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Responding Officers Adrian Sulejmani and Colin Bush nabbed Henry Smith III, who'd also burglarized a Haledon home, Wayne Detective Capt. Daniel Daly said Friday.
The officers found Smith at a nearby bus stop after a Ratzer Road resident told them she’d scared him from her back deck when she caught him peeking into her windows shortly before 11 a.m. Thursday, Daly said.
Smith at first gave police bogus information and was found carrying heroin and valuables taken from the elderly victim’s home, the captain said.
That woman “was home at the time of that burglary but was unaware that anyone had entered her house,” he said.
Detectives collected witness statements and surveillance video, Daly said.
They also told their Haledon colleagues that Smith, a former Vineland resident, was responsible for a residential burglary in their town on Wednesday.
Wayne police charged Smith with burglary, theft, heroin possession, trespassing, criminal mischief and hindering apprehension. Haledon police charged him in connection with their break-in.
Smith remained held Friday in the Passaic County Jail pending a detention hearing in Central Judicial Processing Court in Paterson.
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