Jersey Journal
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HOBOKEN, N.J. — A woman who got firefighters to smash in the front door of an apartment to “rescue” her three tiny tots was arrested after admitting that she had only wanted to retrieve her cell phone, according to police.
Tamika “Erika” Stockman, 32, of the Bronx, was charged with raising false public alarm, criminal mischief and defiant trespass, police said yesterday.
Stockman called the Hoboken Fire Department just after 5 a.m. Friday and said her three children were locked inside an apartment at 75 Bloomfield St., reports said. She told them her baby-sitter had left her three kids - ranging in age from 6 months to 3 years old - locked in the apartment with a possible pot boiling on the stove, police said.
When they arrived, firefighters found Stockman, who identified herself as “Erika” and appeared intoxicated, who led them to a badly damaged apartment door, which had been beaten in during an attempt to break it down, police said.
After forcing the door open, emergency service workers found a woman sleeping in the apartment but no sign of any children, reports said. The woman, who also appeared intoxicated and disorientated, asked, “What’s going on?,” according to police.
She told the cops that she was housesitting for a friend, reports said. At the police station, Stockman admitted that she had made up the story to get her personal property, officials said.
Police then verified with the New York City Police Department that Stockman does have three children but they are ages 9 to 14 and were with her brother-in-law, reports said.
Stockman, who had an outstanding warrant from Hunterdon, was held at the Hudson County jail without bail. sources said.
Lauren “Sparkle” Tuccille, 23, of the Bronx, was also held on two outstanding warrants, one out of Keansburg and the other from Atlantic City, reports said.