Jed D. Phykitt
Bergen County Prosecutor Mark Musella announced the indictment of 59-year-old JED D. PHYKITT, of Dalton, MN, formerly of Washington Township, NJ, related to his February 2025 arrest on sexual assault charges. Additionally, the Bergen County Prosecutor’s Office is seeking information leading to his capture. The charges and indictment are the result of a nearly year-long investigation conducted by the Bergen County Prosecutor’s Office Special Victims Unit under the direction of Chief Matthew Finck.
As previously reported, on Tuesday, April 30, 2024, the Westwood Police Department contacted the Bergen County Prosecutor’s Office Special Victims Unit regarding alleged incidents of sexual assault that occurred years ago. An investigation by the Bergen County Prosecutor’s Office Special Victims Unit revealed that JED D. PHYKITT sexually assaulted a child who was between the ages of thirteen and sixteen in Hillsdale, Washington Township, and Westwood, NJ on multiple occasions during 1990 and 1991.
On Wednesday, February 5, 2025, as a result of the months-long investigation, JED D. PHYKITT was charged with five counts of second-degree sexual assault, N.J.S.A. 2C:14-2c(4).
On Thursday, February 6, 2025, with the assistance of the Otter Tail County (MN) Sheriff’s Department, detectives from the Bergen County Prosecutor’s Office Special Victims Unit located and arrested JED D. PHYKITT in Dalton, MN. At that time, PHYKITT was taken into custody and remanded to the Otter Tail County Jail in Fergus Falls, MN, pending extradition to Bergen County, NJ. The Bergen County Prosecutor’s Office was later notified that the court released JED D. PHYKITT from custody to await his extradition hearing, which was scheduled for August 4, 2025, in a Minnesota court.
On Tuesday, July 15, 2025, a Bergen County Grand Jury indictment was unsealed, charging JED D. PHYKITT with five counts of second-degree sexual assault, N.J.S.A. 2C:14-2c(4).
On Monday, August 4, 2025, JED D. PHYKITT failed to appear at the extradition hearing scheduled by the court in Minnesota, and he remains at large. Consequently, and in addition to the pending sexual assault charges filed by the Bergen County Prosecutor’s Office, PHYKITT is now also wanted by the Otter Tail (MN) County Sheriff’s Department for failure to appear at the aforesaid court proceeding.
JED D. PHYKITT was last known to be in Minnesota. He remains wanted by authorities in Otter Tail, MN and Bergen County, NJ. The Bergen County Prosecutor’s Office is seeking any information that can assist in locating him. Anyone with information about JED D. PHYKITT’s whereabouts is encouraged to contact the Bergen County Prosecutor’s Office Tip Line at 201-226-5532.
Prosecutor Musella states that all the charges in this case are merely accusations, and that the defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. He would like to thank the Otter Tail County (MN) Sheriff’s Department for their continued cooperation, along with the Hillsdale, Park Ridge, Washington Township, and Westwood Police Departments for their assistance in this investigation.