Livingston Home Invasion Sends Woman to Hospital

A woman working at a Livingston home was punched in the face and bound with duct tape after a man wearing a hard hat and vest pushed his way into the house in an apparent home invasion, according to Livingston Detective Sgt. Anthony Dippold.

The woman, whose identity was not released, was working in a home on North Hillside Avenue when a man rang the doorbell around 11:30 am and said he was there to fix a “problem with the water.” When the woman refused to let him in, Livingston Police say he pushed his way in and tackled the woman, whose age was given as 45.

Once the woman’s arms and legs were bound with duct tape, the man demanded to know where the master bedroom was. He threw her on the bed and ransacked the drawers and closets in the room, then carried her around the house asking where the other bedrooms were.

Eventually, he put her inside of a bathroom and locked the door. Police said she found a small razor in the bathroom she used to cut the tape, then got out of the bathroom and used a house phone to call 911. The man heard her make the call, ran back upstairs and punched her in the face before fleeing the house.

 Livingston Police officers arrived just as the thief was leaving in his silver Mercedes. The officers chased the intruder through back roads, but were unable to capture him. They got a license plate, which they broadcast and West Orange police spotted the car a short time later and arrested him at the intersection of Mt. Pleasant Avenue and Main Street.

The man was identified as Tyrone Gadsden, 48, of Roselle. He was charged with robbery, aggravated assault, kidnapping, theft and criminal restraint. He is currently in the Livingston local lock-up, but is expected to be transferred to the Essex County Jail.

Though he did not have any outstanding warrants, police said he is known to law enforcement.

The woman employee was transported to the hospital with injuries to the ribs, back and contusions on her face from where she was punched. 

She was apparently alone in the home at the time of the robbery, the family she works for was not identified. The only other occupant of the home was a small dog, which was not injured. North Hillside Avenue is a quiet, upper middle-class residential area, with two-story contemporary and traditional homes.

The homes are dotted with circular driveways, basketball hoops and landscaped lawns.