Villadom Times Weekly Newpaper Online-July 27, 2011 Issue

July 27, 2011 THE VILLADOM TIMES IV • Page 13 Commendations (continued from page 12) Glen Rock, and the Passaic County Sheriff’s Department. “The community owes a debt of gratitude to every officer who participated in this arrest,” said Chief Fox. “After the report of the robbery, the suspects were captured and stolen property was recovered in less than 15 minutes. The efforts of each officer were exceptional, and they did their jobs without concern for their own personal safety. Besides the fact that the suspects responsible were captured, more important is the fact that each officer went home safely to (his or her) family at the end of the shift. As the chief of police, it is my honor to recognize the efforts of everyone involved in solving this crime.” Chief Fox noted that, while the chase was going on, the officers never knew whether they would be looking down the barrel of a gun as they confronted the fugitives. No weapons were recovered, but several of the suspects had extensive criminal records. The robbery and chase began as three masked men entered Hartgers Jewelers at 11:56 a.m. on April 9, a Saturday morning, shoved patrons and staff aside or knocked them to the floor, and smashed the glass display cases with sledgehammers. The three robbers stuffed about 100 Rolex watches into pillowcases and fled to a waiting car driven by a fourth individual. The store owner contacted the Wyckoff Police Headquarters, and Patrolman Tully and Patrolman Tenney spotted the robbers in a car headed west on Franklin Avenue and gave chase. Sergeant McEwan joined the chase. At the intersection of Franklin Avenue and Ewing Avenue at the turn for Route 208, one robber jumped from the rear seat of the car while it was still moving. Sergeant McEwan and Patrolman Tenney, joined by a Franklin Lakes officer, dismounted and chased this man on foot and caught him after a brief scuffle. Patrolman Tully followed the fleeing robbers still in the car onto Route 208 South and continued the pursuit while the Wyckoff dispatchers alerted other police departments of the probable escape route. Township Committee members and the honored dispatchers ﬂank the honored police ofﬁcers. The car turned off Route 208 at Goffle Road with other police in pursuit or blocking the escape. Wyckoff Patrol Officer Grosslinger joined the pursuit on Goffle Road. The robbers’ car struck a Hawthorne police car, then continued north on Goffle Road back into Wyckoff until the car struck another Hawthorne police car and the robbers’ car was disabled. The three robbers jumped out and fled on foot and were pursued by officers from Wyckoff, Ridgewood, and other towns until they were captured. “Wyckoff is very fortunate to have such dedicated professionals serving in its police department,” said Mayor Kevin Rooney. “This is something you don’t normally expect to happen in Wyckoff, but our police officers in Wyckoff and the police officers in the other towns were trained for the event.” �� BEST NURSERY ��