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Officer Joshua Rodriguez was patrolling the area of 18th Avenue and East 54th Street when he spotted an unoccupied car on the side of the road with its engine running shortly before 2 a.m., Police Chief Michael Foligno said.
Nearby were two men standing on either side of another vehicle.
Seeing him, the men shouted to one another and took off on foot, the chief said.
Fair Lawn police and a Bergen County sheriff's K-9 unit helped establish a perimeter, but both men were gone, he said.
The vehicle they were standing near had its window broken, Foligno said. Inside the one they left behind were three Honda airbags, a stolen New York license plate, a screwdriver and a drill, the chief said.
Later that day, police arrested Juan C. Cabrera, 22, of Governor Street. They charged him with attempted burglary, attempted theft, receiving stolen property, criminal mischief and possession of burglary tools.
Cabrera was sent to the Bergen County Jail and released by a judge soon after, records show.
Elmwood Park police, meanwhile, were working with their colleagues from surrounding towns to identify the second suspect.
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