Police Blotter: Stuck under car in Hopatcong; TV starts fire in Jefferson

HANOVER

•At 3:14 p.m. on Feb. 28, Patrolman Eric Prach arrested Sean Scala, 25, of Morristown, on an active warrant issued out of Madison. The warrant was in the amount of $500 for failure to appear on an original charge of driving while suspended. Scala received summons for maintenance of lamps, driving while suspended, and expired license. Scala had been stopped for having a brake light out when the warrant was found. Scala posted the bail and was released.

•At 9:56 a.m. on March 1, Patrolman Dominic Kaiser arrested Jason Untracht, 33, of Whippany, on an active warrant. The warrant was issued out of Fairfield in the amount of $500 for failure to appear on a driving while intoxicated. Untracht posted the bail and was released with a summons for driving while suspended.

HOPATCONG

•At 9:02 p.m. on Feb. 27, a 29-year-old male was working under his car using the jack that came with the vehicle when the jack slipped and the vehicle came down on him. The man was not injured but he was stuck under the vehicle. Hopatcong firefighers and EMS arrived to the Adams Trail residence and the vehicle was jacked up so they man could be pulled out. He was checked by EMS and said he did not need medical attention.

JEFFERSON

•On Feb. 3, Alicia Stabp, 33, of Randolph was transport to the Morris County Correctional Facility on a $500 Jefferson Twp. Municipal Court warrant.

•On Feb. 6, a resident of Croft Road reported hearing an alarm coming from inside her residence. Upon entering, she found her television set engulfed in flames. Jefferson Fire Co. 1 and 2 responded and extinguished the fire with heavy damage to the residence.

•On Feb. 8. Ivan Ivanochko, 43, of New York, N.Y., struck a guide rail of Route 15 South. An open vodka bottle was located in his vehicle. He was transported to Morristown Medical Center for treatment of minor injuries and then issued numerous summonses including for driving while intoxicated and having an open container.

•On Feb. 9, a resident of Dublin Hill Road reported that she had left a white trash bag attached to her mailbox for the postal carrier to pick up and the items in it were stolen. The items were valued at $200.

•On Feb. 9. two residents of Venetian Drive reported burglaries to their home. Someone entered through an unlocked door on one residence and the other through an exterior door that was pried open. Cash, coins and jewelry were stolen. Detective Rich Geib and the Morris County Sheriff’s Crime Scene Unit responded. On Feb. 19, Wayne police contacted Detective Joseph Kratzel to advise that they had arrested two individuals for burglaries within their town and may have recovered items related to the burglaries in Jefferson. Kratzel responded to Wayne police and identified the items. Criminal charges are pending.

•On Feb. 12, a resident of Willow Driver reported that an unknown actor(s) opened the mailbox and removed mail.

•On Feb. 15, the owner of Charlie’s Tavern reported that unknown actor(s) forced open exterior door to the rear apartment of the business causing minor damage to door.

LONG HILL

•On Feb. 21, police located a vehicle parked at the end of Hudson Street at 1:49 a.m. The driver, Amanda Tillett, 22, of Raritan, was determined to be under the influence of alcohol and was charged with driving while intoxicated and reckless driving. Tillett was processed and released with a pending court date.

•On Feb. 23, a Gillette resident reported receiving a telephone call from a person identifying themselves as an employee of Microsoft, which was later determined to be a fraud. This fraudulent Microsoft employee asked for personal information over the phone and the resident provided their information. Police are continuing their investigation.

MADISON

•At 9:40 p.m. on Feb. 21, Sgt. Sean Plumstead arrested Henry Golson, 18, of Madison, on a $200 outstanding warrant issued by the Madison Municipal Court. Golson was released after posting bail.

•At 6:57 p.m. on Feb. 25, Patrolman Patrick Strafaci arrested Carl Marseille, 21, of West Orange, after he responded to the Whole Foods Market on Main Street to investigate ongoing shoplifting at the store by an employee. Strafaci spoke with a representative from loss prevention and learned that Carl Marseille, an employee had been consuming $342 of store merchandise over a several month period. Marseille was charged with fourth degree shoplifting and released on his own recognizance pending an appearance in the Morris County Superior Court.

SPARTA

•Jason C. Wecht, 46, of Stanhope, was charged with theft by failing to make required disposition of property received. Wecht was hired by two different Sparta residents to do painting and wallpapering and after receiving a down payment, never returned to do any of the agreed upon work. The residents repeated calls to Wecht went unanswered so the residents contacted police. Wecht was processed and served his charges and was released pending a court date.

WASHINGTON TWP.

•At 6:16 p.m. on Feb. 19, police received a call from a resident on Upper Sunset Drive that an unknown subject was attempting to gain entry into her home. Sgt. Jeffrey Almer, Officers Scott Myers and Thomas Falleni responded but the male party had left the caller’s residence. Myers checked on the caller and her children while Falleni and Almer responded to the house next door which is where the suspect was believed to be from and where the footprints in the snow led to. They met with the suspect in the garage and he resisted arrested but was eventually subdued. The suspect, Richard Chapman, 53. of Long Valley, also had a warrant for his arrest for contempt of court and failing to appear for other prior charges out of Washington Township. He was arrested and transported to headquarters where he was processed per departmental procedures. No further action taken.

This report was compiled by Daily Record staff writers and reflects official police descriptions of the incidents. If you have information about a crime, call 973-267-2255