By NANCY HILER
, a Yonkers man was arrested at the BOCES School in North Bellmore at about 8 a.m. on Dec. 5. James Fisher, 35, reportedly told police that he was running from the Russian mob.
Fisher was charged with a variety of crimes after allegedly engaging in a series of chaotic, violent incidents that began just before 7 a.m. last Friday in Freeport, Nassau County First Squad detectives said.
The incidents began, police said, when Fisher, who was driving a 2008 Volkswagen Jetta north on South Main Street in Freeport, collided with a man driving a 2009 Toyota. Fisher got out of his car and repeatedly tried to open the locked door of the car that he hit, but the man drove away and called the police.
At that point, according to police, Fisher got back in his car and drove east on Merrick Road, where he struck a second car, a 2003 Hyundai. He walked over to that car and tried to get into it, again unsuccessfully. Fisher returned to his car and took out a baseball bat and a wooden stick, then ran to Lee Street and smashed two windows of an unoccupied 2004 Ford Explorer.
Fisher kept walking until he came upon a 1997 Nissan stopped at a traffic light at Liberty Avenue and Merrick Road, police said, where he smashed the driver's-side window with the bat. Finding the driver's door locked when he attempted to open it, Fisher reached into the open window, unlocked it and allegedly pulled out the driver, a 77-year-old Rockville Centre woman, who fell to the ground. The woman suffered minor leg and hip injuries, police said, and was treated at a local hospital and later released.
Fisher drove the stolen car north on Liberty Street until he reached the BOCES School on Jerusalem Avenue in North Bellmore, according to police. There he got out of the car and entered the school, where officials called police. Authorities found Fisher in a first-floor hallway and arrested him.
Fisher was arraigned in First District Court in Hempstead last Saturday, on charges of first- and second-degree robbery, attempted second-degree robbery, attempted grand larceny, possession of a dangerous weapon, criminal trespass, criminal mischief and leaving the scene of an accident.
Comments about this story? NHiler@liherald.com or (516) 569-4000 ext. 234.
