Seven people from four states had been charged in the armed home invasion of a Lyndhurst residence, and one defendant remained at large as of Sept. 24, according to Daily Voice’s account of Bergen County Prosecutor Mark Musella’s announcement. The case concerns an attack reported on Milton Avenue on June 6, 2026; the charges are allegations, and the defendants’ guilt has not been established.
The reported fugitive is Ermenso J. Duran Maldonado, 31, of Newark. Authorities searched his Newark home on Sept. 16 but did not find him, Daily Voice reported. The other defendants were in custody in New Jersey, New York or Indiana, with three awaiting extradition to Bergen County at the time of the report.
What prosecutors say happened in Lyndhurst
Musella said six armed people entered the home through the garage shortly after the residents arrived around 9:30 p.m. Prosecutors allege the group threatened the residents with firearms and took jewelry, cash, a cellphone, a smartwatch, handbags and other belongings. Investigators also determined that some suspects had followed the residents from their business to their home in the days beforehand, according to the Daily Voice report.
The account also says a participant grabbed an unrelated juvenile who was nearby and covered the child’s mouth. It does not establish whether that participant was among the six people who entered the home. The seven people charged include a juvenile from Chicago, as well as six adults: Elvis Sanchez-Paez, 31, of Brooklyn; Freddy R. Marin Pacheco, 37, of the Bronx; Carlos A. Aular Montoya, 25, of Buffalo; Freyberth A. Acosta Dominguez, 27, of Indianapolis; Luis Fernando Suarez Vasquez, 18, of Chicago; and Duran Maldonado.
The reported arrests began Sept. 5, when Sanchez-Paez was taken into custody in Wharton. Marin Pacheco was arrested in Mount Vernon, New York, on Sept. 11, and Aular Montoya was arrested in the Bronx on Sept. 16. Acosta Dominguez and the Chicago juvenile were jailed in Indiana on unrelated matters when charged; Suarez Vasquez was jailed in New York on an unrelated matter. Prosecutors sought information about Duran Maldonado at 201-226-5532, the report said.
Other Bergen County cases offer context, not a trend
The Lyndhurst allegations can be compared with other documented armed home invasions in the county, but the cases are distinct and do not show how common such crimes are. In Rochelle Park, police responded to a home invasion on Howard Avenue at about 3 a.m. on March 10, 2026; the Bergen County Prosecutor’s Office said gunfire had been reported and a struggle was underway. That account differs from Lyndhurst’s alleged surveillance of residents before they returned home.
In a separate earlier case, the prosecutor’s office said three masked suspects entered a Cliffside Park residence on May 9, 2025; two appeared to have firearms, and high-end purses were stolen. Authorities charged two people and said the investigation into a third suspect continued, according to the office’s release. The reported stolen purses provide a limited point of comparison with the handbags allegedly taken in Lyndhurst, but the public accounts do not link the incidents.
The records cited here describe separate incidents with different alleged circumstances. They provide local context, not evidence of an increase in home invasions or proof that the Lyndhurst defendants were connected to other cases.
