On Sept. 1 at 6:29 p.m., Officers Angel Martinez and Ruben Rivera and Sgt. Ben Wuelfing were dispatched to a private home where a tenant called police reporting his roommate was tearing up the joint. Upon arrival, the tenant told police his 32-year-old roommate had punched a hole in the wall and shattered a television by tossing it to the floor.
The suspect was still in the home and reportedly displayed signs of intoxication and aggression toward the police officers. His mother even came by and tried to calm him, to no avail. Upon hearing his roommate would be pursuing a restraining order against him, the suspect reportedly flipped over a living room coffee table.
The officers arrested him. The suspect reportedly would not go cooperatively and dropped his body weight once handcuffed. Once inside the back of a police SUV, the suspect kicked and damaged a vehicle door and slammed his head on the partition separating the front and back seats.
At the police station, removing the suspect from the police SUV required the effort of several officers. The cops were able to secure the man in a holding cell, upon which he spit on Officer Ryan Wilson.
The suspect was charged with two counts of criminal mischief, throwing bodily fluid at a law enforcement officer, resisting arrest, and damage to town property (town ordinance).
On Sept. 1 at 3:24 p.m., Officers Mat Lopez, Jordan Miranda and Sean Wilson responded to a shoplifting complaint at ShopRite. A manager accused Luz M. Lugardo, 30, of Newark, of concealing $98.34 of Gorilla Glue and $6.19 of nail polish in a duffel bag and trying to leave the store without paying.
Officers arrested Lugardo for shoplifting. She was later transferred to the Hudson County Jail, South Kearny.
On Sept. 1 at 4:16 p.m., Officers Ryan Brady and Alan Stickno and Sgt. Angelo Palagano were dispatched to a private home where a counselor appointed by the State’s Division of Child Protection and Permanency reported a mother had assaulted her 18-year-old daughter.
The teen had revealed to the counselor her mother beat her with the metal buckle side of a leather belt during an argument two days earlier. The teen showed police several large, deep bruises on her upper arm and the belt that was allegedly used to inflict them.
Officers arrested the mother on charges of aggravated assault and weapon offenses.
She was later released with a summons.
On Sept. 3 at 10:08 a.m., Officers Mina Ekladious and Rich Poplaski Jr. and Capt. Paul Bershefski responded to ShopRite for a shoplifting complaint. A store manager accused Lali Mtchedlishvili, 46, of Brooklyn, of concealing $215.27 of produce, cosmetics and hygiene products in a bag and trying to leave the store without paying for the merchandise.
The officers charged Mtchedlishvili with shoplifting and later released her with a summons.
On Sept. 4 at 8 p.m., Det. Jordenson Jean was tipped off that a customer inside ShopRite Liquors was an un-apprehended suspect in an Aug. 2 shoplifting. Det. Jean identified the suspect as Valentino E. Rogers, 35, of Newark, and arrested him outside the store. A search incident to arrest uncovered five stolen liquor bottles in the suspect’s backpack totaling $184.95, two credit cards embossed to two different women, a driver’s license belonging to a third woman, a dozen empty glass vials commonly used to package cocaine, and three empty wax folds stamped “Route 66” and “Exit 2” which are commonly used to package heroin.
Rogers was charged with credit card theft, shoplifting and possession of drug paraphernalia. He was also wanted on warrants from East Orange (charging shoplifting, possession of drug paraphernalia and trespass) and Union (charging shoplifting). Officers held Rogers at the county jail.
On Sept. 6 at 9 minutes past midnight, Officers Lawrence Latka, Ruben Rivera and Cort Montanino were dispatched to an apartment building for a domestic assault. When they arrived, officer found the alleged aggressor had fled in a car. The victim, a 37-year-old woman, reported her 35-year-old ex-boyfriend had shown up at her apartment and pounded on the door until she opened it.
A heated argument followed the boyfriend’s entrance to the apartment. During the argument, the victim alleged the boyfriend threw a lit candle at her, sprinkling her with hot wax. She also alleged he threw a glass beer bottle at her, which missed her but smashed against a door. The victim then sustained a small cut to her toe from the broken glass.
A short time later, Officer Paul Duran found the assailant driving at Elm and King streets, pulled him over and arrested him. Officers charged him with two counts of aggravated assault and weapon offenses. He was also wanted by the Ramsey Municipal Court on a warrant charging drug possession. The assailant was then held at the Hudson County Jail.
On Sept. 6 at 9:23 p.m., a resident of the 300 block of Chestnut Street called police reporting a man who had been lurking on the block all day had now started pulling car door handles. Officer Michael Ore was sent to investigate. The suspect, Corey A. McFadden, 34, of Kearny, returned to the scene on foot while the officer was tracking down the owners of the parked cars.
After further investigation, Officer Ore arrested McFadden on two counts of criminal attempt (burglary) for trying to enter two parked vehicles without permission. McFadden was charged on a summons and then brought to a local hospital for assistance.
On Sept. 7 at 7:45 a.m., Officer Christos Manolis, who is assigned to the U.S. Marshal Service Regional Fugitive Task Force, visited an apartment on Hoyt Street to apprehend resident Maurice Murray, 50, wanted for a parole violation.
Task Force officers interviewed resident Shanita E. Wheeler, 41, who allegedly told them the fugitive was not inside her apartment. Despite her contrary assertion, the officers found Murray hiding in a bedroom.
Officers arrested Murray for the parole violation. They also arrested Wheeler on a charge of obstructing the administration of law. Wheeler was later released with a summons and received a release on recognizance order for a traffic warrant from Union Township.
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Capt. Timothy Wagner | Kearny Police Department
Capt. Timothy Wagner is the Kearny Police Department's public-information officer and the commander of the department's Internal Affairs Unit. He contributes the KPD Blotter weekly and writes it completely.