A man accused of shooting a Delaware trooper on Wednesday is the father of a suspect in last month’s armed robbery of Caesars Atlantic City Hotel & Casino in New Jersey, state police announced.
Troopers were looking for 21-year-old Nathaniel Greenlee around 11:20 a.m., when they attempted to execute a search warrant at his last known address on the 1000 block of Powell Court in Bear, Del.
Officers knocked on the outside door and identified themselves as law enforcement several times but received no response, police said.
As troopers made entry into the home, Nathaniel Greenlee’s father, 50-year-old John Greenlee, allegedly opened fire on the team from a second-floor stairway, shooting off two rounds from a semiautomatic handgun.
A 42-year-old trooper was struck in the upper body, but his protective vest absorbed the impact of the bullet, according to police.
Officers were able to take John Greenlee into custody without returning fire, police said. A handgun was recovered at the scene.
The trooper, a 19-year Delaware State Police veteran assigned to the Special Operations Response Team, was treated for minor injuries at the Christiana Hospital Trauma Center and released Wednesday night.
New Jersey State Police had issued an arrest warrant for Nathaniel Greenlee in connection with a July 21 heist at Caesars Atlantic City during which two masked gunmen stole plastic cash boxes containing more than $180,000 from inside the casino, police said.
Though he was not found inside the Bear home, Nathaniel Greenlee was later tracked down in Pennsylvania, where state police took him into custody Wednesday afternoon, according to investigators.
He is the fifth person to be arrested in connection with the Caesars casino robbery. The nature of his alleged involvement in the crime was not immediately clear.
John Greenlee was arraigned on charges of reckless endangerment and possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony. He was released after posting $25,000 unsecured bond.
Delaware State Police detectives and the Delaware Attorney General’s Office are continuing to review the shooting incident and will decide whether additional charges are warranted when the investigation is complete, police said.
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McClatchy-Tribune News Service
