Police officials in Newark are reporting that officers have recovered eight illegal weapons and made seven weapon possessions arrests as part of an intense violence reduction operation involving Newark Police and its law enforcement partners.
Newark Police, in a joint operation with the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of New Jersey, Essex County Prosecutor’s Office, New Jersey State Police, FBI, Drug Enforcement Agency, Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, and the Essex County Sheriff’s Office, increased deployment into Newark hotspots after four non-fatal shooting incidents left eight victims injured by gunfire on Tuesday.
Last night’s and today’s operation yielded eight illegal weapons and seven weapons possession arrests.
Sabir Williams, 25, Mahdee S. Johnson, 24, and Safiatou Dieng, 23, all of Newark, were arrested yesterday in the 100 block of Goodwin Avenue.
Police said they observed a hand-to-hand narcotics transaction between Williams and Dieng from a vehicle registered to Johnson.
Officers observed Williams in possession of a loaded handgun, 42 glassine envelopes of heroin and $584.00 of suspected proceeds from narcotics sales.
Johnson was found in possession of 13 glassine envelopes of heroin, eight plastic jugs containing suspected crack cocaine and $257.00 of alleged proceeds from narcotics sales.
Police also recovered approximately 185 grams of marijuana. Dieng was found in possession of one plastic jug of cocaine.
Police said Williams is charged with unlawful possession of a weapon, possession of a firearm for an illegal purpose, CDS possession, CDS distribution and distributing CDS within 1,000-ft. of a school. Johnson faces charges of CDS possession, CDS distribution, and distributing CDS within 1,000-ft. of a school. Dieng is charged with CDS possession.
According to police, Naji Starling, 27, of Hillside, was arrested yesterday in the 100 block of Livingston Street after police observed him with a semi-automatic weapon loaded with hollow-point bullets.
Police also found Starling in possession of heroin. He faces charges of unlawful possession of a weapon, possession of a firearm for an illegal purpose, possession of prohibited weapons (hollow point bullets), CDS possession, CDS distribution, and certain persons prohibited from weapon possession.
Police said Michael Thomas, 30, of Newark, was arrested yesterday in the 100 block of Isabella Avenue after police observed him with a handgun loaded with ball point bullets.
Thomas was also found in possession of an unlabeled prescription bottle containing seven oxycodone pills.
He is charged with unlawful possession of a weapon, possession of a prohibited weapon (large-capacity magazine), CDS possession, resisting arrest and certain persons prohibited from weapon possession.
According to police Samaad Allah, 25, of Newark, was arrested today at Bradley Court on North Munn Avenue after police observed him with a loaded firearm.
He faces charges of unlawful possession of a weapon, possession of a weapon for an unlawful possession of a weapon and certain persons prohibited from weapon possession.
Police say Tishawn Scovil, 31, of Newark, was arrested today after police observed him with a handgun in the area of Gladstone Avenue and South Orange Avenue. Police found Scovil in possession of a loaded ghost gun, which is a gun that does not have a serial number.
He faces charges of unlawful possession of a weapon, possession of a prohibited weapon (large-capacity magazine and ghost gun).
Nazir Cook McDougald, 22, of Newark, was arrested in the 200 block of Bergen Street after police conducted a motor vehicle stop and observed a loaded handgun inside a vehicle he was driving.
He was also found in possession of four bottles of promethazine hydrochloride and codeine phosphate oral solution. He faces charges of unlawful possession of a weapon and possession of legend drugs.
With the assistance of FBI agents Newark Police recovered another weapon in the 100 block of South 9th Street.
Police also recovered a loaded weapon inside an iron gate in the 100 block of Chelsea Avenue and a bag containing multiple glassine envelopes of heroin and multiple plastic jugs of cocaine.
“The majority of the suspects arrested for gun possession in this operation are convicted felons,” Director O’Hara noted.
“That means they are absolutely prohibited from carrying a weapon. Because the courts have been backlogged due to the pandemic, the accountability previously imposed on repeat criminals is no longer in place.
I trust that the criminal justice system will partner with law enforcement to keep re-offenders off our streets.”