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Using the ruse, two of them entered the hotel room of a 35-year-old hotel guest at the Clifton Howard Johnson on Route 3, Detective Lt. Robert Bracken said.
While one guarded the victim, the other robber grabbed cash, electronics and the keys to the woman's car, he said.
Over the next several weeks, Bracken said, detectives spoke with their colleagues in other towns and the FBI, learning that similar crimes had occurred in Secaucus and Edison.
Clifton detectives on the lookout for the crew -- joined by officers from Garfield -- followed and stopped two of the suspects in their car, the lieutenant said.
They were identified as Timothy Simon, 29, and Zamier Reed, 20, both of Paterson.
Both were carrying various law enforcement equipment, along with stolen ID document and credit cards, he said, Bracken said.
Simon was charged with burglary, impersonating a law enforcement officer and theft stemming from the Clifton incident.
Reed, who Bracken said wasn't involved in that one, was charged with possession of stolen property. He also was charged with giving a false name to police, implicating an innocent person.
Both were released pending court hearings.
Meanwhile, a search for the third suspect continued.
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