RSS Feed
|
|
||||||||
|
for larger version       Stolen SUV Crashes Into Supermarket
A Hammels teenager driving a stolen SUV took a passenger and police on a brief but wild ride Sunday night that ended when the teen crashed into a small supermarket and injured two people, police said. The incident – which nearly sparked a riot at the Hammels Houses – began when an officer from the 100 Precinct saw two men in a 2004 Jeep Grand Cherokee driving the wrong way on Beach 81 Street, a one-way street, according to court records. The officer put on his lights and siren in an attempt to pull the vehicle over, but the driver hit the gas and the chase was on.
The SUV’s passenger leapt from the vehicle in the seconds before the impact. Two customers inside the supermarket were injured, and the impact littered the market and street with destroyed merchandise and broken glass. The SUV, which was reported stolen in August by its Rockaway Park owner, suffered major front-end and windshield damage. The driver, Ray Wilson, 17, fled the scene, heading inside the Hammels complex. Detectives caught up with Wilson, who lives at 84-18 Rockaway Beach Boulevard, shortly thereafter. But he would not go easy; Court records say he tried to avoid being handcuffed and punched a detective in the face. Wilson is charged with reckless endangerment, four counts of assault, criminal possession of stolen property, obstructing governmental administration, unauthorized vehicle, criminal mischief and resisting arrest, according to Queens District Attorney Richard A. Brown’s office. He was issued violations for the following: reckless driving, leaving the scene of an accident, unlicensed driving, running a red light, driving the wrong way on a one-way road and speeding. His bail was set at $10,000, and he is due back in court on October 3. The passenger, Tyrell Rollinson, 19, was immediately apprehended by police. Rollinson, of 84-12 Rockaway Beach Boulevard, is charged with unauthorized use of a vehicle. Police said EMS took two men, who were shopping in the supermarket when the stolen SUV slammed into it, to Peninsula Hospital Center. The large police presence and the capture of Wilson apparently angered several Hammels residents, who headed to the roof and started throwing debris down at officers, police said. One officer described the scene as a “near-riot situation.”
|
|
|||||||
)
)
