On Feb. 6 at 10:09 p.m., Officers Ryan Wilson, Michael Ore and Kevin Matos were dispatched to a private residence on a report of a domestic dispute involving a knife. There, a 37-year-old man reported he had been involved in a verbal argument with his 45-year-old wife at which time she allegedly poured a beer on him and then grabbed a kitchen knife and tried to stab him with it.
The two struggled for control of the knife, during which the husband sustained a knife laceration to his wrist and a bloody nose. The husband told responding officers the wife had barricaded herself inside a bedroom with the knife after the fight.
Officers entered the home to search for the wife and she surrendered without further incident. The officers recovered a bloody knife from the floor at the location of the arrest. Officers arrested the wife on charges of aggravated assault and weapon offenses.
She was held at the Hudson County Jail.
On Jan. 20, 2023, an 18-year-old woman reported to police she had been the victim of a sexual assault the night prior, which occurred at an apartment on Passaic Avenue. The two alleged suspects were acquaintances of the victim.
Det. Anthony Nunez took up the investigation, which revealed an alleged conspiracy between two men in which one of the men had sexual intercourse with the victim while she was unconscious in the apartment while the other man filmed the assault.
On Feb. 6, Det. Nunez arrested Stanley N. Irabor, 31, of Kearny, at KPD headquarters. Irabor was charged with aggravated sexual assault, sexual assault, conspiracy and invasion of privacy. He was then lodged in the Hudson County Jail. And on Feb. 15, Det. Nunez arrested Mouhamado Fall, 24, of Jersey City, at his attorney’s Jersey City office on charges of aggravated sexual assault, conspiracy and invasion of privacy. Fall was likewise held at the county jail.
On Feb. 3 at 2:49 p.m., Officer Ellesse Ogando and Sgt. Jay Ward were dispatched to Walmart for a report of a theft. A store manager reported Isaiah A. Rios, 28, of Newark, tried to return a refrigerator for a refund at the customer service desk.
However, the manager reported Rios tried to return a low value refrigerator, upon which was glued a bar code misrepresenting the refrigerator as a higher value appliance of the same brand. Rios came to the manager’s attention because he was the suspect in similar store incidents on Jan. 31 and Feb. 1 in which he allegedly fraudulently returned another refrigerator and a television.
The total amount of refunds obtained by Rios was reported at $894.
The officers arrested Rios on charges of forgery by uttering, criminal attempt and theft by deception. Rios was also wanted on an outstanding Union Township arrest warrant charging shoplifting and carrying a $650 bail. After processing, Rios was held at the Hudson County Jail.
On Feb. 4 at 6:31 p.m., Officer Anthony Oliveira was dispatched to the Passaic Avenue parking lot of Carter’s clothing store to investigate a report juveniles were driving a Range Rover with an obstructed license plate. Officer Oliveira found the Range Rover parked and unoccupied and learned that it had been reported stolen from East Brunswick.
While awaiting a tow truck, Officer Oliveira watched four juveniles enter the parked Range Rover. He and back-up officers took them into custody without incident. The suspects were identified as four Newark juveniles: two 16-year-old boys and girls aged 16 and14. All four were charged as juvenile delinquents with receiving stolen property and conspiracy.
All were later released to guardians.
Officers, meanwhile, seized $2,911 cash from one of the juveniles as suspected proceeds of illegal activity when the juvenile’s father reported the boy has no job or access to large amounts of cash and he only provides him no more than $25 at a time.
The disposition of that cash is pending a forfeiture hearing in Superior Court.
On Feb. 7 at 4:41 p.m., Officers Damian Kolodziej and Mat Lopez responded to a report of two shoplifters at Walmart. The store’s loss-prevention associate accused Mateo Gutierrez, 20, and Dennis Perez, 39, both of Newark, of concealing merchandise inside a backpack and tricycle box they allegedly took from the sales floor. The two were detained after allegedly passing all points of sale with $896.09 of concealed and unpaid-for merchandise.
Officers arrested the two, finding a store security tag deactivation tool on Perez’s person. Perez was charged with shoplifting, conspiracy and possession of a shoplifting countermeasure. Gutierrez was charged with shoplifting and conspiracy. Perez was also wanted on arrest warrants from East Newark (traffic), Paramus (shoplifting) and Elizabeth (defiant trespass).
Both men were held at the county jail in South Kearny.
On Feb. 7 at 7:10 p.m., Officer Cort Montanino took a burglary and theft report from the manager of the U.S. Gas station at 356 Belleville Tpk. The manager showed the officer surveillance video footage from a day earlier that reportedly showed a male enter the mechanic’s garage without permission, conceal a Snap-on air gun tool under his sweatshirt and leave with the tool. The mechanic estimated the value of the stolen tool at approximately $500.
Det. Jordenson Jean investigated and later charged Michael Notis, 58, of Kearny, with burglary and theft. Det. Jean and Officer Travis Witt arrested Notis at his home, where they recovered the stolen tool. After booking, Notis was released with a summons.
Learn more about the writer ...
Kevin A. Canessa Jr. is the editor of and broadcaster at The Observer, an organization he has served since 2006. He is responsible for the editorial content of the newspaper and website, the production of the e-Newspaper, writing several stories per week (including the weekly editorial), conducting live broadcasts on social media channels such as YouTube, Facebook, and X, including a weekly recap of the news — and much more behind the scenes. Between 2006 and 2008, he introduced the newspaper to its first-ever blog — which included podcasts, audio and video. Originally from Jersey City, Kevin lived in Kearny until 2004, lived in Port St. Lucie. Florida, for four years until February 2016 and in March of that year, he moved back to Kearny to return to The Observer full time. Click Here to send Kevin an email.