Three armed men near bathrooms in county park
Three men were apprehended near the 48th Street restrooms in Stephen Gregg County Park on April 13 at around 6:18 p.m. for alleged possession of weapons.
Roger Haley, 19, Travis Williams, 20, and Mark A. Johnson-Herbert, all of Jersey City, were charged with unlawful possession of weapons and other charges after officers in an unmarked vehicle reported seeing Haley allegedly waving a five-and-a-half inch folding knife at Williams outside the bathroom.
Police said they saw several families with small children fleeing the area of the toilet and that the police believed an assault or robbery was underway.
Officers then ordered Haley to drop the weapon, which he apparently did. Then, when patting down Williams, police said they felt a metal object with sharp edges that was allegedly concealed in his clothing. A further search found a set of brass knuckles, resulting in Williams also being charged with possession of an illegal weapon.
At this point, police said a third male, Johnson-Herbert, started to walk away from the toilet area, and police stopped him as well, discovering a folding knife that he allegedly had in his pocket, which police described as “a weapon with no other use except against a person.”
Manhunt after alleged purse snatch
A woman said a man with a white scar over one eye allegedly grabbed her purse near Broadway and 18th Street and then fled at about 7:45 a.m. on April 14. A male witness gave chase down Broadway, but lost the suspect near East16th Street. Police put out a description and received a report on who the suspect was and an address where the suspect lived, then set up surveillance.
Police detectives watching the rear of the suspect’s house reported that they saw the suspect appear on the second floor balcony and toss a dark object onto the roof of the building next door. Meanwhile, police searched the building but did not find the suspect.
A few moments later, the witness from the Broadway crime scene pointed out the suspect, who reappeared at the doorway. Police said the suspect allegedly tried to flee but was arrested and handcuffed.
As a result, Jeffrey Michael Plummer, 26, of Bayonne, was charged with robbery, resisting arrest and outstanding warrants. A computer check showed that Plummer allegedly owed $5,000 in unpaid fines to Bayonne court, $600 to Mount Arlington, $350 to Newark, and $89 to East Newark.
Man threatens leap from Bayonne Bridge
Screaming that he would either shoot himself or jump, a 44-year-old Bayonne man was rescued from the walkway of the Bayonne Bridge by the combined effort of uniformed police and police detectives on April 10.
Patrol cars responded to the bridge at about 7:48 p.m. to find a man leaning over the rail, threatening to jump off or shoot himself in the head.
“I want to die,” the police report quotes him saying.
As police officers Chester Konopka and David Bacarella kept the man occupied, two police detectives, Joseph Era and Wayne Grapstul, silently slipped on to the bridge walkway behind him. At one point, when the man leaned even further over the rail, the two detectives grabbed him from behind. No weapon was found on him or in his vehicle when searched, police reported.
High speed chase
A man in a gray Honda Accord was allegedly traveling the wrong way on a one-way 58th Street near Avenue B and allegedly made an abrupt U-turn when confronted by a patrol car just after 4 a.m. on April 16. This led to a high-speed chase through the streets of Bayonne and into Jersey City.
Police said the car refused to stop when pursued, and a computer check showed the license plates belonged to another car.
In fleeing police, the driver allegedly sometimes exceeded 80 miles per hour while on Route 440 and continued to travel at a high and often reckless pace through narrow streets in Jersey City. The police said the car came close several times to hitting occupied and unoccupied cars.
The driver abandoned the car on Virginia Avenue in Jersey City, at which point the police began a foot chase, momentarily losing site of the suspect near Bergen Avenue.
The police eventually found a driver, Noel Anthony Diaz, 29, of Jersey City, allegedly trying to hide under a Ford SUV.
Diaz, according to the police report, claimed he didn’t steal the vehicle. He was charged with theft of a motor vehicle, resisting arrest and non-payment of out of town warrants.
50 to 60 kids in ruckus
Police arrested a 16-year-old Browns Mills, N.J., boy after he and others allegedly refused to disperse after reports of a ruckus outside McDonald’s restaurant on April 15.
Police arrived at the Broadway and 25th Street location at about 10:27 p.m. to find about 50 to 60 kids on the street where a fight was under way.
When police tried to disperse the crowd, the Browns Mills boy with six to eight other boys allegedly tried to continue the fight inside. In trying to apprehend the boy, a police officer had his shirt ripped. He, along with two other officers, eventually managed to put the boy in handcuffs.
The boy was later released into the custody of his Bayonne guardian.
Green vegetation
Bayonne police detectives stopped Nelson Alcaide Jr., 29, of Avenue C, after recognizing him on the street near St. Vincent’s Church on April 14 at about 3:38 p.m.
The police said Alcaide allegedly ignored their call for him to halt, putting up his hood and continuing north on Avenue C.
When they apprehended him, a search found that he allegedly possessed 13 small clear plastic Ziplock bags containing green vegetation believed to be marijuana and about $400 in cash.
Alcaide also had outstanding warrants that included three warrants from Bayonne for more than $11,000, as well as warrants in Jersey City for $850, Union City for $433, and Hudson County Superior Court for $2,004.
‘King of Dope’
A confidential source informed police detectives that a drug purchase was about to take place on April 10. The suspects, the informant said, would be using a Green Toyota Forerunner, and police said the informant also gave the plate number.
Based on this information, police detectives began surveillance on a West 50th Street house. As a result, Elise Roland, 20 of Bayonne, was charged with possession of cocaine and heroin. Roland allegedly had eight glass vials of cocaine and three glassine bags of heroin marked “King of Dope.”
One suspect is still being pursued in regard to the incident, and police also issued a summons to the owner of the vehicle for its being allegedly used to transport drugs.
Heroin bust on Avenue A
After meeting with a confidential source who informed them that someone intended to buy drugs, Bayonne police detectives followed a Jeep Cherokee into Jersey City, where they watched a man allegedly pass something to the driver. Police continued to follow the vehicle until it returned to Bayonne, at which time they pulled the vehicle over and reported that the driver, Frank Mayhack II, of Bayonne, seemed nervous and refused to make eye contact with police.
The report said Mayhack denied being in Jersey City. But police allege that a glassine packet containing heroin fell out of his sweat pants when he tried to walk away. A police search produced a similar packet tucked into his sock, they said. The police said the search also found five broken tablets of Xanax, they said.
Prescription drugs may have led to an accident
A car accident on Avenue E near 16th Street resulted in charges of driving while intoxicated on April 11.
Police said they reported to the scene at 7:34 a.m. to find a damaged black Maxima and a shaken driver with injuries to his head from apparently striking the windshield.
The police report alleges that the driver, Michael Barry II, admitted to having taken several prescription medications prior to the accident. Barry, according to the police, did poorly while performing a field sobriety test taken on the scene. Barry was transported to Bayonne Medical Center, where he was treated and released. The car was impounded. Barry was issued summonses for careless driving, driving with a suspended driver’s license, and failure to wear a seat belt.
Fight report leads to drug arrest
On April 12, police responded to Avenue A near West 22nd Street on the report of a fight. When they arrived, they found a large group gathered as well as a white Honda that had been reported sighted at two other fights. When they approached the woman seated in it and asked for documentation on the car, she opened the glove compartment. Police allege that a plastic bag containing marijuana fell out.
As a result, Desiree Witknowski, 18, of Bayonne, was charged with possession of marijuana.
Burglary nets more than $21K in jewelry, computer, cash
A resident of Avenue E reported that at some time between 4 p.m. on April 11 and 9 a.m. on April 12, someone broke into an apartment and stole more than $21,500 worth of jewelry, a laptop computer, an iPod and cash.
Police said an investigation showed pry marks on the door and indications that the apartment had been searched, with clothing thrown around and the bed flipped over.
Bayonne man charged with marijuana possession
Officers on patrol on April 13 reported seeing a vehicle parked with its dome light on in Gorman Field near Second Street just after midnight.
Patrol officers reported seeing a number of people inside the car who allegedly did not hear the officers when they asked questions about what was going on.
After asking the passengers to get out of the vehicle, the police charged James Ellison, 19, of Avenue C in Bayonne with possession of marijuana. Police said they saw Ellison reach toward his right pants leg, and feared that he might be reaching for a weapon. A search found two clear Ziplock bags that allegedly contained marijuana.
Off-duty Port Authority officer catches alleged vandal
Police responded to the area of Eighth Street near Kennedy Boulevard after receiving a call from an off-duty Port Authority police officer in pursuit of an alleged vandal at around 10 p.m. on April 12.
The off-duty officer apparently saw several kids allegedly spray-painting a cargo van parked in a parking lot at 100 W. Seventh Street.
After the officer identified himself, the kids scattered and the officer chased one of them, catching up with him near Kennedy Boulevard. After a struggle, the officer received lacerations to his hand, but managed to hold the 15-year-old boy until police arrived.
“I can’t believe I got caught,” the boy said at the time of arrest, according to the police report.
The off-duty officer was transported to Bayonne Medical Center, where he received eight stitches and was released.
Navigation system swiped from rented car
Unknown actors smashed the window of a leased 2009 four-door Toyota Corolla at some time between 11:20 p.m. on April 12 and 11:48 a.m. on April 13. The victim told police a navigation system worth about $700 was missing. Investigators were able to get one fingerprint from the doorframe.
P.S. No. 14 vandalized
Between the close of School No. 14 on April 10 and its reopening on April 13, someone spray painted obscenities as well as other things on the exterior wall of the building, causing about $500 in damage.
Man in street charged with pot possession
Duane Andrews, 22, of Bayonne, was charged with possession of marijuana and outstanding warrants after police stopped him on April 14 after seeing him in the middle of the street near Avenue C and 50th Street.