UNION COUNTY LOCALSOURCE LOCALSOURCE.COM THURSDAY, APRIL 28, 2011 — PAGE 13 UCPO investigates police-involved shooting in Union The Union County Prosecu- tor's Office is investigating a police-involved shooting that took place April 22 at about 3 p.m. at 1853 Manor Dr. Union Township, said Prosecutor Theodore J. Romankow. So far, the investigation has revealed that while on routine patrol, a uniformed member of the Union Police Department located a stolen car occupied by several suspects. As he attempt- ed to confront the suspects they began to flee the scene, drag- ging the officer along the road. The officer fired his service weapon, striking one of the sus- pects. Both the officer and sus- pect were taken to local hospi- tals where they were treated and released, according to Union Police Director Dan Zeiser. "This remains an active investigation and charges are pending against the suspects," Romankow said in a press release. As a matter of policy, the Prosecutor's Office investi- gates whenever an officer fires a weapon while in the line of duty. The officers name and the name of the suspect had not been released as of press time Tuesday. Cranford • Richard Gonzalez, 51, of Gar- wood was arrested April 18 at 11:36 p.m. on South Avenue West/Lincoln Avenue West and was charged with possession of prescription drugs and possession of a controlled dan- gerous substance. Gonzalez was approached by police during a suspicious person investigation in the area of the Bank of America. Following an investiga- tion at the scene, police found Gon- zalez to be in possession of four pills, suspected methadone and pre- scription pain killers. • Erin Ingram, 28, of Cranford, was arrested April 18 at 1:52 a.m. on Raritan Road/Coleman Avenue and was charged with possession of a controlled dangerous substance, marijuana, possession of parapher- nalia and multiple traffic warrants. A 2005 black Toyota was stopped for an inoperable brake light. After detecting an odor of burnt marijuana in the vehicle. police conducted an investigation at the scene. The driver, Ingram, was determined to have multiple out- standing warrants for her arrest. She was taken into custody and was found to have one bag of suspected marijuana and a package of rolling papers located on her person. She was also cited for having a suspend- ed drivers license. • David Willenbrock, 22, of Cranford and Jared Geraci, 21, of Rahway were arrested April 16 on Centennial Avenue/Hayes Street POLICE BLOTTER and were charged with possession of a controlled dangerous sub- stance, marijuana, possession of paraphernalia and possession of prescription drugs. A 2001 green Toyota was stopped for having inoperable brake lights. After detecting an odor of burnt marijuana, police conducted an investigation at the scene. The driver, Geraci, was found to be in possession of suspected marijuana and was placed under arrest. The front seat passenger, Willenbrock, was found to be in possession of prescription painkillers and was placed under arrest. Geraci was also issued a traffic summons for main- tenance of lamps. • Robert Backof, 50, of Gar- wood was arrested April 16 at 11:55 p.m. on Centennial Avenue/North Lehigh Avenue and was charged with driving while intoxicated and careless driving. Police responded to a two-vehi- cle crash on Centennial Avenue. Following an investigation at the scene, one of the drivers, Backof, was arrested for driving while intoxicated. • Kyle Tem, 53, of Roselle was arrested April 15 at 9:12 p.m. at 8 Springfield Ave. and was charged with contempt of court. Terry was arrested at Cranford Police Head- quarters on an outstanding criminal warrant issued by the Cranford Municipal Court related to a 2010 narcotics charge. • Jared L. Williams, 18, of Maplewood was arrested April 15 at 8:36 p.m. on North Avenue East/Carpenter Place and was charged with possession of marijua- na and possession of paraphernalia. A 1998 red Plymouth was stopped for blocking traffic on North Avenue. After detecting an odor of burnt marijuana in the vehi- cle, police conducted an investiga- tion at the scene of the stop. A rear seat passenger, Williams, was found to be in possession of six bags of suspected marijuana. The driver, a 19-year-old male from South Orange, was released with a motor vehicle citation for delaying traffic. • Koctrell Battle, 37, of Eliza- beth and Louis Belviso, 33, of Roselle Park were arrested April 15 at 6:51 p.m. on North Avenue East/Elizabeth Avenue and were charged with possession of a con- trolled dangerous substance, cocaine, possession of parapherna- lia and civil contempt warrant. A 1996 white Plymouth was stopped for seatbelt violations. Dur- ing the stop, a rear seat passenger, Battle, was allegedly observed to be in possession of a suspected home- made crack pipe and was removed from the vehicle. He was also deter- mined to be in possession of sus- pected cocaine. The front seat pas- senger, Belviso, was found to have a civil contempt warrant issued by the Union County Sheriff's Office. The driver, a 40-year-old male from Scotch Plains, was released from the scene. Hillside • A 42-year-old Hillside resident was robbed and brutally beaten on April 19 in front of his home at 1456 Franklin St. in Hillside at 9:03 p.m. The victim reports that four males appearing to be in their teens walked up to him and knocked him to the ground and began to brutally beat him by punching and kicking him in the head. They then stole his wallet containing $250 in cash and his cell phone valued at $50 and ran off in an unknown direction. Anyone with information is urged to call the Crime Stoppers anonymous tipline at 908-654- TIPS, send a message to UCTIP at 274637 or CRIMES or via the Crime Stoppers website at www.uctip.org. All tips are kept anonymous and confidential. Peo- ple with information regarding the crime are also urged to contact the Hillside police detective bureau at 973-926-5800. • Four 14-15-year-old male Hill- side residents were robbed at 9:53 p.m. on April 17. As the victims were walking near the intersection of North Broad Street and Ridgeway they were approached by three men, one who told them to "1 have a gun. Run your pockets." The juveniles began to give them what they had, cell phones and a small amount of cash. Once the subjects took the victims' belongings they fled south toward Elizabeth. The first subject is described as a black male, about 5 feet, 8 inches tall, with a dreadlock hairstyle. He was wearing a red and white Adidas track jacket. The second and third subjects are only described as light complexion Black males. Anyone with information is urged to call the Crime Stoppers anonymous tipline at 908-654- TIPS, send a message to UCTIP at 274637 or CRIMES or via the Crime Stoppers website at www.uctip.org. All tips are kept anonymous and confidential. Peo- ple with information regarding the crime are also urged to contact the Hillside police detective bureau at 973-926-5800. • On April 16 at 8:09 p.m. the owner of the Happy Face Cleaners was robbed at gunpoint and "pistol- whipped." Hillside police responded to 1604 Maple Ave. on a report of a robbery. Police learned that as the owner of Happy Face Cleaners was getting into his car a man allegedly pushed him into his vehicle, jumped on top of him and began to beat him about the head with a handgun. The subject then violently dragged him out of the car and stole $3,500 in cash from the man's pocket. He then ran south on Maple Avenue and west on Williamson Avenue. The subject is described only as a short black male wearing a black mask. Anyone with information is urged to call the Crime Stoppers anonymous tipline at 908-654-TIPS, send a message to UCTIP at 274637 or CRIMES or via the Crime Stop- pers website at www.uctip.org. All tips are kept anonymous and confi- dential. People with information regarding the crime are also urged to contact the Hillside police detective bureau at 973-926-5800. Linden • Charles D. Flowers, 46, of Lin- den was charged with burglary and criminal mischief. On Aug. 20 someone broke into an apartment at 200 W. Elizabeth Ave. by breaking a bathroom win- dow to gain entry. However, the bur- glar apparently cut himself on the glass pane and dripped blood in the bathroom and the apartment. Dec- tectives collected a sample of the blood and sent it to the Union Coun- ty Crime Lab for analysis. Flowers was arrested a few days later after fleeing the scene of an apartment burglary in Rahway. Rah- way Police obtained a DNA sample from Flowers after he was arrested. Recently, Linden detectives were informed by their Rahway counter- parts that Flowers' DNA matched blood evidence taken from the Lin- den apartment burglary. Rahway • Police are investigating a theft that occurred April 18 at 5:30 p.m. on Felver Court. • Police are investigating a theft that occurred April 18 at 4:42 p.m. on East Milton Avenue • Police are investigating a theft that occurred April 18 at 1:46 p.m. on Orchard Street. • Police are investigating a theft that occurred April 18 at 9:36 a.m. on East Milton Avenue. • Police are investigating a bur- glary that occurred April 18 at 7:35 a.m. on Witherspoon Street. Summit • Lyle L. Dungee, 25, of Plain- field was arrested April 18 at 2:59 p.m. on Springfield Avenue and was charged with driving while suspend- ed. • Daniel Didario, 47, of Somerville was arrested April 15 at 1:56 a.m. on Summit Avenue and was charged with driving while intoxicated. • Max Jarett Slavin, 20, of Bask- ing Ridge was arrested April 14 at 10:46 p.m. on Broad Street and was charged with purchasing an alco- holic beverage while under legal age and possession or use of a fake ID to purchase alcohol. • Brianna L. Cress, 18, of New Providence was arrested April 14 at 8:02 p.m. on Broad Street and was charged with underage purchase of alcohol and possession or use of a fake ID to purchase alcohol. • Drew D. Miller, 25, of Bushkill, Pennsylvania, was arrest- ed April 14 at 2:47 p.m. on Summit Avenue and was charged with driv- ing while suspended. Union • Raymond Girona was arrested on April 21 at 6:38 p.m. on Morris Avenue and was charged with hav- ing an outstanding warrant. • Alexander Rozbam was arrest- ed on April 21 at 5:19 p.m. on Springfield Road and was charged with shoplifting. • Anthony McLean was arrested on April 21 at 2:50 a.m. on Indiana Street and was charged with obstruction and resisting during a motor vehicle stop. • Melissa Simmons was arrested on April 20 at 7:14 p.m. on route 22 and was charged with prescription fraud. • Roman Moyzman was arrested on April 20 at 2:42 p.m. on the Gar- den State Parkway and was charged with possession of a controlled dan- gerous substance. • Bethany Hulsizer was arrested on April 20 at 2:26 p.m. on the Gar- den State Parkway and was charged with possession of a controlled dan- gerous substance. • Kcilor Cespedes was arrested on April 20 at 2:28 a.m. on Morris and Burnet avenues and was charged with driving while intoxi- cated. • Tonette Sanders was arrested on April 19 at 6:28 p.m. on Route 78 and Liberty Avenue and was charged with eluding. Sanders' vehicle was wanted for a robbery in Millburn earlier in the day. After a brief pursuit ensued, the suspect was arrested by Officers Simon and McLaughlin. • Jose Tenelema was arrested on April 19 at 10:12 a.m. on Oakland Avenue and was charged with hav- ing outstanding warrants. • David Stewart was arrested on April 19 at 10:07 a.m. on Hilton Avenue and was charged with pos- session of a controlled dangerous substance. Union County Police • Anca Brower, 32, of Kendall Park was arrested April 18 at 2 p.m. on Broad Street in Hillside and was charged with possession of heroin, possession of hypodermic needles and motor vehicle summons. Brower was arrested after a motor vehicle stop was initiated after she failed to use a turning sig- nal at an intersection. After a brief investigation, the driver, Brower, was found to be in possession of three hypodermic needles and sixty ripped open empty heroin folds. The information published in Police Blotter is provided by local police departments in accordance with the Open Public Records Act. All persons charged are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.