Three men have been arrested after trying to scam a Long Island Target store for some child car seats, then leading cops on a chase in which one suspect drove off with an officer hanging out the window, according to police.
The alleged incident started inside the store in Westbury just after 7:30 p.m. Sunday, Nassau County police said. Two of the suspects, Quamik Stephenson and Ronald Jiles-Ais, put two infant car seats in their shopping carts. They then went to the store's customer service desk, and allegedly tried to return the items they never bought in the first place.
Stephenson and Jiles-Ais were denied by employees, and the two left the store with the car seats still in their carts. They then got into the back seat of a black Tesla, along with the items, police said.
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The store called police, who came to the parking lot and saw the alleged stolen items inside the car. They talked with the driver of the car, 22-year-old Malique Wilson, who at one point got out of the car and took off running, according to Nassau County police. As officers chased after him, he eventually made his way back to the car and tried to drive off.
However, one of the cops got into the car with him and tried to place him under arrest. But Wilson started to drive as the officer was dangling out of the passenger side of the Tesla, police said. No injuries were reported.
After ramming into three cars, Wilson again got out of the car and allegedly tried to take off on foot again. He was found shortly after in the back of a parked dump truck in a nearby parking lot.
Jiles-Ais, who was a passenger in the back seat during the ordeal, was arrested without further incident. Police said the 24year-old had three fake driver's licenses on him at the time. Stephenson, 24, initially ran from cops but was found hiding in a nearby parking lot as well, according to police.
Wilson, who had an open warrant from the NYPD for weapon possession, faces a slew of charges. Jiles-Ais was charged with petit larceny and three counts of possession of a forged instrument, for the phony licenses. Stephen was charged with petit larceny and resisting arrest.
All three were arraigned Monday. Attorney information for the trio was not immediately clear.
