SHARE

River Vale Neighborhood Evacuated In Overnight SWAT Team Standoff

RIVER VALE, N.J. -- A River Vale neighborhood was evacuated and a SWAT team brought in overnight Sunday during a nearly 2½-hour standoff with an emotionally disturbed new borough resident who authorities said screamed: "River Vale police, I'm gonna get you!"

River Vale police closed streets around Collignon Way.

River Vale police closed streets around Collignon Way.

Photo Credit: GoogleMaps

A caller just after 10:30 p.m. Saturday told police her 23-year-old neighbor was shouting threats from his balcony.

"She said it had been going on nearly every night for several weeks since he moved in," Detective Sgt. John DeVoe told Daily Voice.

One of those times, the woman said, he vomited off the balcony in the middle of a rant and returned to shouting.

Responding officers called up, asking him to come to the door.

But he was "extremely agitated" and "ran inside and slammed the door closed," DeVoe said. "Then he returned to the balcony, screaming and cursing and telling the officers they needed a search warrant."

Despite the officers' best efforts, he "continued to be hostile and uncooperative," the sergeant said.

Concerned for his well-being -- as well as his neighbors' -- borough police summoned their colleagues from surrounding towns and a regional SWAT team from the Bergen County Sheriff's Office.

They also evacuated nearby homes and closed off the streets.

A SWAT team negotiator eventually talked the man into surrendering just after 1 a.m. -- although he "again became uncooperative" and had to be wrestled into custody.

He was then taken to Bergen Regional Medical Center in Paramus.

No charges were filed.

DeVote thanked the SWAT team, along with police from Harrington Park, Hillsdale, Old Tappan, and Westwood who responded. The River Vale Volunteer Ambulance Corps also responded and remained on standby, he said.

to follow Daily Voice Pascack Valley and receive free news updates.

SCROLL TO NEXT ARTICLE