Man With Guitar Arrested For Assaulting Hoboken Police

HOBOKEN, NJ — Police who were trying to manage crowd control in Hoboken on a weekend night wound up with another problem, they say, when a guitarist allegedly assaulted them while "singing songs that berated members of law enforcement."

Police said that on the Sunday before Halloween, Oct. 29, around 2: 15 a.m., officers Michael Straten, Jessica Pizanie, David Chicara, and Nicholas Protopapadakis were conducting crowd control in front of a pizza restaurant on the busy corner of Newark and Washington streets, about four blocks from the train station.

They then saw a man they knew as John White, 30, of Hoboken, approaching them while playing guitar, police said.

Police asked him to move elsewhere multiple times so they could continue crowd control, they say. But according to police, "White continued to come close to officers, while singing songs that berated members of law enforcement. He was advised he was acting in a disorderly manner and was told to back away, which he refused to do many times."

Then, White left and came back with a "bottle of an unknown liquid," which he allegedly splashed at the officers, police say. He also screamed and acted "in an extremely aggressive manner, while yelling profanities at officers," they say.

After police warned White to back off several more times, they tried to arrest him. The guitarist resisted, police say, causing injuries to several officers.

Sgt. Frances McCourt, Detective Ryan Houghton, and officers Shelby Seickendick and Anthony Fesken arrived to help, police say.

Police say that "While being put in a patrol car, White positioned his body in the door to prevent it from being closed." At headquarters, he "turned his face toward the officers and acted like he was going to spit at them," police say.

White was charged with aggravated assault, resisting arrest with physical force, refusal to be fingerprinted, and disorderly conduct.

He was taken to the Hudson County Correctional Facility.