51°
Megan Dzugay spent the night in jail after being seized in Mahwah by Waldwick detectives, assisted by Mahwah police and a Bergen County Regional SWAT team, Wednesday evening, Nov. 30, Waldwick Police Lt. Troy E. Seifert said.
She's charged with unlawful possession of a handgun, possession of a weapon for an unlawful purpose and criminal mischief resulting in property damage in connection with the 3:35 a.m. shooting on Grove Street in Waldwick.
The 5-foot-4-inch green-eyed redhead remained in the county lockup on Thursday awaiting a first appearance in Central Judicial Processing Court in Hackensack.
"A motive for the shooting is still under investigation," Seifert said.
Caught on area home security cameras, Dzugay was identified by both the victim and police who recognized her from "past interactions." They didn't elaborate on what those encounters involved.
Dzugay, who was graduated from Kean University and has a master's degree in business administration from Stevens Tech, says on her LinkedIn profile that she's worked as an executive assistant the past four years.
She's moved around a bit, records show, after being graduated from Howell High School in Monmouth County, with previous residences along the Hudson River in West New York, as well as in Hoboken, Little Ferry and Saddle Brook.
Dzugay currently lives in the Ramapo Gardens garden apartment complex on Franklin Turnpike off Bellgrove Drive near Kinchley's Tavern.
She used to live at 60 Grove Street in Waldwick, which property records show is still owned by her estranged husband.
The bullet-riddled Lexus GX 460 belongs to a woman who lives with her family next door at 56 Grove, neighbors said.
Ring video from another home on the street captured someone marching purposefully through the frame toward both homes seconds before seven gunshots are heard.
Forensics investigators from the Bergen County Sheriff's Bureau of Criminal Identification later collected seven shell casings on a stretch of grass between the two homes to the left of the SUV's rear driver's side.
These were fired from a 9mm handgun registered to Dzugay, according to a complaint on file in Superior Court in Hackensack.
The forensic detectives also marked the areas of the Lexus that were struck.
Several 911 reports of "loud bangs and/or gunshots" brought borough officers shortly after 3:30 a.m., Waldwick Police Chief Mark F. Messner said.
They found the SUV struck multiple times by gunfire just off the corner of Center Street, the chief said.
No one was injured, he said.
The street was temporarily closed off while the county sheriff's forensics experts collected evidence while determining bullet paths and angles.
The Lexus was then towed to the BCI's garage adjacent to the Bergen County Jail in Hackensack.
Police also went door-to-door checking with residents with Ring cameras and other security devices to see what showed up.
Among their findings is the 66-second residential Ring video -- stamped 3:35:41 a.m. -- in which the gunshots are clearly heard.
Boyd A. Loving took photos and contributed to this story.
Click here to follow Daily Voice Ridgewood and receive free news updates.
