Wyckoff January 18, 2012 THE VILLADOM TIMES I • Page 3 The Wyckoff Police Department arrested an intoxicated 27-year-old Ridgewood man who entered two homes in the middle of the night on Jan. 11. At 1:09 a.m., Wyckoff Police responded to a Lehigh Street home on a report that a man had just been inside of the house and fled. Patrolmen Peter Goodman, Ryan Tenney, and Kevin Pinches responded. The homeowner reported that she was awakened by a Hispanic male who was standing over her bed. She then screamed and the man fled the home. The investigation revealed that the man had entered the house through an unlocked door, and initially entered an Village man arrested for burglary, criminal mischief upstairs bedroom where he woke a 15-year-old boy. He then went downstairs where he entered the woman’s bedroom. Numerous area police agencies were contacted for assistance in searching the area. About 30 minutes later, the teams began a more intensive search in the area immediately around the home the man had entered. They then located a broken window on a porch door of another Lehigh Street home three houses away. Inside, they found the man asleep in the enclosed porch. The man was arrested and charged with two counts of burglary and criminal mischief. The investigation determined that he had been out drinking with friends who, for no known reason, dropped him off in Wyckoff. It is believed that in his intoxicated state he was looking for a place to sleep. Bail was set by Judge Russel B. Teschon at $40,000, and the man was committed to the Bergen County jail in default of bail. Wyckoff Police Chief Benjamin Fox extends his thanks to the many area police departments that assisted in the investigation. Approximately 25 responding officers from the other departments allowed for the successful apprehension of this suspect. J. KOSTER Wyckoff Police Chief Benjamin Fox urges township residents to comply with a new state law that forbids homeowners from shoveling snow from their sidewalks and driveways onto the roads. “All too often after the roads have been plowed, individuals with snowblowers or private snowplows, and sometimes those shoveling by hand, place snow from driveways into the roadway,” Chief Fox said. “This situation then creates hazards for vehicles or pedestrians. A recent New Jersey law prohibits the placement of snow from drive- Police chief urges residents to heed snow removal laws ways or sidewalks on the roadway. Residents are asked to comply with the new regulations, as well as to make sure that private snowplows that are hired to clear their driveways comply as well. “Violators are subject to fines of up to $500.” The chief also reminded residents that long-standing local ordinances require residents and business owners whose properties abut the public sidewalk to clear the sidewalks of snow and ice within 12 hours of daylight after the end of the snowfall. “Sidewalks that have not been cleaned force pedestrians and school children to walk in the roadways to circumvent the sidewalk,” Chief Fox said. He added, “Besides presenting a hazard to the pedestrians, it opens the homeowner up to personal liability for the failure to comply with the ordinance. Wyckoff police officers will issue summonses to anyone who does not clear their sidewalks of snow in a timely manner.” J. KOSTER