Several residents were credited in assisting officers in arresting a man after he took a cell phone from a woman on a NJ Transit bus authorities said.
According to Newark Public Safety Director Anthony Ambrose, yesterday Commnitty Development Team officers Ivelisse Johnson and Lazaro Rivero were on their walking post near the intersection of Bloomfield Avenue and Broadway shortly after 5pm, when several citizens told them that a man ran from a NJ Transit bus after stealing a phone from a female passenger.
Authorities said the woman was uninjured during the theft.
The CDT officers ran up the street in an attempt to catch the suspect when another group of citizens informed the officers that the suspect hailed and boarded a New Jersey Transit bus that was now headed eastbound.
The CDT officers transmitted this information to backup officers, Sgt. Anthony Venacio, Angel Pared and Daniel Mendez who stopped the bus and arrested the suspect, 20-year-old, Newark resident Eric Michael O’Neal, for theft authorities said.
As the officers were boarding the bus, they saw O’Neal attempting to hide the victim’s stolen phone.
Director Ambrose stated, alert and cooperative citizens assisted the officers with quickly making this arrest.
They alerted the CDT officers to the theft and another group of citizens provided information about the suspect running to a bus and boarding it.
"I congratulate our citizens for their help. If they hadn’t assisted, this suspect would have most likely escaped and continued to steal until we were able to identify him and arrest him. I encourage our citizens to continue to get involved and to help us by reporting crime and pointing out suspects", Dorector Ambrose said.
Community Deployment Teams (CDT) are comprised of officers from the Department’s two most recent academy class who Director Ambrose, as committed, assigned exclusively to foot posts throughout the city.
**These are mere allegations against Eric Michael O’Neal. He is considered innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.**