Dayton Teen Charged With South Brunswick Ridge Rd. Burglary

SOUTH BRUNSWICK, NJ — We reported on Wednesday night that someone allegedly broke into a Ridge Road home and then jumped out a window when police arrived, but here are more details on the incident:

At 3:42 p.m. Wednesday, Aug. 1 South Brunswick police received a 911 call reporting someone had broken into a home office on Ridge Road. The caller, a young woman on the second floor, said she had locked herself in her office but could hear the suspect on the first floor. Officers arrived within seconds and the female caller said she believed the suspect had jumped out a first-floor window to escape.

However, when ofofficers George Morgan, Sergeant Roger Tuohy and Sergeant Nate Labuda entered the home and began a room-to-room clearing of the first floor, they said they found the suspect, Robert Ruzhansky, 19, of Dayton, hiding in the home behind a stack of tires in the corner.

Ruzhansky had changed his clothes so he was wearing a shirt from Wiley Paving and a traffic vest, police said, possibly to look like he was an employee of the office. Officers ordered Ruzhansky to exit from behind the tires but he refused, officers said. Police eventually got him out, but Ruzhansky allegedly struck Officer Morgan and kicked Detective Rick Delucia while he was being finger printed at police headquarters, police said.

Ruzhansky is charged with burglary, theft, and aggravated assault. He was released on a summons pending his first court appearance. He was taken to an area hospital for an evaluation.

“Nearly a dozen officers arrived within minutes of the call. They were able to get the young woman who was hiding waiting for help out of the building safely and conducted a detailed search which located the suspect," said South Brunswick Police Chief Raymond Hayducka. "This is great work by all the officers involved."

Photo of Robert Ruzhansky supplied by South Brunswick police.