Police: Paterson Crime Hot Spot Initiative Yields Three Gun Arrests
Posted by jhingarat21 on 14th Sep 2015
Karlton Kibler
PATERSON – In separate incidents several hours apart, city detectives arrested three men on gun charges Friday night and Saturday morning, according to Paterson Police Director Jerry Speziale.
The detectives from Paterson’s Ceasefire and narcotics units, along with members of the Passaic County Prosecutor’s Office, were deployed as part of ongoing crime-suppression initiative focusing on high-crime areas on weekend nights, Speziale said.
The first suspect arrested was 21-year-old Karlton Kibler, the police director said. Kibler allegedly was carrying a loaded .25-caliber handgun while selling heroin at the Riverside public-housing complex in the city’s 3rd Ward, Speziale said.
Kibler had been convicted of drug-dealing charges in 2013 and was released from custody six months ago after servicing more than a year in prison, according to state records. He also had been wounded in a 2012 shooting at the same public housing complex.
Narcotics detectives arrested Kibler at 10:32 p.m. on Friday at 18 Alois Place, Speziale said. In addition to the handgun, they seized 10 packets of heroin and $1,105 in cash from him, the director said. Kibler was charged with weapons and drug offenses, including violation of a law that prohibits a convicted felon from having a gun, police said.
The second arrest was made at about 12:30 a.m. on Saturday, police said. Ceasefire detectives stopped to investigate a group of men hanging out at the crime-plagued corner of North Main and Jefferson streets when one person tried to run away, Speziale said.
Police said the man ran west onto North 1st Street and allegedly threw away a gun near the intersection with Arch Street. The man, 18-year-old Quincy Franklin, was then captured, the director said. Detectives found a loaded 9-mm semi-automatic revolver in the area where they say Franklin threw the gun, said Speziale. Franklin was charged with possession of an assault weapon, police said.
While detectives were still in that area, they heard at least two gunshots coming from nearby Jefferson Street at 1:10 am, Speziale said. Police determined that a black Dodge sedan may have been involved in the shooting, the director said.
About 15 minutes later, police spotted a vehicle matching the description near the corner of Rosa Parks Boulevard and Harrison Street in the 4th Ward, he added.
Officers stopped the car and found a passenger, 22-year-old Kadeem Coleman, with a .45-caliber semi-auto pistol that had been reported stolen in Morris County, the director said. Coleman was charged with weapons offenses, including violation of the law prohibiting convicted felons from having a gun, and possession of stolen property, police said. Coleman also had been arrested in January on drug-dealing charges by detectives with the Passaic County Sheriff’s Office, police said.
“These individuals should be held accountable for their actions and disregard for the law,” Speziale said. “The arrests will hopefully send a message that violent behavior is unacceptable.”
