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Ridgefield, Leonia Police Team Up To Collar Suspect Moments After Break-In

RIDGEFIELD, N.J. -- Quick, alert work by two police officers -- one from Ridgefield, the other from Leonia -- produced a burglary arrest minutes after a home break-in, authorities said.

Ridgefield, Leonia's finest team up.

Ridgefield, Leonia's finest team up.

Photo Credit: COURTESY: RPD, LPD

The Elm Avenue resident "has motion-activated cameras that sent an alarm to her phone that someone was in the house" around noon Thursday, Ridgefield Police Chief Thomas J. Gallagher told Daily Voice. "So she called us right away with a description of the suspect."

Responding Officer Nicholas Coppolecchia "ran to SafeNet Computers on Broad Avenue and got a view of the [getwaway] vehicle from a camera that shoots down the street," Gallagher said. "It was a grey Volkswagen."

Up the road, at Broad Avenue and Fort Lee Road, Leonia Police Officer Anthony Mikatarian was working a traffic detail following a manhole explosion nearly 12 hours earlier.

After hearing the alert, Mikatarian spotted a gray Volkswagen Jetta headed north on Broad Avenue from Ridgefield, Leonia Police Capt. Scott Tamagny said.

The car got stuck in traffic, so Mikatarian walked over and ordered the driver out, he said.

Hyo J. Joo, 27, admitted committing the burglary moments earlier and was taken into custody, Tamagny said.

Ridgefield police then picked up Joo and the car, he said.

Both superior officers commended their charges.

"Great police work all around," Gallagher said. "[Coppolecchia] hustled down to Broad Avenue and got a look at the car, then the Leonia officer took over."

Mikatarian, meanwhile, "had been on duty since 11:30 the previous night and was extremely attentive," Tamagny told Daily Voice. "Great job."

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