The Hackensack Police Department announces the arrest of Richard T. Best, a 44-year-old unemployed resident of Hackensack, NJ (DOB: 02/20/1981), on multiple criminal charges resulting from a narcotics investigation conducted by Detective Michael Reo and the Crime Suppression Bureau.

On July 22, 2025, members of the Crime Suppression Bureau—under the leadership of Detective Lieutenant John Dalton—with assistance from the Hackensack Police Department Emergency Services Unit and the Safe Streets Operation Control Center, executed a Superior Court-authorized search warrant at Best’s apartment, located within a school zone in Hackensack.

The search yielded the following:

• Heroin individually packaged for street-level narcotic sales
• A quantity of crack/cocaine
• Drug paraphernalia used in the manufacturing and distribution of narcotics
• A Hi-Point .45 caliber firearm reported stolen in South Carolina in the spring of 2016

As a result of the investigation, Richard T. Best was charged with the following offenses:

• Possession of a firearm – 2C:39-5B(1) (Second Degree)
• Possession of a firearm for unlawful purpose – 2C:39-4A(1) (Second Degree)
• Possession with intent to distribute CDS within 1,000 feet of a school – 2C:35-7B (Third Degree)
• Receiving stolen property – 2C:20-7A (Third Degree)
• Possession of heroin – 2C:35-5B(3) (Third Degree)
• Possession of crack/cocaine – 2C:35-10A(1) (Third Degree)
• Possession with intent to distribute drug paraphernalia – 2C:36-3 (Fourth Degree)
• Certain persons not to possess firearms – 2C:39-7 (Fourth Degree)

Best was processed and transported to the Bergen County Jail on a complaint warrant, pending his initial appearance at Central Judicial Processing Court in Hackensack, NJ.

These charges are merely accusations, and the defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.

The Hackensack Police Department encourages anyone who witnesses a crime or has information about one to contact CrimeStoppers of Bergenfield, Englewood, Teaneck, Hackensack, and Bogota, which offers cash rewards of up to $1,000. Tips can be made anonymously at www.bergencrimestoppers.org or by calling 844-466-6789, 24 hours a day, seven days a week.