90 Mile Chase For $10 Of Gas-Not Quite Worth It

As The Lakewood Scoop reported here on Motsoei Shabbos, the State Police were led on a high speed chase which passed Lakewood, with speeds exceeding 100mph at times. It began when Hazlet police called Keyport officers and told them they were looking for a stolen Ford Ranger whose driver allegedly did not pay for $10 worth of gas at a local gas station, said Keyport Police Chief Thomas Mitchell. Employees at the Citgo gave Hazlet police the license plate of the truck, and Keyport Patrolman Robert Womack spotted the vehicle and stopped it after it entered the Parkway. But soon after the officer approached the vehicle and began to speak with the driver, later identified as Michael McKenna, 25, of Mulberry Street, the Trenton man sped away, police said. Around 9:50 p.m., Keyport police told New Jersey State Police they were involved in a pursuit of a stolen vehicle that was heading north on the Parkway. Troopers from the State Police Sayreville station backed up the Keyport officers, and McKenna left the Parkway at exit 125 in Sayreville, said State Police Sgt. Stephen Jones McKenna drove onto Chevalier Avenue, then continued into Perth Amboy, where he turned around, went back over the Victory Bridge, then returned to Sayreville and headed south on the Parkway, said Jones. In Ocean County, police from Waretown set up spike strips that deflated one tire, and police from Stafford set up more strips that flattened the other three tires, said Jones. He was then arrested as reported on TLS and being held on $125,000 bail. Police from Sayreville, Wall, Lakewood, Brick, Berkeley, Toms River, Lacey, and Barnegat also assisted. TLS/App