Salonia Saxton, who is set to be sworn in tonight as a new councilwoman in Hillside, was arrested on January 4 and charged with assaulting her boyfriend.
Samad Holmes called the Hillside police department for help after an argument with Saxton following dinner and drinks.
On the way home, Holmes alleges that Saxton accused him of infidelity and began to punch and scratch his face while her car was still in park, according to a police report obtained by the New Jersey Globe.
“Signs of injury were, in fact, observed to his face, specifically above his nose to which blood was visible and slight swelling to his left cheek,” police officer Larry Martinez wrote in his report.
According to Holmes, after being dropped off at his residence, he got into his own car to smoke a Black & Mild cigar to calm down. He claims Saxton then approached the vehicle and asked Holmes to return her house key; when he said he didn’t have it, Holmes alleged that Saxton began kicking his car.
Holmes told police that he drove to his mother’s home to find Saxton and a friend, Tameika Fields, already there. He called police after she refused to leave.
Saxton told the responding police officer that Holmes had entered her residence without permission and let her dog out. She said he went to Homes’s mother’s home to get her key back.
“When asked about Mr. Holmes’s injuries, Ms. Saxton advised us that Mr. Holmes sustained the injuries to his face from another female that he was involved with,” Martinez reported. “When asked for more information about this female, Ms. Saxton was unable to provide anything further. “
Martinez said that while interviewing Saxton, she “began to step out of her vehicle, advising officers that she was in great need of a restroom.”
“Ms. Saxton stated to me that she was going to inside the residence of Mr. Holmes’ mother to use the restroom, in which time I advised her that she could not,” Martinez said. “Ms. Saxton then stated that she would urinate on the sidewalk if I was not allowing her to go inside the residence. I advised Ms. Saxton that if she was to proceed with that action, I would be issuing her a citation for urinating in public.”
Martinez said that “due to the desperate need of Ms. Saxton,” he transported her to the Hillside police headquarters.
Following her use of the bathroom, she was arrested.
Homes declined to seek a temporary restraining order, the police report stated.
According to Martinez, Holmes alleged that Saxton told him during an argument that day, “I’m going to put a bullet in you.”
Saxton declined to comment.
“I’ve been advised by my attorney not to make comments,” she said.
Saxton won a 2nd ward council seat in November, defeating Al-Nisa Tucker by 18 votes. The incumbent, Christopher Mobley, did not seek re-election.
She was elected to the council in 2011 but lost her seat to Mobley in 2015. She lost a race for mayor in 2017.
The Hillside Police Department made it difficult to immediately obtain information about the allegations against Saxton.
A clerk in their records department, Chrissy Desa, was initially cooperative until Saxton’s name was mentioned.
“That’s my girl, Desa told the New Jersey Globe.”
She then questioned why this publication sought a copy of the police report.
“You need this why?” she asked.
A Hillside police captain, Lashonda Burgess, did not respond to two emails on Friday. On Monday, two phone calls to the police headquarters were transferred to the incorrect extension.
In 2012, the Hillside police union alleged that Saxton threatened a lieutenant’s job and said she would block a new police contract if a parking ticket were not dropped.