Crime & Safety

Updated: Stolen Edgewater Police Car Found in Teaneck

Man charged in Edgewater case part of alleged New York burglary ring, reports say.

An Edgewater police car stolen after an attempted jewelry store burglary was found on Palisade Avenue, near Walraven Drive, inTeaneck Monday morning, authorities said.

 Chief Robert Wilson said the patrol car was found parked around 9 a.m. Police said two alleged burglars were caught after breaking into a store in Edgewater, but a third managed to escape by stealing the Edgewater patrol car around 1:30 a.m. The car was found running, with nothing taken and no damage, police said. 

Police identified the two men in custody as 28-year-old New Hyde Park resident Nazmi Papraniku and 27-year-old Fadil Sadiku of Staten Island, NorthJersey.com reported. The third suspect remained at large late Monday, police said. An officer discharged a weapon during the burglary attempt, according to the report

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Papraniku and Sadiku were being held Wednesday on charges including burglary and resisting arrest, county jail records show. Edgewater police have not released additional information on the case. 

An April 2008 New York Times article identified Papraniku as a suspect in a string of Staten Island break-ins dubbed the "ninja burglaries." The report said he was charged with an unrelated attempted burglary.

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A spokesman for the Richmond County District Attorney's Office, which handled the New York case, said Papraniku was sentenced to 45 days in jail and five years probation in June 2008. 

According to a report on SILive.com, Papraniku faced deportation, but his case was under appeal before an immigration judge. Bergen County Jail records listed Papraniku as a Macedonian citizen. 

Edgewater police said it was not the first time one of their cars had been taken, the report said. In August 2009, a 19-year-old woman stole a borough patrol car, then crashed it in Fort Lee, a report at the time said

Anyone with information can call Edgewater Police at 201-943-2200 

Updated 6 p.m. Wednesday 


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