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Englewood and Bergenfield police converged on 56-year-old Michael Kowalski of Ridgefield Park outside the Teaneck armory after the employee called police while chasing him Friday afternoon.
The employee told police he approached Kowalski as he loaded the furniture into his 2002 Saturn from a fenced-in area of the private health and activities club around 2 p.m.
Kowalski was behind the wheel when the employee said he stepped in front of the car, shouting at him to stop.
“It was at this point that Kowalski continued driving straight towards the employee, causing him to jump out of the path of the vehicle to avoid injury,” said Detective Capt. Timothy Torell told CLIFFVIEW PILOT.
The man then got into his own vehicle and followed Kowalski north on Engle Street and then west on Ivy Lane , all the while talking with an Englewood 911 dispatcher.
“We don’t encourage citizens to pursue suspects,” Torell said, “so we got the description from him and took it from there.”
As a result, what would have been a theft turned into robbery charges against Kowalski, who was being held on $50,000 bail in the Bergen County Jail. He also had an active warrant out of Hackensack, records show.
MUGSHOT: Courtesy ENGLEWOOD PD
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