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Hakeem Chance, 28, of Hackensack had an original parole eligibility date of July 13, 2022 when he escaped from the East Jersey State Harbor Halfway House, records show.
He remained a fugitive for six months before members of Bergen County Prosecutor Mark Musella’s Special Investigations Squad tracked down and nabbed Chance near the corner of Kennedy Boulevard and 89th Street.
They brought him to the Bergen County Jail on an escape charge pending transfer to the New Jersey Department of Corrections.
Chance already had two felony convictions — both before he turned 20 — when he led police on a wild chase after he and an accomplice broke into two Nutley homes in July 2012.
Chance was driving his mother’s BMW during the chase through Nutley and parts of Bloomfield and Little Falls before the car slammed into a brick wall in front of a hilltop house in Montclair.
His pursuers included officers and detectives from the Bergen County Prosecutor’s Office and the Englewood, Fort Lee, Hackensack and Teaneck police departments.
The last couple of miles were “driven on steel” after the car hit a curb as Chance made a steep left, shredding the front tire on his side, authorities said at the time.
The 5-foot-5-inch, 135-pound Chance was arrested soon after the crash when he and his alleged mentor, Dammen McDuffie of Englewood, tried to run.
McDuffie got away but was tracked down soon after.
Jurors in April 2014 convicted both on just about every count in connection with the two burglaries and chase.
These included reckless driving, creating a risk of death or injury, eluding capture and attempting to injure no fewer than eight officers.
Chance got 17 years and McDuffie 15½ years when they were sentenced three months later.
Chance was sent to the halfway house last October to serve out the remainder of his sentence.
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