Stolen credit card ends up in Weehawken
On Feb. 16, Weehawken police were notified by Hoboken police that a stolen credit card that was allegedly taken in Hoboken was allegedly used by someone at the Sheraton Suites Hotel in Weehawken.
According to Weehawken Deputy Police Chief Jeffrey Fulcher, the call came in around 3:40 a.m., after a Hoboken resident told Hoboken police that her wallet was stolen from a Hoboken bar and inside the wallet were her identification and a credit card.
A search of the credit card traced it to someone using the stolen card to check into the Sheraton Suites. Weehawken police sent Sgt. Sean Kelly and Police Officer John DeCosmis to the room.
“When they arrived, the occupant refused to open the door, but then she eventually did,” Fulcher said.
Weehawken police then arrested 27-year-old Sarah Wood of Netcong, who was later allegedly seen as the woman on the hotel surveillance tapes as the one who checked in using the stolen credit card.
Wood was charged by Weehawken police with the fraudulent use of a credit card and receiving stolen property. She was then turned over to Hoboken police and faced more charges there.
Domestic violence arrest
On Feb. 16 at 8 p.m. Weehawken police received an emergency 911 call, apparently from a juvenile inside an apartment on Fulton Street.
According to Fulcher, two patrol units were dispatched to the scene, namely Officers Brian Mera, Henry Zeeb, Bill Weyer and Agusto Same.
When the police arrived, they were greeted by a female occupant who denied that there was any type of domestic incident taking place, just a verbal squabble.
“However, there were witnesses that said that the male occupant [allegedly] grabbed the female around the throat and punched her in the face with a closed fist,” Fulcher said. “There were signs that there was a physical altercation. The juvenile in the apartment was also [allegedly] assaulted as well.”
Police then arrested 31-year-old Sunil Anthony Ramgopaul and charged him with domestic violence and simple assault. There was no immediate bail information on Ramgopaul.
Driving while intoxicated
On Feb. 17 at 3 a.m. Weehawken police officer Juan Mejia noticed a 2004 Honda allegedly operating erratically at the intersection of Jefferson Street and Park Avenue.
“Officer Mejia stopped the vehicle and made observations that led him to believe that the operator of the vehicle was [allegedly] driving under the influence of alcohol,” Fulcher said. “The driver refused to take the Breathalyzer test, so he was arrested and charged with driving while intoxicated.”
The driver, 25-year-old Duglas Giraldo of North Bergen, was arrested and charged with DWI and his car was impounded.
Drunk driving accident with a Greyhound
On Feb. 20 at 1:50 a.m. Weehawken police responded to the scene of an accident on Boulevard East and the North Marginal Highway, involving a 2001 Toyota Avalon and a Greyhound bus that had left Port Authority Terminal in New York and was carrying 22 passengers.
“The Toyota hit the curb hard, blew two tires and then [allegedly] struck the back end of the bus,” Fulcher said. “The car hit the curb so hard that it deployed both air bags.”
Police then realized that the driver of the car, 41-year-old David Strucko of Randolph, was allegedly acting erratically. He was given a Breathalyzer test and blew a .17, so Strucko was arrested and charged with driving while intoxicated. His car, which was heavily damaged, was impounded. None of the passengers on the bus were injured in the crash.
Two more GPS thefts
Sometime between Feb. 16 and 17, someone broke into the driver’s side window of a 2007 Toyota parked on Edgar Street and removed a portable geographic positioning system (GPS) from the dashboard, as well as a Sirius satellite radio system.
“Both were apparently highly visible on the dashboard,” Fulcher said.
One week later on Feb. 24, a Pontiac G6 with Illinois license plates was parked at the corner of 51st Street and Boulevard East and someone entered the passenger side window to remove a Garmin GPS.
With GPS devices being very popular with thieves, Fulcher urged Weehawken residents to remove the devices from the dashboards of their vehicles when not in use and remove the GPS from the vehicle to prevent such crimes from continuing to occur in the township.
Burglary on Nesbit
On Feb. 19, a resident of Nesbit Street reported that someone had entered his residence and removed a portable laptop computer, an Xbox game system and an iPOD, with a value of approximately $2,500. Fulcher said that there were no signs of any forced entry at the scene.
Tool heist
On Feb. 21, sometime between 9:30 and 10:30 a.m., a construction employee working at the site of the Henley on the Hudson residential development on Port Imperial Boulevard called police to say that someone had entered his 2008 Ford truck and removed a black duffle bag that had a host of tools in it from the truck. There was no sign of forced entry and the tools had a value of approximately $4,000.
Wasn’t exactly laundry
On Feb. 25 at 2:30 a.m., Weehawken police arrested 52-year-old Daniel German of West New York and charged him with trying to shoplift $180 worth of items from the Pathmark in the Tower Shopping Plaza.
Fulcher said that store detectives saw German enter the store with an empty laundry bag, then saw him allegedly try to leave the store with a full laundry bag.
When German was detained by police, he complained of suffering chest pains, so the Weehawken Volunteer First Aid Squad was called to assist. But when the ambulance arrived, German refused medical attention and was arrested.
“It was very good work by the alert store employees,” Fulcher said. “They saw the man come in with the empty bag and try to leave with it full.”
Jim Hague can be reached via e-mail at either OGSMAR@aol.com or jhague@hudsonreporter.com