Domestic violence calls flood Lower Township Police Department over holiday weekend

Oct, 15-2009 9:46 am

LOWER TOWNSHIP—Although many had long weekends for the Columbus Day holiday, patrol officers at the Lower Township Police Department had a busy week instead. Police responded to multiple domestic violence calls and made several arrests in domestic violence complaints over the course of the Columbus Day weekend.
On Friday, Oct. 9 at about 8:30 p.m., Police received a domestic violence call in the 100 block of Virginia Avenue in Villas. A female victim reported that she was assaulted by her boyfriend while inside her car after a verbal argument ensued while driving in the vehicle. When police arrived, there were no visible signs of injury to the victim and she declined a temporary restraining order.
On Saturday, Oct. 10 at 1:02 pm, a subject flagged down an officer to report a domestic occurring in the 1400 block of Whittier Avenue in North Cape May. Officers reported a heated verbal dispute with the female slapping the male subject in the face. There were no signs of injuries and no temporary restraining order was requested.
On Monday, Oct. 12 at 3:58 p.m., neighbors reported a couple in the roadway having a heated verbal dispute in the 600 block of Beach Drive in North Cape May. The female party stated that her boyfriend threw her cell phone into the dunes and grabbed her by the neck causing visible signs of injury during the argument. Ernest Mirabella Jr., 33, of Wildwood Avenue in Villas, was arrested at the scene and charged with simple assault. He was taken to the county jail on $1,500 cash bail.
Later that evening, at about 6:30 p.m., a female in the 100 block of Village Road in Villas, reported verbal harassment during a domestic incident. There were no signs of injury here.
At about 8:15 that night, a report came in about a domestic violence incident with an assault. Police allege that during the course of an argument, William Hewitt Jr., 21, struck his 52-year-old male roommate in the head with a beer bottle at their residence in the 1400 block of Rosehill Parkway in North Cape May. The victim sustained a concussion and laceration and had to be transported to Cape Regional Medical Center by the Lower Township Rescue Squad. Hewitt was arrested for aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and taken to the county jail on $25,000 full cash bail.
Then, at 11 p.m., a 911 call came in to the Lower Township Communication Center from a female asking for assistance. Communication’s Operators could hear screaming in the background. Responding officers were advised that the female’s ex-boyfriend came to her apartment located in the 1100 block of Delaware Avenue in Villas and gained entry to the apartment through a window. The offender fled upon police arrival. The female victim planned to apply for a temporary restraining order through Family Court.
Just a half-hour later, police received a call about a domestic violence incident with an assault. The 911 call came from neighbors in the 100 block of Evergreen Avenue in Villas, reporting screaming and a woman down on her front lawn.
When police arrived they found that Nicaury Suriel, 30, had assaulted her boyfriend by striking him several times in the face and head with a closed fist, as well as scratching his face. Police say she then hit her boyfriend in the back of the head with a beer bottle. The boyfriend was located and transported to Cape Regional Medical Center by the Lower Township Rescue Squad for injuries sustained in the incident. Suriel was charged with simple assault during the course of domestic violence and taken to the county jail in default of bail set at $1,000, with a no contact order.
Despite the busy weekend, domestic violence incidents in Lower Township have actually decreased by 11 percent from 2007 to 2008, according to the New Jersey State Police's Uniform Crime Report. This is true county-wide, too. Domestic violence incidents in Cape May County decreased 8 percent from 2007 to 2008. In 2008, however, 35 percent of all domestic violence in the county occured in Lower Township, the highest percent county-wide. Lower Township also has the highest number of year-round residents in the county. Not surprisingly, Middle Township has the second highest amount of year-round residents and is second in the county for most domestic violence complaints at almost 20 percent of the county total.
—Claire Lowe