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An officer stopped a black SUV driven by 32-year-old Jean C. Peguero on Belleville Turnpike near Roosevelt Street for having its lights off at 2:45 a.m. Monday, Police Chief Scott M. Hedenburg said.
Officers noticed a strong smell of raw marijuana coming from the vehicle, leading to a search that turned up the contraband -- including $3,000 in drug money, Hedenburg said.
Peguero “physically resisted officers” while being taken into custody, the chief said.
He was charged with various drug counts, as well as resisting arrest, obstruction and money laundering, and was sent to the Bergen County Jail.
A judge then ordered Peguero released hours later, pending further court action, under New Jersey’s bail reform law.
Peguero has a criminal history that includes a May 2016 incident in North Bergen when he told police he’d been the victim of a hit-and-run.
It turned out the driver he identified as responsible actually robbed him of two and a half pounds of marijuana worth roughly $3,000, the Hudson County Sheriff’s Office said at the time.
Peguero, who had a trio of outstanding warrants at the time, was charged with several drug counts.
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