Man Flees After Shoplifting Attempt, Cops Say

A Fair Lawn man tried to flee from police on Route 10 Sunday after allegedly trying to shoplift from Best Buy, East Hanover Police said.

Richard Engelhardt, 43, was charged with eluding, interfering with an officer, failure to wear a seat belt, reckless driving, careless driving, failure to signal turn, impropper passing, failure to observe a signal, failure to comply with direction of officer and failure to maintain lane, police said.

According to the police, the store manager told the officers employees recognized Engelhardt as the same individual who stole more than $600 worth of DVDs from the store on Aug. 22, because he was wearing the same clothes on both days. 

Police said Engelhardt was described as a white, heavier-set male wearing gray shorts and a gray T-shirt during both incidents. The store manager saw Engelhardt picking up several DVDs on Sunday, but Engelhardt put them back before leaving the store because he saw employees watching him, police said.

When the police first arrived at the Best Buy Sunday at about noon, they saw Engelhardt leaving the store while being followed by one of the store employees, police said. The police then drove in front of Engelhardt's car in the parking lot, and as they walked to his car, Engelhardt waved at the cops and abruptly started to pull away, police said.

The cops then told Engelhardt to stop, but instead he fled on Route 10 West, police said.

Two police cars pursued Engelhardt on Route 10, police said. The officers saw Engelhardt run through stop signs and red lights, and swerve in and out of traffic, driving his car in a way that was "reckless and endangering to the general public," police said.

Once the officers caught Engelhardt, he was arrested and brought back to police headquarters. Bail was set at $5,000 without a 10 percent option, police said. Engelhardt was given a summonses and is pending a future court date, police said.

Best Buy managers gave police voluntary statement forms and a DVD that depicted Engelhardt's previous shoplifting incident, police said. The DVD was placed into evidence, police said.