Police blotter
The information below was provided by police unless otherwise noted.
Trenton
SWAT situation: The SWAT team was called out after a foot chase turned into an hourslong standoff. So far, Steven Harper, 32, has been charged only with resisting and obstruction for the Dec. 2 standoff, even though he barged in “uninvited” to the home of seven Trenton residents and told them to sit quietly on the couch while he hid from cops in a closet. It all started after cops were called and provided a description of a man with a gun. Officers found someone that appeared to match the description running down Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard. It was Harper, who was running alongside Kenneth Johnson, 35. The men’s association to each other was unclear, as were many details of the standoff, including whether Harper may face additional charges. Johnson was arrested and hit with drug charges for his role. Cops found him with two bundles of heroin. Meanwhile, Harper ran into a home on the 1300 block of Princeton Avenue and barricaded himself inside. The SWAT team was called in and cops surrounded the home. A police spokesman didn’t have details about whether a police negotiator helped coax Harper out of the home after roughly three hours. The call came in around 10:30 p.m. and the standoff was over at about 1:30 a.m., according to police.
Shooting: A 17-year-old was injured in an apparent drive-by that happened Monday afternoon on the 600 block of Whittaker Avenue. The Shooting Response Team is investigating the drive-by, which left the city teen with an injured shoulder which was treated by doctors at Capital Health Regional Medical Center. Police did not say whether they have any suspects or leads.
Familiar smell: Cops rung up Bobby Hood, 25, on marijuana charges after they noticed a familiar odor coming from his car. Police noticed a heavily tinted vehicle traveling down Stuyvesant Avenue. The car also had its license plate obscured by a tinted cover, so street crime detectives pulled it over on the 600 block. While speaking to Hood, they smelled the pot aroma. Hood was ordered out of the car. And when cops found his stash, in a sandwich bag, he was arrested and hit with drug charges.
Drug deal: Myron Pickett, 46, was hit with drugdealing charges after street crime detectives interrupted a drug deal on Hudson and Pearl streets. Pickett noticed the cops in the area and darted across a resident’s yard, dropping something on the ground. Cops caught up to him and stopped him. They found crack cocaine in the ditched plastic container. Pickett also had a single packet of heroin on him.
Busted lip: Dominic Bovio, 37, was charged with simple assault after cops were called out for a domestic spat on the 1100 block of Hamilton Avenue. The victim, Bovio’s roommate, tried to intervene in a spat between Bovio and another individual. Bovio struck the victim who tried to de-escalate the situation, busting his lip.
Sleepy time: Justin Steward, 21, was hit with drug charges after cops contend he tried to pretend he was sleeping inside a car when they rolled up on him and another man in the midst of a drug deal. It happened Dec. 2 on the 100 block of Eisenhower Avenue. Steward shoved plastic between the driver’s seat and center consoled and tried to dupe detectives into thinking he dozed off. They didn’t buy it. Steward and Rasheed Brooks, 23, were taken into custody. Brooks tried to shove marijuana into his pants pocket when cops rolled up.
Arrested on warrants: Brandon Barnes, 26, was charged with aggravated assault stemming from an incident earlier this year. A warrant was out for his arrest at the time he was picked up. The charges stem from an Aug. 26 assault on the 700 block of Rutherford Avenue. Cops responded there on a call of unknown trouble. When they arrived they talked to a 27-year-old woman who said Barnes strangled her after he grew enraged when she returned home with her boyfriend. Cops didn’t disclose whether Barnes and the woman had a prior relationship. The woman broke free of Barnes’ grasp and called the cops.