55°
Responding to a call of people trying to break into vehicles in the area of Arbor Road and Bush Place, Officer Don Liu tried to stop the 2014 Jeep Grand Cherokee, which sped off just after 12:30 a.m., Police Chief Kenneth Ehrenberg said.
The Jeep, reported stolen out of Asbury Park after the key fob was left inside, continued on Ridgewood Avenue to Chimes Road, then to Glen Avenue and eventually onto southbound Route 17, Ehrenberg said.
The girl stopped the Jeep near Ridgewood Avenue and two men bailed out, the chief said.
Sgt. Sean Nutland and Officers Tom Holden, Christian Tsentas, Mike Focarino, William Stallone and Officer Matt Mulick quickly arrived. Some secured the suspects still in the Jeep, while others helped chase the two who ran, he said.
Liu captured Jamal Bankston, 18, of Newark on the Bonded Oil property on Ridgewood Avenue moments later, Ehrenberg said.
The second suspect, Shakur Williams, 18, of Irvington, was eventually caught in the rear yard of a Roosevelt Avenue home with help from a Bergen County Sheriffs Department K9 unit, he said.
Evidence collected included a key fob belonging to an Audi that wasn’t theirs, as well as a ski mask and gloves, the chief said.
Bankston and Williams were charged with eluding police and possession of a stolen vehicle.
Also taken into custody was the 17-year-old driver. She was issued a delinquency complaint charging her with eluding. Both she and another 17-year-old, this one from East Orange, were charged in delinquency complaints with possession of stolen property.
The other three adults arrested were identified as Keileen Abreu, 18, Jehiel Thomas, 19, and Nazjamir Hobson-Brown, 19, all of Newark. All three were charged with possession of a stolen vehicle.
Thomas also was charged with possession of burglary tools.
The adults were released pending Dec. 20 first appearances in Central Judicial Processing Court in Hackensack. The juveniles were released pending closed-door hearings in the Family Part of Superior Court, also in Hackensack.
Click here to follow Daily Voice Elizabeth and receive free news updates.
