Thread: N.J.: Police officer again a suspect in illegal eatery

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Police officer again a suspect in illegal eatery

Cop, his tenant, pleaded guilty in '06
Posted by the Asbury Park Press on 06/1/07
BY ALEX BIESE
AND NICK PETRUNCIO
STAFF WRITERS


FREEHOLD — Multiple summonses are expected to be issued to a Wall police officer and the tenant of a borough home he owns after officials found evidence of an illegal restaurant being operated out of the building, borough Business Administrator Joe Bellina said.

The officer, Douglas Borst of Wall, and the listed tenant, Petra Hernandez, pleaded guilty to similar summonses in municipal court in the fall after a restaurant was found to be operating out of the home in August 2006.

"We were upset the first time this happened, and now this is the second time," Mayor Mike Wilson said. "We're not upset, we're outraged that a law enforcement officer could break the law like this twice."

Borst could not be reached for comment Thursday.

Hernandez repeatedly denied running a restaurant out of the residence.

"There is no business in this house," Hernandez said in her native Spanish. "There is no restaurant."

Bellina said the borough received an anonymous tip May 21 that the business was being operated out of the home, at 58 Mechanic St.

Following a reconnaissance operation by code enforcement officers, officials obtained an administrative warrant. At dusk on Wednesday, Bellina said, members of the borough police department, two code enforcement officers and representatives from the Health Department entered the home.

Bellina said officials discovered evidence that a restaurant was being operated out of the building, including boxes of food stored in closets and the basement, freezers and refrigerators full of food and beer, 30 additional cases of warm beer, take-out containers and a table set up in the basement. A propane tank was also found in the basement, Bellina said.

Summonses from the borough and the health department will be issued to Borst and Hernandez for zoning violations, operating a business without a permit, overcrowding, not having fire extinguishers and having disconnected smoke and carbon monoxide detectors, Bellina said.

Borst was issued a summons Thursday afternoon from the Freehold Health Department stating that a "person in charge shall ensure that retail food establishments are not conducted in a private home," while Hernandez was issued summonses stating that food sources were not documented from a regulated facility and that food prepared in a private home is not to be sold in a retail food establishment.

On Thursday afternoon, Hernandez, a man inside the home who identified himself as 43-year-old Ernesto Lopez of Fourth Avenue and another man who said he was her 30-year-old brother, Ismael Hernandez, claim the gatherings of people are actually parties, some religious festivals, that take place as often as four times a year.

Bellina said Borst and Hernandez would also be receiving at least five summonses each from the borough code department either later Thursday or this morning.

The overcrowding summons will carry a fine of at least $2,000, he said, and the penalties for the other code violations would be up to the discretion of the judge.

Bellina and Wilson both said overcrowding has become a problem in the borough.

"We've had quite a significant problem over the last five to six years . . . where people, investors, gobble up our homes for investment purposes. They rent them out, and there is a lot of overcrowding. We get a lot of complaints," Bellina said. Of 600 rental properties in the borough, he said, approximately 95 percent are owned by absentee landlords.

The Hernandezes and Lopez all admitted to being in the country illegally. They said they came from Mexico to Freehold six years ago.

"I feel bad because I'm in the country against the law, but like he said, I need to eat," Lopez said. "I don't want to steal, so I work."

Lopez said he tries to get work as a day laborer doing jobs such as construction and landscaping. Ismael Hernandez said he works in construction, and his sister said she used to work at a company until it let go of illegal immigrants and now works cleaning houses.

"I'm not embarrassed because I came to work," she said. "It's honest work."

Ismael Hernandez noted that he pays his rent, does not have problems with the police and said he pays taxes.

Betty O'Flaherty, 80, sitting on the porch of a home across and up the street a bit, said she has seen a lot of people going in and out of the house where Hernandez lives and that they are different people from day to day.

"Don't they understand they'll get in trouble?" she asked.

O'Flaherty said she recently heard a man she suspected of being in the country illegally bragging at a bank one day that he would not have to pay any taxes on a $900 check.

"I don't hate them. I don't have anything against anybody. There's nice people, and there's bad. I feel if they come over to this country, they should pay taxes just like us," she said.

After speaking with Wall Police Chief David Morris, Wall Lt. Gerald Ihnken said the department is "presently conducting an investigation and acquiring all of the details we can from Freehold Borough and will be handling it as a personnel matter."

"What Wall does, as far as (Borst) is concerned, that's up to Wall," said Wilson. "We wouldn't want one of our cops doing the same thing in their town. Why should they do this here in Freehold?"

http://www.app.com/apps/pbcs.dll/articl ... 004/NEWS01

"I'm not embarrassed because I came to work," she said. "It's honest work."

said the illegal who's either paying no taxes or using a fraudulent SS#.

Yes, NJ........a state {and governor-s-} to be proud of

Again, Freehold Borough, who's been fighting this insanity for how long now?

Originally Posted by 2ndamendsis

Yes, NJ........a state {and governor-s-} to be proud of

Again, Freehold Borough, who's been fighting this insanity for how long now?

Hello second sis, believe me, Freehold is P O'd.

Originally Posted by PEOPLEBRIAN

Originally Posted by 2ndamendsis

Yes, NJ........a state {and governor-s-} to be proud of

Again, Freehold Borough, who's been fighting this insanity for how long now?

Hello second sis, believe me, Freehold is P O'd.

Hey BRIAN!!'

Great to see you.
WE must get FREEHOLD free of this mess!

Others are getting competely bogged down also.

I haven't been in touch because the DC trip was all time consuming and then this AMNESTY debacle is on the front burner.

You've been on my mind.

BTW, How is your REP sitting? We need to pull out whoever in NJ is a friend and work from there.