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Police in the Rockland County town of Stony Point later captured Jordan Dufont, 23, after a foot chase, Park Ridge Police Chief Joseph Madden said on Thursday, Aug. 17.
Dufont had only just been released on Aug. 3 after spending five weeks in the Bergen County Jail following another pursuit and a combative arrest off Route 17 in Paramus.
Police in Park Ridge got a call this time shortly after 10:30 p.m. Tuesday, Aug. 15.
Dufont, who lives in nearby Westwood, apparently was trying to steal a bicycle from a Park Avenue apartment complex when a homeowner chased him off, Madden said.
A woman was pulling into the parking lot of her Kinderkamack Road residence a short time later when Dufont rushed her, the chief said.
Fearing for her safety, she began to drive off as Dufont pulled violently on the vehicle’s door handles, he said.
Police spotted Dufont on Park Avenue shortly before 4:30 p.m. Wednesday, the chief said. Seeing them, he recklessly sped off, ignoring commands to stop, Madden said.
The officer terminated the pursuit out of public safety concerns, he said.
On Thursday, Stony Point police notified Madden’s department that they’d spotted Dufont’s car, then seized him after a foot chase.
Dufont remained held in the Rockland County Correctional Facility in New City pending extradition on a fugitive-from-justice warrant out of Park Ridge, in addition to charges filed by Stony Point police.
Park Ridge police have charged him with carjacking, burglary, theft and eluding, the chief said.
Characterizing Dufont as “known to police” would be a huge understatement.
The Westwood resident first made legitimate headlines on the court with Paramus Catholic near the turn of the decade. His senior year was barely half over, however, when it all turned the other way.
Going on nearly five years now, Dufont has been in and out of jail following several arrests in various area towns.
2019 began with an arrest on drug and weapons charges in Old Tappan, according to criminal records on file in Superior Court in Hackensack. Dufton was in the county lockup less than 24 hours when a judge released him under New Jersey's bail reform law.
Four months later, Dufont was among a trio of overnight car burglars cornered by Mahwah police.
SEE: Car Burglary Trio Nabbed At Mahwah Condo Complex
The narratives of those two incidents were tame compared to what came next.
It was late November 2019 when authorities said Dufont and four others used SnapChat to lure a Rochelle Park man to a darkened parking lot where they beat him and took nearly $900 worth of drugs, an iPod and Airpods.
Dufont was charged with aggravated assault and conspiracy and sent to the county jail.
SEE: 5 From Four Bergen Towns Charged In SnapChat-Arranged Drug Deal Robbery
Later that same year, Woodcliff Lake police caught Dufont prowling through backyards in what turned out to be a close call: Dufont resisted, they said, and had to be subdued by officers who found him carrying a 9mm handgun in his chest pocket.
SEE: Woodcliff Lake Police Subdue Westwood Offender Carrying Loaded Gun
Dufont spent another six months "in county" following that arrest. He was released again in March 2021 although it wasn't clear why.
Dufont's longest jail stretch to this point -- 10 months -- was to follow.
He was arrested in Washington Township on burglary, theft and criminal mischief charges in November 2021, then was back on the street late last September, records show.
Two months ago, Westwood police arrested Dufton on charges of receiving stolen property, conspiracy and fencing stolen goods. He was once again sent to the county lockup. This time a judge freed him the following day.
Two weeks after that, Dufont fought with Paramus police who seized him on an out-of-town warrant.
Dufont had been wanted on charges of harassment and witness tampering in Westwood when officers from the borough and Emerson tried to stop his car on June 28.
He sped off, however.
An alert was issued for the 2016 Audi that Dufont was driving, but he ended up ditching the car in the parking lot of a Route 17 Wendy’s, Paramus Police Chief Robert M. Guidetti said.
His girlfriend picked him up a short time later, Guidetti said.
Paramus Police Officer Nicholas Tanelli spotted her Nissan Altima exiting southbound Route 17 onto Ridgewood Avenue just before 3 a.m., the chief said.
Tanelli and Officer Michael Mordaga pulled the vehicle over and ordered the 6-foot-5-inch, 215-pound Dufont out, he said.
Dufont, in turn, “became aggressive and refused commands by the officers,” Guidetti said. “While they were attempting to remove Mr. Dufont from the vehicle, he assaulted the officers by kicking them.”
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