By Howard Goldstein
At 7:41 p.m. that Thursday, a man in a 1994 Suzuki Sidekick who fled New York State Police led several troopers and Nassau County police officers to North Bellmore.
The chase started on the Southern State Parkway east of Newbridge Road, when state patrolmen Joseph Zawol and Brian Engel tried to stop Kashka Bridges for allegedly driving without a seat belt.
Upon hearing the police siren, Bridges, 27, of Jackson Street in North Hempstead, sped up and exited the parkway heading north on Newbridge, authorities said.
The patrolmen called for backup and pursued Bridges to the junction of Littleneck Avenue and Old Briton Road, off Newbridge. From there, Bridges abandoned the Suzuki, which authorities later identified as a stolen vehicle, and ran off.
Bridges got as far as Jerusalem Avenue before patrolman Engel apprehended and arrested him at 519 Jerusalem Ave. Also present for the arrest were members of the Nassau County Police Department.
Bridges was charged with criminal possession of stolen property in the fourth degree for the Suzuki, as well as marijuana possession.
Michael Furtak, of North Bellmore, a computer technician and part-time Japanese instructor, witnessed the chase unfold from his home. He first noticed that something was awry when he heard helicopters circling overhead.
Furtak was playing the Japanese board game
Go at the time. The helicopter "was circling over the neighborhood. It drew me outside," he said.
"I then saw an officer in a brown uniform running down the street, his hand near his gun. That's when we realized it was a manhunt. We had no idea who they were looking for or why, and there was definitely an element of fear. I locked all the doors and windows and grabbed a cricket bat, just to be safe."
Jonathan Margulies, a journalist living off Old Briton Road, was at home when he saw helicopters moving "deliberately about the area" and police officers running down Old Briton Road.
"We figured the police had whatever it was under control," said Margulies.
