Cranford, NJ - Suspect Steals Prosecutor's Car - Chase on Garden State Parkway - Assault on Police Officer
Man led chase in prosecutor's car, police
say
Roselle Park resident said to have taken car at gym is arrested at hospital
Friday, October 05, 2007
Star-Ledger Staff
A Roselle Park man was charged yesterday with escaping from police in a
stolen car assigned to an Atlantic County assistant prosecutor, who had left the
keys at the front desk of her gym while she worked out.
Brian Belles, 38, of Columbus Place in Roselle Park, was arrested and charged at
University Hospital in Newark, where he had been brought by a relative for
treatment of an undisclosed ailment, according to Cranford Police Lt. Stephen
Wilde.
Wilde said the incident began just after 8 p.m. Wednesday, when a Cranford
patrol officer spotted Belles acting suspiciously inside a convenience store at
the intersection of South and Centennial avenues.
The officer watched him exit the store and get into a 2005 Chevrolet Impala,
which the patrol unit attempted to stop, Wilde said. The vehicle sped off and
was followed onto the southbound lanes of the Garden State Parkway, where the
officer ended the pursuit for safety reasons, Wilde said.
Cranford police issued a bulletin over the police radio system and Elizabeth
police spotted the car at 9:10 p.m. on North Avenue. Members of the Joint
Essex-Union Auto Theft Task Force were alerted and the officers pursued the car
down North Avenue and onto the Goethals Bridge, where the chase was again
terminated, Wilde said. At some point during the pursuit in Elizabeth, Belles
allegedly bumped a police car with the stolen car, Wilde said.
A computer check determined the vehicle police had been chasing was assigned to
an assistant Atlantic County prosecutor, whose car keys were stolen at 3:36 p.m.
Wednesday when she left them in a courtesy tray at a gym in Hamilton.
Wilde said Hamilton police identified Belles as the suspected car thief. That
information was included in a bulletin sent out by Cranford authorities about
its encounter with the stolen car.
When Belles checked into the hospital yesterday, his name appeared on a wanted
list, Wilde said.
"We then received notification from the UMDNJ police that they had the suspect
in custody," Wilde said.
Authorities said Belles was still hospitalized yesterday afternoon and police
were still trying to locate the stolen car.
Belles has been charged with eluding police, possession of stolen property
and aggravated assault on a police officer. His bail was set at $10,000