Editor’s note: Because of space considerations, all police blotters are appearing online only this week.
By Karen Zautyk
KEARNY — On June 27 at 12:19 a.m., Officer Anthony Oliveira responded to Walmart after a man leaving the premises was reportedly recognized as being the same person who, two days earlier, had stolen six bags of frozen shrimp from the store — and who had pushed a security guard in the process (which elevates the crime above simple theft).
Oliveira found the suspect — identified as Kelvin Speight, 52, of Newark — entering the adjacent Wawa, confirmed that a warrant had been issued charging him with robbery, and took him into custody.
Upon arrest, police said, Speight was found to be in possession of six more bags of frozen shrimp that he apparently had just taken from Walmart in a second incident.
According to a KPD spokesperson: “Speight was lodged in the Hudson County Jail on the robbery warrant and a new warrant charging shrimplifting.”
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Other recent reports from the Kearny police blotter included the following:
June 16
Officer Joseph Martin was called to Dunkin’ Donuts on Kearny Avenue at 11:59 a.m. to take a report from a 15-year-old boy who said that his bicycle had just been stolen from the outside the store.
On June 20, Det. Cesar Negron and Officer Tim Castle stopped Vincent Murray, 18, of Kearny, while he was riding what was apparently the same bicycle at Chestnut and Boyd streets, Murray turned it over to the officers and was released until a positive identification of the cycle could be made. Later that night, police said, the theft victim’s mother provided photos and a serial number confirming that it was the stolen bike.
On June 21, at 10:30 p.m., Officers Jonathan Dowie and David Bush arrested Murray at Bergen Avenue and Windsor Street. He was charged with receiving stolen property and was sent to the county jail.
June 21
At 10:03 a.m., Officer Rene’e Crawford responded to Kearny Municipal Court, where the attendants reported finding two marijuana cigarettes and a bag of the drug in a pocketbook of a woman who was undergoing a routine security search prior to entering the court. Donna Fantacone, 57, of Clifton, was arrested and charged with possession of pot and paraphernalia and released with a new court date.
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At 11:44 p.m. Officers Jose Perez-Fonseca and Officer Joshua Lopez responded to a call about people fighting outside near Chestnut and Liberty streets. Upon their arrival, the officers were told that a man who had been arguing with someone in front of the caller’s home then started to smash a picket fence on the property and fled when told that the police were on their way.
As the officers were checking the area, police said, the reputed fence-smasher emerged from another residence “to launch a tirade of profanity” at them “and challenge their authority to park a police car in front of his house.” Except it wasn’t his house.
When the man, Brandon Sanabria, 21, of Newark, was told that his arrest was imminent, police said he fled indoors, locked the door and threatened to call “the sheriff.”
All this commotion brought out the landlord, who invited the officers in and informed them that Sanabria did not live there, police said. While people who did live there and reportedly were friends of Sanabria were doing their best to convince the cops that they didn’t know where he was, police said, Officer Jose Castillo arrived on scene — just in time to see Sanabria jump from the second-story of the house, scale a fence, run to a Chevy Prizm and start to drive away. Castillo apprehended him.
Sanabria was sent to the county jail on charges of disorderly conduct and resisting arrest. Police said he was also found to have outstanding warrants from Belleville ($500 full bail, criminal mischief) and Newark ($500 full, traffic).
The original caller was referred to court should they want to pursue complaints about their damaged fence.
June 22
Officers responding to Kmart on a 7:21 p.m. report of a female shoplifter who had fled from security reportedly found a woman matching the suspect’s description hiding behind a car in the adjacent Shop-Rite lot. Police said Monsura Harris, 34, of Summit, was wearing sneakers with a Kmart security tag still attached and was holding several pieces of jewelry and a second set of shoes, all with tags on them.
According to police, after she was identified by store security, Harris started flailing her arms and had to be put in a compliance hold by two officers until she could be handcuffed. Police said they then had to forcibly remove from her hand a black plastic bag containing two wax folds of heroin, two hand-rolled marijuana cigars and two straws.
After being placed into a police car, Harris reportedly laid down across the back seat and tried to wriggle out of the cuffs. Eventually, she was able to be transported to KPD headquarters, where she was charged with shoplifting, resisting arrest, obstructing, receiving stolen property, possession of heroin, pot and drug paraphernalia and on a $286 East Orange warrant (receiving stolen property). She then became the county jail’s problem.
June 27
At 7:06 a.m., Officers Alan Stickno and Mariana Figueiredo responded to Quick Chek on a report that a shoplifter had returned to the store. According to the manager, the suspect — a 14-year-old boy from Newark — had concealed a phone charger in his pocket and left without paying.
Upon taking the boy into custody, the officers reportedly recovered not only the charger but also five credit cards belonging to a Kearny resident whose car had been burglarized a few hours earlier. Police said it was found that the cards had already been used at Walmart to purchase two Xbox Live gift cards, which the boy also had in his possession.
The boy was released to his mother pending juvenile delinquency charges for shoplifting, credit card theft and receiving stolen property.
