On May 23, 2024, at approximately 8:05 a.m., Sgt. Saverio Binetti and Police
Officers Michael Aviles and Jessica Pizane responded to the 1000 block of
Washington Street on reports of man, later identified as 43-year-old James Ventre,
of North Bergen, causing a nuisance in an establishment that had a restraining
order against him. Ventre was stopped and questioned on the 900 block of
Washington Street. He was found to have an outstanding warrant out of Easton,
PA. He was transported to Hoboken Police Headquarters, processed on the
warrant, and then transported to the Hudson County Correctional Facility to await
extradition.
On May 23, 2024, at approximately 7:15 p.m., Police Officers Nicklas Valerius
and Shelby Seickendick responded to Mamoun's Falafel, 300 Washington St., on
reports of a man screaming at employees and customers inside. When they arrived,
they saw the man, later identified as Rohit Sripathi, standing about 20 feet from the
entrance screaming profanities. The officers escorted Sripathi out of the restaurant,
and he became agitated and began to yell at the officers. Police Officer Barral
arrived on the scene. Sripathi continued to yell at officers, using vulgar and
offensive language and refused to listen to the officers. He was placed under arrest
for disorderly conduct and transported to Hoboken Police Headquarters. He was
released with a summons.
On May 23, 2024, at approximately 9:05 p.m., Police Officers Mark Mooreman
and Remy Marte-Garcia went to Perth Amboy to take custody of 26-year-old
Mariano Luna of Perth Amboy who had an active warrant in Hoboken for a 2021
incident, in which he refused to leave Hoboken University Medical Center and
then attempted to physically assault responding police officers. On May 23, 2024,
Luna was transported to Hoboken Police Headquarters, processed, and then
transported to the Hudson County Correctional Facility.
On May 24, 2024, at approximately 5:30 p.m., Det. Michael Losurdo and Police
Officer Nasir Willey were on patrol on the 300 block of Harrison Street when they
saw a man they recognize as 54-year-old Edwin Sierra of Hoboken, who they also
knew had warrants. When they told Sierra to stop, he fled on foot but then stopped
and surrendered quickly. Police Officer Damian Bates arrived on the scene. Sierra
was transported to Hoboken Police Headquarters. He was found to have two
warrants from Union City, one from Hoboken, and one from Hudson County. He
was further charged with resisting arrest and refusal to be fingerprinted.
On May 24, 2024, at approximately 6 p.m., Sgt. Ryan Houghton and Police
Officer Mark Mooreman responded to Dunkin Donuts, 700 Washington St., on
reports of a disorderly man who would not leave the bathroom. By the time they
arrived, the man had left. Employees provided a picture of the man and told
officers he had used offensive language toward them and then locked himself in
the bathroom before fleeing the store. Officers located the man in Stevens Park,
401 Hudson St. He refused to give his name, but officers were able to identify him
as 41-year-old Jamel Lewis of Orange, and it was discovered he had warrants from
Hoboken, Secaucus, and Springfield. A search incident to arrest located a smoke
pipe with a white residue believed to be an illegal substance. He was transported to
Hoboken Police Headquarters and further charged with possession of an illegal
substance. He was transported to the Hudson County Correctional Facility.
On May 24, 2024, at approximately 10:40 p.m., Sgt. Ryan Houghton was on
bicycle patrol on the 100 block of Sinatra Drive, when he observed a man, later
identified as 29-year-old Carlos Mejia of Bayonne, riding a motorcycle out of Pier
A Park and on the sidewalk. When Mejia was ordered to stop, he tried riding
around Sgt. Houghton and struck him with the motorcycle. Mejia began to run
away, but Sgt. Houghton quickly caught up and arrested him. Det. Sgt. William
Collins, Det. Michael Losurdo, and Police Officers Shelby Seickendick, Damien
Bates, Kyle Seper, Remy Garcia-Marte, and Shyenna Vega responded to the scene.
Mejia was transported to Hoboken Police Headquarters and processed on charges
of aggravated assault by auto and resisting arrest. He was also issued a summons
for reckless driving, failure to exhibit registration, failure to exhibit insurance,
driving the sidewalk, driving without a license, and driving in the bike lane. He
was released with a summons.
On May 25, 2024, at approximately 11:30 p.m., Police Officers Kyle Seper,
Jessica Arebalo, Nicklas Valerius, and Remy Garcia-Marte responded to the 600
block of Madison Street on reports of someone rummaging through a car parked in
a residential parking lot. The caller followed the actor on foot to the Prime Stop
and Convenience Store, 301 Madison St. Officers went to that location and located
a woman they knew as 47-year-old Stacy Butler of Hoboken. While they were
talking to Butler, officers noticed a translucent glass object containing mesh,
commonly used to ingest crack cocaine, lying on the ground next to where she was
sitting. Butler was placed under arrest. She was charged with burglary and
possession of drug paraphernalia. She refused to be fingerprinted and
photographed and was further charged with refusal to be fingerprinted. Butler was
transported to the Hudson County Correctional Facility.
On May 26, 2024, at approximately 3:45 a.m., Police Officers Alexander Miller
and Jaydan Gonzalez were walking near the intersection of Fourth and Harrison
Streets when they saw a car with no front bumper parked in the intersection,
blocking traffic. It was determined this was the same vehicle they had seen about
45 minutes earlier, swerving, but they were unable to get the driver's attention to
conduct a traffic stop. When they approached the vehicle, they saw the driver, later
identified as 62-year-old Lawrence Mangan of West New York, with his eyes
closed. Police Officers Anthony Rutkowski and Marvin Dejesus arrived on the
scene. When they approached Mangan, officers smelled the odor of an alcoholic
beverage emanating from his breath. Sgt. James Barbro and Police Officer
Nicholas Losurdo arrived on the scene. A field sobriety test was administered, after
which Mangan was arrested for driving while intoxicated. Officers located three
opened bottles of vodka in his pants. He was transported to Hoboken Police
Headquarters. He was issued a summons for driving while intoxicated, driving
with an open or unsealed container of alcohol, reckless driving, and obstructing
passage of other vehicles. As per John’s Law, Mangan was released into the
custody of a responsible party.
On May 26, 2024, at approximately 2 p.m., Police Officer Brandon Fitzgibbons
responded to the intersection of Seventh and Washington Streets on reports of a car
crash. When he arrived, one of the drivers, later identified as 36-year-old Antonio
Hernandez Aquino of Jersey City was standing by his vehicle, became very
emotional, and denied an accident had happened. Police Officer Roberto Cuevas
arrived on the scene to assist. A field sobriety test was conducted, after which
Hernandez Aquino was placed under arrest for driving while intoxicated. He was
transported to Hoboken Police Headquarters and issued a summons for driving
while intoxicated and reckless driving. As per John’s Law he was released into the
custody of a responsible party.
On May 27, 2024, at approximately 2 a.m., Police Officers Frank Losurdo and
David Chicara were patrolling on foot when they observed a man, they knew to be
43-year-old Patrick DeMarco of North Bergen on the 600 block of Fifth Street.
They knew he was wanted on an active arrest warrant out of Hoboken. They
stopped him on the 300 block of Grand Street and placed him under arrest. He was
transported to Hoboken Police Headquarters for processing on six charges of
peering in connection to a case investigated by Detective Luis Rodriguez, in which
DeMarco was found peering into the same home at least six times between
February and May. He was ultimately transported to the Hudson County
Correctional Facility.
On May 27, 2024, at approximately 9:50 a.m., Police Officers Jessica Arebalo and
Roberto Cuevas were conducting a detail check of a building on the 300 block of
Marshall Drive when the observed a man inhale from a small white item and then
drop the item on the ground. They stopped the man, identified as 30-year-old
Jonathan George of Union City. It was discovered he had a warrant from Hoboken
on for trespassing. Police Officers Marco Grossman and Geovanni Cruzado arrived
on the scene. Officers located a small empty white wax fold near where George
had dropped the white object. He was arrested and transported to Hoboken Police
Headquarters. He was charged with possession of CDS, being under the influence
of CDS without a prescription, and possession of drug paraphernalia. He was
ultimately transported to the Hudson County Correctional Facility.
On May 27, 2024, at approximately 10:41 a.m., Police Officers Rose Kanan and
Frank Lombardo responded to Walgreens, 1300 Willow Ave., on reports of
shoplifting. While they were on 11th Street near Jefferson Street, they saw a man
who matched a description of the suspect. They stopped the man, later identified as
28-year-old Jacob Smith of Hoboken. An on-scene investigation revealed that
Smith had placed several hair dryers, valuing a total of $201.46, into a bag and left
without paying. Officers located the hair dryers near where Smith was arrested. He
was transported to Hoboken Police Headquarters, charged with shoplifting, and
released on a complaint.
On May 28, 2024, at approximately 11:50 a.m., Police Officers Frank Losurdo and
Alexander Miller observed a man they recognized as 33-year-old Gregory Freites
of Hoboken, near the intersection of Fifth and Hudson Streets. The officers knew
Freites had an outstanding warrant. When they approached him and asked for his
information, Freites became irritated and at first would not provide his name or
identification. He became agitated, tried to throw away his backpack, and then
approached the officers in an aggressive manner while screaming in their faces and
trying to hit them with his arms. That is when Freitas was placed under arrest. A
search incident to arrest located a clear glass cylindrical tube with burnt ends,
commonly known to ingest CDS in the backpack he had tried to throw away. He
was transported to Hoboken Police Headquarters and processed on the warrant for
package theft, and additionally charged with aggravated assault and possession of
drug paraphernalia. He was transported to the Hudson County Correctional
Facility.
On May 28, 2024, at approximately 1:04 p.m., Police Officers Christopher
Hatfield and Michael Aviles responded to Newark, to pick up Raffaele
Spadavecchia who had been stopped for a traffic violation and found to have two
open warrants out of Hoboken. Spadavecchia was transported to Hoboken Police
Headquarters and processed on both warrants; one for theft and the other for
leaving the scene. He was released on bail.
On May 28, 2024, at approximately 5:25 p.m., Sgt. Adam Colon and Police
Officers Anthony Azzoline, Jason Montalvo, and Rose Kanan observed a man they
knew as 33-year-old Armando Torres of Jersey City enter the front door of a
Hoboken Housing Authority Building on the 300 block of Jackson Street. They
knew Torres was not a resident of the building. He was located and arrested for
trespassing. He was transported to Hoboken Police Headquarters, processed on the
trespassing charge, and released from custody with a summons.
On May 28, 2024, at approximately 6:50 p.m., Police Officers Harold Milne and
Christopher Barral responded to Hoboken University Medical Center, 308 Willow
Ave., on reports of a man threatening hospital staff. An on-site investigation
revealed the man, identified as 41-year-old Leon Blake of Hoboken, threatened
employees with physical harm causing some of them to fear for their safety both at
the hospital, and when they left to go home. Sgt. Francis McCourt arrived on the
scene. Blake was arrested, transported to Hoboken Police Headquarters, and
processed on charges of making terroristic threats. The charges were placed on a
summons and Blake was released from custody.
