Crime in Hoboken

We write in response to Vince Lombardi's over-wrought letter, entitled 'Blood will continue to flow in the streets' published on this page on November 19, 2006. In his letter, Mr. Lombardi eagerly points his finger at the Administration and City Council, displays utter disregard for truth and reason, and callously exploits the victims 'and tragedy of crime.

As president of the Hoboken Police Department's PBA, I am compelled, to inform Hoboken's community of a serious increase of violent crime plaguing our City.

Throughout the year, I have spoken at council meetings and sent dozens of letters to our elected officials, all of which have gone unanswered, warning that increased violence in our neighboring cities will eventually spill over and like a virus infect our community. Even after the February murder of Ismar Mineros, an 18 year old resident, gunned down in our City, again I called for the hiring of more police officers. My pleas were dismissed and unanswered.

A 21-year-old convicted drug dealer from Jersey City turned himself in to the Hudson County prosecutor's office on Wednesday following the fatal shooting on Fourth and Jackson Streets in Hoboken that left 22-year-old Ronald Dixon, also of Jersey City, dead. The incident occurred on Friday Nov. 10 shortly after 12 p.m.

According to Hudson County Prosecutor Edward DeFazio, witness testimonies as well as surveillance tapes recovered from the scene of the crime led investigators to believe that Carlos A. Myrie is the alleged shooter.

"It was a brazen act of violence in broad daylight," said DeFazio, who added that Myrie was released from prison in March of this year after being convicted of distributing drugs within 1,000 feet of a school in Jersey City.

Hoboken hoodlums thought to be members of the notorious "Bloods" gang attacked and repeatedly slashed several youths who were leaving a birthday party Saturday night at Hoboken's Elks Lodge, police said.

According to a statement given to police by the victims, one of whom was a 21-year-old from Union City who received multiple lacerations to his face and behind his ear, the aggressors were Latino males from Hoboken's housing projects who may be "Bloods" gang members. The assailants were not guests at the party and could not be specifically identified by the victims, according to Sgt. Michael Costello.

One adult witness at the scene described the assailants as black males wearing red baseball-style caps with black and red striped sweaters, according to the police report.

HOBOKEN — A Jersey City man was stabbed in the back outside a city public housing complex, Police Sgt. John Rodriguez said today.

According to reports, the 30-year-old man was leaving a friend's apartment on Harrison Avenue when he was surrounded by five male juveniles, reports said.

An attempt by convicted sex offenders to shut down the New Jersey state-run Web site that lists their names, addresses and photographs was rejected today by a state appeals court.

“We hold that the state has a rational and legitimate basis for allowing citizens to be aware of and to protect their children from sex offenders,” the appeals court wrote.

The Internet sex offender registry lists the names and aliases of 1,973 convicted sex offenders considered to pose a high or moderate risk of recidivism. It has been searched more than 5.1 million times since it went online in February 2002.

New Jersey law authorizes the Division of State Police to make available to the public over the Internet information about certain sex offenders required to register under Megan's Law.  The sex offender Internet registry law can be found in the New Jersey Code at 2C:7-12 to -19.

Currently there are three Hoboken residents listed on the New Jersey Sex Offender Internet Registry.  Two reside in the area of the Hoboken Housing Authority and one resides in the Hoboken Shelter, 300 Bloomfield Street. 

You can also view the New Jersey Appeals Court Ruling.

Saturday, February 18, 2006

Hoboken High School student gunned down
An 18-year-old Hoboken High School student who was gunned down on Jackson Street sometime before 3 o'clock yesterday morning,

Ismar Mineros, who lived on Willow Avenue, was hit numerous times during what police believe may have been a dispute between groups of teens, Hudson County Prosecutor Edward DeFazio told The Jersey Journal today.

Mineros was taken from the scene, between Fifth and Sixth streets, to nearby St. Mary Hospital, where he was pronounced dead, DeFazio said.

2/12/2006
An otherwise peaceful morning on Park Avenue was shattered with the sounds of gunfire last Sunday.  According to Hoboken Sgt. Michael Costello, a shootout took place at approximately 7:19 a.m., involving at least four guns.   Shortly afterwards, the police switchboard received several reports of shots fired on the between Ninth and 11th streets.   By the time officers arrived at the scene, neighbors - many of whom were peering out their windows - told police about a wild gunfight in the street. No one was injured, but several car windows on the block were blown out by the gunfire.   According to a police report, shells from four different guns were found and over 30 empty casings littered the street and sidewalks.

Monday, February 06, 2006

HOBOKEN - A city man was arrested yesterday in connection to an early morning shoot-out in the uptown Hoboken neighborhood, that damaged several car windows but left no one injured, authorities said.

The shooting occurred along Park Avenue between Ninth and 11th streets at 7:19 a.m. yesterday morning, police spokesman Sgt. Mike Costello said.

Police believe a black Ford Explorer carrying four men pulled up to 9th Street and Park Avenue and opened fire on Jason Torres, 20, a Park Avenue resident who had reportedly been in a fight with the men earlier that morning at the Spa Diner on Hudson Street, Costello said.

Torres fired back while running north to his apartment at 10th Street and Park Avenue, witnesses told police. Police uncovered nearly 30 spent shell casings at the scene.