Dec. 22
At 4:30 p.m., P.O. Brian Wisely responded to the report of a car burglary on Kearny Ave. at Afton St. A holiday shopper had left her purse in the auto and returned to find it missing, along with her wallet, cell phone and cash. Det. Ray Lopez started a canvas of the area and checked security cameras, one of which caught the culprit in the act of taking the pocketbook, Police Chief John Dowie said. A description was put out to other cops and, soon after, P.O. Rich Pawlowski spotted the suspect walking north on Kearny Ave.
Pawlowski detained the man, who, police said, admitted the theft and led police to the spot where he had discarded the purse in a dumpster, Dowie said.
Arrested was 42-year-old Egle Zimmerman of Newark on charges of burglary and theft from a motor vehicle and possession of prescription drugs. Police said he was also wanted on a warrant out of Verona.
Bail was set at $10,000.
Dec. 23
At 8:56 a.m., P.O. Wisely was on patrol on Schuyler Ave. when he recognized a man wanted on several outstanding warrants: two from North Arlington, one from Jersey City and one from Hoboken. The individual cut through Harrison Gardens but was apprehended by Sgt. Paul Bershefski and Det. Mike Gonzalez. He was identified as a 23-year-old Kearny resident, Aimen Mohamed.
Dec. 24
Officer Wisely and Sgt. Charles Smith, responding at 2 p.m. to a report of an assault in progress on Columbia Ave., arrived to find a 34-year-old Kearny man “bleeding profusely from a head wound.” Medical assistance was summoned for the victim, who said he had been hit with a hammer.
A search of the area led to the apprehension of the alleged assailant, Jamie Egan, 27, of Kearny, who was charged with aggravated assault, possession of a weapon (the hammer) and possession of marijuana.
Dec. 25
Christmas came to a close on Devon St. with a reported domestic dispute that began inside a home and then spilled out into the street. Responding to the 11:30 p.m. call were P.O. Ben Wuelfing, Sgt. Bershefski and Capt. Scott Macfie, who were told that the intoxicated assailant had left the scene in a van.
P.O. Joe Martin spotted the vehicle returning to Devon St. and Wuelfing and Bershefski stepped into the street to stop it. The driver, Jose Vega, 24, of Perth Amboy, reportedly failed the field sobriety tests and was arrested for DWI, assault, and on an outstanding warrant from Perth Amboy.
Dec. 28
At 11 a.m., a Maple St. resident reported a burglary in progress at her home after she heard doors slamming on a lower, supposedly unoccupied, floor. Two individuals were seen fleeing the premises and running west toward Highland Ave.
Officer Wisely and Det. Lopez called for backup units, and police, under the command of Capt. Stephen Durkin, set up a containment perimeter and began a foot search of the area.
P.O. Jose Resua saw a man fitting one suspect’s description in the area of Highland and Patterson St. The individual was bleeding from a head injury, apparently sustained from a fall while fleeing, and Kearny EMS was summoned to treat him.
Police said the man, 23-year-old Edgardo Gil-Li of Paterson, had tried to take refuge in the Scots-American Club but was turned away. He was allegedly in possession of a backpack containing a stolen laptop.
Based, in Dowie’s words, on “the totality of circumstances,” Gil-Li was arrested for burglary and theft and remanded to the Hudson County Jail. The chief said police are “diligently pursuing the other guy.”
Also on the 28th, at 9:15 p.m., Wisely arrested a 25-year-old Kearny woman, Stephanie Dealmeida, at Kearny and Midland Aves. on a no-bail warrant out of East Newark involving charges related to a stolen credit card. She was turned over to East Newark police.
Dec. 29
At 9:10 a.m., Det. Gonzalez and Sgt. Bershefski responded to the report of a possible burglary in progress on Pleasant Place. What they found, Dowie reported, was an individual who apparently had been pounding on doors and was “so drunk he didn’t know where he was.”
An ambulance was summoned to take the inebriate, a 25-year-old Bloomfield man, to Clara Maass Medical Center. He was not arrested, and the homeowner who had summoned police did not press charges.
At 8:10 p.m., P.O. Michael Santucci answered a dispute call at a Halstead St. home where he encountered an “agitated” man who continued yelling and cursing at the officer and became more “aggressive” toward other members of the household, Dowie said. When Santucci tried to arrest him, he allegedly pulled away and ran. Santucci, assisted by Wisely, brought him down and cuffed him.
Carlos Rabines, 20, of Kearny was taken to headquarters and charged with obstructing the administration of law and resisting arrest.
Dec. 31
P.O. Dave Rakowski, responding to an 11:20 a.m. motor vehicle accident on Devon St. near Hoyt St., found that one of the drivers was wanted by the Mountainside Police Department. The man, Isael Aquino, 25, of Kearny, also was charged with careless operation of a motor vehicle and driving an uninsured MV.
Jan. 3
Vice Squad detectives, on patrol at Kearny and Bergen Aves. at 4:30 p.m., spotted a Kearny man who they knew to have an active warrant out of Kearny. Anthony Robertson, 24, was taken into custody and held for bail.
