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The victim, who uses a portable defibrillator, knew something was wrong when he opened the door of his James Street home to find a bunch of valuable piled there, Hackensack Police Director Michael Mordaga told CLIFFVIEW PILOT this afternoon.
Hearing noises inside, he stepped outside, grabbed a stick and dialed 911 on his cellphone.
The victim tried to stop the burglar, who emerged moments later, but the bandit pulled a knife, Mordaga said.
The man told police he “tried holding on to [the burglar] so he couldn’t get away,” but eventually let go because he “felt [he] was going to be stabbed,” according to a police report.
He also said his defibrillator chirped several times during the attack, meaning he could have easily gone into cardiac arrest.
Interviewing him, Detectives Mark DelCarpio and Ryan Weber quickly thought of a suspect — 31-year-old Ken Shade, who’d been arrested for a similar burglary on Lawrence Street two weeks ago — Mordaga told CLIFFVIEW PILOT.
Checking with the Bergen County Jail, they discovered that Shade had been released on bail.
DelCarpio and Weber went to Shade’s second-floor apartment on Park Street, where Mordaga said they found him hiding in a closet.
The victim later selected Shade’s photo from a lineup, the director added.
Shade was being held on $150,000 cash bail on the new charges of armed robbery, weapons possession, burglary and assault.
MUGSHOT: Courtesy Hackensack PD
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