KPD: ‘Unwanted advances’ at carnival

A 21-year-old Newark man was arrested last week for allegedly fondling a 15-yearold girl on a ferris wheel at a Passaic Ave. carnival, Kearny police reported.

Sgt. Peter Gleason, Det. Ray Lopez and Officer Chris Medina responded to the fair at 9 p.m., Sunday, April 5, on a complaint from the young victim. The teen said that while she was on the ride, she was accosted by a man who began touching her, Chief John Dowie reported. Dowie said “she let him know more than once” that the advances were unwanted, but the fondling continued.

When the officers arrived, the man had left, but Lopez developed a suspect, and Angelo Villalona was arrested that same night at his Newark home. He was charged with criminal sexual conduct, and the Hudson County Sex Crimes Unit was notified.

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Other recent reports from the Kearny police blotter included the following:

April 2 

Vice officers were at Elm St. and Stuyvesant Ave. at 9:30 p.m. when they observed a man in a parked car apparently ingesting a CDS from a straw. The car pulled away, but the officers stopped it at Elm St. and Midland Ave. and questioned passenger Alessandro Olaya, 27, of Kearny, who was reportedly found to be in possession of one oxycontin pill and one alprazolam tablet. He was charged with unlawful possession of prescription drugs and possession of paraphernalia.

April 5 

Officer Cesar Negron responded to the 800 block of Chestnut St. at 2:30 p.m. on the report of a suspicious person in the backyard of an unoccupied dwelling. At the scene, the officer encountered Courtney Conner, 25, of East Orange, and arrested him after a warrant check showed he was wanted by East Orange on a motor vehicle charge.

April 6 

At 11:30 a.m., Officer John Fabula attempted to stop a 2000 Ford pickup that made an illegal U-turn on Kearny Ave. at Afton St., but the truck, with the officer following, proceeded down Afton to Maple St., to Windsor St., to Bergen Ave. — failing to yield to a pedestrian and running a stop sign along the way, police said.

Fabula lost sight of it on Bergen. However, at 11 a.m. the next day, he spotted the same vehicle double-parked on the 200 block of Maple and confronted the driver, 27-year-old Noel Wessigk of Madison.

A warrant check revealed that Wessigk was wanted on a disorderly conduct charge by Elizabeth. He was arrested on that and also issued summonses for careless driving, failing to yield, and making an unsafe turn.

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At 3 p.m., at Kearny and Garfield Aves., a 2008 Ford with an “extremely loud muffler” caught the attention of Officer Jordenson Jean, who stopped the vehicle at Pavonia Ave. and found that the driver, Hakeem Ford, 39, of Jersey City, had a suspended license and a MV warrant from Paramus, police said. Ford was arrested and taken to headquarters.

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Officers Luis Moran and Kevin Arnesman were called to the town clerk’s office in Town Hall at 3:45 p.m. on a report of a disorderly person. Police said John Quinn, 51, of North Arlington, had apparently just wandered in and started acting out. Quinn was arrested after a warrant check showed he had one from Wood-Ridge.

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Anthony Booker, 28, of Newark, was taken into custody on a Newark warrant after Officer Brian Wisely observed him at 7 p.m. near Kearny and Bergen Aves. Booker was brought to HQ and the Newark PD was notified.

April 7 

At 4 p.m., at Liberty and Maple Sts., Vice detectives observed a 17-year-old Kearny male “manipulating” a Rockstar energy drink can, the top of which popped open, causing small baggies of suspected marijuana to pop out. As the teen was retrieving them, the detectives approached and confiscated seven pot baggies, several empty baggies and a hand-rolled cigar, police said. The teen was charged with possession of the drug and paraphernalia and was released to the custody of a parent.

At 5 p.m., after a man was observed acting “peculiarly” over a two-hour period near the Quick Chek on Kearny Ave., Officers Moran and Sean Kelly took into custody Adrian Wesley, 45, of Newark, who was found to have three outstanding municipal code violation warrants from Newark, with bail amounts of $128, $500 and $1,000. Newark PD was notified.

April 9 

Officer Damon Pein, responding to an 11:40 a.m. accident between a truck and a 2004 Audi on the Old Lincoln Highway in South Kearny, arrested the Audi driver, Darrin Hailey, 43, of Roselle, for driving with a suspended license.

In addition, police said, a warrant check revealed — and this may be a KPD blotter record — that Hailey had nine: three from Jersey City, three from Newark, and one each from Bayonne, Roselle and Linden. His car was towed, the various municipalities were notified, and he was remanded to the Hudson County Jail.

– Karen Zautyk 

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