Two plainclothes detectives had a hunch and it ultimately paid off.
According to Det. Sgt. Michal Gontarczuk:
On Dec. 19, Lt. Jay Ward and Officer Anthony Oliveira, assigned to plainclothes patrol, observed a man with a shopping cart full of merchandise, quickly loading all of the goods into a vehicle parked directly in front of Marshall’s exit door. The man was constantly surveying his surroundings while furiously loading. The officers could see no license plate and the windows were darkly tinted so they could not see who was inside the vehicle.
Believing this man had just stolen the merchandise, they attempted to stop the vehicle for multiple motor vehicle violations, but it did not stop, continuing into the Starbucks parking lot and refusing to stop, despite lights and sirens being activated.
At one point the vehicle attempted to reverse around the police, but became cornered, which later led to a minor motor vehicle accident. Once the vehicle could flee no further, the man who had loaded the merchandise into the vehicle exited and began running away.
Officer Oliveira gave chase and the suspect soon fell after tripping over a curb. He resisted arrest, but Officer Oliveira secured him in an arm bar and ultimately secured him. Further investigation determined the goods (almost $700 worth) were in fact shoplifted.
This suspect was identified as Aaron D. Williams, 32,of Newark.
While this occurred, Lt. Ward and the now-arriving back up officers dealt with the stopped vehicle. The driver,. Quashyne T. Seburn, 32, of Newark, was arrested. A search yielded multiple bars of Xanax. A further search of the vehicle yielded a quantity of Oxycodone, as well as a scale used to weigh narcotics before repackaging them for distribution. Additionally, ziplock bags of 9mm Luger rounds were located in the vehicle.
Williams was charged with shoplifting, resisting arrest by flight and obstruction.
Seburn was charged with eluding, distribution of CDS (Oxycodone), possession of CDS (Oxycodone), possession of CDS (Xanax), drug paraphernalia, certain persons not to possess ammunition, receiving ammunition without a firearms ID card, improper display, obstruction of windshield for vision, careless driving and operation of a MV with CDS. Seburn was also wanted.
Once at headquarters, a large quantity of crack cocaine and heroin was found on Seburn, which was packaged for distribution and which he had hidden inside his underwear — 19 vials of crack and 132 wax folds of heroin. This resulted in additional charges of distribution of heroin, distribution of crack cocaine and drug paraphernalia.
Both men were transported to the Hudson County Jail, South Kearny. The motor vehicle crash that resulted from this incident was minor and resulted in no injuries.
Meanwhile, Det. Jordenson Jean has been investigating multiple cases involving a suspect who has been committing fraud at the Kearny Avenue Quick Check. The suspect was repeatedly purchasing reloadable gift cards or debit cards using victims’ bank cards, usually taken during burglaries.
The suspect’s identity was not known; however, Detective Jean possessed security camera footage stills which captured the suspect in previous incidents. On Jan. 10, at about 9:45 a.m., Quick Check staff informed Jean the same unidentified suspect was now at Quick Check, attempting to commit another crime.
Kearny police units responded to Quick Check, spoke to staff, as well as to customers who were witnesses who observed the suspect. A detailed description was obtained of the suspect, detailing his clothing and that he left southbound on a bicycle.
In this instance, he was attempting to purchase a reloadable PayPal card for $275 by using another person’s credit card, which was likely taken during a burglary.
Just minutes later, detectives spotted the suspect standing over his bicycle near Passaic and Johnston avenues.
When detectives pulled their car near him, he began furiously pedaling his bicycle toward the Clay Street Bridge. His path was cut off, at which point he turned around and pedaled into oncoming traffic, heading back north into Kearny.
The detectives cut him off in the car once more. He feigned surrender, stopping and raising his hands, but only for a moment. He then tried to sprint south on Passaic Avenue again.
Unfortunately for the suspect, he was pursued by Sgt. Ryan Stickno and Det. Alan Stickno, both of whom played rugby in college. The suspect got about 30 feet before being tackled and secured in handcuffs. He was identified as Marco Costa, 33, of Harrison.
A search incident to arrest yielded a massive cache — three pipes intended for crack cocaine use (drug paraphernalia), two push rods intended to assist with use of the above (drug paraphernalia), a green and clear container of suspected crack cocaine, a green and clear empty container, a piece of paper containing suspected crack cocaine, a sharp tire repair puncture tool, a .75oz can of Sabre OC spray, two spark plugs, commonly used to shatter windows, a wood-handled metal pick, an orange screwdriver, a Bosch laser tool, a pair of Apple Airpods, an empty wallet, a Louis Vuitton purse, a Bank of America card belonging to a victim who was contacted, a Bank of America card belonging to another victim who was contacted, a Capital One card belonging to a victim who was contacted, an NJ driver’s license, a US Permanent Resident Card, other cards and items, two mobile phones, purple Versace sunglasses with case, brown Dolce & Gabanna sunglasses with case, blue Ray Bans, unknown black sunglasses, unknown black and gold sunglasses with a case, a gold ring, a silver ring, a gold necklace and assortment of coins.
A show-up identification procedure was conducted in which Quick Check store staff confirmed the suspect to be the same committing the offenses. He also matched the security camera footage obtained by Det. Jean.
Ultimately, he was charged with obstruction of law, resisting arrest, possession of crack-cocaine, possession of drug paraphernalia, possession of burglary tools, unlawful possession of weapons, receiving stolen property, possession of mislaid credit cards, credit card fraud, numerous bicycle ordinance violations and jaywalking.
The rightful owners of the recovered property were contacted by detectives and further investigation is ongoing. It is likely that more criminal charges will result as Det. Jean closes the previous cases involving this suspect.
Costa was ultimately remanded to the Hudson County Jail.
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.