On Jan. 23 at 10:54 p.m., Officers Michael Ore, Bismark Karikari and Janitza Aquino were dispatched to a domestic violence call outside the General Kearny Apartments on Belgrove Drive. A 45-year-old Bronx woman told police her 60-year-old Kearny boyfriend threatened to smash her head against a wall during a verbal argument.
The woman initially declined to press charges, but changed her mind when her boyfriend refused to apologize at the scene. The woman asked officers to arrest her boyfriend for harassment and to help her apply for a temporary restraining order.
Officers arrested the boyfriend on the harassment charge, but upon being transported to the police station, the woman again changed her mind and refused to give officers a formal statement or apply for a restraining order. Moreover, with the boyfriend soon to be released with a summons, the woman asked to leave their 6-month-old infant with the boyfriend so she could return to the Bronx alone. The man was then released with his baby.
On Jan. 27 at 10:46 p.m., Officers Tom Collins and Danny Maganinho were dispatched to New Jersey Rail Carrier, LLC, at 65 Central Ave., where a security guard reported a suspicious vehicle on the property. The guards reported the vehicle drove into this industrial railroad lot and parked at the far end of the property.
When they tried to speak to the driver, he appeared to be asleep.
After an earnest effort, Officers roused a sleeping Najee K. Miller, 29, of Irvington. When asked to turn off his motor, Miller repeatedly told officers he was turning it off but instead he allegedly kept pressing the power button to the car’s infotainment system. When Miller kept reaching under his seat, officers removed him from the car to find his cellular phone under the seat.
Officers allegedly found Miller to have bloodshot eyes and the smell of alcohol on his breath. He reportedly rambled incoherently at times and insisted he was in “Charlotte” and the year was 2017. Officers arrested Miller after he failed field sobriety tests.
At the police station, Miller reportedly refused to take a breath alcohol test. He was charged with DWI, refusal to submit to chemical testing, and careless driving. Miller was later released to a family member.
On Jan. 20 at 8:22 p.m., Officers Luis Cazares and David Vazquez responded to the warming center at 53 S. Hackensack Ave. on a report a client damaged an employee’s vehicle. The employee reported Glen Green Sr., 58, of Jersey City, had been seen on surveillance camera video striking the front doors of the employee’s parked Nissan Murano with a rock, breaking off its driver’s side mirror, and trying to rip off its front license plate. The suspect reportedly ran when confronted by the Nissan’s owner.
The officers found Green on Rts. 1&9 south in Jersey City and took him into custody. Green was charged with criminal mischief and lodged next door to the crime scene at the Hudson County Jail.
On Jan. 22 at 1:42 a.m., Officer Anthony Oliveira was patrolling near the corner of Lincoln and Johnston avenues and saw a Saturn Vue parked at the corner. Inside the vehicle was a male driver and a female passenger who was crying, shouting and smacking her hand against the driver’s side window.
Officer Oliveira approached to investigate and learned the 25-year-old East Newark woman in the passenger seat had allegedly just been punched in the face and jostled by the arms and legs by her 30-year-old live-in boyfriend.
The officer was told the pair had just come from a bar where they had an argument after the boyfriend became upset about her dancing with another man. A counterclaim said the in-car fighting was mutual scratching and grabbing.
Seeing the girlfriend’s cut lip, bruised nose and bruised arm and leg, Officer Oliveira arrested the boyfriend for simple assault. He was later released with a summons.
On Jan. 15 at 1:44 p.m., a 65-year-old Kearny woman reported to Officers Sean King and Alan Stickno that on Jan. 6, her 28-year-old son strangled her. The complainant said she had previously reported her son missing and he became angry at her for making that report and strangled her upon his return home.
The assailant’s whereabouts after the alleged assault were unknown, but officers filed a criminal complaint against him for aggravated assault.
On Jan. 23 at 7:46 p.m., Officers Kevin Matos and Jonathan Lima were dispatched to a Patterson Street residence on a report of a suspicious person in the area. There, they found the suspicious person was the assailant from a Jan. 6 assault and took him under arrest.
The man was also wanted for two shoplifting incidents at Kearny Walgreens that allegedly occurred on Jan 18. Store management alleged that in two incidents that day, the suspect stole $396.82 and $455.77 worth of merchandise, respectively. After being booked and served with a restraining order, the assailant was transferred to the county jail.
On Jan. 22 at 10:08 p.m., Officers Luis Cazares, Jose Perez-Fonseca and Danny Maganinho investigated a report a BMW X3 SUV crashed into three parked vehicles on the 200 block of Highland Avenue. Nery N. Caceres, 41, of Kearny, reported he was driving the BMW but lost control when one of his wheels fell off.
After smelling the odor of alcohol and finding Caceres allegedly could not answer simple questions coherently, officers administered field-sobriety tests. They then arrested Caceres when he failed those tests.
Caceres was charged with DWI, reckless driving and driving with a suspended license/registration. He was later released with summonses.
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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.