Maybe Morristown police should get combat pay on the weekends.
The latest batch of cop reports includes an early morning melee involving 10 males and a broomstick. One combatant allegedly broke the broomstick over the face of another.
It happened around 2 am on Sunday, Nov. 11, in the Wells Fargo parking lot. The accounts that follow are from police reports.
Andrew Stetzel, 22, of Lafayette, ran at Michael Godoy, 21, of Morristown and punched him in the face, knocking him over, Police Officer Joseph Heuneman observed.
When order was restored, the officer noticed that Andrew–who had tried to wriggle free from the patrolman’s grasp–was bleeding from the forehead.
“Mr. Stetzel immediately began pleading with me to listen to him while exclaiming that he was attacked first. An unknown male behind me then tossed at my feet an approximately three-foot-long broken broomstick. Mr. Stetzel then advised that he was struck in the head with that object by Mr. Godoy,” Officer Heuneman wrote.
Four police officers responded to the scene; outnumbered, they handcuffed some of the males for the officers’ own safety.
One of those handcuffed by Police Officer Adam Khoudja was Errol Godinez, 22, a Sparta resident whose behavior was described as “borderline disorderly.” He was “yelling, pacing around and attempted to incite Mr. Godoy into fighting him by remarks and gestures,” according to Officer Heuneman, who recognized Errol because moments earlier the officer had asked him to leave the corner of South and DeHart streets, “where he was attempting to incite a male into an altercation.”
A witness to the melee, Joseph Pitney, told police “he observed Mr. Godoy armed himself with a wooden stick and ‘blind sided’ Mr. Stetzel by striking him in the face with the weapon.”
Michael Godoy, drunk, provided police with no details about the incident and declined medical attention, according to Officer Heuneman.
Andrew Stetzel told police he had been in the parking lot with friends when he was struck in the face with a wooden object; he said he punched his assailant in self-defense.
“Mr. Stetzel was intoxicated, agitated and extremely excited, making it difficult to get any further specific details about the incident,” the officer wrote. Andrew was treated by the Morristown Ambulance Squad.
Michael Godoy admitted to another officer that he had wielded the broomstick because it was “5 on 1.” At police headquarters, he accused Errol Godinez of starting the fight. A subsequent search of Michael revealed a suspected marijuana pipe in a pack of cigarettes.
Police charged Andrew Stetzel with simple assault and discharged him to Morristown Medical Center.
Michael Godoy was charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, possession of a weapon for unlawful purposes, unlawful possession of a weapon and possession of drug paraphernalia. He was taken to the Morris County Jail in lieu of $5,000 bail, set by Municipal Judge Gary Troxell.
Earlier on that shift, at 9:36 pm on Saturday, Nov. 10, Police Officer Adam Khoudja responded to a report of a hit and run involving a parked vehicle on Western Avenue. A witness called in the incident and was following the alleged hit-and-run vehicle, a Ford Escort.
The officer pulled over the Ford and found two men and a strong odor of alcohol inside.
According to the police report, Selvin Henriques-Cayes, 22, of Morristown, was in the back seat attempting to conceal an open 12-ounce can of Corona beer.
The unlicensed driver, Jose A. Rosales, 31, of Morristown, had a face that appeared flushed, with droopy, reddish eyelids and watery eyes, the officer reported. His clothes were spotted with what appeared to be spilled beer. The passenger side of the Ford showed damage consistent with a sideswiping collision.
A Spanish-speaking police officer from Morris Township assisted in the investigation. Jose told police had had two beers with friends on Speedwell Avenue and had been driving his friend home. Police said he had no recollection of hitting a parked vehicle, which turned out to be a GMC Jimmy sport utility vehicle.
Standard tests for intoxication were administered. Jose was charged with drunk driving, reckless driving, being an unlicensed driver, having an open alcohol container in his car, failure to produce an insurance card, leaving the scene of an accident, and failure to report an accident. He was sent home with a relative.
Selvin was charged with having an open alcohol container in a car.
Just before 1 am on Wednesday, Nov. 14, Police Officer Joseph Heuneman started following a Ford heading east on Maple Avenue. A check of the license plate disclosed that the registered owner was on the suspended drivers list, according to the police report.
The Ford turned left on Miller Road, swung wide onto South Street, crossing the double yellow line, and turned left onto Elm Street, pulling into a parking lot where police conducted a motor vehicle stop.
The driver, Bretley Bright, 39, of Randolph, acknowledged driving while suspended and pleaded for a break because his license was scheduled for reinstatement next month. His eyes were bloodshot and watery and the car smelled of alcohol, the officer reported.
Sobriety tests were conducted. “I hope you got your quota,” Bretley allegedly said upon arriving at police headquarters.
“While processing Mr. Bright his mood would swing from laughing loudly and making jokes, to being annoyed at answering my questions, to pleading with me to not issue a summons for driving while suspended,” wrote Officer Heuneman, who was assisted by Officers Rosado and Khoudja.
The driver was charged with driving under the influence and driving while suspended, and released to the custody of a family member.
