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Two Good Samaritans helped hold down Dwayne Fain, 53, after the attendant at the Enrite station on the highway's eastbound side at Liberty Street blew up his plans, Little Ferry Police Chief James Walters said.
Fain, an Ohio native who apparently had been staying at a nearby hotel in South Hackensack, spent eight days in the Bergen County Jail earlier this month following his arrest for a pair of armed burglaries in Hackensack.
He was released on Friday, Feb. 25, under New Jersey's bail reform law, records show, then showed up at the Little Ferry gas station shortly after 10 p.m. Sunday.
Wielding the sharpened mop handle, Fain "demanded the money in the safe," Walters said.
The attendant, a 34-year-old Bronx resident, wasn't having any of it, the chief said.
"He did a great job grabbing Fain and pinning him to the ground," Walters said.
"The 911 caller was a female who was across the street and saw what was going on," the chief added. "Her brother and boyfriend were also in the car and jumped out to assist the attendant.
"Officer Joe Montemurro arrived on scene and immediately took the suspect into custody along with Lt. Mike Derwin," he said.
The attendant wasn't injured, Walters said.
Fain had to be hospitalized, however, after having his head slammed to the floor, he said. He also told police he was high on crack, reports show.
Physicians at Hackensack University Medical Center cleared Fain at 4 a.m. Monday. He was then fingerprinted and photographed at Little Ferry police headquarters before being taken to the Bergen County Jail to await a first appearance in Central Judicial Processing Court in Hackensack.
Fain is charged with robbery.
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