Man, 22, Jailed After 3-Car Crash in Nutley
• Jailed and Arrested for Spatz Ave. Robbery
Jul 15, 2012 – Nutley detectives are investigating a number of local homes for possible links to an arrest made here Thursday night after a chase that included a three-car crash at the corner of Chestnut Street and East Passaic Avenue. Specifically, police are examining homes with clear glass doors favored by the three men who have been charged with a series of robberies in Bergen and Passaic counties.
Following the crash in Nutley, the driver later identified as Hakeem Chance, 22, of Hackensack, led police on a chase that ended in Little Falls. Chance was arrested and transported back to Nutley; his accomplish, who fled on foot, remains at large.
An intense investigation earlier in the week by Bergen County resulted in the formation of a multi-jurisdictional task force including law enforcement officers from Fort Lee, Teaneck, Hackensack, Fairview, Englewood, River Edge, Morris Township, Fairview, Englewood, River Edge, Morris Township, Montville, and Edison.
Bergen County detectives eventually identified Chance, a 22-year-old resident of Hackensack, as a suspect. When Bergen County police were in the process of placing Hakeem Chance under arrest, he fled by car into Nutley, cause the three-car-crash and then sped into nearby Little Falls where he was stopped and apprehended.
Nutley Police that same night confirmed that a home on Spatz Ave., just three blocks from the crash site, had in fact been burglarized.
Bergen County Prosecutors conducted a search of Hakeem Chance's home and recovered drugs along with burglary tools, ski masks and gloves. Chance has been charged with one count of burglary, eight counts of aggravated assault on a police officer, one count of weapons possession and is presently being held on $500,000 bail in the Essex County Jail.
Nutley Police are further investigating other area burglaries that have occurred with similar entries including rear glass sliding doors that were either shattered or broken.
Public Safety Director Alphonse Petracco said that although this man was being watched by Bergen County Law Enforcement, he committed the crime in Nutley and may be responsible for other burglaries here as well.
