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A 37-year-old woman was charged with identify theft and fraudulent use of a credit card after she allegedly used the card at local businesses on Aug. 13, according to a police report.
The police tracked down the woman after the owner of the credit card called her bank to tell them her card was missing. The bank told her the card had been used at a nearby food store and was in use at that moment in a nail salon on the 300 block of Jackson Street.
The victim called police and officers were dispatched.
After they reviewed surveillance footage at the food store, they identified the woman on the tape as the same woman currently being serviced at the nail salon, according to police.
Tasha Jacoby-Araujo allegedly had the card in her possession, as well as a Greyhound bus ticket valued at $70 in the name of the alleged victim. Police say Jacoby-Araujo also had a bag allegedly containing two packs of Newport cigarettes, Parliament cigarettes, deodorant, a lighter, and a Snapple Raspberry Iced Tea, and Trojan Magnum condoms.
59 wax folds for heroin
Police say they discovered 59 white wax paper folds allegedly containing heroin on the 300 block of Harrison Street in the early morning hours of Aug. 8.
Officers saw a man they recognized as Phillip Steed, 29, of Hoboken, sitting outside the complex. The officers knew Steed did not live in the Housing Authority, where visitors are required to sign in.
Steed allegedly ran into the building and exited through a rear entrance when he saw the officers. They say he then allegedly threw a white box on the ground and ran back into the building, according to a police report. An officer opened the box and found white wax paper folds commonly used to store heroin, police say.
After securing the box, police say they continued their search and, after being tipped off by an anonymous witness, found Steed in an apartment. Steed was allegedly hiding in the bathroom. Police arrested him.
Steed was charged with defiant trespass, possession of suspected heroin, possession with intent to distribute, possession with intent to distribute within 1,000 feet of a school, possession with intent to distribute within 500 feet of public housing, resisting arrest by flight, and hindering apprehension.
‘Neat’ homeless man allegedly starts fire
A 55-year-old homeless man who was allegedly living in an abandoned building apparently started an accidental fire while preparing soup on the 500 block of Newark Street, according to police.
Police reported to the fire with the Hoboken Fire Department on the morning of Aug. 14. Officers entered the building and found “a closet full of clothes neatly hung up and several pairs of black shoes which were highly polished,” along with a cot and a series of shelves on the second floor of the building, according to police.
“It was obvious the person was very neat and had been living there for a while,” according to a police report.
Police say they found the man in his boxer shorts, unharmed, after searching the building. He told police he had been living in the building for approximately five years, according to a police report. He said he was cooking soup and forgot about it, which was how the fire started, according to a police report.
The fire wasn’t intentional, so he wasn’t charged with arson.
The building’s owner said he would not press charges if the man promised to leave. The two men agreed.
Police offered the man help to find a place to live, but he declined.
Stabbing on Sinatra Drive
A 17-year-old boy was stabbed at the skate park on Sinatra Drive at approximately 2 a.m. on Aug. 12, according to a police report.
Police say that when they reported to the scene, they were told that a black-colored vehicle with an injured person had fled north on Sinatra Drive. They stopped the car at 12th and Hudson streets, and the driver said his friend had been stabbed. The Hoboken Volunteer Ambulance Corps treated the juvenile victim.
The juvenile stabbing victim told police that there had been a male yelling at a woman at the skate park. He told him to calm down, according to police reports, and the yelling man allegedly became aggressive, swung at the juvenile, and then stabbed him with what appeared to be a stiletto knife, according to police. The alleged assailant fled the scene.
Police are investigating the incident.
Some lock
A 22-year-old Hoboken man was arrested and charged with criminal attempted theft of movable property last week.
Police allege that Leslie James Scarah tried multiple times to take a bike from a downtown rack on Bloomfield Street on Aug. 13 at approximately 3:30 a.m.
Police said they observed Scarah allegedly trying to take the bike for about two minutes, and after seeing him allegedly stand and jump on the lock, they approached him.
Police asked him what he was doing, to which Scarah allegedly responded: “I was trying to steal the bicycle,” police said.