A New York woman was arrested last week after calling the Bayonne Police Department on Halloween and falsely claiming that there was an “officer down,” authorities said.Â
By John Heinis/Hudson County View
Abigail Contreras, 24, of Maspeth, New York, was charged with creating false public alarms and making false reports to law enforcement authorities, according to Police Capt. Joseph Scerbo.
On Halloween at approximately 7:10 p.m., Bayonne police received a 911 cell phone call from an individual who identified herself as Jessica. The female caller then stated that there is an “officer down†in the basement of 48 East 19th St., officials said.
This call initiated a large police response to the area in order to locate the officer who was reported to be down. After checking the area and adjacent buildings, responding officers determined the call to be false, police said.
A subsequent investigation into this incident by Bayonne police detectives, revealed that the call came from a cell phone that was located within the City of Bayonne at the time of the call and that the cell phone was subscribed to by Contreras, authorities said.
The investigation also revealed that Contreras appeared in Bayonne Municipal Court
approximately 45 minutes before the 911 call was made.She was in court because she received a motor vehicle summons for operating a motor vehicle with a suspended registration on July 8th, 2016.
Court records indicate that Bayonne Municipal Court Judge Frank Carpenter found Contreras guilty of the offense and Contreras was given a fine of $539 and she was not able to register her vehicle for an additional six months.
Further investigation revealed that Contreras was upset with the judge’s ruling and crumbled up the payment form as she was being escorted out of the court, officials said.
On January 18th, at approximately 12:21 p.m., Contreras presented herself to the Bayonne
Police desk where she was arrested on the warrant and charged before being remanded to the Hudson County Correctional Facility, police said.
