RIDGEWOOD — An illegal Polish immigrant living in the borough was sentenced to 15 years in prison earlier this week for attempting to rob and extort a family in Westchester County, the U.S. attorney said.
Bartek Zajkowski, who lived in the confines of Ridgewood’s 104th Precinct, was sentenced to 15 years in prison in federal court in White Plains Tuesday, according to U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara.
In 2010, Zajkowski worked as a contractor on a family’s home in Bedford Hills. One night in 2012, he showed up at their home, tied up the husband and wife — whom he shot with a BB gun — and left with the man’s wallet, Bharara said.
Two days later he burned down their barn and the next week demanded $3 million to ensure their family’s safety, the federal prosecutor said.
The FBI arrested Zajkowski in June 2012 on a warrant stemming from a 2011 home invasion in Connecticut, for which charges are still pending, Bharara said.
