On April 28 at 3:38 p.m., Officers Alvaro Goncalves, Travis Witt and Sgt. Phil Finch responded to ShopRite where a manager had accused Monica B. Tene, 26, of Belleville, of shoplifting. Specifically, management alleged Tene concealed $137.94 worth of soaps, Axe body spray and Claritin liquid gels in a bag and passed all points of sale without paying.
Incident to Tene’s arrest, officers learned she had a plastic container in her purse that is commonly used to package crack-cocaine. The officers also learned Tene was wanted by Elizabeth police for a prior shoplifting charge.
Tene was charged with shoplifting and possession of drug paraphernalia before being transferred to the Hudson County Jail.
On April 28 at 5:05 p.m., Officers Travis Witt, Jonathan Lima and Sgt. Phil Finch were dispatched to a domestic violence call at a residence. There, a 31-year-old woman with signs of injury told Sgt. Finch she had an argument with her 34-year-old brother about the bed on which she had slept.
The brother allegedly took the mattress out of his sister’s room, struck her on the hand and threw her to the floor. The brother reportedly told Officer Witt he wouldn’t talk to him, wouldn’t show him identification and wanted a supervisor at the scene.
Obligingly, Sgt. Finch, a supervisor, was already at the scene and determined there was probable cause to arrest the brother for simple assault under domestic violence laws.
The brother was charged by summons with simple assault and later released.
On April 29 at 11:43 p.m., Officer Anthony Oliveira was on patrol and watched a Toyota SUV run a red light at Kearny Avenue and Belleville Turnpike. When Officer Oliveira pulled over the Toyota, driver Edwin Salvatierra, 52, of Belleville, reported he had no driver’s license and his driving privileges might be suspended.
Officer Oliveira arrested Salvatierra after confirming he was, indeed, driving with a suspended license.
Incident to arrest, the officer found Salvatierra possessed a Social Security card and a U.S. Permanent Resident card issued in another man’s name and a TD Bank debit card issued to a woman.
The Social Security and Resident cards were later determined to have been fraudulent.
Officer Oliveira arrested Salvatierra for unlawful possession of credit cards, two counts of possessing false government documents. He also issued Salvatierra traffic tickets for driving with a suspended license and failure to observe a traffic control device before releasing him with his summonses.
On April 30 at 2:52 a.m., Officers Danny Maganinho, Jose Castillo and Sgt. Dean Gasser responded to a private home for a report of a domestic dispute. Officers found a 32-year-old woman standing in the building’s foyer with a bruised and bloody nose. The woman told cops she had an argument with her 32-year-old partner after she came home late. The partner found evidence of infidelity in the victim’s phone and allegedly punched her in the nose.
Officers took the assailant under arrest for simple assault. They learned the Kearny Municipal Court had issued an arrest warrant for the man for allegedly committing a simple assault against the same victim less than two months earlier.
After lodging his new charges, officers held the man in the county jail in South Kearny.
On April 30 at 7:22 p.m., Officer Tom Collins was sent to ShopRite on a shoplifting complaint. The officer was shown store surveillance footage of a man, later identified as Victor M. Martinez Jr., 35, of Newark, opening an Immodium anti-diarrhea medication package, taking the medication, throwing away the packaging in a trash can and then trying to exit the store through the entrance door without paying the $11.99 retail value.
Officer Collins took the man into custody and later released him after charging him by summons with shoplifting.
On May 1 at 1:31 a.m., Officers Collins, Oliveira and Taylor Latka responded to the 200 block of Elm Street on a call reporting a man asleep behind the wheel of a white Nissan. Officers made contact with driver Troy T. Blunt, 33, of Belleville. During an interview, officers detected signs Blunt was under the influence. They arrested Blunt after he failed a field-sobriety test.
At the police station, Blunt was charged with DWI, refusal to submit to chemical testing, careless driving and improper parking within 10 feet of a fire hydrant. Blunt was later released.
On May 3 at 2:13 p.m., Officers Witt and Goncalves were dispatched to ShopRite where a store manager had accused Olivia A. Wares, 29, of Belleville, of trying to carry out $313.90 worth of Allegra medication without paying for it.
Incident to her arrest, officers found on Wares a glass crack pipe and two wax folds and two plastic vials commonly used to package drugs. She was charged by summons with shoplifting and possession of drug paraphernalia and later released.
On May 3 at 6:44 p.m., Officers Latka, Luis Cazares and Matt Knighton responded to Marshalls store for a shoplifting. A store loss prevention associate reported Dalia P. Mejia, 57, of East Rutherford, concealed $158.81 worth of beauty products in a reusable bag and then passed all points of sale without paying.
Officers charged Mejia by summons with shoplifting and later released her.
On May 5 at 3:30 p.m., Officer Ryan Stickno was sent to Marshalls for another shoplifting complaint. A store loss prevention associate there accused Rhonda Barnes, 36, of Newark, of concealing $83.94 worth of merchandise in reusable shopping bags and passing all points of sale without paying.
Officer Stickno arrested Barnes, charging her by summons with shoplifting. He later released Barnes.
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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.