dukhi was also charged with possession with intent to distribute.
— Karen Zautyk
