Two Cops and Fire Chief Arrested in N.J. Drug Ring Probe
Posted: Friday, October 9, 2009
Updated: October 9th, 2009 01:34 AM GMT-05:00
Jersey Journal (New Jersey)
A probe into a drug ring operating out of a Downtown Jersey City restaurant has led to 17 arrests, including a Hoboken police officer and Hoboken Fire Department battalion chief, as well as a Jersey City police officer who was already suspended, officials said.
The year-and-a-half investigation resulted in the arrest of Jersey City Police Officer Mark Medal, 52, of Fifth Street; Hoboken Fire Department Battalion Chief Henry Setkiewicz, 59, of Summit Avenue in Jersey City; and Hoboken Police Officer Ralph F. Gallo, 25, of Church Towers in Hoboken, said Hudson County First Assistant Prosecutor Guy Gregory.
Medal, who is already suspended, and Setkiewicz were charged with conspiracy to possess cocaine and are believed to have been regular cocaine customers of the network, which allegedly operated out of the Calle Luna Restaurant, also known as the "D. Hernandez" Restaurant, at Varick and Wayne streets, officials said.
Contacted last night, an employee at the restaurant who did not give her name said she had never seen any suspicious activity there.
Gallo and Hoboken Parking Utility employee Monica Thorpe, 42, of 1 Marine View Plaza in Hoboken, were charged with computer theft (criminal computer activity), officials said, adding that Gallo is also charged with official misconduct.
The investigation by the Prosecutor's Office, the Jersey City police and the Drug Enforcement Administration identified Anthony Velez, 37, Manuel Reyes Jr., 31, and Felix Santiago III, 34, as alleged leaders in the network and they were arrested on Sept. 22, officials said.
They were charged in federal court with conspiracy to distribute more than a pound of cocaine, officials said.
A search warrant executed at the restaurant and several other locations turned up more than a pound of cocaine and four firearms, officials said, adding that the drug ring is thought to have distributed more than $35,000 in cocaine per week.
The investigation led to warrants being issued on Tuesday for an additional 14 suspects, and the investigation is ongoing.
Officials say additional arrests are expected shortly.
Gallo was charged after he allegedly ran a law enforcement license plate check in a government database as a favor to one of the targets of the investigation, officials said, adding that the charges against Thorpe stem from similar activity.
Gallo faces up to 10 years in prison if convicted on the official misconduct charge.
Medal was already suspended due to a problem with a drug test and he will remain suspended, and Setkiewicz will be suspended as a result of the charge against him, officials said.
The employment status of Gallo and Thorpe could not be determined last night.
Others arrested on drug charges were Jersey City residents, Nirav B. Lakhani, 25, of Perry Street; Maria Mestre, 39, of Claremont Avenue; Carlos Rivera, 19, of Williams Avenue; Tulio C. Lopez, 51, of Van Winkle Avenue; Will Camacho, 18, of Perry Street; Carlos Burgos, 32, of New York Avenue; Pedro J. Torres, 49, of Corbin Avenue; Alicia Orrego, 32, of Corbin Avenue; as well as Joseph Casiano Jr., 21, of Washington Street in Hoboken, and Edward Bloncourt, 55, of County Avenue in Secaucus, officials said.
Bails for key figures in the alleged ring reach as high as $400,000, officials said.
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The year-and-a-half investigation resulted in the arrest of Jersey City Police Officer Mark Medal, 52, of Fifth Street; Hoboken Fire Department Battalion Chief Henry Setkiewicz, 59, of Summit Avenue in Jersey City; and Hoboken Police Officer Ralph F. Gallo, 25, of Church Towers in Hoboken, said Hudson County First Assistant Prosecutor Guy Gregory.
Medal, who is already suspended, and Setkiewicz were charged with conspiracy to possess cocaine and are believed to have been regular cocaine customers of the network, which allegedly operated out of the Calle Luna Restaurant, also known as the "D. Hernandez" Restaurant, at Varick and Wayne streets, officials said.
Contacted last night, an employee at the restaurant who did not give her name said she had never seen any suspicious activity there.
Gallo and Hoboken Parking Utility employee Monica Thorpe, 42, of 1 Marine View Plaza in Hoboken, were charged with computer theft (criminal computer activity), officials said, adding that Gallo is also charged with official misconduct.
The investigation by the Prosecutor's Office, the Jersey City police and the Drug Enforcement Administration identified Anthony Velez, 37, Manuel Reyes Jr., 31, and Felix Santiago III, 34, as alleged leaders in the network and they were arrested on Sept. 22, officials said.
They were charged in federal court with conspiracy to distribute more than a pound of cocaine, officials said.
A search warrant executed at the restaurant and several other locations turned up more than a pound of cocaine and four firearms, officials said, adding that the drug ring is thought to have distributed more than $35,000 in cocaine per week.
The investigation led to warrants being issued on Tuesday for an additional 14 suspects, and the investigation is ongoing.
Officials say additional arrests are expected shortly.
Gallo was charged after he allegedly ran a law enforcement license plate check in a government database as a favor to one of the targets of the investigation, officials said, adding that the charges against Thorpe stem from similar activity.
Gallo faces up to 10 years in prison if convicted on the official misconduct charge.
Medal was already suspended due to a problem with a drug test and he will remain suspended, and Setkiewicz will be suspended as a result of the charge against him, officials said.
The employment status of Gallo and Thorpe could not be determined last night.
Others arrested on drug charges were Jersey City residents, Nirav B. Lakhani, 25, of Perry Street; Maria Mestre, 39, of Claremont Avenue; Carlos Rivera, 19, of Williams Avenue; Tulio C. Lopez, 51, of Van Winkle Avenue; Will Camacho, 18, of Perry Street; Carlos Burgos, 32, of New York Avenue; Pedro J. Torres, 49, of Corbin Avenue; Alicia Orrego, 32, of Corbin Avenue; as well as Joseph Casiano Jr., 21, of Washington Street in Hoboken, and Edward Bloncourt, 55, of County Avenue in Secaucus, officials said.
Bails for key figures in the alleged ring reach as high as $400,000, officials said.
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Posted: Friday, October 9, 2009
Updated: October 9th, 2009 12:32 AM GMT-05:00
Reported by Jeremy FinleyStory by wsmv.com
Tenn. Fire Captain Accused of Threatening Police Officers
NASHVILLE, Tenn. --The Channel 4 I-Team has learned a Nashville fire captain faces disciplinary charges for allegedly making threatening remarks to police officers after he was suspected of being intoxicated near downtown.
In a recorded phone call to police, veteran fire Capt. David Parker can be heard complaining and making several derogatory comments about the officers, who picked him up Aug. 30 on allegations of public intoxication.
The I-Team obtained the recordings and documents that show why Parker is facing the disciplinary action.
"I told them they (police) were a bucket of lowlifes, and that's all there was to it," said Parker on the phone recording.
The phone call came after two Metro police officers responded to the call of a man, matching the captain's description, drunk and stumbling in the road at 5th Avenue and Peabody Street.
The officers gave Parker a choice to go to jail or to a program called Guest House at the nonprofit Room In The Inn.
"Anyone can be brought here that's publicly intoxicated rather than be taken to jail," said Room In The Inn Director Charles Strobel.
In the recordings, Parker is angry the officers took him to Guest House. An incident report states he told the officers, "If they are in Hermitage (at the station where he works), they had better not need his help."
Parker even repeated the words to the officer who took his complaint call.
"I told them they were a bunch of lowlifes and if they ever needed any help, they wouldn't get it from me. That's what I told them," said Parker on the recording.
"That's not very appropriate, given your line of work," the officer said to Parker on the recording.
"No, it's not. It's not very appropriate for them to approach me and put me in a police car," said Parker.
Parker didn't want to respond to the allegations but said Wednesday that "I might have said it, but I didn't mean it."
Parker has been placed on desk duty since this incident. After a closed door hearing on Thursday, Nashville's fire chief will now have 10 days to decide if his threatening remarks should cost him his job.
In the Metro police incident reports, the fire captain admitted to being an alcoholic. The fire department has recommended he get counseling through the Metro Employee Assistance Program.
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