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Neighbors Help Nab Burglars Who Broke Into Fair Lawn Home

Residents of a Fair Lawn neighborhood helped police nab two burglars moments after they broke into a home, authorities said.

At the scene of the Fair Lawn residential break-in on Plaza Road.

At the scene of the Fair Lawn residential break-in on Plaza Road.

Photo Credit: Boyd A. Loving

Uniformed officers who converged on the Plaza Road home near Broadway saw Gersson Hernandez Gomez, 30, and Saul Barrera, 39, both of Queens, emerge through a side door, Sgt. Sean Macys said.

They apparently had used a pry bar to break into the house through the back -- then dropped a pair of backpacks as they fled.  

The officers were pursuing the pair when Hernandez Gomez fell and injured his ankle, the sergeant said. He resisted arrest before being subdued and taken into custody, Macys said.

Barrera, meanwhile, tried to hide under a deck on 26th Street but was flushed out by a resident who called police.

Officers grabbed Barrera as he fled onto Broadway near Plaza Road, Macys said.

Both men were charged with burglary, resisting arrest and possession of burglary tools before being released pending court appearances under New Jersey's 2017 bail reform law. Hernandez Gomez also was charged with simple drug possession.

Macys thanked colleagues from Saddle Brook and Elmwood Park, as well as Bergen County sheriff's officers and a county sheriff's K-9 unit, for all their help.

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