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“We’re fortunate in that nobody was hurt, no damage was done that we can’t repair and nothing was taken,” Paul Casey, the CEO of the Boys and Girls Club of Garfield, told CLIFFVIEW PILOT.
“There will be no disruption of services,” he added.
That includes a prom tonight for children between 6 and 13 and their parents.
Casey said the intruder destroyed decorations and ate some of the food. However, he said workers were busy making sure that no one will be able to tell what happened tonight when they enter the hall.
A worker at the club alerted Garfield police at 5:45 this morning after arriving to find the intruder running through the hallway, Capt. Darren Sucorowski said.
The responding officers set up a perimeter around the building and were quickly joined by their colleagues from Lodi and a Bergen County Police Department K-9 unit.
They were doing a room-by-room search when, Sucorowski said, 21-year-old Norman Girdley Jr. bolted out the back door of the swimming pool and was grabbed by Sgt. John Demko and Officer David Coniglio just after 6 a.m.
Sucorowski said Girdley got in by forcing open a door on the south side of the building.
Girdley was ordered held on $10,000 bail, charged with burglary, criminal mischief and drug possession.
“This is a sad time for our club, and we need all the help we can get from the community to keep our spirits up and make sure that service are not impacted in any way,” Casey said, in a public statement. “Thank you everyone for you help and support.”
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