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Englewood man scares off burglars, good Sam leads police to two arrests

YOU READ IT HERE FIRST: Englewood police flooded a neighborhood and caught two Bronx men moments after a city resident scared off a pair of burglars trying to break into his family’s home.

Photo Credit: Courtesy ENGLEWOOD PD

The man’s wife dialed 911 as her husband chased the two men from their Liberty Road home near the Teaneck/Bergenfield/Tenafly borders just before 9:30 last night, Detective Capt. Tim Torell told CLIFFVIEW PILOT.

Patrol Officers rushed to the area and found a good Samaritan who told them he saw the pair fleeing with masks on. He then pointed them in the direction the two were headed.

A short time later, Officer Jaime Gillert spotted and stopped both men on Fairfield Street. Back-up officers and detectives from Englewood and Teaneck arrived and the two were arrested. They were then questioned by city and Teaneck detectives at Englewood police headquarters, Torell said.

Devon Townsend, 20 (above, bottom), and 19-year-old Javon Gilbert (above, top) were charged with armed attempted burglary and possession of burglar tools, as well as a weapon — a knife.

Detectives discovered that the pair also broke into two vehicles on Liberty Street before they were arrested — for which they were charged with two additional counts each of burglary, Torell said.

Bail for both was set at $81,500.

That could change, however.

Police are eyeing Townsend, who has a previous weapons possession conviction, and Gilbert, who has robbery and weapons convictions — both in the Bronx — for other crimes, Torell said.

“Evidence was located in the pair’s possession that may lead to additional charges,” he said.

“We’ve experienced a spate of residential burglaries in the area recently that we will be looking very hard at as it relates to these suspects,” the captain said.

Torell called the arrests “a classic example of cooperation from the public that is essential in solving crimes like burglary.

“All we need is that one call or the ‘They went that-a-way’ heads up and we can make a serious dent in crimes like this.”

MUGSHOTS: Courtesy ENGLEWOOD PD

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