On June 10 at 4:08 p.m., Officers Tom Collins and John Donovan were dispatched to a domestic dispute at a private home. Upon arrival, the officers met a 20-year-old woman and her 19-year-old boyfriend. Neither party disputed the claim that the girlfriend punched the now-bandaged boyfriend in the nose during an argument. The boyfriend sustained a small cut to the base of his nose.
Officers arrested the girlfriend on a charge of simple assault. She was later released with a summons.
On June 9 at 7:04 p.m., Officers Lawrence Latka and Angel Martinez were sent to the Essex County Jail in Newark where Divinete A. Jeffries, 28, of Newark, was being held on a Kearny arrest warrant carrying $1,000 bail. The warrant stemmed from a past traffic charge.
Jeffries was released from KPD headquarters after processing when a friend posted his bail.
On June 10 at 10:50 p.m., Officers Bryan San Martin, Danny Maganinho and Jose Castillo investigated a crash near 182 Belgrove Drive where the officers found a damaged Jeep SUV on the sidewalk which they surmised had struck a parked car before coming to a rest.
Jeep driver Jessenia M. Echevarria, 38, of Kearny, was asked to alight and was given a battery of field sobriety tests because officers allegedly observed her to have signs of impairment. Echevarria reportedly did not pass those field tests and was arrested for DWI.
Following a breath test at police headquarters, Echevarria was charged with DWI, reckless driving and operating with an expired license. She was later released to a responsible adult.
On June 11 at 7:41 a.m., Officers Mina Ekladious and Andre Fernandes were dispatched to ShopRite on a report that store management was detaining an accused shoplifter. The manager alleged that Frances A. Garrison, 58, of Kearny, concealed $303.03 of meat, seafood and hygiene merchandise in a shopping bag and tried to carry the loot out of the store without paying.
Officers arrested Garrison and learned she was also a fugitive from justice, wanted by the Delaware County, Ohio, Sheriff’s Office. The Ohio charges involved identity fraud, grand theft and theft.
Garrison was charged with shoplifting and with being a fugitive from justice. She was held at the Hudson County Jail.
On June 12 at 8:59 p.m., Officer Matt Knighton and Sgt. Dean Gasser responded to ShopRite where Det. Jordenson Jean, working a security detail, had detained a woman on a shoplifting allegation. Store management accused Diana Ramos, 36, of Newark, with concealing $263.80 of menswear items in a reusable tote bag and trying to bail with the booty.
Ramos was charged with shoplifting and later released with a summons.
On June 13 at 9:15 a.m., Officer Sean Podolski was sent to Belleville Turnpike and Schuyler Avenue to investigate an automobile crash. During that investigation, he learned that Steven A. McGirr, 31, of Kearny, had allegedly been driving his now-crashed Nissan with an expired and suspended registration. McGirr was also a wanted man in Hudson County.
Officer Podolski and a posse of backup officers arrested McGirr without incident. He was charged with driving an unregistered vehicle and later turned over to the Hudson County Sheriff’s Office to answer for his warrant.
On June 14 at 4:30 a.m., Officers Michael Ore and Bismark Karikari were dispatched to Belleville Police Headquarters where Jose F. Garcia-Pina, 47, of New York City, was being held in police custody. Garcia-Pina was the subject of a Kearny arrest warrant carrying $1,000 bail. The bench warrant was issued based on a May 28 traffic stop by KPD Sgt. Mike Gonzalez where Garcia-Pina was issued a number of traffic tickets.
Garcia-Pina was later released from KPD headquarters when a family member posted his 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.