MANHATTAN – A suspect wanted in a cell phone store robbery in the Bronx threw part of the Upper East Side into a chaos Saturday afternoon as police chased them through the streets of East Harlem before trying to escape on the FDR Drive.
Investigators say it started just just before 3:20 pm when two suspects robbed a T-Mobile store, swiping cell phones and taking off— one of them fleeing from the scene in grey a BMW.
Tracking the stolen phones, investigators found the suspect’s BMW in East Harlem less than twenty minutes after the robbery, police say.
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When officers tried to stop the car near East 96th Street and Third Avenue, the BMW slammed into a NYPD SUV leaving both vehicles front driver’s side corner mangled from the collision. The BMW sped away, police say, getting on FDR Drive southbound in an attempt to escape.
Officers caught up with car on the highway near East 95th Street, police tell Upper East Site. That’s when investigators say the suspect ditched his car and ran away— heading for the East River where he threw something into the water, possibly a gun. Harbor units were called in to assist with the search.
Police apprehended the suspect shortly thereafter near East 97th Street, with one officer suffering a broken wrist making the arrest.
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The crime scene blocked traffic lanes in both directions on the FDR Drive as officers investigated Saturday afternoon.
The chase itself triggered a separate two-car collision on the FDR Drive service road near East 95th Street, the drivers involved told Upper East Site.
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Two NYPD SUVs barreled down the service road’s northbound lanes, the shaken up drivers said, driving against traffic, coming at them head on, forcing one driver to swerve and hit another car.
Thankfully, neither driver was hurt in that crash.
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