Crime & Safety

Home Burglarized While Residents Slept, Cops Say

Paramus Police helped identify and untimately apprehend the suspect based on a previous arrest.

A Hackensack man was arrested Friday after burglarizing a Henley Avenue home while the residents were asleep, New Milford Police said.

Chris Connolly, 35, was charged with burglary, theft, receiving stolen property, credit card theft, theft of legal documents, possession of less than 50 grams of marijuana and possession of drug paraphernalia. 

“It takes a heightened level of desperation to break into an occupied residence, which makes this type of criminal especially dangerous.” New Milford Police Chief Frank Papapietro said.

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According to police, multiple laptop computers, a camcorder, passports, jewelry and a debit card were taken between 1 and 5 a.m. Wednesday morning.

The victim was informed by her bank that the debit card had been used twice, between 5:30 and 5:45 a.m., first at a BP gas station in River Edge and shortly later at a 7-Eleven in Hackensack, according to police.

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Detectives put together a description of the man and the vehicle seen on security footage from both locations where the debit card was used.

Paramus Police told detectives on Thursday they had arrested a man, Connolly, on New Year's Eve for possession of a controlled dangerous substance (CDS) whose appearance and vehicle matched the description. 

Connolly was released after his Paramus arrest, but detectives found his vehicle in the Target parking lot in Hackensack and followed him back to his apartment where he was detained by New Milford and Hackensack police departments.

After being arrested by NMPD, Connolly was brought to Bergen County Jail where he was being held on $50,000 bail.


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