By Michael O. Allen, Record Staff Writer | Sunday, January 5, 1992
The Record (New Jersey) | All Editions | NEWS | Page A03
There was no smooth getaway for two Bronx men Saturday afternoon when they encountered a jeweler who chased them after the pair held up his store at gunpoint, Police Chief William Luciano said.
Officer Emma Jackson was patrolling the business district about 3 p.m. when she saw the owner of Goldfinger Jewelry Store running after two men on West Palisade Avenue.
“They just robbed my store, at gunpoint,” said the owner, whom police declined to identify. Jackson radioed headquarters for backup and followed the men in her patrol car.
Eight patrol cars raced to the area and chased the pair through McKay Park, into a nearby brook, and through back yards on Elmore Avenue, where police arrested them, Luciano said.
James Cornick and Lamonte Hampton were being held in the Englewood Police Department lockup Saturday night, awaiting a bail hearing, he said.
They were charged with armed robbery and illegal possession of handguns for unlawful purpose.
“You know the old saying: `You can run but you can’t hide’?” a jubilant Luciano asked later. “Too many blue uniforms, too many cops for them to get away. ”
For Jackson, a 16-year veteran of the department, it was the second chase in about two weeks. A robbery victim stopped Jackson’s car as she drove past a bar on West Street and, gesturing because he could not speak English, told her to follow a car occupied by four men he claimed had just robbed him.
The suspects abandoned the car and escaped on foot after crashing into Jackson’s patrol car at a traffic light.
Saturday’s suspects were not so lucky, Luciano said. Patrolman Timothy Torell chased Cornick, who was seen coming out of the window of a home on Elmore Avenue, in the direction of Lt. James Crowley, who arrested him.
Patrolman Joseph Archer saw Hampton about 100 feet down the street, walking at a leisurely pace, Luciano said. The store owner identified him later as one of the men who came into his store and robbed him and his wife, the chief said.
ID: 17365167 | Copyright © 1992, The Record (New Jersey)
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