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Jason Westlee, 34, of East Orange was loading merchandise stolen from the Old Navy in the Edgewater Commons mall into a UHaul truck with a female companion from Brooklyn when police rolled up last Wednesday, Chief Donald Martin said.
As they questioned the pair, Westlee pushed one of the officers and ran toward a building under construction, Martin said.
Westlee kicked his pursuers, injuring one of them, before he was subdued with the construction worker's help, the chief said.
Originally from Brooklyn, Westlee has a criminal record stretching back to when he was 18, mostly for robbery and attempted robbery, for which records show he's served prison time.
Police charged him with two counts of aggravated assault on police, resisting arrest, criminal mischief, receiving stolen property and shoplifting. Westless was sent to the Bergen County Jail and was still there on Tuesday after a judge ordered that he remain held.
His companion, Kiara Gutierrez, 30, of Brooklyn was charged with possession of drug paraphernalia and released pending a hearing, the chief said.
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