A man suspected of pulling on car door handles in a Teterboro parking lot ran straight into oncoming traffic on Route 46 while being questioned by police — and got hit by a passing vehicle. Moonachie police say the suspect, 24-year-old Xhonatan Gaba, survived the collision with no serious injuries, only to be arrested moments later with stolen credit cards still in his possession.
The call came in around 9 a.m. last Wednesday, Oct. 28, when officers were sent to the Amazon parking lot on Route 46 in Teterboro after someone reported a man pulling on vehicle door handles, according to Daily Voice. Moonachie Police Lt. Jeffrey Napolitano said Officer Michael DelDuca spotted a man matching the suspect's description at a bus stop on Route 46 West, right in front of the Amazon lot.
A Sprint Into Traffic
Napolitano said Gaba tried running across Route 46 shortly after DelDuca began questioning him, and was struck by a passing vehicle in the process. Despite being hit, the outlet's report notes, Gaba was not seriously injured — and he still resisted arrest once officers moved in. DelDuca was joined by Officers Tambi Ibrahim and Scott Lemongello, who helped take Gaba into custody.
Police said they found stolen credit cards on Gaba that were traced back to a vehicle burglary and theft earlier that same morning at Gold's Gym in Teterboro, per the same account. The driver who struck Gaba stopped at the scene and was identified by police; Napolitano said no charges were filed against that driver.
A Record of Prior Run-Ins With Police
Court records cited by the outlet show Gaba has faced a string of criminal charges in recent years, including burglary, receiving stolen property, criminal trespassing and drug-related offenses. Those records point to a criminal attempt charge in Lodi dated Oct. 9, a receiving stolen property charge from Sept. 25, and a burglary charge from Sept. 17. Earlier cases cited include criminal trespassing charges in Rutherford and drug-related offenses in Paterson and Ridgefield, both dated to 2023.
Gaba's history with police dates back further still. A 2021 report from Patch identified him, then 20 and living in Garfield, as the suspect in a Little Ferry car theft case. Police said at the time that two brothers caught Gaba going through their car in their driveway just before midnight, that he threatened to shoot and kill them, then stole another car about two blocks away before being arrested in Sparta.
Charged and Booked
In connection with the Route 46 incident, court records show Gaba was charged with obstruction of the administration of law. He was taken to Hackensack University Medical Center for treatment before being brought to Moonachie police headquarters for processing and lodged in the Bergen County Jail.
The Moonachie Police Department handles full police services for the Borough of Teterboro, with officers assigned to patrol the small borough around the clock from an office at the Teterboro Municipal Building on Route 46 West, according to the Moonachie Police Department. Not every record tied to a defendant's history is publicly searchable — the New Jersey Courts portal notes that some records are withheld from public inspection and confidential filings will not appear in search results, a general caveat that applies broadly rather than to any case in particular.
