A South Jersey woman finds herself behind bars after she is alleged to have attempted to pocket several steaks — and then spitting her blood at a Kearny police detective working an off-duty detail last week, Det. Sgt. Michael Gontarczuk, the Kearny Polce Department’s public-information officer, said.
According to Gontarczuk:
On Dec. 12 at 7 p.m., Det. Anthony Nunez was working the aforementioned detail at ShopRite when he was alerted to a shoplifter by management. After being seen shoplifting several ribeye steaks and other items, she was detained by Det. Nunez, to whom she provided a false identity.
While detained, management provided camera footage of the shoplifting. Ultimately, Det. Nunez attempted to arrest the woman; however, she resisted control for a prolonged period of time, pulled away from him and began kicking and striking him.
Det. Nunez took her down to the ground and handcuffed her; however, because of a laceration on her mouth which was the result of the take down, she now decided to spit blood at him while he maintained control of her.
Back-up units arrived on scene and both were provided with medical care.
Once at KPD HQ, the woman’s real identity was determined to be Napirea L. Stokes, 31, of Lindenwold. She was charged with shoplifting, aggravated assault on a police officer, throwing bodily fluids and resisting arrest.
She was later transported to the Hudson County Jail, where she remains as of Monday, Dec. 15, at 9 a.m.
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Meanwhile, on Dec. 13, at around 2 p.m., Officers Sean King and Cort Montanino were dispatched to Marshall’s on a report of a fleeing shoplifter. Officer Montanino located the shoplifter and attempted to detain him near Starbucks; however, a struggle ensued.
The suspect fought Montanino and, when arrest seemed to be imminent, his jacket ripped, allowing him to break free of the officer’s grasp and run. A foot pursuit ensued, south on Passaic Avenue, to around the Exxon gas station and various streets in the area.
Officer Darwin Paulino was able to arrest the suspect, who was confirmed by Marshall’s staff to be the shoplifter.
Joshua Mendez, 27, of Newark, was charged with shoplifting, aggravated assault on a police officer and resisting arrest.
Mendez remains in the Hudson County Jail as of Monday, Dec. 15, as of 9 a.m.
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Then, the next day, Dec. 14, at almost 1 a.m., Officer Derek Hemphill reportedly observed a Ford stopped in the middle of the roadway with its hazard lights on. When he approached on foot, he found a man slumped over the center console, asleep, and with not one but two cans of Modelo beer in the cup holders.
Since the car door was unlocked, Officer Hemphill attempted to rouse the driver, but it took several minutes to wake him. Despite Officer Hemphill turning off the vehicle, once the man awoke, he began to mumble incoherently and repeatedly fidgeted with the ignition and the shifter of the vehicle.
Officers Tom Collins and Ruben Rivera arrived as back-up and the man was removed from the vehicle. He was identified as Oscar Lucero, 37, of Kearny.
Reportedly, Lucero said he believed he was in Jersey City and rambled statements the officers could not make sense of. After performing very poorly on standardized field-sobriety tests, his vehicle was impounded and he was arrested.
A blood-alcohol content test revealed a reading of 0.15% — nearly double the limit — and he was charged with reckless driving, delaying traffic, possessing an open container of alcohol inside a vehicle, and of course, drunken driving.
He was later released to a family member.
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Kevin A. Canessa Jr. is the editor of and broadcaster at The Observer, an organization he has served 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 social media channels such as YouTube, Facebook, and X, 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 Kearny to return to The Observer full time. Click Here to send Kevin an email.