The Hudson County Jail in South Kearny got a lot more crowded last month thanks to a Hudson County Sheriff’s Office warrant and deadbeat dad sweep that led to the arrest of 59 people, including two men from Kearny.
According to Hudson County Sheriff Francis X. “Frank” Schillari, Steven Rutzler, 45, of Kearny, was arrested because he is reportedly $81,927 in child-support arrears. Similarly, Jonathan Cordova, 32, of Kearny, was also taken into custody for allegedly being $4,397 behind on child support, according to Schillari.
The 57 others were arrested on warrants charging them with crimes ranging from being a fugitive from justice, to theft, unlawful possession of weapons, burglary, possession of a controlled-dangerous substance, contempt of court-probation violations, aggravated assault, criminal-sexual contact, driving while suspended twice and non-payment of child support.
Of the 24 who were picked up for non-payment of child support, Schillari noted that Rutzler’s $81,000+ owed was the most. The second-most owed was a Jersey City man who, according to the HCSO, is $58,699 in arrears.
In total, more than $330,000 in back child support is outstanding by all those who were arrested, Schillari said.
This was the second warrant sweep by the HCSO in 2020.
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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.