By:Jeff Lipton
A burglary suspect turned the streets of the Five Towns into a scene from "NYPD Blue" last week when he led police on a short but wild car chase from Cedarhurst to the Queens border, resulting in a multi-car accident.
Police conducted an intensive, car-by-car manhunt for the suspect, Kevin Parker, 19, of Coolidge Avenue in Lakeview, and his friend, Raheem Hester, 20, of Stanley Street, Inwood. The search, which involved police dogs, stalled traffic for about a half-mile in each direction along Rockaway Turnpike. Police have arrested both men, with the burglary suspect being nabbed after he jumped into the swampy marsh at Rockaway Channel, attempting to elude police by swimming to freedom and trying to hitch a ride from a couple fishing in the water.
The two-day ordeal began at 10 p.m. Monday, July 16, when Parker allegedly climbed to the second floor of a home at 333 Peninsula Blvd., Cedarhurst, and broke the bathroom window to enter the building, said Det. Lt. Gregory Detwiller of the Fourth Squad. Detwiller said Parker was an acquaintance of the homeowners, whom he apparently knew were on vacation in Florida.
He slept in the Cape Cod-style house overnight and apparently ate some food, too, police said. When he awoke the next morning at 8 a.m., Parker found the keys to the homeowners' 1991 Plymouth Voyager, which was parked in the driveway, Detwiller said. Parker took the vehicle, picked up Hester in Inwood, and the two then drove to Hempstead and "rode around for most of the day," Detwiller said.
A housesitter, who agreed to watch the house while the family was away, arrived at the Peninsula Boulevard residence at 3:15 p.m. July 17 and immediately suspected something was wrong. The front door was ajar, the curtains from the bedroom window were missing and the gates to the driveway were open, police said.
He then entered the house and saw things moved around, including a fold-out bed and food. The housesitter called police, who arrived to make out a burglary report.
As the housesitter and a police officer were standing in front of the house, Parker and Hester were returning in the stolen car, authorities said.
When the suspects spotted the police car, Parker quickly turned left onto Oxford Road and turned right heading for Rockaway Turnpike. Fourth Precinct Police Officer Roland Cruz then followed the Voyager, which sped recklessly north on Rockaway Turnpike and tried to squeeze past cars stopped at the traffic light at Brookville Boulevard. At least five or six cars were damaged and two motorists slightly injured, police said.
After the five-minute pursuit, both suspects bailed out of the disabled Voyager and split up, police said. Parker headed on foot into Queens, toward JFK Airport, and Hester headed back into the Five Towns.
A small army of police from Nassau County and New York City descended on the scene to search for the two men. Police dogs from the K-9 Unit were brought in, as well as police helicopters and a harbor patrol unit.
Detwiller said Parker jumped into the marshland surrounding the airport and swam across the Rockaway Channel to a grassy inlet near the airport.
"He tried to enlist the aid of a couple who were fishing in a boat," when he was observed by a Harbor Unit and taken into police custody at 7:22, Detwiller said.
Hester, police said, apparently asked a stranger to give him a ride to Laurelton and was arrested by police at his home at 1:30 a.m. Wednesday, July 18.
Parker was charged with burglary in the second degree, reckless endangerment in the first degree, grand larceny in the fourth degree and resisting arrest. Hester was charged with criminal possession of stolen property in the fourth degree and resisting arrest. Parker was being held on $10,000 bond or $5,000 cash bail and Hester on $5,000 or $2,500.
Brenda Douglas, Hester's girlfriend, said Hester told her he did not know the Voyager was taken without permission. He told her he ran from police because he was scared.
"He's a nice person who has never been in trouble before," Douglas said.
"I know he didn't know it was stolen," she said. "His friend told him that they let him borrow the car to run some errands."
The search for the suspects held up traffic for about an hour along Rockaway Turnpike.
Tom Datadeen, who was on his way to his Queens home after finishing work at Five Towns Chrysler, said he was waiting for a half-hour without anyone telling motorists what was going on. "It was insane," he said.
Fourth Precinct Capt. Richard McCarrick explained the delay: "We had a crime scene and we had to maintain the crime scene to determine what we had. We knew we had two people fleeing. But we didn't know if they were armed with a weapon. A worst case is if they took somebody hostage and drove off from the scene. We couldn't take that chance."
