A resident whose credit card was fraudulently used to buy tickets to a WNBA game reported the crime — and other instances of credit-card fraud — to the Nutley Police Department.
Police said the victim got a phone call from his bank about suspicious charges on his card. In all, the Visa in question was used to buy $35 in gas at a Sunoco in the Bronx, $360 to a company called Jersey City Code Tours and $150 for tickets to a Liberty WNBA game at Madison Square Garden.
The credit card company told the victim to file a fraud report with police so they could begin an investigation into the fraud, the NPD said.
Meanwhile, the NPD released the following reports of incidents that took place between Jan. 16 and Jan. 22:
Jan. 16
• A motor vehicle stop on Centre St. resulted in the arrest of the driver, Lisa Cesareo, 45, of Belleville, on an outstanding Bloomfield warrant. Cesareo was transported to headquarters without incident, paid the appropriate bail and was advised to contact the Bloomfield Municipal Court to arrange a new appearance date. In addition, she was issued a Nutley summons for failure to wear a seat belt before being released.
• A Sylvan Place resident reported a burglary to his home. Police said they found signs of forced entry to the front door and a window. The home was completely ransacked, but it wasn’t immediately clear what was taken from the home. The NPD’s Detective Bureau continues to investigate.
Jan. 18
A car crash where a driver hit another vehicle and a utility pole on Park Ave. resulted in the arrest of Michael Oram, 48, of Belleville, who was issued tickets charging him with driving under the influence, careless driving, leaving the scene of an accident and failure to report an accident. He was transported to HQ without incident and processed. PSE&G was notified of the damaged utility pole. Oram was released on his own recognizance after being advised of his mandatory court appearance.
Jan. 19
Yet another Nutley resident fell victim to identity theft. This time, a resident’s credit card was used to fraudulently buy an Acer laptop at a Costco for nearly $941.86. The victim declined being entered into the ID Theft Victim Database.
Jan. 20
• A motor vehicle stop on Park Ave. resulted in the arrest of Nareek Brooks, 26, of Irvington, on two outstanding warrants, one out of Bernards Township and another out of Irvington. Additionally, the driver was found to be driving with a suspended license. Brooks was transported to HQ without incident and Bernards Township PD responded to take Brooks into custody. He was also issued summonses from Nutley charging him with driving while suspended and failure to observe a trafficcontrol device.
• A field interview on Franklin Ave. resulted in the arrest of John Esteves, 58, of Clifton, who was charged with possession of marijuana under 50 grams and on an outstanding Nutley warrant. During processing, Esteves was also found to have active warrants out of Elmwood Park, Clifton, North Bergen and Passaic. Elmwood Park PD was contacted and later took custody of Esteves, who was advised of a mandatory court appearance in Nutley.
Jan. 21
• While patrolling Rt. 21, units said they stopped a speeding vehicle and found the registered owner had two active Paterson warrants. The driver and car owner, Marcus Austin, 31, of Paterson, was placed under arrest and transported to HQ, where he posted the appropriate bail for both warrants. NPD issued Austin a ticket charging him with speeding. He was given his bail receipts, advised to contact the Paterson Court for new court dates and released on his own recognizance.
• Police said they received a report of fraud from a victim who had been applying for a warehouse job. The victim told police he heard back from someone called Marquis Brown. Thereafter, the victim received an advance payment — having not yet worked one minute for this “company” — in the form of two money orders totaling $975. He deposited the money orders into his checking account as instructed, but the money orders were fake. Police were unable to reach Brown by telephone. The bank, meanwhile, is investigating — and the victim fortunately didn’t lose any cash as a result of the bad money orders.
– Kevin Canessa Jr.
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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.