By Michael O. Allen, Record Staff Writer | Saturday, April 20, 1991
The Record (New Jersey) | All Editions | NEWS | Page A04
A burglary suspect thought to have drowned after he leaped off a bridge into the Passaic River after a police chase may have escaped, police said Friday.
Police have developed new information that Herbert Pitts of 43 Graham Ave., Paterson, may have been seen running down a nearby highway ramp after the jump, police Lt. Ron Natale said.
“We combed the river thoroughly Wednesday and again yesterday,” Natale said. “We didn’t find any body. We are not absolutely positive that he did go into the river. We believe he may have, but there is a chance he did escape. Right now, we’ll continue on the assumption that Pitts is somewhere out there, possibly alive.”
A suspect in custody, Tyrone Jones, 28, of Paterson identified Pitts, 32, from a photograph as a suspect involved in the chase, which led to the drowning death of Terry Wilson, 25, also of Paterson.
The incident began Wednesday afternoon at the scene of a burglary in Hackensack. With Hackensack, Lodi, and Elmwood Park police pursuing, the suspects fled in a stolen van, weaving through traffic on Routes 46, 20, and 80 before crashing in the eastbound Route 80 lanes in Elmwood Park.
The men abandoned the van and ran across the highway, and Pitts and Wilson leaped 50 feet off the bridge into the river, near Market Street. Wilson’s body was later pulled from the river. Jones, who did not jump and was caught, was being held in the Bergen County Jail Annex on $100,000 bail.
Jones, charged by Hackensack police with 11 counts of theft, five counts of burglary, and one count each of receiving stolen property and resisting arrest, cooperated with investigators, giving them information on burglaries in Carlstadt, Fair Lawn, Maywood, Wyckoff, and other Bergen County communities.
Keywords: HACKENSACK; BRIDGE; BURGLARY; RIVER; MISSING PERSON; DEATH; VICTIM
ID: 17340375 | Copyright © 1991, The Record (New Jersey)
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