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Police: Caller Hospitalized After 'Threatening' NJ Congressman

Law enforcement mobilized quickly after a troubled Bergen County man called U.S. Rep. Josh Gottheimer’s office apparently threatening possible violence on Thursday, authorities said.

U.S. Rep. Josh Gottheimer

U.S. Rep. Josh Gottheimer

Photo Credit: OFFICE OF JOSH GOTTHEIMER

Described by responders as a 32-year-old Oakland man, the mid-morning caller told a staffer at the Democratic congressman’s Glen Rock office that he was “aggrieved over the lack of responsiveness he felt he was receiving from various governmental agencies in response to a complaint he had made,” Police Chief Dean Ackermann said.

He said he was “on his way” to seek Gottheimer’s help and suggested someone call police because “he didn't know what he was going to do if the congressman could not help him, alluding to potential violence,” the chief said.

Glen Rock and Oakland police went to the caller’s Lakeview Drive home, with Bergen County Regional SWAT team and county sheriff’s officers as precautionary backup.

They found the man showing signs of “psychiatric distress” and called for a mental health screener, Ackermann said.

He was later taken without incident to Bergen New Bridge Medical Center in Paramus.

“No criminal charges are anticipated,” the chief said.

Also assisting was a Bergen County Sheriff’s detail that responders said was dispatched to Gottheimer’s home in Wyckoff as a precaution.

Investigative assistance was provided by the US Capitol Police and New Jersey State Police. 

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