Crime & Safety

Men Charged After Police Chase

Early morning incident led to charges of resisting arrest, eluding a police officer, driving while intoxicated, speeding and other charges for Franklin Lakes resident; obstruction of justice for Wyckoff 20 year old.

Two men led Wyckoff Police on a brief high-speed chase Saturday morning before pulling into the driveway of a Crescent Avenue home and trying to lock officers out of the house, authorities said.

Patrolman Mark Tagliareni clocked a vehicle traveling on Wyckoff Avenue at more than double the speed limit at 2:19 a.m. on May 26.

The car, which was traveling at 76 mph in a 35 mph zone, failed to stop for Tagliareni and a chase continued onto Crescent Avenue. The vehicle pulled into a driveway on Crescent Avenue and the driver, who police later identified as Alfred Weick, ran into the house, ignoring the commands of the police to halt, according to a police report.

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The home was the residence of the vehicle's passenger, Daniel Chaupiz.

Chaupiz, 20, refused to identify the driver of the car and unlock the front door of the home to allow police to arrest the driver, according to Wyckoff Police.

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Cops arrested Chaupiz for obstruction of justice.

Wyckoff Police officers Sgt. Michael Ragucci and Patrolman William Plisich and officers from Midland Park and Allendale police departments assisted Tagliareni at the Crescent Avenue home.

Officers spotted the driver and entered the house through an unlocked rear door and arrested Weick, of Franklin Lakes, who initially resisted and had to be forcibly restrained, police said.

After cops led Weick into a squad car, the 22-year-old attempted to kick out the vehicle's windows before police shackled his feet.

Police charged Weick with resisting arrest, eluding a police officer, driving while intoxicated, refusal to submit to a breath test, speeding and reckless driving.

Bail was set at $25,000 and Weick was committed to the Bergen County Jail in default of bail. Chaupiz was released in his own recognizance. Both men are scheduled to appear in municipal court on June 20.

This was not Chaupiz's first run in with local police. Chaupiz, then 19, was arrested in April on charges he was drunk driving with a suspended license, according to township police. 

Cops reported to a Franklin Avenue home on a report of a suspicious vehicle parked in a driveway at 3 a.m. on April 7, according to the .

Sgt. Ragucci and Patrolman Kyle Ferreira responded to the home and found Daniel Chaupiz, of Crescent Avenue, and charged him with driving while intoxicated, driving with an alcohol content while under 21 years of age, refusal to submit to a breath test, driving while his license is suspended, and reckless driving, according to a police report. 

Chaupiz also made the police blotter in Fair Lawn in March, when cops there arrested the young Wyckoff man on robbery charges after he allegedly caused a scene at the ShopRite on River Road.

ShopRite employees there say they watched Chaupiz walk down the aisles of  the store eating sushi and potato chips and drinking an energy drink. When Chaupiz was done he simply tossed the empty containers on the supermarket floor, they added. 

The employees told police that Chaupiz then tried to leave the store without paying for any of the items and when they tried to confront him, Chaupiz became combative and tried forcing his way past a pair of ShopRite employees. 

According to the police report, the workers were able to detain Chaupiz until the arrived. Chaupiz was then arrested and transported to police headquarters where he was charged with robbery —  he was unable to post the $50,000 bail and was transported to Bergen County jail.

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