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Daytime Drama: Firefighters Help Paramus PD Pluck Stolen Car Suspect From Roof Off Route 17

A dramatic chase played out along Route 17 Thursday afternoon as Paramus police nabbed two suspected car thieves, one of whom borough firefighters helped them pluck from the roof of a day care center.

Paramus police remove one of the suspected car thieves from the roof of a business off Route 17.

Paramus police remove one of the suspected car thieves from the roof of a business off Route 17.

Photo Credit: Boyd A. Loving for DAILY VOICE

It began when Saddle River police spotted a Range Rover that had been reported stolen out of Elmwood Park earlier in the day, Paramus Detective Capt. David LaGrone said.

Hearing their alert, Paramus police waited further down southbound Route 17, then pulled behind the vehicle when it came by, the captain said.

The driver tried to cut through the typical thick afternoon traffic when he spotted them but rear-ended another vehicle, disabling the Range Rover.

Four occupants jumped out, LaGrone said.

All four ran across the highway to the Trader Joe's parking lot on the other side, he said (story continues below).

Police grabbed one of them in the lot, LaGrone said.

The other clambered onto the roof of New Life Adult Day Care Center, witnesses said.

Paramus Fire Truck Co. 1 provided a ladder truck so the officers could bring that handcuffed suspect down (story continues below).

Meanwhile, a third suspect took an unoccupied 2017 grey Hyundai Tucson that been left running outside the Vineyard day care, preschool and kindergarten on East Midland Avenue, the captain said.

The two men in custody -- both from Essex County -- were being processed at Paramus police headquarters on eluding and possession of stolen property charges, LaGrone said.

The other two were being sought.

Boyd A. Loving took the photos.

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