Threatening to kill officer lands illegal in county jail
Wednesday, November 14, 2007
By SEAN C. McCULLEN

BRIDGETON -- A Bank Street man who was detained on a warrant Tuesday morning will spend more time in the county jail than he likely would have by allegedly threatening to kill a city police sergeant following his arrest.

In addition to the longer stay in jail, Oscar Mendez, 23, now also possibly faces a deportation hearing.

Police arrested Mendez on a failure to appear warrant on North Laurel Street Tuesday morning after former city detective Arnaldo Santos, now an investigator for the state Department of Human Services, spotted him looking into vehicles and a house in the area, according to Bridgeton Police Det. Sgt. Anthony "Skip" Calabrese.

Mendez allegedly threatened to kill Calabrese while at the county jail awaiting incarceration on the warrant.

"He said he knows where I live and that he would kill me when he gets out of jail," Calabrese said Tuesday afternoon.

Mendez was charged with terroristic threats for the comment he allegedly made to Calabrese.

He was also charged with possession of cocaine, after a small bag found in his possession tested positive for cocaine residue, Calabrese said.

The failure to appear warrant issued for Mendez's arrest stemmed from a scheduled Superior Court appearance on a burglary charge, according to Calabrese.

While Mendez would have been able to post bail on the warrant, he was lodged in the jail without bail on a detainer ordered by federal immigration officials.

Attorney General Anne Milgram on Aug. 22 issued a mandate that all New Jersey law enforcers must report immigration violations to federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials following the arrests of illegal immigrants accused of indictable offenses or drunken driving.

Federal officials determine whether to issue detainers, not local, county or state law enforcers.

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