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Imagine the same man allegedly going berserk and trashing his parents' apartment, forcing them to lock themselves in the bathroom. Imagine he's taken into custody only to be released again.
Meet Joshua Hayes, 30, of Fairview.
Borough officers arrested Hayes for the early-morning incident at his folks' home on Monday, March 6.
They were back there less than a half-hour after Hayes had been processed and released, this time after his parents refused to let him back in and he broke the front glass door with an iron railing, Fairview Police Capt. Michael Martic said.
It's only natural to wonder how soon it'll be before Hayes will again be freed -- and police will again be called.
Flash back to Feb. 13, when a Cliffside Park officer stopped Hayes for improper passing on Anderson Avenue in his mother's car.
Hayes, who was known to police, "slowed down as if to stop, then took off," Deputy Police Chief Vincent Capano said at the time.
Hayes threw something out the window outside James J. Braddock Park in North Bergen before the pursuit doubled back into Bergen County, the deputy chief said.
Speeds weren't excessive, he said, but Cliffside police pulled back after one of their units was struck twice.
Fairview and Ridgefield police picked up the chase, and a Ridgefield cruiser ended up being struck head-on. The sergeant driving it was taken to the hospital with an arm injury.
Hayes, meanwhile, continued along area roads, even going down a one-way street in the wrong direction, police said.
SEE: Fleeing Driver Pursued Through Cliffside, Fairview, Ridgefield And North Bergen Nabbed At Home
Eventually finding himself clear, he called Fairview police to say that he'd surrender, authorities said.
Cliffside Park police had other ideas. They were waiting in unmarked vehicles at his parents' home when Hayes pulled up a short time later.
Ridgefield police charged Hayes with aggravated assault on a law enforcement officer and resisting arrest. Cliffside Park police charged him with eluding and evidence tampering, among other counts, while issuing more than a dozen traffic and motor vehicles summonses. Fairview police also filed charges.
Hayes was sent to the Bergen County Jail -- and less than 24 hours later was a free man, thanks to New Jersey's bail reform law.
Three weeks had passed when Fairview police responded to the family home again on Monday, March 6.
His frightened parents had locked themselves in the bathroom, said Martic, the Fairview police captain, after Hayes began getting physical and trashing their apartment around 6:30 a.m.
Hayes was arrested and charged with simple assault before being released from police headquarters -- also under New Jersey's bail reform law -- around 9 a.m. He apparently walked home from there, Martic said.
Police got another call from 9th Street less than a half hour later. His father wasn't allowing him back in, so Hayes broke the screen-door glass with a cast-iron railing, the captain said.
Police this time charged Hayes with criminal mischief and sent him to the Bergen County Jail.
He remained there -- at least for now.
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