Police discovered about 30 Mexican immigrants living in a house on Douglas Street after making a domestic violence arrest.
By: Linda Seida
LAMBERTVILLE Police planned to charge the owner of a single-family house on Douglas Street on Tuesday with operating an illegal boardinghouse after about 30 Mexican immigrants were discovered living there.
Under the terms of the city’s landlord ordinance, residents of an illegal boardinghouse may be relocated at the landlord’s expense, but as of Monday none of the residents had been moved, according to Police Director Bruce Cocuzza. First the owner of the dwelling needs to be charged, he said.
Mr. Cocuzza said Tuesday he would not identify the owner or give the exact address until the owner has been charged.
The packed house on Douglas Street came under scrutiny Sept. 7 when police received a call from a neighbor about a domestic dispute, according to Mr. Cocuzza. Sgt. Jeffrey Jones and Officer Michael Miloszar responded and arrested a 27-year-old man, Mario Pena-Celzo, charging him with simple assault and child endangerment.
Mr. Pena-Celzo allegedly had beaten a 16-year-old nephew in the face with his fists, first on Wednesday, Sept. 6, and again the following day when police were called to the residence, Mr. Cocuzza said. He remains in the Hunterdon County Jail in lieu of $7,500 bail.
The nephew received minor injuries, Mr. Cocuzza said. Police would not release the nephew’s name because he is a minor.
Mr. Cocuzza said the Division of Youth and Family Services was called in to investigate because of the approximately 10 children present in the house, including a 14-year-old, but the agency did not remove any of the children. No further action was taken by the agency, according to Mr. Cocuzza.
Previously, police "had been starting to hear (about) a crowd at this address," Mr. Cocuzza said.
Information had been forwarded to the city’s zoning officer, but it is unclear if any action had been taken before the domestic disturbance call to police.
Several problems hinder police in gathering information in cases such as this one that involve immigrants, Mr. Cocuzza said. Among them are the language barrier and the lack of any official identification.
If charged, the owner of the house would become the second person charged under the landlord ordinance, which went into effect April 10 and establishes minimum standards for occupancy and limits the maximum number of occupants.
The ordinance requires landlords to file a landlord registration statement that certifies the maximum number of allowable occupants. Every room used for sleeping by one occupant must have at least 70 square feet of floor area. Every room used for sleeping by more than one person must have at least 50 square feet for each occupant.
The filing of false information on a landlord registration statement could result in a minimum fine of $250 plus court costs for the first offense up to a maximum of $2,500 plus court costs for a third violation.

