the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Fort Lee NJ, a former captain in the Army from Wallington who was being held until his trial after he was caught on a “reconnaissance” mission on the George Washington Bridge will be released from jail after spending 600 days in custody, a Bergen County judge ruled Thursday.
The judge ruled that rather than await trial in the Bergen County Jail while suffering from, “significant mental health issues,” Daniel Czerepak, of Wallington, will instead wear an ankle bracelet at home under the supervision of his parents, according to the ruling.
Port Authority police arrested Czerepak when he tried to enter the upper level of the GWB and pretending to be an employee of a construction company Skanska USA. A subsequent search of Czerepak’s home, authorities produced high-capacity ammunition magazines as well as other magazines for rifles and a gun.
Czerepak was charged with multiple counts of third-degree weapons charges as well as receiving stolen property, according to Bergen County Jail records. Prosecutors claimed he was “gathering intel” on the bridge’s security and a search warrant on Czerepak’s home also uncovered books on construction and blueprints of bridges and buildings.
Prosecutors felt he may have been planning a wider assault on local bridges and tunnels. Electronic toll records showed Czerepak had been recently to the Lincoln Tunnel, Brooklyn Bridge and Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge.
That’s just great! Not!
So after locking up a guy with “significant mental health issues” for 2 years they decided to let him out to await his “speedy trial” ?