Jersey City woman charged with child endangerment after she allows gun-toting boyfriend to enter house, police say

Monday, September 05, 2011, 9:02 PM
By Charles Hack/The Jersey Journal

A 24-year-old Jersey City woman was charged with child endangerment after she let her gun-toting boyfriend enter the home where her young kids were, police say.

A 24-year-old Jersey City woman was arrested and charged with child endangerment yesterday morning after she allowed her boyfriend, who had just fired a gun, to enter her apartment where her three young children were present, reports said.

The woman was charged with obstruction of a governmental function, hindering apprehension, and three counts of endangering the welfare of a child, reports said.

Her boyfriend Sergio A. Rodriguez, 32, of Grattan Street in Brooklyn, was charged with possession of a weapon for unlawful purpose, unlawful possession of a weapon, possession of a prohibited weapon, reports said.

Police were called to the apartment building on Lexington Avenue near Bergen Avenue shortly before 5 a.m. on the report of shots being fired by a man who was holding a gun and a bottle of liquor, reports said.

Police officers found the man sitting on steps at the entrance of the building, but when they ordered him to the ground, he ran inside the building and the entrance door locked behind him, reports said.

Emergency Service Unit officers were called to the scene as well as Port Authority officers for backup, reports said.

A police negotiator used a public address system to talk to people inside the building, and at 6:07 a.m., the 24-year-old woman walked outside, followed shortly by her two older children, reports said, noting her 2-year-old child remained in the apartment.

The woman initially denied Rodriguez had gone into her apartment carrying a gun, but later confessed she had lied to the officers and admitted he ran into her apartment and dropped the gun -- a High Point handgun Model C9 -- in a box, reports said.

After receiving a consent order, police searched the apartment at around 7:30 a.m. and found the 2-year-old, along with the gun and ammo, reports said.

In the meantime, police found Rodriguez hiding in the basement of the building, reports said.

The ages of the woman's two older children were not listed in police reports. The woman's identity is being withheld to protect the identities of the children.

The state Division of Youth and Family Services were notified, reports said.
It is not clear at what or at whom Rodriguez was shooting, police said.