Recent Activity in Hackettstown: Police

HACKETTSTOWN, NJ – Hackettstown Police reported the following activity:

Resisting Arrest/Simple Assault/Disorderly Conduct

On Oct. 14 at 4:26 p.m., a Hackettstown officer responded to a call at Bennett Smith Hall at Centenary University. The officer arrived at the scene and was told to go to the third floor. Campus Security told the officer that the female – later identified as Tatiana Franco, 18, of Parsippany – that was walking away was just involved in a physical altercation, so the officer advised her to stop. Franco used her body to try and push the officer out of the way and then ran down the hallway, police said. Officers caught Franco and as they attempted to place her under arrest, she started to swing her arms, kicked her legs and feet, and was trying to crawl and roll over while on the ground. The officers learned Franco went to another female's dorm room and punched the victim in the face and head with her fists. Franco then pulled the victim to the ground by her hair and continued to punch her, police said. Franco supposedly attacked the victim because the victim told her she knew how to fight. The victim was brought to Hackettstown Medical Center. Franco was later charged with resisting arrest, simple assault and disorderly conduct, police said. Franco was unable to post the $2,500 bail with a ten percent option, so she wsas lodged in the Warren County Correctional Facility.

DWI Arrest

On Oct. 14 at about 10:19 p.m., Hackettstown Police responded to a report of an erratic vehicle entering Hackettstown in the area of Bilby Road. As Hackettstown officers arrived on the scene, the driver – Francisco Ortiz-Hernandez, 49, of Hackettstown – was in the process of being stopped by Independence Township Police. Officers detected the odor of an alcoholic beverage coming from inside the vehicle and observed empty beer cans in the vehicle, police said. The passenger in the vehicle was identified Suyapa Castellanos-Reyes, 43, of Hackettstown, and was charged with possession of open alcoholic beverage in a motor vehicle. Castellanos-Reyes was released pending a court appearance. Ortiz-Hernandez was charged with driving while intoxicated, careless driving, consumption of alcoholic beverage in a motor vehicle and possession of open alcoholic beverage in a motor vehicle and was released pending a court appearance.

NJ Wanted Person Arrest

On Oct. 10 at around 3:22 p.m., Hackettstown Police responded to a call that reported Zane’s Car Wash employees possibly being under the influence of narcotics and Controlled Dangerous Substance (CDS) activity. Officers found Brian Beck, 30, of Hackettstown when they arrived at the car wash, who was a New Jersey wanted person out of the Warren County Prosecutors Office for Larceny. Beck also had a $300 Roxbury Township municipal court criminal warrant and a $300 Roxbury Township municipal court traffic warrant. Officers found Beck with hypodermic needles and heroin at the car wash, police said. Beck couldn't post the $15,000 bail with a ten percent option, so he was lodged in the Warren County Correctional facility.

Disorderly Conduct

At about 2:12 a.m. on Oct. 16, a Hackettstown police officer on routine patrol observed two men being loud and engaged in a physical altercation on the 100 block of Grand Ave. When the officer approached the two men, he detected the odor of an alcoholic beverage and observed them to be intoxicated, police said. The males were later identified as Alex Mena-Vargas, 38, of Hackettstown and Ronald Rivera-Varela, 30, of Hackettstown. It was determined that Mena-Vargas confronted Rivera-Varela because he was allegedly disprecting his girlfriend, and then a physical altercation occurred, police said. The two men were charged with disorderly conduct and were released pending a court appearance.

NJ Wanted Person Arrest

On Oct. 16, Hackettstown Police arrested Dorota Mis, 40, of Hackettstown on a New Jersey wanted person warrant issued by the Elizabeth Police Department. Mis was issued a violation of a court order and posted the $2,000 bail, police said.

Photo courtesy of Shutterstock