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Englewood police were pursuing the black Audi S5 before breaking off the chase and alerting their area colleagues shortly before 3 a.m. Monday, Nov. 28, Palisades Interstate Parkway Lt. Raymond E. Walter said.
The vehicle had been tied to a string of break-ins in Belleville, some of which involved ATMs, he said.
A PIP officer pulled up moments after the Audi crashed at the northbound ramp to Exit 2 in Alpine a short time later, the lieutenant said.
Police quickly arrested Joshua L. Alcantara, 30, of Newark. Meanwhile, a companion fled toward the cliffs.
A Bergen County Sheriff’s K-9 unit led a track from the Audi to the edge of the Palisades, prompting a call to the East Bergen Rappel Team and the NYPD Aviation Unit. They found nothing, Walter said.
Alcantara, meanwhile, was charged with receiving stolen property, obstruction and hindering prosecution, then was released on a summons under New Jersey’s 2017 bail reform law.
Alcantara has a lengthy and habitual criminal history involving robberies and stolen car thefts in Essex and Passaic counties, records show.
He was captured by Clifton police in a similar incident several years ago involving a pursuit that ended in a crash on Route 21.
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