>Wednesday, August 6,2008
BY MICHAEL SEDONTHE RIDGEWOOD NEWS
An alert neighbor and a security camera played key roles in thwarting a burglary at Ridgewood High School, police said.
Two former students — Christopher Zeigler, 19, and Daniel Gillis, 18, both of Ridgewood — are with charged with burglary and theft in connection with the break-in last month, police said in a release.
A neighbor walking his dog just before midnight on July 25 told police he noticed a man in his early 20s walking away from the east side of the building. The man said he then spotted a computer in the bushes near an open window.
“He also noticed a second computer hanging from a window of the high school,” said Ridgewood Police Lt. William Amoruso.
Detective Douglas Williams and Officer Chris McDowell, resource officer for the village’s schools, later discovered a computer stuffed into a gym bag.
A custodian also told police he ran into Gillis in the school that night, and that the teen then took off, the lieutenant added
Finally, a surveillance camera in the school captured identifiable images of Zeigler, Amoruso said.
“The camera provided the information [McDowell] needed to bring this to a conclusion,” said Angelo DeSimone, the district’s assistant superintendent for business.
RHS was open at the time, due to a performance at the Little Theatre that night, DeSimone said. Otherwise, authorities would have been alerted by the alarm system.
Ridgewood police arrested Zeigler early Thursday. A short time later, they had Gillis, Amoruso said.
“It just so happened that the defendants cooperated and we were able to close the case,” the lieutenant said.
Zeigler and Gillis are free released on their own recognizance pending a future Municipal Court date.
None of the computers was damaged during the burglary, DeSimone said.