Fort Lee High School briefly locked down as police grab robbery suspect

YOU READ IT HERE FIRST: In an incident that authorities said took no more than 10 minutes, Fort Lee police locked down the high school and arrested a Newark man who they said tried to rob a George Washington Bridge Plaza mall bagel shop.

Photo Credit: *Courtesy BERGEN COUNTY SHERIFF*

Jerry DeMarco

09/10/2014 7:39 p.m.

Police responding to the 12:50 p.m. call at Binghamton Bagels on Lemoine Avenue grabbed 22-year-old Joseph Pittari as he emerged from a nearby bakery, Capt. Stephen Gallagher said this afternoon.

“There was a verbal report of a white male claiming he had a gun and threatening to shoot, unless he got some money,” Gallagher said. “The complainant did not report seeing a weapon.”

Fort Lee High School, which is a block from the shopping center, was locked down as a precaution, the seargent said.

Officers making a tactical approach were about to evacuate the bakery of employees and customers when Pittair came walking out, he said.

Pittari was being held on $100,000 bail in the Bergen County Jail, charged with robbery and making terroristic threats.

MUGSHOT: Courtesy BERGEN COUNTY SHERIFF

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