Crime stopper citizen leads Fairview officer to burglary suspect

CLIFFVIEW PILOT HAS IT FIRST: A good Samaritan citizen followed a man he said he saw burglarize a home, stayed on the phone with a dispatcher, and helped Fairview police catch the suspect, with the stolen goods, blocks away.

Jerry DeMarco

10/11/2011 4:07 p.m.

Mohammad Abdeljawad (MUGSHOT courtesy Fairview PD)

Detective Capt. Martin Kahn told CLIFFVIEW PILOT that police got the call around 5:50 Monday night from a man who said he saw the burglar get in through the back door of a Fulton Avenue home and walk out with a shopping bag full of stuff.

The witness got into his car and followed the guy, staying on the phone with a 911 dispatcher the entire time, as the burglar walked toward North Bergen, Kahn said.

Officer Anthony Schmitt soon arrived and saw the suspect near the Fairview Avenue Dairy Queen. Seeing the officer, the man took off.

Schmitt quickly chased him down, though.

Kahn said the man had several items stolen from the residence.

Identified as Mohammad Abdeljawad, 27, of Liberty Avenue in North Bergen, he is charged with burglary, theft, resisting arrest and criminal mischief. He’s due in Municipal Court tomorrow afternoon.

Meantime, he is being held on $45,000 cash bail at the Bergen County Jail.

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