The Bayonne police concluded their manhunt with the arrest of two suspects last week in connection with the July 3 beating of a 22-year-old Bayonne man that left him in a coma.
In conjunction with these arrests, the police also charged Tia Lewis, 32, of Bayonne, claiming that she allegedly failed to notify the police of her 15-year-old son’s whereabouts.
The police arrested Derrick Hilton, 18, on Wednesday after they found him in the back of a van allegedly headed to New York State.
On Friday morning, police arrested a 15-year-old Bayonne boy at his grandmother’s home in Newark and took him into custody.
“This investigation is not over.” – Police Captain Walter Rogers
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Tia Lewis was arrested at 9:42 p.m. on the same day charged with hindering prosecution. Deputy Police Chief Ralph Scianni said that as the boy’s parent, she is legally responsible for the boy.
Lewis was sent to the Hudson County Correctional Facility in Kearny on a $20,000 cash bail.
Hilton was processed at Hudson County Central Judicial Processing Court in Jersey City on Thursday. Because he is considered a risk for flight, he is being held on $50,000 bail.
The 15-year-old arrested on Friday morning is currently being processed in the Hudson County Juvenile Court in Jersey City.
This brings the count to nine people who have been charged with the beating that left Dawid Strucinski in a coma after he tried to break up a fight near 14th Street and Broadway in Bayonne. Strucinski has made progress since, but he is still unconscious at Jersey City Medical Center.
Deputy Police Chief Ralph Scianni said the police officers found Hilton in the back of a white van at a gas station uptown.
“He was in the van with his aunt and uncle,” Scianni said. “We believe that he intended to go with them upstate.”
Hilton is believed to have allegedly started the ruckus that led to the July 3 beating of Strucinski.
Scianni said the incident started at about 3:02 a.m. on July 3 when one group of young people coming south on Broadway near 14th Street encountered another group going north, and a fight broke out after an exchange of words.
Strucinski and two of his friends were walking to the Quick Chek when they saw the fight.
“Dawid tried to break up the fight,” said Dan Sautkin. “It was strange timing. Me, Dawid, and Dave Aziz. We were walking. He went over there to break up the fight.”
At this point, witnesses told police that the attackers turned on Strucinski.
Scianni said the police got a tip that Hilton was hiding in the back of the van from someone who claimed to have seen him climb into the van earlier. The police went to the gas station at 51st Street and Avenue C.
“The aunt and uncle denied knowing that he was wanted by us,” Scianni said. “He was charged with rioting and endangering an injured victim.”
Hilton was also charged with arson, burglary, and drug possession from an incident in May in which someone allegedly placed books near the door of the high school and set them on fire.
“We believe he was one of the participants in that break-in,” Scianni said.
The investigation, Scianni said, is being reviewed by the Hudson County Prosecutor’s Office and several sources said that it is possible that one or more of the juveniles could be charged as an adult.
Rogers said the last of the wanted suspects, a 15-year-old, was arrested in Newark as a result of an investigation.
“We learned that he may be hiding in Newark,” he said.
Officers, he said, banged on the door for a while, and eventually the 15-year-old opened the door.
“He was in the apartment alone,” Rogers said. “He was placed under arrest without incident.”
Rogers said the police left no stone unturned in pursuit of this case, and said other charges could be pending once the files are reviewed.