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Officer James Goral first stopped the speeding gold 2008 BMW — which bore a phony temporary license plate — on eastbound Page Avenue near Route 17, Police Chief James O’Connor told CLIFFVIEW PILOT shortly after the July 17 chase.
The driver pulled the car to the side of the road at Schuyler Avenue but then hit the gas, made a U turn and headed west on Page Avenue after Goral got out of his police cruiser.
The BMW nontinued up to northbound Ridge Road, then west onto Valley Brook Avenue and north onto Delafield Avenue. As other police cars converge, the driver lost control of the speeding car, which hit a small tree.
Officers ordered the three occupants out, but the driver acclerated in reverse and the Beamer hit the bumper of a police car before finally stopping in the 300 block of Weart Avenue.
Officers immediately arrested two passengers, as the driver took off on foot through several backyards. Officer Philip Reina and Detective Lemanowicz caught him on Lincoln Avenue, Valente said.
No immediate imjuries were reported. Damage to the police vehicle was minor.
Police seized several altered and phony credit and debit cards, along with a small amount of marijuana, he said.
The driver, 23-year-old Christopher Johnson of Bayside, Queens (above, far left), and his passengers — Shearwood Michel, 25, of St. Albans, Queens (far right) and 22-year-old Dwayne Thompson (middle), listed only as from New York City — were charged in an 11-count indictment handed up by a grand jury in Hackensack last week.
The most serious count is “operating a motor vehicle to create risk of death or injury while eluding police.”
They’re also charged with fleeing.
The remaining counts involve several bogus debit cards from Visa and Mastercard through PayPal, Western Union and elsewhere.
MUGSHOTS: Courtesy LYNDHURST PD
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