Two 18-year-old men identified as suspects in a rash of armed robberies in Carbon and Schuylkill counties are in jail under $100,000 bail each after a nearly 12-mile police chase Sunday night from Tamaqua to Nesquehoning.
The driver, Jose W. Nunez, of 666 N. Locust St., Hazleton, and formerly of New Jersey, has been charged with crimes related to the car chase. He and his front-seat passenger, Tysheed L. Hargrove, a New Jersey native who is homeless, also have been charged with theft and firearms offenses because police said they found a stolen 9 mm handgun in the car.
Two rear-seat passengers initially detained for questioning have been released.
Nunez and Hargrove have not been charged in the recent robberies, but Tamaqua police said they are suspects and state police are handling that aspect of the investigation.
The suspects were taken into custody Sunday night along with a man and woman sitting in the back seat of a Ford Mustang police pursued from Center Street (Route 309) in Tamaqua to Route 209 through Coaldale and Lansford and then west on Route 54 into Nesquehoning before a Nesquehoning police officer forced it to stop.
All four were detained in the Tamaqua police station as police from various agencies investigating the eight armed robberies in Carbon and Schuylkill since Jan. 20 arrived at the station Monday morning.
Convenience stores and supermarkets in Tamaqua, Nesquehoning, Rush Township, McAdoo, Mahanoy Township and Kidder Township have been robbed. No one has been injured in the robberies committed by someone with a gun.
Descriptions of the robbers varied, but one wore a distinctive North Face-brand black ski jacket with gray shoulders and a red ski mask. The most recent robbery occurred at 2:30 a.m. Sunday in Tamaqua at Fegley's convenience store, which also was robbed Jan. 20.
Police have said they believe all the robberies, with possibly the exception of a knifepoint armed robbery of the Redner's Warehouse Food Market in Nesquehoning last Tuesday, were committed by a small group of people working together.
Nunez and Hargrove were taken before District Judge Stephen J. Bayer in Tamaqua for arraignment on the charges related to the car chase and stolen gun around 10:30 a.m. Monday. They are being held in Schuylkill County Prison.
According to the criminal complaints filed against Nunez and Hargrove, Tamaqua police attempted to make a traffic stop on the Ford Mustang that Nunez was driving around 10:35 p.m. Sunday because it did not have a license plate and was partially blocking Center Street.
The Mustang stopped but took off at a high speed when Tamaqua police officer Robert Minnick got out of his patrol car.
During the chase, Hargrove allegedly forced several vehicles to pull off to the side of Route 209 for him to pass. A Nesquehoning police officer attempted to drive in front of the Mustang to slow it down on Route 209, but the Mustang passed it. Once on Route 54, the Nesquehoning police officer passed the Mustang, which then rammed the police car. The officer then drove into the Mustang to cause it to stop.
Officers from several police agencies quickly detained the four people in the Mustang, and a 9 mm handgun was found in plain view on the floor of the front passenger seat where Hargrove had been sitting, the criminal complaint says.
The gun was reported stolen Nov. 12, 2010, to state police at the Blooming Grove barracks in Pike County.
Nunez has been charged with fleeing or attempting to elude police, reckless driving, careless driving, following too closely and driving without a valid registration, insurance and inspection. He and Hargrove also have been charged with receiving stolen property and carrying firearms without a license.
Copyright 2012 - The Morning Call, Allentown, Pa.
McClatchy-Tribune News Service
