Neighbor Disarms Troubled Saddle Brook Man Whose Stray Gunshot Brought Massive Police Response

An intoxicated Saddle Brook man experiencing an emotional crisis fired a gunshot into the air in his backyard just below Route 80, bringing a squadron of local police and fellow officers from four neighboring towns.

They were headed to the Sterling Place home around 6:30 p.m. Sunday, May 5, when a neighbor approached Riste Strezoski, 35, and convinced him to hand over the 9mm handgun, Police Capt. John A. Zotollo, Jr. said.

Police from Saddle Brook, Paramus, Maywood, Rochelle Park and Fair Lawn converged on the dead-ended neighborhood just off Saddle River Road and took Strezoski into custody, said Zotollo, the officer in charge of the department.

They also secured the gun and several additional firearms that the captain said were in Strezoski's home.

"An investigation conducted by responding officers revealed that Strezoski had consumed alcoholic beverages and was experiencing a mental crisis, during which he fired a single shot in the air from his 9mm handgun prior to police arrival," Zotollo said.

Police charged Strezoski with violating a local ban of firing a weapon within 300 feet of a home. He was then taken to Bergen New Bridge Medical Center in Paramus for an evaluation.