NJ BULLETIN
Your Resource for Towns in Northern New Jersey
Your Resource for Towns in Northern New Jersey
REAL ESTATE

Hoboken Police Arrest Blotter Feb 29, 2024 to March 06, 2024

Posted Fri, Mar 8, 2024, From Hoboken Police
On February 29, 2024, at approximately 9:50 a.m., Police Officers Frank Lombardo, Elias Colon, David Chicara, and Jessica Arebalo responded to the 500 block of Marshall Drive on reports of unknown individuals sleeping in stairwells of a residential building. Officers found a man sleeping on a seventh-floor landing, woke him up, and asked him to step down from the landing which he did. They also located several items considered to be drug paraphernalia in arms-reach of where the man, later identified as 22-year-old Christian Orellana-Medina of Guttenberg, was sleeping including cylindrical glass pipes, a push rod, and a small empty glass vial. He was placed under arrest for possession of drug paraphernalia and defiant trespassing. A search incident to arrest located small burnt copper steel wool commonly used to ingest CDS in his book bag. He was transported to Hoboken Police Headquarters. Sgt. Adam Colon arrived to assist. Officers also located another individual in a different stairwell. That man, later identified as 47-year-old Jeffrey Wheeler of Hoboken, had two outstanding warrants out of Hoboken. He was also transported to Hoboken Police Headquarters, processed on the outstanding warrants, and charged with defiant trespassing. Both men were taken to the Hudson County Correctional Facility.

On February 29, 2024, at approximately 11 a.m., 50-year-old Jorge Ayala of Hoboken arrived at Hoboken Police Headquarters where he was processed by Det. Luis Rodriguez on a summons for theft and released with a court date. The complaint was generated by Police Officer Tyrone Huggins on February 8, 2024, after an investigation into a report of a package theft on the 300 block of 13th Street on January 31, 2024. That report was taken by Police Officer Ramon Estrella. On Feb. 29, Ayala was released with a court date.

On February 29, 2024, at approximately 1:45 p.m., Police Officers Arturo and Geovanni Cruzado responded to the area of Third and Garden Streets on reports of a man dragging a woman. When they arrived, it appeared the male, later identified as 48-year-old Victor Rivera of Jersey City, had a knife. It was quickly determined he did not have a weapon, but officers found two glass cylinder shaped tubes with steel wool filters commonly referred to as crack pipes. Rivera was placed under arrest and a search incident to arrest found two wax folds containing a white powdery substance believed to be CDS, and a cut blue plastic straw. He was transported to Hoboken Police Headquarters and processed on charges of possession of CDS and possession of drug paraphernalia. He was later transported to the Hudson County Correctional Facility.

On March 1, 2024, at approximately 3 a.m., Detective Ryan Houghton was working an outside employment job at the intersection of Newark and Monroe Streets, with his emergency lights activated, when he observed a vehicle attempt to turn onto a closed road. When the driver realized the road was blocked, he stopped in the intersection for about 30 seconds, before turning toward the Detective, appearing to try and go around the marked car and onto the closed road. Det. Houghton engaged his siren to get the driver’s attention. The driver continued to drive in a hazardous, erratic, and illegal manner. When Det. Houghton tried to direct him, he observed the driver’s speech was slurred and his eyes were glossy and blood shot. He also noticed a strong odor of alcoholic beverage emanating out of his breath. The driver was told to put the vehicle in park multiple times, but did not comply, and at one point he began to move forward again. When the driver finally stopped, the detective reached inside the window and put the car in park. When asked for his identification, the driver did so lethargically. Police Officers Andrias Bonilla, Aaron Font, Nicholas Protopapadakis, and Michael Straten arrived on scene. The driver was identified as 50-year-old Jayeshba Patel of Jersey City. Officer Bonilla conducted field sobriety tests, after which Patel was arrested for driving while intoxicated. He was transported to Hoboken Police Headquarters where he was also issued summonses for improper backing up, and reckless driving. As per John’s Law, he was released into the custody of a responsible party.

On March 1, 2024, at approximately 9:15 a.m., Sgt. Frank Rosa and Police Officers Jonathan Figueroa and Elias Colon responded to the Hoboken Shelter, 300 Bloomfield St., on reports of an assault. When they arrived, officers saw a man, later identified as 30-year-old John Azer of Jersey City, who fit a description of the suspect standing outside the shelter. An on-scene investigation found that after Azer was told he might have to leave for not complying with shelter rules the night before, he walked over to a woman he recognized and hit her on the back of her head twice with his fists. The victim was treated on the scene by members of the Hoboken Volunteer Ambulance Corps and taken to the hospital. Azer was placed under arrest and charged with aggravated assault, endangering another person, and obstructing the administration of the law. He was later transported to the Hudson County Correctional Facility.

On March 1, 2024, at approximately 5:20 p.m., Police Officers Alexander Miller and Harold Milne, while conducting a building sweep on the 300 block of Marshall Drive due to previous complaints of non-residents in hallways and stairwells, located a man later identified as 45-yearold Jerry Walls of Jersey City. Lt. Jonathan Butler arrived on the scene. Walls was issued a summons for defiant trespassing, escorted out of the building, and released.

On March 1, 2024, at approximately 5:50 p.m., Police Officer Anthony Azzoline responded to Walgreens, 1300 Willow Ave., on reports of a shoplifting that had happened five minutes earlier. Store employees saw a woman taking several items off the shelves and leave without paying. Officers were shown surveillance video of the actor. About an hour later, while at a building on the 600 block of Sixth Street, Officer Azzoline observed a woman who matched the description and video of the suspect. The woman, later identified as 36-year-old Brania Fernandez of Hoboken, was placed under arrest for shoplifting. A search incident to arrest found her to have a cylindrical glass tube containing burned copper wire mesh on one end, a wax fold containing suspected CDS, a cylindrical plastic container, and a metal push rod. She was transported to the Hoboken Police Headquarters and additionally charged with possession of CDS and possession with intent to use. She was later transported to the Hudson County Correctional Facility.

On March 1, 2024, at approximately 5:55 p.m., Police Officers Alexander Miller and Harold Milne were conducting a building sweep in a building on the 600 block of Sixth Street, due to complaints of non-residents hanging out in the hallways and stairwells. While checking a stairwell landing, they located three men later identified as 24-year-old Ramiro Quirola-Vergara of Hackensack, 22-year-old Christian Orellana-Medina of Jersey City, and 23-year-old Ismael Tamat of West New York. They were arrested and transported to Hoboken Police Headquarters. Police Officers Rose Kanan and Nassir Willey arrived to assist with transport. A search of Orellana-Medina located a wax fold containing a white powdery substance suspected to be CDS in his pocket. Officers also found nine more wax folds containing a white powdery substance suspected to be CDS and three cellophane bags containing white powdery substance suspected to be CDS in between layers of his socks. Orellana-Medina was charged with possession of CDS crack cocaine, possession of CDS heroin, possession of drug paraphernalia, and defiant trespassing. He was transported to the Hudson County Correctional Facility. A search of Tamat located an empty wax fold suspected to have contained CDS in a pants pocket. Tamat was charged with possession of drug paraphernalia and defiant trespassing and was transported to the Hudson County correctional facility. Quirola-Vergara was charged with defiant trespassing and released with a summons.

On March 2, 2024, at approximately 1:20 p.m., Police Officers Arturo Gonzalez and Geovanni Cruzado responded to the 100 block of Washington Street on reports of a man trespassing in residential portion of the building. The building owner let them inside and officers observed a man they knew and were able to identify as 53-year-old Donald Gilbert of Bayonne. He was told to not enter the building again, given a summons for defiant trespass, and released with a court date.

On March 2, 2024, at approximately 6:30 p.m., Sgt. Wiliam Collins observed a vehicle travel through the intersection of Newark and Grand Streets without stopping at a posted stop sign and then slow down and almost stop in the middle of the intersection. Sgt. Collins pulled the driver over on the 500 block of Observer Highway. Police Officer Anthony Rutkowski responded to the scene to assist. The driver, later identified as 38-year-old Felicia Santos of Perth Amboy, was found to have an odor of alcoholic beverages emanating from her breath and her movements were slow, her eyelids droopy, and eyes watery. Officer Rutkowski performed standardized field sobriety tests, after which Santos was arrested for driving while intoxicated. She was transported to Hoboken Police Headquarters and further charged with reckless driving and failure to stop at a stop sign. As per John’s law, Santos was released to a responsible party.

On March 2, 2024, at approximately 9:10 p.m., Police Officers Jason Montalvo and Rose Kanan responded to the area of Third and Madison Streets on reports of an altercation. Police Officers Anthony Azzoline and Domenick Allegretta also responded. Upon arrival, officers did not see an altercation going on, but did observe a woman, later identified as 24-year-old Julia Sugrim of Hoboken, holding what appeared to be a charred glass cylindrical pipe, commonly used to smoke CDS. Sgt. Jason Falco arrived on the scene. Sugrim was arrested for possession of drug paraphernalia. She was transported to Hoboken Police Headquarters where it was discovered she had an outstanding warrant out of Newark. She was later transported to the Hudson County Correctional Facility.

On March 3, 2024, at approximately 2:10 a.m., Detectives Michael Losurdo and Ryan Houghton were on patrol on Newark Street when they observed a verbal argument taking place between two groups of males. As they tried to separate the two groups, they observed one man, later identified as 22-year-old Jael Maldonado of Ledgewood, push his head against another mans, which escalated the verbal argument to a physical fight. Maldonado was placed under arrest for disorderly conduct. Police Officers Harold Milne and Shelby Seickendick arrived on scene to assist. Maldonado was transported to Police Headquarters and was processed. He was released on a summons.

On March 3, 2024, at approximately 3:10 a.m., Police Officers Bianca Arroyo and Anthony Rutkowski responded to the 1300 block of Bloomfield Street on reports of a motor vehicle accident. Upon arrival they met with one of the drivers, later identified as 25-year-old Rahjuan Herron of Jersey City, who officers observed to be speaking extremely fast, and had to be asked multiple times for documents they needed for an accident report. Lt. Michael Costello and Police Officers Marvin DeJesus and Keven De La Cruz arrived on the scene. An on-scene investigation quickly determined the second car had been parked when the crash happened. Herron was given field sobriety tests, after which he was arrested for driving while intoxicated. He was transported to Hoboken Police Headquarters where he was further charged with refusal to provide breath samples. Further investigation found a total of five parked cars had sustained damage. As per John’s Law, Herron was released into the custody of a responsible party.

On March 3, 2024, at approximately 8 p.m., Police Officers Ramon Calderon and Jennifer Lee responded to the area of Eighth and Jefferson Streets on reports of a package theft. Lt. Jonathan Butler and Sgt. Jason Falco also responded and located a man who fit the description of the suspect near Sixth and Madison Streets. The man, later identified as 27-year-old Andrew Kinney of Union City, was found to be in possession of a package with a shipping label that did not belong to him. He was placed under arrest, transported to Hoboken Police Headquarters and charged with theft of a package from a residential area. He was processed and released on a summons.

On March 4, 2024, at approximately 9:15 a.m., Police Officers Joshua Campoverde and Jessica Pizanie responded to Hoboken Police Headquarters to process the arrest of 50-year-old George Cook of Bayonne, who had turned himself in on simple assault charges. The charges stem from an incident at the Hoboken Multi-Service Center, 124 Grand St., on February 29, 2024, at approximately 5:15 p.m., in which a parent punched a referee during a school basketball game. The Hoboken Volunteer Ambulance Corps. treated the victim on the scene. Investigation by Officers Campoverde and Harry Montalvo confirmed Cook as the actor, and a complaint was generated. On March 4, Cook was processed and released on a summons.

On March 5, 2024, at approximately 11:20 a.m., Sgt. Frank Rosa and Police Officer Dylan Archilla responded to CVS, 59 Washington St., on reports of a shoplifting where the actor had just left the store. The actor, later identified as 39-year-old Christopher Johnson of Jersey City, was seen by an employee putting travel items into his pockets. He then left the store without paying. Police Officer Jonathan Figueroa, who was working an outside employment job nearby, spotted a man who fit the suspect’s description on the 300 block of Washington Street and stopped him. Johnson was placed under arrest for shoplifting. A search of Johnson located a handful of the items missing from CVS. Other items were found discarded on the street between the store and arrest location. Johnson was transported to the Hudson County Correctional Facility.

On March 5, 2024, at approximately 10 p.m., Police Officers Anthony Hochstadter and Paul Quinn responded to Church Square Park, 400 Garden St.., on a possible medical emergency. Police Officer Ramon Calderon was also on the scene, with a male and female the officers knew were unhoused. While members of the Hoboken Volunteer Ambulance Corps evaluated the man, the woman who officers identified as 49-year-old Patricia Lavacchi, became agitated and made threats to anyone who touched the man. Officers had to stop her from interfering with EMTs multiple times and she became even more agitated and threatened to knock them out if they didn’t get out of her way. She was placed under arrest for disorderly conduct and released on a summons.

On March 6, 2024, at approximately 3:30 p.m., Police Officers Samuel Flores and Dylan Archilla responded to ShopRite, 900 Madison St., on reports of a shoplifter being held by security. The actor, identified as 30-year-old Shaquilla Dubose of Hoboken, was seen by store security scanning only some of the items in her cart and bags. She tried to leave with $165 in unpaid items before being stopped by loss prevention officers. Dubose was transported to Hoboken Police Headquarters, charged with shoplifting, and released with a summons.

On March 6, 2024, at approximately 5:05 p.m., Police Officers Alexander Miller and Nicholas Protopapadakis responded to the area of Second and Madison Streets on reports of a someone stealing a package. They observed a man who fit the description of the suspect near Fourth and Madison Streets. Police Officers Joshua Campoverde and Anthony Ingraffia arrived on the scene. The man, later identified as Torres, was detained and officers could observe an article of clothing in a white plastic package with tags still on. Officers also located a glass cylindrical pipe commonly used to smoke CDS and a lighter in his pocket. He was transported to Hoboken Police Headquarters and charged with theft of a package from residential property and possession of drug paraphernalia. Torres was transported to the Hudson County Correctional Facility.


*The charges are merely accusations, and defendants are presumed innocent unless, and until, proven guilty in a court of law. *
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