FAIR LAWN, N.J.—A 42-year-old Englewood man was arrested in Fair Lawn following a New Year’s Day incident where he allegedly burglarized a home, then fled from police, injuring one officer before flipping his get-away car, Fair Lawn Police told Northern Valley Press.
Corey DeGroat, 42, faces charges including burglary, theft and aggravated assault in connection with the incident.
Police responded at 6:47 p.m. that day after a Garwood Road homeowner reported an alert on his cell phone from a home video surveillance system. Cameras captured an unknown person with a mask over his face inside the homeowner’s residence, police said.
Police arrived and proceeded to check on an occupied vehicle on nearby Gurney Place, ordering the driver to step out of the vehicle. Instead, he started the car and sped off—striking Fair Lawn Detective Brian Rypkema and causing minor injury to his hand and arm, according to the arrest report.
The car fled—with police in pursuit—down Fair Lawn side streets and into Glen Rock, where the vehicle struck a tree, turning from Godfrey Terrace onto Gibson Place, and rolled onto its roof on a residential front lawn. The operator then attempted to flee on foot, but didn’t get far before being captured on the same front lawn, the arrest report said.
DeGroat was transported under police guard to Valley Hospital, after complaining of head and chest pain due to the motor vehicle crash. He was being held at Bergen County Jail at press time.