Cops received an alert of a stolen vehicle around 11 a.m. Sept. 17 when a 2025 bright blue Dodge Charger tripped a license plate reader at East 167th Street and Morris Avenue.
One of the department’s drone pilots located the Charger as it rocketed through the streets of Claremont Village and broadcast its position to cops on the ground.
About a half dozen police cars chased the Charger, which tried to evade them by driving “off road” — on the sidewalk — down East 167th Street, cops said.
The chase came to a screeching halt about a mile later when the driver slammed into the side of an SUV stuck at a red light at Walton Avenue.
“Get out the car! Get out the car!” a cop chasing the alleged thieves yelled, body camera video shows.
Both men inside the heavily-tinted windows of the Charger jumped out of the hot car and sprinted away, prompting two speedy officers to give chase.
“He’s over there!” a pedestrian yells at the sprinting cop, while pointing at one of the wanted men.
“Get down! Get down!” the gun-wielding cop yells at another pedestrian wearing a yellow parka as he closes in on the thief and cuffs him.
Plainclothes cops caught the second man, threw him to the ground and cuffed his hands behind his back, body camera video shows.
But the Hollywood-style action didn’t stop there.
When cops rolled the man onto his back, they found he had a gun under his body, the video shows.
“I got it! I got it! I got it!” the cops barked, as one of them confiscates the firearm.
Emmanuel Torres, 26, of Newark, NJ, was hit with gun possession and criminal possession of stolen property, police said.
“I got it! I got it! I got it!” the cops barked, as one of them confiscates the firearm.
Ricky Fernandez, 25, of Linden, NJ, was charged with auto theft, criminal possession of stolen property, drug possession, and reckless driving, cops said. He was allegedly holding crack cocaine, police said.
Fernandez pleaded not guilty and was released on his own recognizance. Torres pleaded not guilty and was released with non-monetary conditions, according to court documents.
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