Somerset County Sheriff Frank J. Provenzano announced on April 19, 2017, that 31 men and women were arrested on warrants for being delinquent in making child support payments.
SOMERVILLE - Somerset County Sheriff Frank J. Provenzano announced on Wednesday that 31 men and women were arrested on warrants for being delinquent in making child support payments.
The three-day sweep involved more than 34 Sheriff's officers, operating in teams, who served outstanding warrants and made arrests. The 31 people taken into custody owed a combined total of $433,714.33 in child support. Officers were able to collect $7,946 in delinquent child support payments.
"This operation was conducted to remind parents of the importance of making regular child support payments and hopefully renew their commitment to doing the right thing," said Provenzano. "Child support is a safety net for many Somerset County families. Children depend on child support for their basic needs such as food, shelter, healthcare and clothing.
"Conducting these roundups gives us the ability to better serve children and families with the financial support they need and deserve."
Also arrested on a child support warrant was Francois Skyers of Plainfield, who also had an outstanding Somerset County bench warrant for failure to appear in court.
"The statistics show the roundup was a great success," Provenzano said. "What we don't see is how many delinquent parents pay up once they know we are looking for them. Knowing that they face possible arrest encourages a delinquent parent to uphold their obligations or face incarceration. It creates a compounding effect of payments that lasts weeks after the roundup."
Here is the list of those arrested in the sweep.
Arrested April 4:
- Jose A. Torres, 47, Palisades Park - Owed $1,646 ($400 collected)
- Joseph Davia, 37, North Plainfield - Owed $11,689.85 (no amount collected)
- Dennis Nguyen, 62, North Plainfield - Owed $9,518.64 ($300 collected)
- Chanda Obrien, 46, Bound Brook - Owed $2,146 (no amount collected)
- Jose Lopez, 27, Middlesex - Owed $4,361.20 (no amount collected) / Owed $1,606.37 (no amount collected)
- Leandro Olivo, 24, South Bound Brook - Owed $3,810 (no amount collected)
- Carlos Castaneda, 37, Bridgewater - Owed $8,841.70 ($689 collected) / Owed $2,219.51 ($381 collected)
- Gilbert Jimenez, 49, Bound Brook - Owed $11,668.57 ($130 collected)
- Christopher Strojny, 36, Bogota - Owed $9,925.02 ($1,000 collected)
- Gilbert Gonzalez, 44, New Brunswick - $53,005.28 ($341 collected)
- Theresa Kownacki, 21, Somerville - $1,127.91 ($100 collected)
Arrested April 5:
- Brian Zack, 54, Lebanon - Owed $14,972 ($1,140 collected)
- Gerald Guy, 49, Metuchen - Owed $24,940 (no amount collected)
- Lester Harris, 56, Rahway - Owed $4,659.91 (no amount collected) / Owed $3,543.71 (no amount collected)
- Daniel Baggott, 34, North Plainfield - Owed $3,364.06 (no amount collected)
- Andres Perez-Montiel, 41, Westfield - Owed $10,065 (no amount collected)
- Bruce Ferguson, 60, Manville - Owed $2,790.71 (no amount collected)
- Fitzroy R. Hutchinson, 44, Piscataway - Owed $1,673.24 ($900 collected)
- Patricia Donnelly, 34, South Bound Brook - Owed $8,221 ($150 collected)
- Justin Bilecky, 39, Hillsborough - Owed $2,880 ($480 collected)
- Nikaiya Smith, 23, New Brunswick - Owed $4,976 ($40 collected)
- Matthew L. Kochell, 26, Harrison - Owed $7,467 (no amount collected)
- Christopher Bryan, 34, Bridgewater - Owed $38,184.57 ($100 collected) / Owed $10,412 ($100 collected)
- Jesse Sutton, 57, Somerset - $69,338.28 (no amount collected)
Arrested April 6:
- Stanley Brown, 33, Linden - Owed $16,572 ($250 collected)
- Iyesha Opher, 35, Somerset - Owed $4,308.57 (no amount collected)
- Trevor McGill, 27, Manville - Owed $5,096 (no amount collected)
- Lenny Ovalles, 38, Hightstown - Owed $2,826 ($200 collected)
- Charles Burney, 56, Somerset - Owed $9,647.22 (no amount collected) / Owed $3,032.46 (no amount collected)
- Francois Skyers, 29, North Plainfield - Owed $21,180.55 (no amount collected)
- Harry Vasquez, 42, Plainfield - Owed $41,998 ($1,245 collected)