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A close friend called after seeing an Oct. 10 Daily Voice story about the search for Joseph M. Andrade, 32, Sgt. John Cleary said.
"We were lucky to get him without anybody getting hurt," Cleary said. "He was making a desperate effort to avoid us."
Authorities began searching for Andrade after he'd compiled a stack of offenses – for charges that include stalking, harassment, cyber-harassment and resisting arrest, among others.
He'd also failed to report for probation and had three active restraining orders against him, police said.
Friends in Little Ferry, Moonachie and Carlstadt apparently were sheltering the homeless Andrade.
After going public, however, police "got a few calls from people giving us a feel for what he was up to and where he might be" from people who'd seen the Daily Voice story, Cleary said.
"Someone who knows him well" said Andrade had checked himself into the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs hospital in East Orange, the sergeant said.So borough investigators contacted VA police and informed them of the warrants.
Andrade was released Tuesday -- right into the hands of Carlstadt detectives.
Following a detention hearing Wednesday, a judge in Hackensack denied Andrade's release and ordered that he remain held in the Bergen County Jail.
He's charged with several counts of hindering apprehension, stalking, cyber-harassment, criminal coercion and contempt of court, Police Chief Thomas Nielsen said.
"The Carlstadt Police Department would like to thank the Bergen County Sheriff’s Department, Bergen County Probation Office, Little Ferry Police Department and the Veterans Affairs Police Department and Jerry DeMarco of the Daily Voice for their assistance with this investigation and locating Andrade," Nielsen said Thursday.
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