On Sunday, January 4th, at approximately 9:54 in the morning, Patrolman William Hannon was returning to town from West 1st Avenue in Roselle after clearing from a previous traffic stop when he noticed an unknown male driving a 2012 Jeep pull behind him, honking his horn, using high beams, and driving parallel to the police vehicle.
Patrolman Hannon pulled into a nearby parking lot on West 1st Ave at Amsterdam Avenue in Roselle to speak with the male. According to the police, the male – identified as Thomas Gourdine – age 41 from Roselle, exited his vehicle and approached the officer in an aggressive manner with fists clenched, shouting at the officer, and berating the officer for stopping his son several minutes prior and issuing Mr. Gourdine’s son a speeding ticket.
The road supervisor and Roselle Police arrived as backup when Mr. Gourdine was reported to have become more agitated, aggressive, and increasingly disorderly. Mr. Gourdine was placed under arrest by Patrolman Hannon for disorderly conduct. It was later learned that Mr. Gourdine had used an alias during a previous traffic stop and had warrants for his arrest in Irvington as well as Parsippany with bail totaling $277.
He was charged with disorderly conduct and released after posting bail and an additional bail amount of $1,500.