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Later identified as Carlos Emanuel Martinho, the 29-year-old man was driving with a crack across his entire windshield, a large item hanging from his reariew mirror and a third brake light out when he was stopped Friday morning by Officer Travis Cangialosi, Officer Heather Castronova told CLIFFVIEW PILOT this afternoon.
Asked for his driver’s license, registration and proof of insurance, the motorist “appeared nervous and stated he was an unlicensed driver,” she said.
With the driver’s door still open, a 27-inch-long metal pipe about a quarter-inch in diameter could be seen between his seat and the door frame, “within a short arm’s reach of the driver,” Castronova said.
Asked about it, Martinho told Cangialosi that he “spends time in North Newark and uses it as protection,” and that he “had another pipe in the same position on the passenger side,” she said.
Removing the pipes, the officer asked whether he had any more weapons or drugs in the vehicle — and Martinho, in turn, handed over a joint that he said he’d smoked the night before.
He was arrested once backups arrived.
At headquarters, Officer Michael Ferrarini discovered that Martinho was using another man’s Social Security number, which Castronova said he obtained when he moved here from Portugal — and used on his W-2 form.
He was being held on $25,000 bail — with a detainer from the ICE to hold him should he raise the money — on charges of trafficking in another’s personal identification and possessing fraudulent government documents, weapons and marijuana.
Police also issued Martinho summonses for improper safety glass, obstruction of view, maintenance of lamps, possession of drugs in a motor vehicle, being an unlicensed driver, and failing to exhibit documents.
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