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A police officer stopped Mikael Whitehead, 25, on Route 53 after he was spotted driving erratically in a 2009 Infinity on Route 46 east in Denville, around 8 p.m. Sept. 18, Denville Police Capt. Jeffrey Tucker said.
“Whitehead complied, pulling the vehicle over and coming to a stop," Tucker said. "However, as the officer was exiting the patrol vehicle, the suspect vehicle fled."
The car was again pursued through Denville before police stopped the chase on Route 80 west due to public safety concerns, authorities said.
It wasn't long before officers noticed the car was crashed into a tree and abandoned near the Rockaway and Dover exit on Route 80, Tucker said.
That was when state police, the Morris County Sheriff's Office, local police agencies and county park police joined the search for the suspects.
The three were eventually found in a wooded area with help from a police helicopter and K-9 unit, authorities said.
An investigation found Whitehead and his two passengers -- Chastidy Whitehead, 27, and Kelly Vilbrun, 25 -- had gone to several pharmacies across North Jersey and stolen over-the-counter cold medications, Tucker said.
A search of Whitehead's vehicle turned up hundreds of boxes of medication including Allegra, Mucinex, Claritin, and Advil, along with 50 grams of marijuana and other drug paraphernalia, police said.
Whitehead was charged with resisting arrest/eluding, credit card theft, receiving stolen property, possession of fake ID, possession of under 50 grams of marijuana, possession of drug paraphernalia and resisting arrest by flight.
Whitehead’s passengers, Chastidy Whitehead, 27, and Kelly Vilbrun, 25, both of Brooklyn, were charged with receiving stolen property, possession of under 50 grams of marijuana, possession of drug paraphernalia and resisting arrest by flight, authorities said.
Chastidy Whitehead was also found to have warrants out of South Brunswick Township Municipal Court, Wyckoff Township Municipal Court, and Somerset County Prosecutor's Office, the report said.
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