KPD blotter pawn stars

KEARNY –

Police are “actively pursuing” a suspect accused of stealing personal property — including a car — from a Kearny resident who had been providing a temporary home to the individual, Police Chief John Dowie reports.

On the afternoon of Thursday, July 25, Det. Michael Gonzalez was called to the Morgan Place residence when the owner reported the theft of the auto, along with household goods and electronic equipment.

Gonzalez has entered the vehicle information in the National Crime Info Center (NCIC), a database that can help track a stolen vehicle. He also reportedly found that “a lot of [the missing] stuff” had been pawned at a local shop.

Police said they have developed information on the possible suspect. The investigation, and the hunt, are continuing.

In a separate case, Kearny detectives solved a July 11 burglary after jewelry stolen from a Devon St. residence was tracked to a local pawnshop, Dowie said. One suspect has been charged; a second is being sought.

After identifying the pawnshop “customer” as 23-yearold Andrew Polanco of Kearny, a warrant was issued for his arrest, police said.

On July 30, at 3:40 p.m., Sgts. Peter Gleason and Anthony Limite spotted Polanco at Kearny and Bergen Aves. He was arrested, taken to headquarters, questioned and charged with receiving stolen property.

A warrant has now been issued for a co-defendant in the crime.

Other recent reports from the KPD blotter included the following:

July 27

At 10 a.m., Officer Dave Rakowski and Sgt. Mike Ryan, responding to a report of an accident on W. Bennett Ave., arrived to find that a 2012 Honda Civic, travelling west on the avenue, had crashed into a parked Pontiac.

Questioning the Honda driver, Rakowski reportedly had to ask three times for the paperwork and detected the odor of alcohol. The driver was also asked several times to exit the car and finally had to be physically removed by the two cops, police said.

After field sobriety tests and an Alcotest at HQ , 30-year-old Abraham Leiva of Kearny was charged with reckless driving and DWI.

July 28

At 6:15 a.m., Officers Adriano Marques and Joseph Vulcano were dispatched to the scene of a two-car crash at Rts. 1&9 and Hackensack Ave. in South Kearny. They arrived to find both drivers out of their vehicles, one “bleeding heavily.” His face, head, hands and forearms were “covered in blood,” Dowie said. The other driver reportedly was not hurt. The injured motorist, Gregory Carter, 32, of Freehold, declined medical attention, but an ambulance was summoned anyway, police said.

According to the blotter, Carter admitted drinking but said he didn’t think he was drunk; he reportedly said he was driving home when he put his head down for a moment and crashed into the car in front. C

arter was treated for his injuries, given field sobriety tests, an Alcotest at HQ and charged with: DWI, careless driving, failure to exhibit a driver’s license, failure to exhibit registration and operating an uninsured vehicle.

July 30

Shortly after 3 p.m. Officers Jay Ward and Sean Kelly were dispatched to the Fedway liquor distribution site in South Kearny, where a former KPD officer, celebrating the first anniversary of his retirement, had apprehended an alleged thief. The ex-cop, now working private security, had confronted a FedWay employee who reportedly had two bottles of stolen liquor in his car. Fedway management is deciding whether to press charges or terminate the worker, a 44-year-old Bronx man.

At 10:30 p.m., HQ was advised that a car involved in a “road rage/paintball incident” in North Arlington was possibly heading into Kearny. Officers Ben Wuelfing and Derek Hemphill saw a vehicle matching its description travelling at a high rate of speed and on the wrong side of the road on Kearny Ave. at Oakwood Ave., police said

When stopped, the 17-year-old driver reportedly admitted involvement in the North Arlington incident but said the other motorist had punched out his rear window and then got away.

The teen, a North Arlington resident, was issued six summonses for: improper passing, tinted windows, obstruction of the windshield, violating decal requirements, violating passenger restrictions and reckless driving.

P.O. Jay Ward, Det. Ray Lopez and Sgt. Charles Smith were sent to a Fish House Road location in South Kearny at 11:15 p.m. on the report of a theft in progress. The officers found that batteries had been stolen from several parked trucks. The thief had apparently had been scared off by the cops’ arrival, running into the meadowlands, but he left behind a pair of bolt cutters.

A K-9 team from the Hudson County Sheriff’s Office was called in, followed the culprit’s trail into the weeds but eventually lost it. The bolt cutters were being processed for trace evidence.

July 31

At 6:35 a.m., a concerned citizen reported graffiti spray-painted at Laurel and Kearny Aves. Officer Tim Castle found pink paint defacing a sign for the Condon Funeral Home (on which was scrawled “Home of the Dead”), an adjacent building (bearing the cryptic message, “I am listening to hear your call”) and on a nail salon ( ♥ Suee-Bot”).

Detectives, including those from the Juvenile Bureau, are investigating and checking security videos from the area.

Det. Michael Gonzalez was conducting a burglary investigation on Morgan Place at noon when he encountered and arrested 59-year-old Kearny resident John Calabrese on an outstanding Lodi warrant, police said. Calabrese was processed at HQ , and Lodi authorities were notified.

At 9 p.m., the Vice Squad was pursuing an ongoing marijuana-distribution investigation centered on a Quincy Ave. location, a probe that was begun after complaints from concerned citizens. During the surveillance, they arrested a 15-year-old Kearny female leaving the residence allegedly in possession of pot. She was turned over to her parents.

The officers returned to the address and reportedly detected a strong odor of burning marijuana even before knocking on the door. They confronted the alleged seller, a 17-year-old Kearny male, and found next to him a large plastic bag containing a “considerable amount” of the drug, police said. Found in his pockets, police said, were four more bags of pot, numerous empty bags and $200 in cash.

The youth was taken into custody and charged with possession of marijuana and drug paraphernalia and distribution of the drug. He was released to his parents.

– Karen Zautyk

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