Opinion

Thoughts & Views

EDITORIAL Belleville School Board Trustee Erika Jacho must resign forthwith

The audio and video don’t lie. Erika Jacho, the Belleville School Board trustee, who was charged with drunken driving last year, was found guilty by a judge in Verona. And what we learned from her four-hour trial is that she used deception, threats, arrogance and outright lies to try to get herself out of the charges on the day of the arrest and in the trial. She lied on the stand — blatantly. Based on that alone, she must resign her position immediately.

But first, here are some of the indisputable, most outrageous facts, we learned at trial: n On the night she was arrested, Jacho pretended not to understand English at several points, including when she was being tested for her sobriety. She is fluent in English. n On the night she was arrested, Jacho acted in a most shameful manner, in a way that would not be tolerated of the students in the Belleville school district. Drunk or otherwise, her petty, obnoxious words spoken to police officers and her behavior and words on the stand — in English, mind you — would not be tolerated by many officers (or judges) and as such, the cops who were the unfortunate ones to have to arrest her should be commended for demonstrating such remarkable restraint. n The night she was arrested, she dropped the name “Vinny. Call Vinny,” she said. It doesn’t take much to know who she referred to, but since “Vinny” has no connection to this case whatsoever, there’s no point in dragging his surname into this any further. n Lastly, her perjury on the stand was sickening. Jacho clearly doesn’t know her community well, either, if she believes this newspaper is from another county, because we’ve been covering Belleville longer than she’s been on this planet. Her lies about how we covered her arrest should have been known in that courtroom, but they weren’t. She couldn’t have been further from the truth in how she said it happened.

And for her to suggest this newspaper and the off-duty Kearny police officer who was there that night were in cahoots with each other is about the most ridiculous thing we’ve ever heard from a local so-called “leader.” We know this Kearny police officer and he is a textbook example of integrity.

These are just some of the things the judge heard at trial and that led him to convict Jacho. Somehow, however, despite all the attempts she made to avoid arrest, Jacho wasn’t charged with resisting — and she should have been. That’s a story for another day.

Meanwhile, in trial, for whatever the unfathomable reason, Jacho, a school board trustee, was able to use a public defender. And so, on top of her conviction, we now know someone who oversees a multi-million dollar budget and who is a teacher was granted a public defender? What the?

None of this bodes well. At all. And as such, Jacho must resign her position today. That she hasn’t yet and that her colleagues haven’t demanded she do so is mind-boggling.

And speaking of her colleagues on the board — they must all take a stance immediately and insist Jacho resign. If they choose to do otherwise, they will be just as complicit in this hideous travesty as she is.

Rose: Call me shocked over Sweeney’s stunning loss

To the Editor:

More shocking to me than the slim margin of votes the incumbent Gov. Philip D. Murphy defeated Republican candidate Jack Ciattarelli for governor was the defeat of state Senate President Steve Sweeney. As a conservative Republican living in the bluest of blue states, I thought Sen. Sweeney was our only hope to stop the political madness in New Jersey, and I was resigned to vote for him were he able to wrest the nomination away from Gov. Murphy.

Sweeney proved he could work with Republicans, and, in particular, with Gov. Christopher Christie in their attempts to reign in the public service unions, and on other tax issues. This led the unions to spend $4.5 million in a failed attempt to defeat him in 2017.

In Murphy’s first two years in office, Sweeney challenged him on his many missteps; however, for the past two years he did a complete about face.

For Sweeney to be beaten by Edward Durr, who had no political experience, name recognition, money, and an almost non-existent campaign staff boggles the mind.

Granted I don’t speak often to those who live in the more affluent towns in Bergen County, but those in this area are fed up, and see their standard of living being destroyed by elected Democrats at every level of government.

Hence, the defeat of the second most powerful Democrat in the state of New Jersey.

Letter to the Editor

Armand Rose North Arlington

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NAPD: Potential thief flips off security cam

By Det. Lt. Michael Horton No. Arlington Police Department

On Oct. 24 at 3:27 p.m., a resident of Chestnut Street walked into police headquarters to report reviewing her home camera footage from the previous night. The footage captured a male walk up her driveway at 4 a.m. He attempted to open the door to her locked vehicle. After the unsuccessful attempt to the vehicle, the male walked north on Chestnut Street, at which time he became aware of the camera system, he pulled down a ski mask and gave the “finger” to the camera.

On Oct. 25 at 8:16 a.m., North Arlington police responded to the area of Beech Street on a report of a stolen vehicle. The victim believed the theft occurred sometime between Oct. 22-Oct. 25. The vehicle was later recovered crashed and disabled on Route 21 in Belleville.

On Oct. 28, at 2:17 a.m., a North Arlington officer observed a vehicle driving erratically in the area of Belmount Avenue. During a subsequent stop of the vehicle, the odor of alcoholic beverages was detected on the driver, which led to field-sobriety testing. As a result, the driver was placed under arrest, transported to police headquarters and processed.

The driver was identified as Daniel Aviles, 47, of Newark. After processing he was issued summonses and released to a responsible party.

On Oct. 28 at 11:39 p.m., North Arlington police responded to Second Street on a report of two individuals pulling on vehicle door handles. Police units responded to the area and were unable to locate the individuals.

On Oct. 28 at 9:16 a.m., North Arlington police responded to Park Avenue on a report of a stolen motor vehicle. The vehicle was taken out of the driveway the previous night. The vehicle was later recovered in Newark.

On Oct. 29th at 4:59 p.m., a resident of Melrose Avenue reported someone entered her vehicle and removed $5 in cash.

Police Beat

Boy on house arrest gets more after he went outside, KPD says

By Capt. Tim Wagner Kearny Police Department

Last week, we (the KPD & Observer) reported on a 15-year-old Kearny boy who allegedly stole a car from a gas station repair shop, crashed it in Belleville and fled, and then burglarized a home in Belleville. He was apprehended by Belleville and Kearny authorities and a court intake officer ordered him released to home detention.

Well, he went out.

On Oct. 29 at 10:43 a.m., Sgt. Jay Ward and Officer John Donovan responded to a Chestnut Street home where a 60-year-old resident reported that while she was in her bathroom, she heard her kitchen window open. She then looked into the kitchen to see a male attempting to pull himself up to and through the open window. When the suspect saw the resident, he reportedly dropped from the window and fled on foot.

At 11.17 a.m., police got a call of a second burglary in progress at a Forest Street home. Officer Ellesse Ogando responded there and found the 15-yearold suspect still on scene. The homeowner reported that his home had been burglarized two days prior and his car keys had been stolen.

A thief that day also stole one of the victim’s cars, later crashing and abandoning it in Newark. On this day, the resident walked outside to see the 15-year-old boy peering into his family’s other car’s window and confronted him.

Sgt. Ward came to the scene having just reviewed surveillance camera footage from the Chestnut Street burglary and identified the 15-year-old boy as the male who had attempted to climb through the Chestnut Street kitchen window.

Officers took the boy into custody and found the Forest Street resident’s car keys in his pocket. He was charged on juvenile delinquency complaints with criminal attempt burglary, burglary, and receiving stolen property.

After a detective confirmed that the boy was still on home detention, a court intake officer ordered him held on home detention (Editor’s note: that home confinement seems to be working really well, Mr. Intake Officer) – with a GPS ankle bracelet.

On Oct. 29 at 5:55 a.m., Officers John Fearon and Ruben Rivera were dispatched to 590 Kearny Ave. where a citizen reported that a woman broke a business’s window with a blunt object and then fled via an awaiting blue Honda Civic being driven by a man. Officer Rivera found the Honda Civic and pulled it over on Kearny Avenue and recovered a wooden baseball bat from the back seat. This was believed to have been the object that broke the window.

After further investigation, Officer Rivera arrested Mecca M. Horton, 24, of Piscataway, and Tyron A. Fields, 20, of Newark. They were both charged with criminal mischief and conspiracy and later released with summonses.

It is believed that one of the defendants knew the owner of the business.

On Oct. 29 at 9:11 p.m., Officers Anthony Oliveira, Jose Perez-Fonseca and Pedro Pina were dispatched to an apartment complex parking lot for a report of a man and woman arguing inside a car. Both parties reported they had a verbal disagreement and did not need police intervention.

Moments after the police left, they were again dispatched to see the same couple. The man, a 34-yearold Hackensack resident, reported his girlfriend ripped the rearview mirror off his car and damaged the center console. The woman reported she only did that after her boyfriend hit her in the face and smashed her iPhone. The woman had a swollen lip with a small cut.

Officers arrested the man on domestic violence charges of simple assault and criminal mischief. The woman, however, was reported to have been throwing things and disturbing apartment residents by screaming profanities. After pleas to cease the public disturbance went unheeded, Officer Bryan San Martin also arrested her.

Search incident to her arrest revealed the woman possessed several debit cards and a driver’s license in the names of various men. The driver’s license number was later found to not correspond to an actual New Jersey license.

The woman was charged with criminal mischief, possession of a false government document and disorderly conduct. She was released with a summons while the man was charged on a warrant and held at the Hudson County jail.

On Nov. 1 at 4:29 p.m., the Street Crimes Unit addressed a complaint about a man allegedly handling a crack pipe by the corner of Woodland Avenue and John Street.

An off-duty correctional police officer reported having seen two men acting suspiciously in a driveway on John Street.

When he approached to investigate, he found Juan E. Ramirez, 25, of Kearny, allegedly scraping the inside of a crack pipe with a twig. The other man fled before he could be positively identified.

The detectives responded to the off-duty’s call and found that Ramirez was wanted on an East Newark warrant carrying a $500 bail. He was charged in Kearny with possession of drug paraphernalia and lodged in the county jail in South Kearny.