On March 30 at 9:09 p.m., Officer Jose Castillo was dispatched to the Wells Fargo Bank at 175 Passaic Ave. on a report of a man with a gun wearing a blue track suit. The officer located the man outside the bank. He was later identified as Isaiah F. Cintron, 22, of Belleville.
The owner of a local gas station reported to responding officers that he had been depositing money from his business at the drive-up ATM when Cintron and Krystal J. Sosa, 20, of Kearny, allegedly tried to rob him. During a lengthy ATM transaction, the man reported Cintron allegedly squeezed between his SUV and the ATM machine cursing at him and demanding that he give him the money and get out of the SUV.
The station owner reported when he did not comply with the demands, Cintron allegedly produced a silver handgun and began giving directions to Sosa who approached his passenger door. The victim reported he locked his doors and called police. Cintron and Sosa allegedly walked around the drive-thru area and then around the bank, where the victim lost sight of them.
After further investigation, Officer Castillo arrested Cintron and Sosa who were later transferred to the Hudson County Jail in South Kearny. Sosa was charged with robbery and conspiracy. Cintron was charged with robbery, conspiracy, and hindering apprehension (for allegedly giving officers a false name upon first encountering them). Cintron was also held on two outstanding Kearny arrest warrants carrying no bail. One was for a prior aggravated assault charge; the other was for a prior burglary charge. Officers did not recover a firearm at the scene. The investigation remains ongoing.
On March 31 at 7:51 a.m., Officer Bismark Karikari was dispatched to a Davis Avenue home on report from homeowners that a man had damaged their door frame. The residents reported they had heard loud banging during the wee hours of the morning, but misattributed it to their second-floor tenants. When one of the homeowners went out at 7:30 a.m., they found extensive damage to the door frame and locks.
Review of surveillance camera footage showed homeowners that Hector Reynoso, 33, of the Bronx, a man known to them, had allegedly caused the damage at about 2:30 a.m. by kicking the door. Reynoso then allegedly entered the home and spent a few hours in the basement before emerging and leaving the residence just before the homeowner came out to find the damage.
Officers Karikari, Alan Stickno, Ryan Stickno, Mat Lopez and Ryan Wilson quickly found Reynoso just down the street. Reynoso refused to be arrested, allegedly by pushing Officer Alan Stickno in the chest and then trying to drag him to the ground by his vest carrier, injuring the officer’s back. Once he was on the ground, officers handcuffed Reynoso, who was later found to have been carrying a box cutter, identifications belonging to three other people and credit cards embossed to three other people.
Reynoso was charged with aggravated assault, unlawful possession of a weapon, criminal mischief, resisting arrest, theft of property mislaid and credit card theft. Based on the state’s bail reform formulary, Reynoso’s charges were lodged on summonses and he was later released.
On March 31 at 9:55 a.m., Officer Harold Azurdia was dispatched to Marshalls store at 175 Passaic Ave. on a report of juveniles causing a disturbance. Officer Azurdia arrived to find a 1996 Honda Accord out front that was packed with people. The officer had just left Walmart, whose staff had a similar complaint involving youths in the same car, but they left before the officer arrived. The Honda had been reported stolen from Newark earlier that day.
The officer turned on his emergency lights and approached the stolen Honda.
Driver Cosmere A. Yasin, 18, of Newark and Tobyhanna, Pennsylvania, fled the parking lot, turning north on Passaic Avenue and driving onto the sidewalk by the bottom of Bunny Hill. Yasin allegedly eluded the police until reaching the Interstate 280 on-ramp from Newark Turnpike where his car struck a curb, disabling it.
Yasin and a 15-year-old East Orange boy bailed out of the Honda and fled on foot. They were apprehended in the marshlands off 280 by Officer Ryan Stickno and Lt. John Taylor. Taylor sustained lacerations to his face and right hand in the apprehension.
Sgt. Joe Vulcano and Officer Kevin Carvalho apprehended four additional suspects who were still inside the Honda: two 17-year-old East Orange boys, and two 14-year-old Newark boys. The four juveniles who remained inside the stolen car were charged with receiving stolen property. The juvenile who was apprehended in the marshland was charged with receiving stolen property and resisting arrest. All were eventually released to family members.
Yasin, the alleged driver, was charged with receiving stolen property, eluding, resisting arrest and 14 traffic tickets. He was booked into the Hudson County jail.
On April 3 at 5:45 p.m., Det. Jordenson Jean was assigned to an off-duty security detail at ShopRite. Store employees advised Det. Jean a man was currently inside the liquor section of the store whom he has been investigating for a prior shoplifting of Ensure and undergarments (one can only wonder.)
Det. Jean made his way there in time to see the alleged thief push a loaded shopping cart into a store manager who was trying to detain him. He ran out the exit with Det. Jean in pursuit, scaled a chain-link fence at the rear of the property and continued up toward Belgrove Drive.
Det. Jean apprehended the alleged purloiner of geriatric products at the corner of Grant and Johnston avenues. He was identified as Rafael Rivera, 29, of Kearny. ShopRite management reported in this current incident, Rivera tried to make off with $243.84 of Ensure, Dove cleaning products and packages of Huggies diapers.
Rivera was charged with robbery and resisting arrest. He was later remanded to the Hudson County jail.
On April 3 at 9:47 a.m., Officers Jason Rodrigues, John Fearon and Sgt. Jay Ward responded to a private home on a report of threats. The resident there reported the prior evening, Ronald K. Robertson, 50, of Kearny, made several calls to her.
One of the calls was a voicemail where he stated he had a weapon and would kill her without remorse.
The victim turned over to police three daggers, two pocket knives, a switchblade, plastic knuckles, three glass pipes and pills that allegedly belong to Robertson. Unable to locate Robertson at that time, Officers applied for a warrant for his arrest charging terroristic threats.
The next morning, the victim called police back to report she had received four new voicemails from Robertson and his calling number had registered on her Caller ID. In one of the messages, Robertson allegedly threatened to use his knives and daggers against police. In another, he allegedly made a threat of “suicide by cop.”
Det. Michael Farinola was able to ping Robertson’s mobile phone to a location in Hoboken.
Hoboken police were notified and arrested Robertson there. Officers Luis Cazares and Christos Manolis met Hoboken officers at their headquarters and took Robertson into custody. He was processed on his most recent warrant for terroristic threats and on an earlier warrant from a different incident. That warrant charged Robertson with burglary and contempt of court. Robertson was later transferred to the county jail in South Kearny.
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Capt. Timothy Wagner | Kearny Police Department
Capt. Timothy Wagner is the Kearny Police Department's public-information officer and the commander of the department's Internal Affairs Unit. He contributes the KPD Blotter weekly and writes it completely.