Drive Sober Campaign Crackdown‏

Impaired Driving Enforcement Crackdown to be Conducted in Essex County as Part of National Campaign

Newark – New Jersey’s largest annual drunk driving crackdown will be here soon. Law enforcement officers from the Essex County Sheriff’s Office will be participating in the 2016 Labor Day Statewide “Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over” campaign. Beginning August 19 and running through September 5, local and state law enforcement officers will conduct sobriety checkpoints and roving patrols, looking for motorists who may be driving while impaired by alcohol or drugs.

“Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over” is a national campaign designed to raise awareness about the dangers of drinking and driving through high-visibility enforcement backed up by public educational efforts including national radio and television advertisements, posters, banners and mobile video display signs. The campaign looks to curtail impaired driving during the busy summer travel season, including the Labor Day holiday period.

“In 2015 in New Jersey, 562 lives were lost in motor vehicle crashes,” Sheriff Armando Fontoura stated. “In Essex County, 40 individuals, including 11 drivers, 26 pedestrians and three passengers, died in traffic accidents. The consumption of alcohol plays a major role in the many traffic fatalities. Persons who think they are okay to drive after a few drinks are wrong. Dead wrong. Drinking impairs your judgment and reaction time while putting yourself, those in your car and everyone on the road in danger.”

There will be zero tolerance throughout the “Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over” campaign.

“If drivers are caught operating their vehicle while impaired they will be arrested,” Sheriff Fontoura noted.

The New Jersey Division of Highway Traffic Safety has provided grants to local law enforcement agencies throughout the state to run the two-week campaign.

Sheriff Fontoura and participating law enforcement agencies in the “Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over 2016” crackdown offer the following advice:

  • If you plan to drink, designate a driver, someone who will not drink alcohol, before going out.
  • Take mass transit, a taxi or ask a sober friend to drive you home.
  • Spend the night where the activity is held.
  • Always buckle up, every ride, regardless of your seating position in the vehicle. It’s your best defense against an impaired driver.
  • If you’re intoxicated and traveling on foot, the safest way to get home is to take a cab or have a sober friend or family member drive you to your doorstep.
News Release

Newark – Essex County sheriff’s officers arrested two male suspects in separate incidents last night in the city’s North and West wards.

Sheriff Armando Fontoura said that officers from his department’s Patrol Division were flagged down by a 54-year-old male victim on South 16th Street who stated that he had just been assaulted and robbed of $500 in Indian rupees by a male suspect.

“Moments later, our officers spotted the suspect walking along South 16th Street at a very rapid pace,” Sheriff Fontoura said.  “When our officers ordered the suspect to stop he ran from the scene but was quickly taken into custody.”

The suspect, later identified as Curtis Spears, 52 of Newark, was found to be in possession of the foreign currency.

Spears was charged with aggravated assault, robbery and resisting arrest.  He was also found to be the subject of an open warrant issued by the Newark municipal court.

Spears is being held at the county jail in lieu of a cash bond only of $125,000.  It is expected that he will be arraigned on Monday, July 18th.

“Our patrol division officers also conducted a motor vehicle stop at 10:30 p.m. on Thursday at the intersection of 7th and Mt. Prospect avenues,” Fontoura added.

James Lewis, 46 of Roselle, was the driver of a 2004 Ford F-15 pick-up truck that was flashing numerous red, amber and white lights and emblazoned with numerous Newark Police Department decals.

“During questioning, Lewis could not produce his driver’s registration card and our officers could plainly see that Lewis was wearing a Newark Police Department hat,” Fontoura added.  “Inside the suspect vehicle, Lewis had a bullet-proof vest, a police baton, handcuffs and a bottle of oleoresin capsicum (pepper spray).”

It was later determined that Lewis was neither a law enforcement officer nor an employee of a private security firm.  The suspect was found to be the owner of PBS Parking Boot Service.

Lewis was issued summonses for failure to have a permit for emergency lights and the possession of handcuffs, oleoresin and a police baton.

Lewis was released in his own recognizance and will be arraigned on July 28th.

News Release

Newark – A 22-year-old city man is scheduled for arraignment later this afternoon on multiple weapons and narcotics offenses following his arrest yesterday by Essex County sheriff’s detectives.

Sheriff Armando Fontoura stated that officers from his department’s Bureau of Narcotics responded to numerous neighborhood complaints of open-air drug trafficking in the area of Central Avenue and 4th Street by staging a plainclothes surveillance operation at that location on Tuesday afternoon.

“At that time, a suspect, Hakeem Telfair on Newark, who is known to our BON detectives through previous investigations, was observed loitering in the area,” Sheriff Fontoura said.

The sheriff added that Telfair was soon approached by a female passerby.  Following a brief conversation, Telfair walked over to his 2002 Acura which was parked in the lot of a nearby laundromat and removed items from a black plastic bag that was on top of the vehicle’s center console.

As the female passerby exchanged cash for the items and exited the scene, the sheriff’s BON detectives moved in to further investigate.

“During questioning, Telfair voluntarily surrendered eight glassine envelops filled with heroin and stamped ‘GORILLA’ in green ink,” Sheriff Fontoura noted.  “The suspect also consented to a search of his vehicle which yielded an additional 90 similarly marked heroin packets and a 9mm Baretta semi-automatic handgun, fully loaded with illegal hollow point bullets.

Telfair was charged with possession of a controlled dangerous substance, possession of CDS with intent to distribute, possession of CDS with intent to distribute within 1000 feet of Sussex Avenue School, possession of CDS with intent to distribute within 500 feet of Liberty Park, the unlawful possession of a handgun and possession of a handgun while committing a narcotics crime.

A canvass of the area for the female passerby proved negative.

Telfair was lodged overnight at the Essex County jail in lieu of a $100,000 cash bond.