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"The action by the area resident was successful in this case," Clifton Detective Sgt. Robert Anderson said, "but we do not recommend that residents take these matters into their own hands."
Responding officers found the 34-year-old caller restraining Timothy Jeffery, 47, of Paterson just after midnight Friday, Anderson said.
Moments earlier, the resident grabbed Jeffery after spotting him and an accomplice "acting suspiciously near a neighbor's vehicle," the sergeant said.
Police and a Bergen County sheriff's K-9 unit searched the area after the officers discovered that the good Samaritan had interrupted a car burglary, he said.
Nothing was taken from that vehicle, but Jeffery was carrying a stolen credit card, Anderson said.
Jeffery was released on charges of burglary, receiving stolen property and credit card theft.
An investigation was continuing.
Anderson, meanwhile, asked citizens to "remain vigilant and observant for suspicious activity and to call 911 for our police officers to address the situation" rather than risk injury trying to take the law into their own hands.
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