Ridgewood PD: Knife-Wielding Bar Robber Nabbed

A knife-wielding intruder was taking liquor bottles from the basement storage room of a Ridgewood bar – cash stuffed into his pockets – when he was confronted by employees, authorities said.

Jerry DeMarco

01/13/2019 5:59 p.m.

Officers responded to a call from MacMurphy’s on Godwin Avenue just after 2 a.m. Sunday and arrested 23-year-old Brian Arevalo of Wayne, Sgt. Michael W. Lembo said.

The bar was closed when an employee found Arevalo in the basement, knife in hand, Lembo said.

He also “had cash in his pockets that was taken from a cash register drawer,” the sergeant said.

What began as a theft turned into a robbery, he said.

Arevalo remained held in the Bergen County Jail, charged with robbery, theft and weapons possession.

Police Chief Jacqueline Luthcke thanks the Bergen County Sheriff’s Office for its assistance and the employees of MacMurphy’s “for their swift actions so this could be safely resolved.”

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