Police impersonator arrested, residents warned
Anthony Then-Estevez, 24, was arrested and charged with impersonating a police officer on March 30 after an investigation led Weehawken Police to Then-Estevez, who most recently resided in Union City.
Police began their investigation after receiving reports of a local police impersonator.
An off-duty Port Authority Police Officer told police she observed Then-Estevez allegedly conducting a traffic stop on Hackensack Plank Road in what she described as a suspicious looking unmarked vehicle.
According to police, upon learning that police were looking for him, Then-Estevez turned himself in on March 30, confessed, and consented to a search of his vehicle and residence on 21st Street in Union City.
Police said among the items recovered from the car were a blue-white strobe light, pair of handcuffs, counterfeit badge, utility knife, and a machete.
Then-Estevez, who according to police also has several thousand dollars worth of active traffic warrants, is currently in custody and police are continuing their investigation.
Deputy Chief Jeffrey Fulcher said that during a traffic stop, actual undercover police officers will be able to provide a badge and ID card. Additionally, a real undercover police car will have alternating headlights and an audible siren in addition to the flashing colored light.
If residents are pulled over by an undercover vehicle that they are unsure of, police advise slowing down, putting on hazard lights to acknowledge the police car, and calling 911 to report that an undercover traffic stop is taking place.
If the undercover car is legitimate, a marked car will be sent as backup.
Hackensack Plank Road shooting investigation is ongoing
According to police, the investigation of a March 20 shooting on Hackensack Plank Road near the Weehwawken/Union City border is still ongoing after a man escaped his attackers during an attempted robbery in the early hours of the morning.
Police said that a 22-year-old Union City man had just finished walking his girlfriend home and was crossing the street to return to his own home when he noticed two men loitering ahead of him. Finding their behavior suspicious, the man reportedly turned around and began running in the other direction as the suspects chased him.
The suspects caught up with the victim after he tripped and fell face-down. They reportedly placed a gun to his head.
At that point, the victim jumped up and continued running. The suspects shot at him and, according to police, a bullet grazed the man’s head.
According to police, the victim has since recovered from the superficial wound.
Woman missing from Lincoln Harbor turns up dead
On March 20, the body of a 40-year-old woman from the Czech Republic was recovered from the Hudson River by NYPD harbor patrol after passengers on the Staten Island Ferry spotted the body in the water.
The woman, who was from the Czech Republic was staying in the area with a friend on a boat in Lincoln Harbor.
Police said she had been reported missing a few days prior to her body being found. According to a police report, there were no signs of a struggle and the woman’s purse was still attached to her body when the body was recovered. Police are currently awaiting toxicology reports.
Theft of rocks on Blvd. East continues
A resident on Boulevard East has reported that 20 blue stones have been stolen from the front of his home since August 2010. Each stone is valued at approximately $100. Most recently, the man said he noticed the concrete around the remaining rocks has been chiseled away, perhaps to make it easier to remove the rocks when the thieves return.
Kindle stolen from bathroom
A woman reported that a gray Kindle e-reading device with a black leather cover was stolen from the ladies’ bathroom in the UBS building at Lincoln Harbor. According to a police report, the woman accidentally left the device in the bathroom around 8:30 a.m. and when she realized she had forgotten it and returned at noon, it was gone. Over $75 worth of downloaded material was reportedly stolen.
On March 28, a Galaxy tablet was reported stolen from the Weehawken Post Office. The owner reportedly set down the gray tablet in a brown case to do paperwork, and when he looked up, it was gone. The tablet is valued at $700.
Police say driver possessed open bottle of cognac
Mario Delgado, 60, of Guttenberg, was arrested and charged with DWI (driving while intoxicated) after a dispute on the street with a friend led police to the scene.
According to police, on March 20 at 4:30 p.m., a resident called 911 regarding a verbal altercation that was taking place on 46th Street. When officers arrived, they found Delgado arguing with a friend who was attempting to stop Delgado from driving any further.
Police conducted a sobriety test, which they allege Delgado failed, and they say they found an open bottle of Hennessy cognac allegedly in his possession.
WNY man was allegedly over twice legal limit
Miguel Ramos, 32, of West New York was arrested and charged with DWI (driving while intoxicated) on March 26.
At 9:55 p.m., a concerned motorist called the police station regarding a silver Ford Explorer that the motorist said was driving erratically down Boulevard East. Shortly thereafter, an officer observed the Explorer, driven by Ramos. According to a police report, the officer confirmed the license plate number, observed Ramos allegedly driving erratically, and pulled him over.
According to the police report, the officer noticed the odor of alcohol on Ramos’ breath and performed a sobriety test.
Ramos allegedly failed the sobriety test, blowing a .19, police said. The legal limit is .08.
Woke up to a stranger
A resident on 19th Street awoke on March 22 to find an unknown person standing in the kitchen, according to a police report. The person, believed to be a male, took off immediately upon being discovered.
According to police there were no signs of forced entry and nothing was taken from the home.
Items stolen from cars on Sterling and Highwood avenues
According to police, on March 22, DVDs, spare change, and a pair of sunglasses were taken from a 2007 Jeep parked along Sterling Avenue. The owner of the car said it had been entered sometime between 4 p.m. on March 21 and 9 a.m. on March 22.
Also on March 22, a man from Binghamton, N.Y. claimed that his car was taken from where he had parked it near Hudson Place and Highwood Avenue.
When he found his car further down the road near Liberty Place, he said it had been ransacked, there was damage to the ignition, and his GPS system had been removed, he told police.
Police remind residents to keep their car doors locked and keep all valuables that may be enticing to a thief (including GPS systems, cell phones, and electrical wires for such items) out of sight.
75-year-old man stops car burglar
A 75-year-old Weehawken man interrupted the burglary of his own car on March 24 when he came out onto his porch on 46th Street around 11:15 p.m. that evening.
He noticed an unknown man in the passenger side of his car and as he approached, the would-be burglar took off running toward Union City.
According to a police report, no items were taken from the car.