Man Charged With False Alarm After Police Swarm Westfield 7-11

WESTFIELD, NJ — Residents of Westfield were concerned on Friday night when they saw police cars rushing to the parking lot of the 7-Eleven on South Avenue. On Saturday, police said a man was charged with creating a False Public Alarm related to a phone call, but that the man was unarmed.

According to a statement from the Westfield Police Department:

The department received a phone call Friday at approximately 6:43 p.m. of a person with a gun at "the 7-Eleven in Fanwood.”

Since there's no 7-Eleven in Fanwood, area police departments were asked to check at their local 7-Elevens. At the 7-Eleven on South Avenue, Officer Andres Jaramillo "encountered a person in the parking lot ... with a hood over his head and his hands in his pockets," according to the statement.

The man, a 24-year-old from Plainfield, allegedly refused to comply with Officer Jaramillo’s orders to remove his hands from his pockets. The man allegedly became verbally combative and resisted Jaramillo’s commands, and allegedly "continued to refuse to remove his hands from his pockets or to get on the ground as directed."

Jaramillo and other responding officers placed the man into custody. An on-scene investigation determined that he didn't have a gun. Police allege that he was the caller.

Police said that he is being charged with creating a False Public Alarm pursuant to 2C:33-3B.

The man was transported to an area hospital for evaluation. Police said that he will be "processed, served with a complaint-warrant charging him with the second degree crime, and transported to the Union County Jail in Elizabeth immediately upon release from the hospital."

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