On Oct. 23 around quarter past 10 p.m., Kearny units responded to a report of a large altercation on the 100 block of Kearny Avenue. There, Officers Olger Montero and Ruben Rivera say they encountered a large group of people, some of whom had open wounds, so they called for EMS.
An investigation determined a victim was allegedly jumped by a large group of men, and as a bystander attempted to intervene, he, too, was assaulted and his phone was stolen.
Responding officers were able to detain one of the fleeing suspects, who was later identified as one of the “jumpers,” Carlos E. Torrejon Acosta, 40, of Kearny.
A show-up identification procedure was conducted, leading to Acosta’s ID.
Acosta was arrested and charged with aggravated assault, conspiracy, participating in a riot and endangering an injured victim, but he later released on summonses, pending court.
On Oct. 22, a minute after midnight, officers were dispatched to an erratically driven older-model Dodge pickup on Kearny Avenue. At Kearny and Oakwood avenues, Officers Jordan Anders, Taylor Latka and Angel Martinez say they observed the truck driving northbound at a high rate of speed and running through a red light.
When officers attempted to pull the vehicle over, the driver stopped, at which point he looked behind him, then began to drive away again.
After a short distance, Alberto Torres Perez, 45, of Kearny, stopped again.
Upon making contact, officers detected alcohol on his breath, signs of impairment, stumbling when he exited the car and blood shot eyes.
Police say Torres was uncooperative, and too blitzed to perform field-sobriety tests.
He was arrested and charged with eluding, refusing a breath test, failure to observe a traffic light, improper display of tags, reckless driving, possession of unsealed marijuana in a vehicle and operating a vehicle under the influence.
Later at Kearny Police Headquarters, Officer Kevin Matos was able to administer SFSTs, the performance of which was poor. Perez also reportedly refused to provide samples of his breath.
And, after all this, Perez was released to responsible party.
On Oct. 22 just before 7 p.m., police units were dispatched to the 500 block of Newark-Jersey City Turnpike on a report of a vehicle crash. Officer Derrick Hemphill arrived and observed a BMW that had smashed into the guide rail, facing in the opposite direction of traffic.
Hemphill approached the driver, detected the scent of alcohol and observed food strewn all over the vehicle including the dashboard and steering wheel.
The driver, Antonio D. Campbell, 56, of East Orange, said he was drinking before the collision and vomited after the crash (and hence the strewn-about food).
Campbell was not wearing a seatbelt, police said, and appeared to have struck the windshield with his face.
The Kearny Fire Department arrived at the scene; however, because of the extensive vehicle damage, firefighters were unable to open the driver’s door. Instead, they extricated him from the vehicle through the passenger-side door and Campbell was immediately taken to hospital.
Based on probable cause for DWI, a blood sample was obtained by a nurse, which will be analyzed for its blood-alcohol content.
Campbell was charged with DWI, reckless driving and was released from police custody at the hospital to a responsible party.
On Oct. 23 at 1:25 p.m., Officers Brad Salinas and John Donovan responded to an Argyle Place residence after a neighbor reported seeing a burglar exiting a home through a window. The caller told police a van was waiting for the reported burglar outside. The neighbor, fortunately, was able to quickly provide camera footage to the police.
Officer Jon Lima stopped the very same van shortly thereafter.
The neighbor was brought to the scene of the stop and positively identified Edward Boyarko, 39, of Newark, as the man who allegedly exited the home through the window. The camera footage provided also corroborated this.
Boyarko was arrested and charged with criminal trespass. A search incident to arrest yielded one Ryobi electric drill, one Ryobi 18-V electric drill battery, one 24-inch level, and a plumber snake (investigation is ongoing as to whether this was a full burglary and whether these items were stolen).
Two Newark warrants were also outstanding for his arrest, (for $5,500 and $350); however, Newark rarely acts upon their warrants so many people just ignore them. However, Boyarko was sent to the Hudson County Jail on the Kearny trespassing charges.
On Oct. 24, just before noon, Sgt. Jay Ward and Officers Carlos, John Fearon, Pedro Pina, John Donovan and Brad Salinas were dispatched to Taco Bell, Harrison Avenue, on a report of an argument involving a man swinging a bat.
On scene, an investigation at Taco bell determined a woman had assaulted the man with a baseball bat, and attempted to get him with pepper spray; however, the man disarmed her (and did not retaliate). Instead, the man secured the weapons and walked over to Wawa await police.
Sabenah K. Casey. 59, of Irvington was arrested and charged with aggravated assault, unlawful possession of a weapon (two counts) and possession of a weapon for unlawful purposes (also two counts). She was later released with a court date and the bat and pepper spray were entered into evidence.
On Oct. 25, at half 10 p.m., Officers Kevin Matos, Chris Montes and Andy Soto responded to a Beech Street residence as one resident attempted to have another removed. Officers advised them evictions must go through landlord/tenant court.
As officers exited the residence, they heard yelling from the same home. They reentered and found Valdeni Silva, 63, of Kearny, striking the other resident, which caused a bloody laceration. The victim provided a statement and Silva above was arrested, charged with simple assault and ultimately released from custody with a court date.
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.
