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Michael J. Gynegrowski, 34, hit pharmacies in Cresskill, Hackensack, Oradell, River Vale and Teaneck, usually by breaking a window, they said.
Six of a reported 10 attempts failed, but Gynegrowski did swipe a significant amount of Oxy, promethazine and other medications from an Englewood drug store, investigators told Daily Voice.
Police in the various towns teamed up with agents from the Drug Enforcement Administration's New Jersey Field Division to investigate the break-ins and the “swatting”-style calls that preceded them.
They got a huge assist from Palisades Interstate Parkway police, who called them after stopping Gynegrowski on an unrelated matter and having their suspicions aroused, a law enforcement source with direct knowledge of the investigation said.
Gynegrowski also made things easier when he apparently panicked during one of the calls, giving an officer on the other end of the line his actual first and middle names, the investigator said.
The same blue Chevy Trailblazer also was reportedly spotted in all of the attempts, which investigators said began on March 17, 2023 and continued through May 2.
One thing Gynegrowski did vary were the ruses, authorities told Daily Voice.
In one call, they said, he claimed to have seen a suspicious person enter the Care One at Oradell on Kinderkamack Road. Ten minutes later, a burglar alarm was activated at a pharmacy in town.
In another, Teaneck police were told that a suspicious man dressed all in black with a long gun and a baseball bat had just been spotted at the Marriott at Glenpointe.
Gynegrowski apparently got ruffled during that call, investigators said. A Teaneck officer asked his name and he allegedly blurted out: "Michael Joseph."
Another time police in both Closter and Cresskill got calls from a purported victim who claimed to have been carjacked and stuffed into the trunk of a vehicle that was headed north on Route 17.
Police in River Vale -- the town where Gynegrowski lives -- got an emergency call during the spree from what sounded like a resident claiming her husband had a gun and appeared intent on using it, they said.
Gynegrowski even tapped actual events when he told Hackensack police a female was purportedly being held captive in a basement after a kidnapping in Philadelphia, investigators said. Any attempt to rescue the victim would lead to her death, the caller told them.
The description of the events apparently was taken from a news story about an actual kidnapping, investigators said.
Having secured enough proof, detectives in each jurisdiction got assistance from the Bergen County Prosecutor's Office in obtaining warrants. The task force was closing in when Gynegrowski surrendered to police in Cresskill on Dec. 27.
He's remained held in the Bergen County Jail ever since.
Overall, Gynegrowski is charged with four counts of burglary and six counts of criminal attempt, as well as multiple counts of theft, conspiracy, filing a false police report of impending threats and illegal drug possession.
An additional arrest is expected, investigators said.
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