A Kearny man who Lyndhurst police say shoplifted from one Valley Brook Avenue store was in for a rude awakening after he attempted to duck into yet another store moments later, the Lyndhurst Police Department Public Information Officer Det. Lt. Vincent Auteri said.
On Saturday, July 22, at around 2 p.m., 58-year-old Paul Spana reportedly stole $155 worth of laundry detergent from a Walgreens store on the 400 block of Valley Brook. He was seen leaving with a reusable shopping bag with various items as he fled the original scene, according to Auteri.
Then not too long after that, Officer Robert Litterio caught Spana putting the bag inside a silver-colored SUV before fleeing. Again, not too much later, Lt. Nick Coviello observed Spana entering another store to attempt to avoid apprehension.
But that failed — and Coviello took the man into custody.
A search incident to arrest recovered a crack pipe and suspected cocaine residue.
Spana was charged with shoplifting and possession of a crack pipe. And, because he was wanted on a Hudson County Warrant, he was remanded to the Bergen County Jail in Hackensack and then later transferred to the Hudson County Jail, South Kearny, where as of July 27, he remained on remand.
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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.