Kearny police have closed a case where a police officer was injured by a fleeing thief late last month, and the criminal has been charged with numerous offenses, Det. Sgt. Michal Gontrarczuk said.
On March 28, 2025, police were called to a repeat shoplifter at the Passaic Avenue Shopping Plaza. Already onto his second store that day, the suspect filled large garbage bags with merchandise while his car idled in the fire lane outside.
As he exited the store, the suspect was confronted by police but refused to comply with orders to stop. An officer attempted to arrest him and a physical struggle ensued which ultimately resulted in the suspect running the officer with his accelerating vehicle.
The suspect fled over the Clay Street Bridge, into Newark.
Fortunately, at the hospital, the involved officer’s injuries were determined to be non-life threatening.
A few hours later, with the assistance of the Newark Police Department, the vehicle was located in the Clinton Hill neighborhood of Newark. It was seized and the suspect was arrested and transported to the Kearny Police Department.
Ashod R. Holt, 28, of East Orange, was charged with robbery, eluding, three counts of aggravated assault, weapons offenses, assault by auto, endangering another person, obstructing the administration of law, causing injury while driving with a suspended license, operating vehicle during period of suspension (second or subsequent violation), two counts of shoplifting, reckless driving and eight various traffic summonses.
The owner of the vehicle was also charged with permitting a revoked-license driver to operate their vehicle.
Holt was transferred to the Hudson County Jail, South Kearny.
A search warrant was later executed upon the vehicle, revealing evidence that further linked Holt to the incident.
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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.