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The incident began on Monday, April 24 around 1:30 p.m., when Westchester County Police were alerted that a stolen black Audi from Fairfield County was traveling near the border of Pelham and Mount Vernon, according to the department.
A County PD officer then found the car, which had been stolen from Westport, on East Sandford Boulevard in Mount Vernon.
As the officer's cruiser approached the stolen Audi, it abruptly turned onto Union Avenue and a male passenger jumped out and sprinted away, dropping a semi-automatic handgun as he ran.
The man was then quickly caught by both County PD and Mount Vernon officers after a short chase on foot. However, the second suspect who was still in the Audi had driven away from the scene.
Knowing that the Audi had come from Westport, another County officer then anticipated the path that the car would take and set up on the northbound Hutchinson River Parkway. The officer then eventually saw the Audi driving recklessly and weaving in and out of traffic.
Just as the officer almost caught up to the Audi, it sideswiped another vehicle by the Weaver Street exit. The officer then stopped to help the occupants of the vehicle that had been hit, who suffered minor injuries.
After this crash, police later found the Audi abandoned near the Mamaroneck Road exit in Scarsdale and found a “MAC-10” style submachine gun with an extended magazine on the back seat after checking inside the vehicle. Both this gun and the semiautomatic handgun that had been recovered earlier in the day were later found to be stolen, police said.
Numerous police agencies then joined the manhunt for the second suspect, in addition to a Westchester County Police Aviation Unit helicopter, its tactical Special Response Team, and a tracking bloodhound.
Thanks to the help from an observant foursome who had been golfing at a nearby golf course, authorities obtained a more detailed description of the suspect and learned that he had no shoes on his feet. They also learned that the man had fled into a wooded area east of the Hutchinson River Parkway.
An incident command post was then set up with help from Westchester County Emergency Management personnel, and numerous officers canvassed the area to locate the missing suspect.
Scarsdale and Mamaroneck Police Chiefs Andrew Matturro and Paul Creazzo provided much help in the effort, including providing many of their officers to aid in establishing a perimeter in the area and giving information to residents in the nearby neighborhoods.
Finally, after several hours, a Scarsdale resident saw a shoeless man in his neighborhood and alerted police. Scarsdale officers soon found the suspect on Continental Road and took him into custody.
The two suspects, both from New Britain, Connecticut, were identified as:
- Jariel Agron, age 19;
- Jose Garcia, age 18.
The two men were charged with the following:
- Second-degree criminal possession of a weapon;
- Third-degree criminal possession of a weapon;
- Fourth-degree criminal possession of stolen property.
Additional charges are likely to be filed, according to police. Agron and Garcia were both held overnight at County Police headquarters in Hawthorne and are to be arraigned in Mount Vernon City Court on Tuesday, April 25.
"I would like to commend our officers and all of our law enforcement partners for their coordinated response, effective communication, and contributions to taking these two suspects into custody yesterday and removing these deadly weapons from our streets," said Westchester County Public Safety Commissioner Terrance Raynor.
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