The homeowner was out of state when his brother alerted police to what was happening at the Chelsea Street residence just off Midland Avenue shortly before 9 p.m. Saturday, Paramus Police Chief Kenneth Ehrenberg said.
Officers Slavko Bajovic and Officer Don Liu stopped the suspects’ 2013 Nissan Rogue before they could drive off, the chief said.
A New Jersey license plate had been placed over one from Mississippi, he said.
The driver, Edwin Gaitan-Joya, 40, and passenger, Yubi Orjuela, 47, were both wearing hoods, hats and surgical masks over their faces, Ehrenberg said.
They’d broken into the home through a bathroom window before ransacking several rooms, he said.
Police charged Gaitan-Joya and Orjuela – both from Jackson Heights, Queens -- with burglary and conspiracy.
They sent both to the Bergen County Jail, where they remained held on Monday pending first appearances in Central Judicial Processing Court in Hackensack.
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