By Karen Zautyk
Observer Correspondent
A lone gunman held up a Kearny liquor store the night of Sept. 30 and escaped with an undisclosed amount of cash, police reported.
Chief John Dowie said the proprietor reported that a man wearing a black mask and a black hoodie entered the shop at Kearny and Seeley Aves. shortly before 8 p.m. brandishing a silver handgun and demanding, “Give me the money. I’m not (expletive deleted) kidding.”
The store owner, who was alone on the premises, complied. No shots were fired, and the bandit was last seen running east on Seeley.
Officer Pat Becker responded to the initial call, and detectives Scott Traynor and John Telle are conducting the follow -up investigation.
Other recent items from the Kearny PD blotter include the arrests of several outstanding (warrant) citizens, belligerents and the alcohol-impaired.
Incident details:
At 11 p.m. on Friday, Sept. 28, Sgt. John Becker responded with several PD units to the area of Hoyt and Devon Sts. in answer to reports of a large fight. What they found were several fights involving about a dozen people, Dowie said.
On Hoyt, Becker encountered one male pummeling another and tried to break up the battle. For his efforts, the sergeant was reportedly punched in the face and the chest by one of the combatants. Becker used OC spray to pacify the assailant, who was arrested and put in the patrol car — and who then tried to kick out the vehicle’s windows, Dowie noted.
The arrestee, a 16-year-old, allegedly intoxicated, Kearny resident, was charged with aggravated assault on a police officer, disorderly conduct, underage possession of alcohol and violation of the town’s curfew ordinance. He was released in the custody of his mother.
Several hours later, at 3:15 a.m., Sept. 29, Becker was on patrol again when he spotted a car travelling westbound on Bennett Ave. at a high rate of speed.
After following the vehicle along Livingston Ave. and Passaic Ave., the officer pulled it over on South Midland.
Dowie said the driver did not perform well on a field sobriety test and also produced two driver’s licenses, both in the same name but with different ages — 21 and 19.
The motorist, who was actually 19, was identified as Miguel Matos of Kearny. Taken to headquarters, he was charged with DWI, DWI while under age, DWI in a school zone, careless driving, failure to signal, and criminal possession of a false government document.
He was released on summonses.
• On Oct.1, at 9:15 a.m., Officer Pete Blair spotted a Dodge Caravan blocking a fire hydrant at Kearny and Bergen Aves. As the officer was writing a summons on the New York-registered vehicle, the operator returned and was asked for ID. “The photo on the driver’s license was not of the individual he was speaking to,” Dowie said.
The driver then admitted the license belonged to his brother-in-law and produced the correct one, which was found to be suspended, the chief said. In addition to being charged with driving while suspended, Hector Sanchez, 32, of Kearny, was charged with hindering prosecution for having produced a false license.
Police said he also was found to have two outstanding warrants, one from East Newark and one from Bayonne.
The Dodge Caravan was towed from the scene.
• At 1:15 p.m. the same day, an eagle-eyed Sgt. Charles Smith recognized a passenger in a car on Davis Ave. as someone who had active warrants for his arrest, police said. After confirming the info with headquarters, Smith stopped the auto and took into custody Donovan Tharp, 28, of North Arlington, who reportedly was wanted by both North Arlington and Elmwood Park.
Adding a “birds-of-a-feather” touch, the driver, 29- yearold Amneris Perez of Kearny, was reportedly found to have an outstanding warrant from Annandale.
Police said she was also found to be in possession of 10 tablets of Endocet — a prescription painkiller — but no prescription. She was charged with possession of a controlled dangerous substance and possession of a CDS in a motor vehicle.
• Also on Oct. 1, at 3:45 p.m., Officer. John Fabula was on patrol at Bergen Ave. and Chestnut St. when he saw an individual he knew to to have “at least two outstanding warrants,” Dowie said.
Fabula detained the suspect, 18-year-old Christopher Henry of Kearny, and while the officer was confirming the warrant info, Henry reportedly began “to act erratically.” He then took flight, running across Bergen toward Kearny Ave., with Fabula in foot pursuit, Dowie said.
The chief said Fabula grabbed Henry’s sweatshirt, out of which the suspect wriggled, but then managed to grab hold of his T-shirt, take him to the ground and cuff him.
Henry was reportedly wanted on warrants from Kearny and Harrison and was additionally charged with resisting arrest. Harrison’s was a nobail warrant, and Henry was remanded to the Hudson County Jail.
• Last Thursday, Oct. 4, at 6 p.m., Officer Jay Ward responded to a report of a car, stolen Oct. 2 in Kearny, being seen at Belgrove Drive and Wilson Ave. Walking away from the 2006 Hyundai Sonata was a woman, whom Ward detained and questioned and who allegedly admitted to not being its owner.
When her pocketbook was searched, it was found to contain a Visa card, an AARP card and other “documents belonging to someone else,” Dowie said. When contacted, that individual reportedly confirmed the items had been stolen.
Dowie noted that the case involved separate thefts, since the rightful owner of the Sonata was not the same person to whom the cards belonged.
Charged with two counts of receiving stolen property–one for the car, one for the cards–was 28-yearold Xiomara Cruz of Newark.
