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One of the stops involved an ex-con with a suspended license who wasn't wearing a seatbelt and was drinking tequila when police said they stopped him for failing to signal a turn and found a loaded revolver and hollow-nose bullets in his SUV.
Officers Jeffrey Welsh and Officer Kris Duci made that stop this past week and another a week earlier as part of a Quality of Life Division that has been "vital in keeping Haledon a safe place to live, work and travel," Haledon Police Chief Angelo J. Daniele said.
Launched at the beginning of the year, and led by Detective Sgt. Sergeant Timothy Lindberg, the Haledon Police Department's Quality of Life Division has:
- made more than 200 arrests;
- seized eight handguns and two assault rifles;
- confiscated 2,157 heroin folds, 138 bags of crack, nearly two ounces of fentanyl, 65 opiate pills, 45 Ecstasy pills, and 10 pounds of pot;
- seized nearly 100 cartons of untaxed cigarettes, $6,333 in illicit proceeds and four vehicles;
- issued 117 summonses for municipal code violations.
"Clearly, there is a direct correlation between these efforts and minimal violent crime in Haledon," Capt George Guzman, Jr. said.
Welsh and Duci were patrolling in an unmarked vehicle when they stopped an Acura 32T with heavily tinted windows and no inspection sticker near the corner of Burhans Avenue and Temple Street in the middle of the afternoon on Dec. 1, Guzman said.
Accompanied by Class II Special Police Officer Euclides Cardona, the pair arrested the driver, Justin Guzman of Clifton, and the passenger, Piero Solier of Paterson, both 20 years old, he said.
This came after Guzman denied consent to search the vehicle and a Passaic County Sheriff's K-9 summoned to the scene gave a positive indication of contraband, the captain said.
The officers ended up finding a .22-caliber handgun in the center console, he said.
Both men were charged with weapons offenses and sent to the Passaic County Jail. Guzman also was cited for having tinted windows and no proof of inspection.
The same two officers stopped a Toyota Rav 4 after the driver failed to signal a turn at the intersection of Oxford Street and Burhans Avenue on Dec. 8, again just around 3 p.m., Guzman said.
Welsh and Duci immediately noticed an open bottle of tequila near the driver's legs, he said.
Once again, a sheriff's dog was summoned -- only this time the driver, identified as ex-con Alex Aguirre, 25, of Paterson, confessed to having a gun under the driver's seat, Guzman said.
The .357-caliber Smith & Wesson revolver was loaded with six hollow-point bullets, the captain said.
It had been reported stolen out of Newark, Guzman said.
Aguirre was charged with weapons offenses, including being a convicted felon in possession of a firearm, and sent to the Passaic County Jail.
He was also charged criminally for the illegal ammo and cited for failing to signal a turn, driving while unlicensed, not wearing a seat belt and having an open container of alcohol in his vehicle.
"Haledon residents are safer as a result of the persistent efforts of the Haledon Police Quality of Life Division," Mayor Domenick Stampone said. "There is zero tolerance for those who make the bad decision of bringing illegal drugs and guns into our community."
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