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“He was being processed for a domestic incident when he escaped,” another law enforcement official told CLIFFVIEW PILOT.
The Bergen County Police K-9 unit was called and a search began.
Shortly before 4 p.m., the dog tracked the man to a garage on Dahnert Lane.
“He barricaded the side door, where the dog was barking and going crazy,” the first official told CLIFFVIEW PILOT, so the dog’s handler and a Garfield police officer went around to the front and opened the sliding garage door.
The man charged them “with something in each hand,” the official said. “It was very close combat, with him coming at them.”
They both fired, hitting the man at least four times. He was later pronounced dead at Hackensack University Medical Center.
Both officers were taken to St. Joseph’s Regional Medical Center in Paterson.
The first CLIFFVIEW PILOT story, and an update, on the incident already had been published when Maureen Parenta, the communications director for the county prosecutor’s office, issued this release at 6:28 p.m. Saturday:
“Sometime during mid-afternoon today, a male in his late 20’s, while in custody at Garfield Police headquarters, escaped and was traced to a garage location in Garfield by both Garfield Police and Bergen County Police. The suspect was encountered and shots were fired by both Garfield Police and Bergen County Police. The suspect was brought to Hackensack University Medical Center and pronounced dead approximately 40 minutes ago. His identity is not being released until notification of next of kin. This is being investigated by the Bergen County Prosecutor’s Office as a police-involved shooting. No further details can be released at this time.”
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