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Sheriff helps nab alleged police-car thief in brook (Peruvian w/ fake passport nabbed)
HERALD NEWS ^ | Friday, August 31, 2007 | HEATHER HADDON and JAMES YOO

Posted on 08/31/2007 7:44:38 AM PDT by Liz

He wasn't dressed for a swim, but Passaic County Sheriff Jerry Speziale plunged into a slimy brook Thursday to help arrest a man who allegedly stole a police car and dragged a detective with it.

At 4:36 pm, two plainclothes detectives from the Sheriff's Department's warrant unit noticed a stopped Jeep Cherokee...........One detective recognized the driver as having outstanding arrest warrants, according to department spokesman Bill Maer, and they pulled their unmarked Ford Explorer in front of his vehicle.

When detectives asked the driver for his identification, he handed them a Peruvian passport that appeared fake. Realizing he was about to be arrested, the man pushed one of the detectives, exited his car and leaped into their Explorer, Maer said.

As the man, who police say is about 45 years old, started to drive down Liberty Street, Detective Sal Ayoub grabbed onto the Explorer and was dragged for about 700 feet as the driver wove near parked cars on the street. The two detectives then hopped into the man's Jeep and chased him.

They lost him in traffic.

Other officers in the area joined the chase, Maer said. Speziale, on his way to deliver the keynote address at a police academy, joined the chase after he heard the call come in over his police radio.

Within 15 minutes, the man abandoned the vehicle in the driveway of a business at the dead end of Ryerson Avenue. He jumped a fence and climbed into Molly a shallow, rocky creek that feeds into the Passaic River, police said. Employees called police, who quickly responded and searched the area.

Speziale was among the officers who arrived. They hopped the fence and waded in after the man. Several police dogs were also sent in.

After he was caught, the man was taken to St. Joseph's Wayne Hospital. Doctors were evaluating him for health complaints related to ingesting excessive water, Maer said. Ayoub, the detective who was dragged, was also taken to St. Joseph's and was in stable condition Thursday evening. Neither man's injuries were seen as life-threatening, Maer said.

Police did not release the driver's name. Maer said charges against the man were still being determined but said they would at least include alluding arrest and aggravated assault on a police officer.

Downplaying his role, Speziale said he was just supporting his officers and acting on gut instinct. "When your guys go in the water, you go too," said Speziale, in a telephone interview.

Speziale was wearing dress pants, new socks and his police boots at the time. All of them, he said, were ruined by the slimy water. He arrived at the event for his speech late, and a little bit wet.

Staff writers Donald V. Adderton and Samantha Henry contributed to this report


TOPICS: Extended News; Foreign Affairs; Government
KEYWORDS: crooks; fakepassport; illegals; shanmesty

1 posted on 08/31/2007 7:44:43 AM PDT by Liz
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To: Liz
Maer said charges against the man were still being determined but said they would at least include alluding arrest...

Actually, I think he eluded arrest because the police alluded to arresting him.

2 posted on 08/31/2007 7:53:03 AM PDT by pgyanke (Duncan Hunter 08--You want to elect a conservative? Then support a conservative!)
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To: Liz
Downplaying his role, Speziale said he was just supporting his officers and acting on gut instinct. "When your guys go in the water, you go too," said Speziale, in a telephone interview.

Kidding aside... that's good leadership there!

3 posted on 08/31/2007 7:53:48 AM PDT by pgyanke (Duncan Hunter 08--You want to elect a conservative? Then support a conservative!)
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To: Liz
...the man was taken to St. Joseph's Wayne Hospital. Doctors were evaluating him for health complaints related to ingesting excessive water

His lawyer says he'll settle the case for half-a-million...

4 posted on 08/31/2007 7:56:47 AM PDT by johnny7 ("But that one on the far left... he had crazy eyes")
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To: pgyanke

Since when do reporters need to learn how to spell?

/s


5 posted on 08/31/2007 8:08:07 AM PDT by Crazieman (The Democratic Party: Culture of Treason)
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To: Liz
Doctors were evaluating him for health complaints related to ingesting excessive water

Too bad he wasn't being evaluated for ingesting excessive fists to the mouth.
6 posted on 08/31/2007 8:25:13 AM PDT by steel_resolve (Club the wicked.)
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To: johnny7

Sounds like they gave him a little dunking when they caught him, doesn’t it?

BTW, some of the best episodes of “Cops” ever were the ones filmed in Passaic County, NJ. Nothing quite like a Joisey cop!

}:-)4


7 posted on 08/31/2007 8:26:49 AM PDT by Moose4 (I'm not white trash. I'm a Caucasian recyclable.)
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To: johnny7
His lawyer says he'll settle the case for

I say a one-way ticket for him and his lawyer...

8 posted on 08/31/2007 8:37:46 AM PDT by Publius6961 (MSM: Israelis are killed by rockets; Lebanese are killed by Israelis.)
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To: Liz
include alluding arrest

Note to the newspaper's staff if they drop in to read comments:

A spell checker is NOT a copy editor, nor does it take the place of one.

9 posted on 08/31/2007 8:55:04 AM PDT by PAR35
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To: Moose4
Hey, you know, they were just holding him down, trying to get the handcuffs on him!

(. . . just nobody happened to notice during the struggle that he was face down in 2 feet of water . . . )

. . . if he had any brains, he wouldn't be a criminal, he'd have a real job where you earn money the old fashioned way . . .

10 posted on 08/31/2007 9:07:09 AM PDT by AnAmericanMother ((Ministrix of Ye Chase, TTGC Ladies' Auxiliary (recess appointment)))
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