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The driver, identified as 24-year-old Cequan Wharton of Paterson, bolted through several Lake Street backyards before a trio of city detectives nabbed him emerging onto Summer Street following the Sunday night stop.
A passenger who also fled the attempted stop remained at large, authorities said.
Detectives from the department’s Special Investigations Division saw both suspects make several drugs sales on Rosa Parks Boulevard before leaving in the Chrysler minivan, Police Director Jerry Speziale said Tuesday.
They tried pulling the vehicle over, but Wharton kept going before pulling over in the area of Hamilton Avenue and Summer Street, where he and the passenger bailed out, Speziale said.
Detective William Hermann pursued the 5-foot-7-inch, 160-pound Wharton – a former varsity football player at Paterson Eastside High School -- whom he caught with help from fellow Detectives Luis Fernandez and Rene Alicea, the director said.
Also involved in the operation were Detectives Anthony Castronova, James Jenkins, and Jose Torres, he said.
Wharton remained held in the Passaic County Jail pending further court action after a judge denied his release.
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ALSO SEE: Latoya LeSane, a senior living assistant and former dance studio owner, remained in critical condition at St. Joe's while authorities continued searching for the gunman who shot her and three other people -- killing two of them -- inside a BMW on 12th Avenue Sunday night following some type of domestic dispute.
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