16 minute read
Obituaries
All obituaries must be submitted by email by 10 a.m., Mondays, to obituaries@ theobserver.com. Payment is due at submission.
Kimberly A. Blakely
Kimberly A. Blakely (nee Ireland) of Kearny died Dec. 22, 2022.
She was 56.
Visiting was at the Armitage & Wiggins Funeral Home, Kearny. Mass was celebrated at Our Lady of Sorrows, Kearny. Burial was in Holy Cross Cemetery, North Arlington.
Kim was the beloved wife of Chuck Blakely and cherished daughter of Ruth and Rodger Ireland. She also is survived by her beloved brother Sean Blakely (Stephanie) and their son Andreas. She is also survived by her best pal Zoey and many loving cousins and friends.
In lieu of flowers, kindly consider a donation to the American Diabetes Association.
William C. Boutilette
William C. Boutilette passed away on Dec. 27.
He was 58.
Born in Newark, he was a lifelong Kearny resident also having lived sometime in Lanoka Harbor.
Visiting will be Thursday, Jan. 5, 2023, from 3 until 8 p.m. at the Armitage & Wiggins Funeral Home, 596 Belgrove Drive, Kearny. Mass will be celebrated Friday, Jan. 6, 2023 at 10 a.m. at Sacreda Heart Church in Lyndhurst. Burial will follow in Holy Cross Cemetery, North Arlington.
Billy cherished his memories of marching in Drum Corps. He was a member of the Schuyler Fishing Club. He was a fabulous cook and loved cooking for family and friends. He was a carpenter for many years.
Billy is the son of Lorraine (nee Lysiak) and the late Joseph Sr. dear father of Ashley Boutilette (son-in-law Randy Laveille), Brianna Boutilette and Lauren Boutilette. Brother of Karen Catapano (Joseph), Kevin Boutilette, Michele Walsh (Kevin), Joanne Connelly (Michael), Joseph Boutilette Jr. and Joan Boutilette. He was also the loving grandfather of Amelia and Jameson. He is also survived by many loving nieces and nephews and their families — Kate, Jenna, Jessica, Sal, Erin, Shawn, Jamie and Tricia. He was recently predeceased by his cherished nephew Anthony.
In lieu of flowers, kindly consider a donation to Billy’s children to help with their future needs. If you graciously decide to participate please make a check payable to Ashley Boutilette and send it to the funeral home. We will forward all gifts to Ashley. Thank you.
Dorothy ‘Dotty’ Kerr
Dorothy “ Dotty” Kerr, 86, of Kearny passed away peacefully at home Dec. 29, 2022. Beloved wife of the late Joseph Kerr (2015). Devoted mother of Lorrie Nash (her husband Joel), Darcy Barbulescu (her husband Ryan). Wendy Kerr and James Kerr and his wife Susan, and his stepchildren, Rebecca Galada and Nicholas McEwen. Cherished grandmother of Karly Fisher, Tara Ortuso (her husband Richie) and loving step grandmother to Rebecca and Nicholas. Dear sister of Mae Arnot (her husband Robert) and she was predeceased by her siblings, Robert and Clem Cockcroft. Dotty is also survived by many loving nieces and nephews.
Before retiring Dotty was an office manager for Crosta & Rossi Dental Assoc., Lyndhurst.
Viewing was at the Armitage & Wiggins Funeral Home, Kearny.
An 11 a.m. funeral service will take place in the funeral home on Tuesday, Jan. 3.
Private cremation will follow.
In lieu of flowers kindly consider a donation to the American heart Association or consider your own favorite charity in Dottie’s memory.
Mulligan Funeral Home
331 Cleveland Avenue, Harrison
Arrangements may be made in Spanish, Portuguese or Polish Frank X. Mulligan III, Manager, NJ Lic. 4221 Frank X. Mulligan, Jr. Inactive
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2022
Continued from Page 12
n No. 5: DEVELOPING — Police activity on Thomas Avenue in Lyndhurst
This one started only as an alert — and it was very simple — from May 3.
A day later, we learned all about this fascinating case of a man who kept police at bay for more than 21 hours. The Thomas Avenue man was identified as 51-year-old Robert Condit, Det. Lt. Vincent Auteri, of the Lyndhurst Police Department, said.
Here’s a recap of what happened, according to Auteri.
The morning Condit began his saga with the Lyndhurst Police Department, he had a court appearance to determine whether he should be required to surrender his firearms and gun permits. Turns out that case was necessitated because of a family member, with a legal matter, he was involved with. That day, a judge handed down a decision — Condit was to surrender, to the Lyndhurst PD, his license to buy firearms and his cache of weapons (six firearms) and all ammunition. He didn’t want to comply, so when he got home, police were already waiting for him, he snuck past them and the saga was underway.
During that time, reports surfaced on social media that Condit was holding hostages and that shots were fired. That never occurred. Period.
Condit did shoot something off at cops, however, while he was keeping them busy. Somehow, Auteri says, Condit was able to purchase a massive flame thrower. While police patiently waited for him to surrender, he reportedly shot the flame thrower off, in the direction of the tactical officers, multiple times, while he wore body armor. This all led to attempted-murder charges.
Just a little past 1:10 p.m., Wednesday, May 4, Condit surrendered, peacefully, without further incident and without anyone being harmed.
The charges levied against Condit included two counts of attempted murder (for shooting off the flame thrower), aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, aggravated assault on a law enforcement officers, resisting arrest, terroristic threats, possession of prohibited weapons and devices, possession of weapons for unlawful purposes, unlawful possession of a weapon, unlawful use of body vests, possession of a destructive device, hindering apprehension, obstruction, contempt of court and added later in the week, four counts of possession of high capacity magazines.
He was taken to New Bridge Medical Center for psychiatric evaluation.
n No. 4: A look at what (actually) happened at Kearny Marshalls Monday, Dec. 19
This one had social media in an unnecessary frenzy after Facebook & Ring warriors decided, incorrectly, to “post” shots had been fired at the Kearny Marshalls on Dec. 19. Naturally, there were no shots fired at any point in the day, though law enforcement — including the FBI — were nearby in pursuit of two suspects.
Carlos Ovidio Gonzalez, 35, of Newark, and Hector Martinez, 31, of North Bergen, were charged by complaint with one count of conspiring to distribute and possess with intent to distribute cocaine and fentanyl. Gonzalez was also charged with one count of being a previously convicted felon in possession of three firearms and ammunition.
On Dec. 19, 2022, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said Gonzalez and Martinez conspired to distribute the aforementioned drugs and were arrested shortly after they arrived at an agreed-upon location in Kearny — the Marshalls’ parking lot — to complete the sale.
After their arrests, a search of Gonzalez’s home and an apartment also uncovered two loaded firearms, an unloaded firearm, ammunition, drug packaging materials, and suspected heroin, cocaine, oxycodone and Xanax pills.
Among the specific items found in two vehicles used by the suspects were, according to the official complaint: a brick of suspected cocaine, a vacuum-sealed bag containing suspected fentanyl, a bag containing 74 suspected fentanyl pills, a narcotics-style scale, a 9 mm Taurus handgun with 8 rounds in a magazine of 12, a .40 Smith & Wesson handgun with 9 of 10 rounds in place with a fiveround extender, 42 loose 9mm bullets, more than 2,100 baggies of suspected heroin, 584 pills of Oxycodone at 30mg a piece, 81 Xanax pills and other items used to package drugs.
Continued from previous page n No. 3 — 2 men — one a former Harrison cop, another a former Kearny resident — admit to bilking customers after Super Storm Sandy: OCPO
Two former area residents, including one who is a retired Harrison police officer who spent time on the rubble at Ground Zero after the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks on America, face several years behind bars after pleading guilty to Hurricane Sandy-related fraud charges this week, Ocean County Prosecutor Bradley D. Billhimer said.
On May 6, 2022, former HPD Officer John Bishop, 57, now of Celebration, Florida, pled guilty to theft by failure to make required disposition, Billhimer said. Three days later, Bishop’s business partner, Paul Rueda, 50, of San Diego, Texas, formerly of Kearny, pled guilty to the same charge.
Billhimer said both defendants’ guilty pleas stem from their stealing funds through contractor businesses they operated together between October 2014 and May 2017 — in the aftermath of Superstorm Sandy — in Ocean, Monmouth and Middlesex counties.
An investigation by the Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office’s Economic Crimes Unit revealed Bishop and Rueda formed John Paul Building, LLC, in November 2012. Six homeowners throughout Ocean, Monmouth, and Middlesex counties reportedly entered into contracts with building company to repair their homes after Superstorm Sandy.
Collectively, these homeowners paid the pair in excess of $350,000, which the defendants agreed to use to complete the projects. The homeowners received little to no work on their projects.
Subsequently, between July 2016 and May 2017, Rueda entered in agreements with four additional homeowners under his newly formed contracting business, PKR Construction. These homeowners paid PKR Construction a total of $363,575 toward construction projects on their properties.
n No. 2 Situation at Oakwood and
Kearny Avenue — what we know
The second-most read story of 2022 involved another situation where a person kept police at bay, and while this was in Kearny wasn’t as long as the one in Lyndhurst was, it was nonetheless a difficult day for the Kearny Police Department, the Hudson County SWAT Team and other departments that provided assistance.
It started in the morning hours of Dec. 2 at 78 Oakwood Ave., after a woman barricaded herself inside the home, threatening to kill herself with a shotgun (which later turned out to be a BB gun). Police tried to quickly remove her from the home, but she retreated into the house.
The public was, for hours, barred from walking anywhere near the home out of an abundance of caution.
After more than six hours of keeping police and SWAT at bay, the woman ultimately emerged from the home without a weapon on her. Capt. Timothy Wagner, the Kearny PD’s press liaison, said the woman had been taken to an area hospital where she was expected to undergo an extensive psychiatric evaluation.
After searching the home, police found a BB gun — not a rifle.
Deputy Police Chief Scott Macfie, who was the incident commander that day, said the woman, was to be charged with aggravated assault since she “pointed the gun at workers” who were performing construction on an adjacent home.
Charges aren’t always a foregone certainty when someone holds police at bay.
Unfortunately, the home is one police have often been called to for a variety of reasons. In fact, in a police blotter a week before this incident, we learnt the woman in this case was arrested in November after she first fled the home to the Exxon Station at Oakwood and Kearny and told police someone was going to kill her — and then just hours later, stood accused of threatening to kill someone, herself, who also lived in the same home (which, by the way, does not have electricity.)
There were other reports you may have previously read in this newspaper involving the woman and other residents at that house involving anything from noise complaints to violations of restraining orders to physical assaults.
Despite all of the intense action — which included locking down Lincoln Middle School, just half a block away from the scene of the incident — not a single person … the victim, civilians, police — was injured during the course of the day.
And, fortunately, since the incident was isolated to the home, the general public was never at risk for harm.
Meanwhile, as tends to happen when incidents such as this one occurs, there were numerous egregious social-media reports about what was happening at the scene, the worst of which is that people were being held hostage.
At no time was it ever a hostage situation.
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would be well shared — but never to the extent it actually was. Because not only was this the most read story in 2022, it is also the single most-read story in theobserver.com’s history, which dates back 26+ years to 1996.
It was four short paragraphs long. We suspect the other blotter entries might not have gotten as much attention of the opener did. Here it is, therefore, precisely as it appeared Sept. 8, 2022.
On Aug. 27 at 6:30 p.m., Officer
Michael Ore and Sgt. Tim Castle were dispatched to ShopRite to assist Det.
Jordenson Jean who had detained an
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alleged shoplifter. A store manager had informed Det. Jean he observed Nelsa Portillo, 70, of Newark, conceal Axe body sprays, fish and vitamins in her bag and then pass the cash registers without paying the $138.88 sale price for the merchandise.
When Det. Jean confronted Portillo, she allegedly defecated herself.
Since officers were able to positively identify Portillo on the scene, they issued her a summons for shoplifting and an order to appear later at KPD HQ for fingerprinting when she became unsoiled
n No. 1 KPD: Shoplifting woman who crapped her own pants ordered to get fingerprinted — after she cleaned up
Sometimes, all it takes is reading a headline to know a story will be well read — and such was the case with this police blotter entry from Capt. Tim Wagner, of the Kearny Police Department. Now we knew this piece
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