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Teaneck police went to the Kipp Street home of 24-year-old Camwren T. Cole shortly before 2 p.m. Friday after a caseworker requested a welfare check, a law enforcement source with direct knowledge of the incident told Daily Voice.
Police on both sides of the river are familiar with Cole.
Last year, he smashed windows at a Teaneck pediatric office and a neighboring dry cleaners with a hammer after asking people if they were Jewish.
Patients, their loved ones and staff locked themselves in various rooms that September day until officers arrived and seized him. Cole ended up spending six months in custody after being charged with aggravated assault, criminal mischief and weapons offenses.
SEE: ‘Are You Jewish?’ Hammer-Wielding Man In Rampage At Teaneck Medical Office Reportedly Asks
Cole responded to police at his door on Friday by climbing out a bathroom window, making his way to the nearby river and jumping in.
They tried to convince Cole to return to shore, but he ignored them, witnesses said.
Firefighters from Hackensack and Teaneck put boats into the water and a Bergen County Regional SCUBA Task Force was summoned as Cole continued swimming downstream.
Rescue teams with boats from Oradell and Lyndhurst also responded.
Responders at one point got to Cole, but he fought his way back into the water, witnesses said.
They finally subdued the struggling suspect, then brought him to a Hackensack University Medical Center ambulance near the Court Street Bridge in Hackensack.
It was a little after 3:30 p.m., an hour and a half after the ordeal began.
Cole was taken to Bergen New Bridge Medical Center in Paramus in police custody. It wasn't immediately clear whether any charges would be filed.
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