On Monday and Tuesday, January 24 and 25, 2022, the Egg Harbor Township Police Department and other jurisdictions responded to a reported crime spree involving occupants of a stolen vehicle out of Atlantic City.
The first incident took place at 8:21 am on January 24, 2022, at Garden State Fuels in West Atlantic City. The young male driver of the stolen vehicle, 2013 Grey Honda CRV, left without paying for gas. Officers checked for the vehicle at that time but did not locate it. The next incident took place at 3:36 pm, on the same date, at Gorilla Vapes on the Black Horse Pike. Three young females entered the store, stole merchandise and took the tip jar. Officer Tahsin Chowdhury located the vehicle west bound on the Black Horse Pike. The driver of the stolen vehicle saw officers and fled the area recklessly, on the shoulder at a high rate of speed. Officers lost contact with the vehicle. Hamilton Township Police attempted to stop the vehicle but also lost contact with it when it got onto the Atlantic City Expressway. The stolen vehicle was also involved in a theft at Target in Mays Landing and a theft of gas in Pleasantville on this date.
The next incident took place at 2:41 pm on January 25, 2022, in the area of the Walmart. An Officer spotted the same stolen vehicle and other officers were checking the area for it. The vehicle was eventually located by Officer Nathan Lahr parked in the law enforcement parking space at Walmart. The Officer was approaching it when the driver immediately fled crashing into the patrol car. The stolen vehicle fled the area on Old Egg Harbor Road in the direction of Pleasantville. The stolen motor vehicle was being operated very recklessly, at a high rate of speed in the opposite lane of travel. The stolen vehicle was believed to have been seen back in the lot of the Walmart but officers could not locate it. The vehicle was also involved in a strong armed robbery in Atlantic City sometime yesterday before it was found unoccupied at 5:12 pm in Atlantic City.
These cases are being investigated by Detective Paul Janetta of the Egg Harbor Township Police Department Criminal Investigations Bureau. Anyone with information concerning the incidents is requested to contact the Egg Harbor Township Criminal Investigations Bureau at 609-926-4051.