Paramus Police Arrest Seven Essex County Teens Following Chase In Stolen Jeep – TAPinto.net

PARAMUS, N.J. — Borough police have arrested seven Essex County teens, two of whom were juveniles, early this morning following a car chase that resulted in charges of possession of a stolen vehicle, burglar tools and eluding police. 

This morning after midnight, the Paramus Police Department received a call that a group of people were attempting to enter cars in the vicinity of Arbor Road and Bush Place in the borough. 

When Officer Don Liu arrived to the area, he observed a 2014 Jeep Grand Cherokee with New Jersey plates occupied by seven people leave the scene and proceed onto Ridgewood Avenue. Liu ran a computer check of the vehicle, which showed that the Jeep had been stolen from Asbury Park on Friday, November 29 — the key fob was left inside. 

Officer Liu attempted to stop the vehicle, but it fled onto Ridgewood Avenue, and then onto Chimes Road and Glen Avenue before jetting onto Route 17 South and eventually stopped on the highway near Ridgewood Avenue.

Two of the occupants, later identified as Shakur Williams and Jamal Bankston, both 18 of Irvington and Newark, respectively, exited the vehicle before attempting to make a run for it. 

Paramus Sergeant Sean Nutland and Officers Tom Holden, Christian Tsentas, Mike Focarino, William Stallone and Matt Mulick arrived to the scene. Liu chased Bankston and captured him near the Bonded Oil Property on Ridgewood Avenue; Williams was caught in the rear yard of a Roosevelt Avenue home shortly thereafter. 

Bergen County Sheriff’s Department K-9 Unit Officer So Lorenc was summoned to the scene to assist in the search, and collected an Audi key fob, a ski mask and gloves.

The culprits were arrested and transported to Paramus Police Headquarters where they were booked, processed and released on their own recognizance. 

The two juveniles — 17-year-old girls from East Orange and Newark — were released to a relative. Both of them were charged with possession of a stolen vehicle and the driver, of East Orange, was given a second charge of eluding police. 

Keileen Abreu, 18, and Nazjamir Hobson-Brown, 19, both of Newark, were charged with possession of a stolen vehicle. 

Williams and Bankston were charged with possession of a stolen vehicle and eluding police. 

Jehiel Thomas, 19, of Newark, was charged with possession of a stolen vehicle and possession of burglar tools. 

The defendants are due in Bergen County Central Judicial Processing Court on December 20.