On Saturday, February 4, 2012, at 1:45 a.m., Dwayne W. Gilyard, age 50 of Roselle Park, was arrested by Patrolman Alexander Lanza following a traffic stop and subsequent foot pursuit.
Officer Lanza had been in the area of East Lincoln Avenue looking for a vehicle that had fled the scene of a traffic crash. Minutes later, officer Lanza observed Mr. Gilyard’s vehicle – a 2004 Cadillac Escalade – driving erratically and the officer attempted to stop the vehicle. The Cadillac stopped abruptly near the intersection of East Clay Avenue at Birch Street and the driver – later identified as Gilyard – fled from the vehicle and ran into the side door of what was later determined to be his house.
Officer Lanza chased Gilyard into the home and located him hiding in an attic crawl space. Officer Lanza ordered Gilyard to exit the space but he refused. After several tense moments, Gilyard exited the crawl space in a violent manner while threatening to injure and kill officer Lanza and the other officers who had responded to assist.
Officers were forced to resort to the use of pepper spray to subdue Gilyard. The suspect continued to violently resist arrest and had to be forcibly subdued. None of the police officers involved in Gilyard’s arrest nor Mr. Gilyard were injured.
Mr. Gilyard was then transported to RPPD where he was processed and and charged with the following DWI (39:4-50), possession of open container (39:4-51a), driving while suspended (39:3-40), 2 counts of resisting arrest (2C:29-2), obstruction of justice (2C:29-1), and various traffic violations. He was later transported to the Union County Jail having been unable to post $10,000 bail. Mr. Gilyard has a Union County Superior Court date pending.