Traffic Stop Leads to Stolen Car, Drug Arrests, Cops Say

Paramus Police say four occupants of a vehicle that had been reported stolen in  Paterson were in possession of drugs,  including heroin, when officers stopped the SUV Saturday evening at the Garden State Plaza mall parking lot.

Around 5 p.m. Saturday, Paramus Police Officers Keith Bland and Ryan Hayo identified the stolen 2006 Jeep Cheroke by way of a license plate reader in the patrol car and stopped the vehicle traveling from Route 4 into the mall lot around 5 p.m., Captain Guidetti said Monday. 

Brittany Reed, 22, of Paterson who police say was operating the vehicle, was charged with one count of possession of a stolen vehicle and one count of possession of marijuana.

Guidetti said one of the passengers, Shamir Thompson, 19, also of Paterson, allegedly resisted arrest, kicking the rear driver side door numerous times, and causing damage to the door by bending its frame. Police say that Thompson was in possession of eight glassine envelopes marked “Godfather,” which were believed to be heroin.

He was charged with one count of resisting arrest, one count of possession of marijuana, one count of possession of cocaine and one count of criminal mischief, according to Guidetti. He was sent to the Bergen County Jail on $15,000 bail.

The other two female passengers, Kiara Hargrove, 22, and Zantasia Johnson, 22, both of Paterson, were each charged with one count of marijuana possession. Hargrove, Johnson and Reed were charged and released.