49°
It made five guns seized by the squad in a little over 24 hours.
Detectives Suquan Gary, Yamil Pimienta, Brian Culmone and Mohammad Bashir tried stopping the erratically-driven Toyota – reported stolen out of Elizabeth -- as it barreled up East 27th Street shortly after 9 p.m. Friday, Police Director Jerry Speziale said.
The driver hit the gas, however.
The fleeing SUV turned onto 17th Avenue and then onto East 25th Street before the driver tried to turn onto 15th Avenue, hit a parked vehicle and crashed through a fence onto a resident’s property.
Three occupants bailed out, with the detectives “in hot pursuit” on foot, Speziale said.
Bashier grabbed one of them – identified as Jameek Williams, 22, of Paterson -- in the 600 block of East 27th Street, the director said.
Detectives Aaron Hensz, Joehan Suarez and Nuno Macedo grabbed another -- identified as Nyjohn Jackson, 19, also of Paterson -- at Broadway and East 23rd Street, he said.
The third occupant eluded a search employing uniformed officers and a Passaic County Sheriff’s K-9 Unit.
The detectives recovered three semi-automatic pistols from the car, Speziale said: a .40-caliber Smith & Wesson SD40 and two Glocks with high-capacity magazines -- one a .40-caliber and the other a 9mm that was reported stolen out of Ohio.
Three hours earlier, Bashir and fellow Detectives Anthony Castronova and William Hermann were working a violence-plagued neighborhood on Park Avenue between East 18th and 19th streets following a shooting the night before when they noticed three men drinking.
One of them pulled a handgun from his waistband, walked to a nearby residence and hid the weapon behind some fencing, Speziale said.
Castronova’s partners moved in and seized the suspect – identified as Nelson Hernandez, 20, of Paterson -- while he retrieved the .380-caliber High Point semi-automatic handgun, the director said.
All of those arrested were taken to the Passaic County Jail to await first appearances on weapons offenses and other charges in Central Judicial Processing Court in Paterson.
Bashir was also part of the fifth gun seizure in a little over 24 hours when a suspect tossed it as he ran from him and his partners on North Main Street shortly before 8:30 p.m. Thursday.
Bashir, Pimienta and Gary had gotten out of their vehicle and approached the gunman at the corner of Jefferson Street after smelling burning marijuana, Speziale said.
He took off toward Arch Street, tossing three baggies of pot, before scaling a fence leading to Clinton Street, the director said.
The chase continued on Clinton Street, where the suspect tossed a 9mm Glock 43 semi-automatic pistol, he said.
Gary and Culmone recovered the gun and drugs, Speziale said, adding that the fleeing suspect avoided a search that included uniformed officers and city K9 unit.
All of the seized guns were being sent to the NJ State Police laboratory to determine whether they may have been used in crimes, he said.
Meanwhile, detectives were trying to identify the fleeing suspects.
Anyone with information that could help them do that is asked to contact the Paterson Police Detective Bureau: (973) 321-1120.
"These detectives are an amazing and talented group of individuals, truly dedicated to the reduction of gun violence in our city,” Speziale said.
In each, he said, they “averted a deadly situation."
"Capt. Patrick Murray has his units laser-focused out there en masse,” the director added. “They understand the landscape and will continue to pursue those involved in violence."
Click here to follow Daily Voice North Hunterdon and receive free news updates.
