Verrazano Toll Plaza Shooting Suspect Charged in Slayings, Crime Spree: NYPD

The man arrested in the attempted traffic stop on the Verrazano Bridge that prompted officers to open fire has now been charged with two counts of murder in a crime spree that began with a pair of fatal shootings and ended three days later when an alleged carjacking attempt was foiled by a manual transmission, authorities say.

Tyrell Brown, 25, also faces a bevy of robbery, assault and weapons charges following the spate of crimes on Staten Island between Sunday morning and Tuesday night. Officers picked up the 25-year-old late Tuesday after they cast a dragnet for the suspect who blazed through the Verrazano Bridge toll plaza in a stolen Hummer early Monday.

Police say the spree began early Sunday, when the suspect allegedly shot Kuwan Collins of Voorhees, New Jersey, outside a home on Britton Avenue on Staten Island. Officers found the 40-year-old unconscious at about 5 a.m. with a gunshot wound to the head, and the man was pronounced dead at a hospital.

Around the same time but 7 miles to the west, police found a second man, 23-year-old Devin Powell, who had also been shot dead. Brown was charged with Powell's killing Thursday; police say Powell was shot in the right cheek.

An hour after the bodies were found and a few blocks from where Powell was killed, police say Brown allegedly stuck up a 29-year-old man on Holland Avenue, pointing a gun at the victim and demanding cash. He then allegedly made the man get on the ground and stole the Hummer he would drive through the Verrazano toll plaza 18 hours later.

Officers tried to flag down the carjacked SUV, which they had been told to look out for, but the suspect refused to stop, speeding through a roadblock and wooden toll barrier. Officers opened fire at some point, and the vehicle exited the expressway near Hylan Boulevard and hit a Hyundai.

The collision rendered the stolen Hummer inoperable, police say, and the suspect ran into the woods nearby. A female passenger also tried to run but was arrested at the scene. The Hyundai's driver wasn't hurt.

The suspect didn't resurface again until about 9:40 p.m. Tuesday, when police say he allegedly tried to jump in a running 2013 Honda Civic parked outside a home on Walker Street in Mariners Harbor. The would-be carjacker couldn't work the car's stick shift, however, and ran from the scene.

The NYPD says officers received information about Brown's whereabouts after the attempted car theft, and the man was arrested near Osgood an Mosel avenues at about 10:20 p.m.

It's not clear if Brown has an attorney.

Copyright AP - Associated Press
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