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Officers Joseph Gaglioti and Dominick Verdi were responding to a call at Waterside Village when they found more than two dozen pieces of crushed aluminum gutters, Police Chief James Walters said.
Then they spotted borough resident Joshua Purvis, 22, he said.
Purvis had been freed under New Jersey's 2017 bail reform earlier this year after police said a Little Ferry homeowner awoke to find him in his bedroom. The victim chased Purvis into the basement and held him there for police, authorities said at the time.
SEE: Sleeping Homeowner Woken By Burglar In Bedroom Holds Him For Police, Little Ferry PD Says
This time, Purvis told the responding officers that he was returning home, about a mile away, after leaving a friend's house -- only he couldn't provide a name or address of that person, Walters said.
He then admitted stealing the metal pieces, the chief said.
Police charged Purvis with theft and criminal trespassing and sent him to the Bergen County Jail.
A Superior Court judge in Hackensack released him hours later, pending further court action, under bail reform.
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