On April 22, Officer Jonathan Dowie was flagged down by a concerned citizen, who observed a regular package thief behaving suspiciously. Dowie located the man, who was riding a bicycle with two large green metal half-cylinders slung over his shoulder. He noticed these cylinders were actually the base for a street lamp, valued for their scrap value.
Dowie detained Mark J. Cowley, 44, of Kearny, with whom he is familiar, as Cowley has allegedly been involved in many package thefts and other crimes in the area. Since Harrison Municipal Court had issued two warrants for the arrest of Cowley, each at $1,000, he was arrested.
A search incident to arrest yielded narcotics paraphernalia, for which Cowley was additionally charged. The street lamp bases were inscribed with serial numbers and the location(s) from where they were taken are being determined. In the meantime, Cowley was transported to the Hudson County Jail.
n On March 12, a white 2012 Nissan was burglarized and a 2023 Mercedes Benz was stolen from a Devon Street residence in the early morning. Utilizing surveillance cameras, a communications data warrant, and other investigative tools, Det. Bryan San Martin says he was able to determine the actor was none other than repeated car thief, Christian X. Otero, 29, of Harrison.
On May 1, 2024, Det. San Martin issued a warrant for Otero’s arrest and in less than 24-hours, the Harrison Police Department executed the arrest warrant, and brought Otero to the Kearny Police Department for processing (thank you Harrison PD). Otero was remanded to the Hudson County Jail, and is expected to be released soon. His charges included third-degree burglary and theft of a motor vehicle.
n On May 1, Lt. Jay Ward and Officer Anthony Oliveira were patrolling when they observed an individual near BJ’s Wholesale Club who they knew from previous incidents. They were also aware of a $2,500 warrant outstanding for the man’s arrest (Roxbury Court).
Jerry L. Vandermark (alias Frank Crane), 44, of various municipalities, was arrested. During the search incident to arrest, crack cocaine, capped containers and vials, syringes, crack pipes, metal rods and wax heroin folds were reportedly discovered. He was charged with possession of Schedule II CDS and possession of drug paraphernalia. Vandermark was transported to Hudson County Jail, awaiting pick up by the Roxbury Police Department.
On April 28, three intoxicated drivers were arrested and had their vehicles impounded, in the span of a single day:
n In one incident, Edison H. Mendieta-Moran, 35, of Jersey City was arrested after Sgt. Sean Kelly, and Officers Jose Perez-Fonseca and Angel Baez found him intoxicated behind the wheel of a Mitsubishi, on Route 7. After performing poorly on sobriety tests, he allegedly blew nearly double the BAC limit of .08% and was summonsed with DWI, reckless driving, driving without a license and delaying traffic (can’t stop traffic on a highway). He was later released to a responsible party.
n In another incident, Ramon Melendez Jr., 27, of Paterson, was arrested after Officer Brad Salinas observed him urinating next to his vehicle on Belgrove Drive. When Officer Salinas made contact, he says he noticed Melendez was heavily intoxicated. Investigation determined Melendez had just driven to this location. A beer bottle was reportedly in the front cup holder of his vehicle.
After performing poorly on FSTs, he was arrested and later refused to submit samples of his breath for testing. He was charged with DWI, having open container of alcohol in his vehicle, reckless driving, refusal to submit to breath testing and public lewdness. He was later released to a responsible party.
n Lastly, Andreurys Dominguez-Gonzalez, 24, of Jersey City was arrested after Officers Perez-Fonseca and Taylor Latka encountered him at Belleville Turnpike and Sellers Street, with his vehicle parked halfway on the sidewalk and halfway into a commercial property.
Dominguez-Gonzalez was also reportedly asleep at the wheel, with his pants undone and his cell phone on the floor of the car. Once roused awake, he claimed he was in Jersey City. After performing poorly on standardized sobriety tests, he was arrested and later blew over the legal limit. He was issued summonses for DWI and careless driving, after which he was released to a responsible party.
Learn more about the writer ...
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.