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Melsi Pajo (PHOTO courtesy BERGEN COUNTY PROSECUTOR)
Melsi Pajo, 29, of Farnham Avenue in Garfield, was arrested at 10:45 last night in a parking lot outside Frank & Freddy’s Pizza in Riverview, Florida, Bergen County Acting Prosecutor Frank Puccio said.
A tipster told detectives that Christina Hamdan — already charged by authorities with not cooperating in their investigation — drove Pajo to Jacksonville, Fla., Puccio said.
Investigators tracked him to the Tampa area, where he was staying with friends from high school. The detectives called in U.S. marshals, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement and the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office — and it was simple from there.
Pajo came out of the pizza parlor and was in handcuffs before he knew what happened. He was then taken to the Hillsborough County Jail. Authorities here are preparing to have him extradited to face attempted murder charges.
Pajo is charged with shooting Lukasz Goralczyk, also 29, in the chest outside the Zoom Pub at 115 Main Street on June 23 after the two men argued inside. Goralczyk, who underwent emergency surgery, has since been released from Hackensack University Medical Center.
In addition to the attempted murder charge, authorities have signed complaints against Pajo for illegal weapons possession and hindering apprehension, Bergen County Prosecutor John L. Molinelli said.
Authorities will seek to extradite Pajo to New Jersey, where he will be held on $1 million the Bergen County Jail, pending further court action.
Hamdan already had been charged, along with Ervin Keco and Eno Cami, with stonewalling detectives about Pajo’s whereabouts. All three have been released on bail.
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