On June 6 at 1:36 p.m., Officers Elesse Ogando, Esteban Gonzalez, Rodrigues and Sgt. Phil Finch were dispatched to a domestic dispute on Windsor Street. There, a 33-year-old Kearny man reported he was awoken from a nap to find his 25-year-old ex-girlfriend in his bedroom stealing $350 from his safe. The ex- allegedly stuffed a wad of cash in her bra and hightailed it out with the complainant in pursuit.
The complainant reported when he grabbed the ex-girlfriend’s purse to stop her, she bit his right thumb, which was still bleeding when the officers arrived. The defendant reported she arrived at the ex-boyfriend’s apartment, fresh out of rehab, to surprise him. To her surprise, another woman was there, so she left.
The ex-girlfriend was arrested on the charge of simple assault under domestic violence laws. She was also charged with possession of a prescription legend drug when two Xanax pills and $70 cash allegedly fell out of her bra while being searched incident to arrest.
On June 1 at 3:54 p.m., Officers Jason Rodrigues, Pedro Pina and Sgt. Tim Castle responded to a shoplifting complaint at ShopRite. The store management alleged a 16-year-old Newark girl walked out with salmon, juice and water without paying the merchandise’s $23.79 retail value. The teen could not get a pass on her filching, despite having made healthy food choices. Officers took the girl into custody on a juvenile delinquency charge of shoplifting. She was later released to her older sister.
On June 3 at 10:29 p.m., Officer Janitza Aquino investigated a Mercury Villager Minivan which was causing a traffic backup by being stopped at a green light on Bergen Avenue between Maple Street and Kearny Avenue. Officer Aquino approached the minivan and found its driver, Jorge L. Barboza, 61, of Kearny, allegedly slumped over the steering wheel asleep.
Officer Aquino eventually roused Barboza by knocking on his window. With Officers Paul Duran and Ryan Wilson, she administered field sobriety tests, which Barboza did not pass. Officer Aquino arrested Barboza. He was charged with DWI and refusal to submit to breath testing and was later released.
On June 4 at 18 past midnight, Officers Wilson and Cort Montanino responded to a call of a dispute on Clinton Avenue. A woman reported a man known to her had robbed belongings from her and was running from the scene in a grey track suit. The man was later identified as Rasheed Anifowoshe, 21, of Brooklyn.
Sgt. Angelo Palagano found the runner at Stewart and Passaic avenues and attempted to stop him. Anifowoshe allegedly did not stop, but fled down to the Passaic River where officers pulled him from the water.
Upon rescuing Anifowoshe from the river and arresting him, the officers learned the victim no longer wished to pursue her complaint. Nonetheless, Anifowoshe was charged with obstructing the administration of law and resisting arrest for his alleged flight from the sergeant. Anifowoshe was later released with a summons.
On June 4 at 3:30 a.m., Officers Wilson and Duran were dispatched to Elmwood Park where that town’s police were holding Habeeb S. Blackstone, 31, of Newark, on a $600 Kearny warrant issued for several traffic charges. Blackstone was also wanted on warrants from courts in Secaucus, Irvington and Newark. The officers brought Blackstone back to Kearny and then to the county jail when he could not make bail.
On June 4 at 4:41 p.m., Officer Mathew Lopez located a 32-year-old Kearny man on Oakwood Avenue whom he hand been trying to find and arrest by warrant of the Kearny Municipal Court. The warrant stemmed from an alleged domestic violence incident that occurred in Kearny on June 2, but which was reported to the neighboring Harrison Police Department. The warrant charged aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and carried no bail. Officer Lopez took the man into custody without incident. After booking, the man was remanded to the county jail.
On June 5 at 11:55 p.m., Officer Derek Hemphill responded to a motor vehicle crash near the intersection of Harrison Avenue and the Interstate 280 off-ramp. Due to the seriousness of some of the reported crash injuries, the Hudson County Regional Collision Investigation Unit came to the scene and took the lead role in the investigation. Media inquiries may be directed to Assistant Prosecutor Andrew Baginski at the Hudson County Prosecutor’s Office.
On June 8 at 3:47 p.m., Officers Jordan Miranda and Ryan Brady were sent to Bloomfield’s police headquarters to arrest Edwin Ward, 56, of Nutley, whom Bloomfield picked up pursuant to a Kearny bench warrant from a 2021 shoplifting charge originating out of the Kearny ShopRite. Since Ward could not post his $1,000 bail he was later remanded to the Hudson County Jail.
On June 8 at 11 p.m., Officers Bismark Karikari and Angel Gonzalez took a (quite long) ride to the Skylands of Sussex County where the New Jersey State Police were holding Christopher Del Gaudio Jr., 33, of Sussex, on a Kearny drug warrant carrying $1,000 bail.
The Kearny officers took custody of Del Gaudio, who was later transferred to the Hudson County Jail when he could not post bail.
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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.