The mother of the 19-year-old woman in the Marshalls incident in Paramus chased down Edward Evans, 53, and recorded him with her cellphone, Deputy Police Chief Robert Guidetti said Thursday.
Detective Lt. Robert Olive and Detective Jeff Lattanzi, in turn, identified Evans as the man in the video after checking with Closter police.
They arrested him at his home on Wednesday, assisted by Bergenfield police, the deputy chief said.
Lattanzi also helped identify Evans as the man wanted for accosting a woman at the Dumont Stop & Shop in 2016."He ran his hand over a woman’s butt twice," Sgt. Michael Foti said Thursday. "He did it the first time, made a U-turn in the aisle and did it again."
The 62-year-old victim told police he also said: "Baby, I'll follow you anywhere."
Foti, who charged Evans with criminal sexual contact, thanked Paramus and Closter police for helping to identify Evans.
Evans faces the same charge in connection with the Marshalls incident in Paramus.
He remained held Thursday in the Bergen County Jail pending a detention hearing.
Closter police believe that Evans is the same man who followed a grandmother and 11-year-old girl into HomeGoods at the Closter Shopping Plaza and then “from aisle to aisle for 15 minutes” without buying anything between 8-9 p.m. Aug. 1, Detective Sgt. Vincent Aiello said.
SEE: SEEN THEM? Closter Police Hunt Suspected Shopping Center Stalker, Upskirter
The mother and granddaughter left the store and headed to Target, where the man who was following them sat waiting on a bench outside, Aiello said.
Aiello emphasized that Evans was “only wanted for questioning regarding this incident” but "refused to come in for an interview."
As a result, the sergeant said, there's no way of knowing what his intentions were.
Both the grandmother and the girl's mother were notified of the identification and that an arrest couldn't be made given that Evans "didn't say anything to them or touch them at our store," Aiello said. "He just followed them around.
"At least we found out who it was."
Click here to follow Daily Voice Bergenfield and receive free news updates.