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Officer Dan Stewart spotted a woman attempting to avoid attention by leaning back in the driver’s seat of a 2004 Ford Explorer parked at the Paddington Square condo complex just after 2:30 a.m. Wednesday, Police Chief Stephen Jaffe said.
Sage Maxon, 18, of Washington Township, “claimed she was there to pick up a friend who lived nearby,” Jaffe said.
A check of the address she gave Stewart turned out bogus, the chief said.
A search of the vehicle produced a cellphone that Maxon said belonged to a friend, a wallet belonging to someone else and a box of latex gloves, he said.
Around the same time, a caller reported seeing someone hiding beneath a deck on Cambridge Court.
Responding officers took a 17-year-old Park Ridge boy into custody after they found him carrying a full-face ski mask, Jaffe said.
Then came another resident’s call – this time on nearby Osborne Court.
A man identified as Jordan Dufont of Westwood had knocked on the woman’s door and asked to “make a phone call for him so someone could pick him up,” the chief said.
Responding officers grabbed Dufont, who Jaffe said was carrying latex gloves and a flashlight.
Maxon and Dufont were charged with conspiring to commit burglary and theft before being released pending court action.
The boy was released to his mother, who was receiving a delinquency complaint from police charging him with the same offenses.
Jaffe commended the work of responding Officers Dan Stewart, William Hunt, Sean Hayes, Keith Iorio, John Rodriguez, Dennis Toomey, Robert Rapp, along with Lt. Harry Hunt and Detective Sgt. Kevin Hebert.
The chief also urged vehicle owners to lock them, hold onto the key fobs (never leave them inside the car) and remove all valuables.
Jaffe also praised the residents who called – and urged all citizens to do the same whenever they see something suspicious. Police would rather respond immediately and find nothing wrong than see people victimized because something wasn’t immediately reported.
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