Police Beat

Compiled by Timothy J. Carroll 9/27/09

Fight after Hoboken football game

Police have arrested four juvenile males in connection with an assault outside a freshman football game.
On Monday, Sept. 14, police responded to calls about a large crowd of juveniles fighting at Ninth and Jefferson streets.
Police spoke with two victims, both juveniles from Jersey City, who said they were assaulted after the Hoboken High School freshman football team defeated Jersey City’s Ferris High School freshman team.
Within 24 hours, police had arrested two Hoboken juveniles, and two more were arrested in the following 48 hours.
Three of young men arrested are 15 years old and the third is 14 years old; all are students at Demarest High School and Connors Middle School in Hoboken.
They are charged with assault, and police said more arrests may be pending.

May have cracked car burglaries

Police have arrested a man they suspect may have been responsible for many recent car burglaries in Hoboken.
On Tuesday, Sept. 22, police arrested Antonio Figueroa, 49, a homeless man with Union City identification. They charged him with attempted burglary, possession of burglary tools, and criminal mischief. Police had received a call from a witness who observed Figueroa allegedly acting suspicious, crouching behind a vehicle, and repeatedly throwing rocks at the passenger-side window along Observer Highway, they said.
Police found Figueroa on Park Avenue, and the witness identified him as the same man he saw allegedly throwing rocks. Police also found a screwdriver in Figueroa’s possession that Campbell said matched pry marks on the vehicle’s window and frame.
Police advise residents to remove any electronic equipment from plain view in the cars, and they ask anyone who sees suspicious activity to call police.

Over 30 guns found in man’s home

Police found a large stash of weapons at the Garden Street home of a longtime Hoboken resident on Friday, Sept. 18.
Francis Kinney, 58, was outside his home on the 600 block of Garden Street that morning allegedly brandishing a handgun.
Witnesses called 911 to alert police. He was allegedly pointing the gun at construction workers in the area, police said.
When police arrived, Kinney was still allegedly waving the gun.
Officers Armando Caraballo and Angel Valez had to point a gun at Kinney to capture him, according to police.
Police searched his house for any potential victims and observed a “high volume” of weapons in plain sight, according to Lt. Det. Charles Campbell, including a few hand grenades.
Surrounding buildings were evacuated by police and the Jersey City bomb squad was to inspect the house for booby traps or explosive armaments.
Garden Street between Sixth and Eighth streets was closed to pedestrian and vehicular traffic for much of the day.
Once the police were granted a search warrant and the scene was inspected by the bomb squad, officers removed roughly 30 weapons from the house.
Shotguns, rifles, and handguns were found, as well as the grenades which contained no explosives.
Kinney was charged with aggravated assault and numerous weapons charges, Campbell said.

Allegedly punched guy, wife, and cop

A young Somerset man allegedly assaulted a man outside a bar, hit the victim’s wife, and slugged a police officer after allegedly cursing at the cop on the early morning of Sunday, Sept. 20, Campbell said.
Responding to a fight outside an establishment at River and First streets, police arrived at 2:20 a.m. to find a man bleeding from the face. The man said he was allegedly “jumped” by two males who were still in the immediate area. He pointed them out to police.
The victim told police he was engaged in a verbal spat with one of the accused assaulters, Chanthara Xumphonphakdy, 23, Somerset, when the other accused assaulter, Ian Belgrave, 24, Somerset, allegedly jumped in.
Verbal sparring turned into a physical altercation, and the victim’s wife alleged that Belgrave also punched her when she came to break up the fight.
When officers approached Belgrave, he reportedly told police: “Go [expletive] yourself. I’m not going anywhere with you.”
Then Belgrave allegedly hit the officer with a closed-fist punch to the face, Campbell said.
The officer grabbed Belgrave, who allegedly continued to physically struggle with police and threaten physical violence. Even as Belgrave was brought to headquarters and after he arrived, police said he continued to threaten them.
Xumphonphakdy and Belgrave were charged with aggravated assault and disorderly conduct. Belgrave was also charged with aggravated assault on an officer of the law, resisting arrest, and making terroristic threats.
The injuries to the police officer and victims were not serious and were treated at the scene.

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