NUTLEY —
At 12:50 a.m., Jan. 18, a Nutley police officer noticed three young men fleeing a Whitford Ave. location. Police said the three entered a black Subaru, which the officer felt was suspicious and stopped the vehicle. It was shortly after this that headquarters received and transmitted a call reporting, that a 17-year-old boy had just been assaulted and robbed, near Tennis Place.
After the victim identified the three as the assailants, detectives were able to recover the robbery proceeds from the suspect vehicle that belonged to the victim, police said.
The three suspects were identified as Carlos Vidreiro, 18, of Belleville along with two other juveniles, report said. All three were charged with robbery and conspiracy to commit robbery, with Vidreiro getting an additional charge for employing a juvenile in the commission of a crime, according to police.
Police said Vidreiro was transported to the Essex County Jail in lieu of $75,000 bail, while the two juveniles were transported to the Juvenile Detention Center in Newark, pending a court appearance.
The victim, although visibly upset, sustained minor injuries.
Chief Thomas Strumolo said that if not for the quick actions of this patrol officer, the actors may have gotten away. He commended the officer, and added that these are very serious charges with serious consequences.
Mayor/Police Director Alphonse Petracco said he was grateful the juvenile wasn’t seriously injured, and feared what could’ve happened. He said when young people from another town come into Nutley to commit crimes, it is a crime against everyone in the town and it will not be tolerated.
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Kevin A. Canessa Jr. is the editor of and broadcaster at The Observer, a place where he has served on and off 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 Facebook Live, 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 West Hudson to return to The Observer full time. Click Here to send Kevin an email.