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Detective Sgt. Mark Wong was headed north on the highway when he saw smoke coming from the roof of the trailer on the Home Improvement Team property less than a mile north of the Meadowlands shortly before 1 p.m. Friday, Dec. 22.
The sergeant also saw a man tipping away wearing a backpack and holding some belongings in his hands, Police Chief Thomas Cox said.
Officer Matthew Bartlett assisted Wong in detaining Joe Jacob Perez of Lowell, Massachusetts, while firefighters doused the flames.
They arrested Perez after he admitted starting the fire while toking up in the trailer, the chief said.
A search turned up pot, seven cigarette lighters, and an unknown woman’s Mexican driver’s license, Cox said.
Perez was treated for burns at Hudson Regional Hospital in Secaucus before being processed at Carlstadt police headquarters, he said.
Police charged him with arson, trespassing and possession of a false government document before releasing him under New Jersey’s 2017 bail reform law, the chief said.
Carlstadt Fire Inspector Anthony Silleto responded to investigate the blaze.
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