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POLICE BLOTTER - 11/19/2008
(by Donna Rolando and Rebecca Scanlon - Staff Writers - November 19, 2008)
KINNELON
SUV reported stolen
Police and a Wantage resident seek any help available in finding an SUV reported stolen from outside the Kinnelon Mall on Nov. 7.
According to Lt. John Schwartz, police responded to the scene around 9:45 p.m. and met with Vincent Derome of Wantage. Derome told police that he went into the movie theater off Kinnelon Road around 6:30 p.m. Upon leaving the theater after the movie, he found that his 2007 Ford SUV was missing.
Police are investigating the incident.
Drunken driving alleged
A private citizen helped to curb an alleged drunken driver on Nov. 7 around 10:40 p.m., Lt. John Schwartz said.
Patrolman Patrick McDonnell responded to the scene and found that the citizen had encouraged a driver, who was allegedly observed weaving over the line and hitting a guardrail on Fayson Lakes Road, to pull over by flashing high beams behind him.
While McDonnell spoke with the driver, he observed a strong odor of alcohol on his breath and signs of intoxication. The officer asked the motorist to perform field sobriety tests, but the motorist allegedly declined. According to police, the driver did admit to drinking earlier.
The driver, identified as James Dekeukelaere, 32, a borough resident, was cited for alleged driving while intoxicated, failure to exhibit documents, refusal to submit to breath tests, leaving the scene of an accident, failure to report an accident and reckless driving.
POMPTON LAKES
Police allege minors with alcohol
An alert patrol officer apprehended two minors he allegedly found with beer outside a liquor store on Hamburg Turnpike the night of Oct. 31.
What caught the attention of Sgt. Ronald Thomas was a male exiting the store with three 12-packs of beer and then placing them inside a white vehicle, which the driver of a second vehicle entered to retrieve a 12-pack, the blotter states.
As both vehicles left the lot, Sgt. Thomas stopped the second vehicle, a gray Chevy, and observed on the rear passenger side floor one 12-pack.
Sgt. Thomas questioned the occupants as to their age and learned that they were all 18 and therefore under age to possess alcohol, according to police.
While retrieving the 12-pack, the officer spotted a 40-ounce bottle of light beer in a passenger’s handbag. The bottle was in plain view as it was too big to contain inside the pocketbook, Sgt. Thomas observed.
Police charged both the driver, Adam Zwoboda, 18, and a passenger, Rachael Zwoboda, 18, both of Riverdale, with possession of alcohol under the legal age contrary to borough ordinance. Both agreed that another 18-year-old passenger had nothing to do with the alcohol and she was not charged.
A December court date was set.
Criminal mischief to business
Patrolman Jason Trignano investigated a merchant’s complaint about vandals spray-painting the side of his building, the Ice Cream Station at 10 Lakeside Ave.
Upon arrival at the scene, the officer met the owner who reported that the damage occurred between 6:45 p.m. and 8:30 p.m. on Oct. 31. The officer took note of several swear words scrawled in black and silver paint, and told the owner he’d make a report.
A search of the area revealed similar spray-paint markings on the rear of a box truck, the blotter states.
Political sign thieves cause damage
A Ramapo Avenue homeowner told police she suspects that thieves damaged her fence while targeting her “Barack Obama for President” sign prior to the election.
Responding to the scene on Oct. 31, Patrolman Jonathan Williams observed damage to a portion of the fence that abuts the fence on Pequannock Avenue. He photographed the damage for the record.
Fast-moving crook
Leaving his apartment unlocked for a short time, a Wanaque Avenue man returned to find that his Acer laptop was missing from the room. The victim told Patrolman Peter Kamper that he was gone no more than 30 minutes on Oct. 26 when the thief struck. He did not have a serial or model number so police found their investigation limited.
Halloween season mischief
A Colfax Avenue woman told police her pool fence may have been the target of pre-Halloween mischief. She told Sgt. John McCormick that someone spray-painted her white fence between Thursday night, Oct. 30 and Friday morning, Nov. 1.
The fence had a 6-by-3 strip of gray paint that looked as though it had been sprayed as someone walked alongside it, she said.
PEQUANNOCK
Marijuana possession alleged
While doing a late night check on businesses in Virginia Plaza based in Pompton Plains, Patrolman Kevin Ricciardi grew suspicious of a 1995 Toyota Camry parked behind Dunkin Donuts at almost 11 p.m. on Nov. 11.
According to police, Patrolman Ricciardi spoke with the driver, Stephanie Cheski, 21, of Wayne, and detected an odor of burnt marijuana coming from the passenger compartment.
After advising Cheski of his concerns, the officer received consent to search the car, which revealed a clear plastic bag containing green vegetation believed to be marijuana in a small compartment on the dashboard, Lt. Daniel Dooley reported.
Also discovered in the glove box, Dooley said, was a metal pipe such as that typically used to ingest marijuana.
Cheski was arrested on charges of possession of a controlled dangerous substance (marijuana) and drug paraphernalia, according to police. She was released pending Municipal Court.
Man pleads guilty on child porn charge
A 44-year-old Pompton Plains man pleaded guilty Nov. 5 to distributing child pornography on the Internet, Attorney General Anne Milgram has announced. At the guilty plea hearing, Albert Camacho, 44, of Pompton Plains pleaded guilty before Superior Court Judge Thomas Manahan in Morris County to second-degree distribution of child pornography.
In pleading guilty, Camacho admitted that between July and September 2007, he knowingly used Internet file sharing software to make multiple files containing child pornography readily available for any other user to download from a designated “shared folder” on his computer.
Camacho was among more than three dozen people arrested in October 2007 as part of “Operation Silent Shield,” an investigation that targeted offenders who distributed known images and videos of child pornography via the Internet.
Camacho’s live-in girlfriend, Joan Lamb, 45, also pleaded guilty on Nov. 5 to fourth-degree possession of child pornography.
The state will recommend a sentence of three years in state prison for Camacho and a probationary sentence for Lamb. Lamb is scheduled for sentencing on Dec. 12, and Camacho is scheduled for sentencing on Jan. 2.
A search warrant executed by the New Jersey State Police on Sept. 24 revealed evidence of child pornography on Lamb’s computer. Camacho admitted that he was the one to create the “shared folder,” the attorney general said.
Cops allege red light violation
Running a red light at Route 23 and Alexander Avenue was what police say first called their attention to the driver of a 1997 green Dodge wagon northbound on the highway on Nov. 16.
Sgt. First Class James Feury spotted the alleged violation and attempted to stop the Dodge, however, police said the Butler man at the wheel did not immediately notice and took a short time to pull over.
With the motor vehicle stop finally accomplished, Lt. Daniel Dooley said the officer identified the driver as Fermin Ceron, 31, and took note of signs of intoxication.
Due to a language barrier, Butler Patrolman Jorge Reyes assisted in translating for Sgt. First Class Feury at headquarters where breath-alcohol testing was performed.
Ultimately, Ceron was charged with driving while intoxicated, unlicensed driver, and uninsured motor vehicle and released to a friend pending Municipal Court.
RIVERDALE
DNA solves ’06 case
Police allege that blood evidence left at the scene of a 2006 burglary by a West Milford man resulted in his arrest on Sept. 25.
Detective Capt. Rich Roemmele reported that suspect Eric Trent, 19, cut himself on motor vehicle glass during a burglary at an auto body shop on Hamburg Turnpike, leaving DNA in his blood at the scene that authorities eventually tied to him.
He explained that Morris County crime scene investigators collected the blood evidence from one of the burglarized vehicles. The evidence was submitted to the New Jersey State Police Forensics Lab in Hamilton for analysis. A suspect was developed and a DNA sample was collected and sent to the State Police lab for comparison.
As a result of this investigation, two years later, police charged Trent with two counts of burglary and theft. Police said the two radios stolen were worth at least $200, which makes this an indictable offense for consideration by state Superior Court in Morris County. Detective Pat Harden also participated in the investigation.
Suspended license
A random motor vehicle check revealed that a 21-year-old Paterson man was driving with a suspended license on the afternoon of Nov. 11.
Patrolman Joseph McDermott halted the silver Scion on Route 23 South shortly after 4 p.m. and cited a motorist identified as Errol Nelson.
A November date was set for Municipal Court.
Alcohol test refusal
Police allege that a Pompton Lakes man made his plight worse by refusing to take an alcohol-breath test at the order of Patrolman Pat Harden on the night of Nov. 10.
Sgt. James MacIntosh reports that the officer halted a white Dodge van for excessive speed on Hamburg Turnpike, specifically 43 miles per hour in a 25-mph zone.
In speaking to the driver, identified as Giuseppe Barletta, 57, Patrolman Harden smelled alcohol. He also observed that Barletta seemed to have trouble exiting the van, and at one point, Barletta admitted to drinking alcohol earlier in the day, MacIntosh said.
Although Barletta participated in a field sobriety test, police said he refused the alcohol-breath test. He was consequently charged with driving while intoxicated and refusing to take a breath test, the blotter states. Because his van was impounded, Barletta went home with a friend and a November Municipal Court date, police said.
LINCOLN PARK
Alleged drunken driving
At 1:25 a.m. on Nov. 15, Sgt. Michael Runfeldt stopped a vehicle on Hunter Road that allegedly did not have a front license plate. While speaking with the driver, identified as Ali Caymaz, 23, of Riverdale, Sgt. Runfeldt came to suspect that he was intoxicated. According to police, Caymaz failed field sobriety tests.
The suspect was then transported to headquarters, where police allege he also failed a breath-alcohol test. Caymaz was charged with driving while intoxicated and issued a summons for a missing front plate. He was released to a family member and told to appear in Municipal Court on Nov. 19.
–Compiled by Donna Rolando and Rebecca Scanlon
All persons charged are presumed innocent until proven guilty.
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