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Lyndhurst Man Charged With Sexually Assaulting Rutherford Mom Pushing Stroller, Slapping Jogger

GOTCHA! The search for a man wanted in Rutherford for grabbing a mom pushing a stroller and whacking a jogger on the butt ended thanks to a truck with no license plates, authorities announced Tuesday.

Dennis Kwiecinski

Dennis Kwiecinski

Photo Credit: BERGEN COUNTY SHERIFF
Anyone who recognizes the suspect in the photos, sees the vehicle, or has information that could help Rutherford police investigating the Friday assault – as well as the Thursday incident – is asked to call them at (201) 939-6000 Ext. 1.

Anyone who recognizes the suspect in the photos, sees the vehicle, or has information that could help Rutherford police investigating the Friday assault – as well as the Thursday incident – is asked to call them at (201) 939-6000 Ext. 1.

Photo Credit: RUTHERFORD PD
“She continued to walk and the male then reached between her legs from behind and squeezed her groin area,” Rutherford police said.

“She continued to walk and the male then reached between her legs from behind and squeezed her groin area,” Rutherford police said.

Photo Credit: RUTHERFORD PD
Seen this truck? Rutherford police ask that you call them if you do. (201) 939-6000 Ext. 1

Seen this truck? Rutherford police ask that you call them if you do. (201) 939-6000 Ext. 1

Photo Credit: RUTHERFORD PD

Borough detectives identified Dennis Kwiecinski, 29, by “compiling significant surveillance footage from the surrounding areas, as well as several witness statements,” Police Chief John Russo said.

They began by identifying the early-model black Nissan Frontier that witnesses said the attacker had been driving, Russo said.

Police found it, then arrested Kwiecinski at his Orient Way home, the chief said.

Russo’s department had released surveillance images Monday of the suspect and truck after a 35-year-old resident said she was attacked while pushing a stroller on Montross Avenue near Donaldson Avenue shortly after 6:30 p.m. Friday.

A half-block away, she said, she suddenly heard footsteps behind her.

As the stranger approached, she said, “she instructed him to pass, as they were walking slow,” Russo said.

He asked if she was single “and into….” but she cut him off before he could go further and "said she wasn’t into anything,” the chief said.

He then “ran up behind her and aggressively grabbed her genitals and buttocks” before driving off in the black pickup, he said.

This followed an incident the night before when a 28-year-old female jogger said someone in a passing vehicle on Carmita Avenue reached out of the window and slapped her butt.

Kwiecinski remained held Tuesday in the Bergen County Jail pending a first appearance Wednesday on two counts of criminal sexual contact.

Russo said his department “worked tirelessly to bring this investigation to a rapid conclusion.”

He also thanked the victims and community members who “provided integral information.”

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