Police: Man Breaks Into Wyckoff Home, Flees After Hearing Owner

Wyckoff Police are looking for a man who they say got away after breaking into a Godwin Avenue home while the owner was home last Friday afternoon, Police Chief Benjamin Fox announced in a release Thursday morning.

At about 2:15 in the afternoon Friday, cops say a woman reported not answering the door after a man she did not know rang the doorbell, Fox said.

After getting no response at the front door, the man walked to the back of the house, smashed out a window, and tried to break into the house, police said.

The man then heard that the woman was at home, and fled in a two-door black Honda that he had parked in her driveway, Fox said.

Responding police officers searched the area for the car, but did not find it, cops said.

Fox said police are unsure of whether or not this attempted burglary is connected to two other recent incidents in Franklin Lakes.

“Burglars are known to work a certain area for a limited period of time,” he said. “However, we have limited information on this burglar and there is simply nothing to connect it to the Franklin Lakes jobs.”

Still, Fox said locals should beware burglar tricks like ringing doorbells.

“They ring your doorbell to ascertain whether anyone is at home,” he said.

“If you do answer the door, they will pretend to be lost, looking for a certain street, or perhaps make up a last name and ask if you know that person on the street.”

Anyone who encounters someone at the door asking those types of questions is being asked to contact the Wyckoff PD.