Seen At 11

Quick-Thinking Officers Thwart Robbery At NJ Home

FAIR LAWN, N.J. (CBS) ― Burglaries can be the toughest crimes to solve. So often the criminal is in and out with no one the wiser. In Fair Lawn, New Jersey it took one eagle-eyed neighbor and two brave officers to stop a burglary in action.

Officers Paul Donohue and Eric Leitman started with a tip from a neighbor that led to a tackle and a triumph. The two officers went to Virginia Drive to find suspected burglar 33-year-old Eduardo Masdeu inside. 

A neighbor who wants to remain anonymous saw Masdeu crawling into a back window. For starters, Officer Leitman checked the point of entry.

"He cut the screen to pry the window open to go in," explained Leitman.

The suspect then looked out blinds and saw Officer Leitman, and that's when everything kicked in to high gear."

"That's all you're thinking about, you want to catch that guy. Everything else goes away," said Leitman.

He radioed that the suspect was on the move. Officer Donahue was around front and the suspect came right at him, out through the front door.

"I took him down to the ground right here in this grass dirt area," said Donahue.

"Right here I kind of like full blown tackled him and I put my arms around. I took him to the ground, saw where his hands were, and handcuffed him."

"Thank you so much I appreciate our local police."

Those were the words of neighbor Ninel Spektor, who says the homeowner is on vacation and left her the keys. So she checked out the place and said it appears nothing was stolen.

Investigators say Masdeu served prison time for robbery before. As they look to see if he can be connected to other unsolved crimes, they commend the two officers for being in the right place.... at the right time...with the perfect combination of brains and brawn.

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