Authorities say the New York City Police Department was able to use Apple AirTags before a fiery “Fast and Furious”-style crash caught on camera left one officer injured and several cars damaged. announced that they have tracked down a pair of car thieves in the Bronx.
Bria Aponte, 30, and Kenneth Canty, 33, of Burns Avenue in the Bronx, left their car keys in their car to run into a grocery store around noon Friday, then ran into the store without suspecting anything. Without question, I hopped into Ahsan Chaudhary's 2013 Ford Escape. The Bronx District Attorney's Office said the store was located near the corner of Neal and Larting streets. Criminal charges.
However, when he returned, the car was gone. There, Chaudhary approached a nearby police car and reported it stolen, telling officers that there was an air tag hidden inside the car. A dramatic high-speed chase drama reminiscent of a tense movie begins. scene.
Authorities tracked the device's sound until it reached the southeast corner of White Plains Road and Pelham Parkway in the Bronx, where officers spotted the pair driving.
The officer turned on his lights and tried to stop him, but Aponte allegedly drove the wrong way down a one-way street and ignored a red light in an attempt to avoid police.
Aponte crashed into three vehicles, a white Ford pickup truck, a white BMW and a Honda, then went onto the sidewalk and crashed head-on into two marked police cars, according to the complaint.
This was not the couple's first run-in with the law.
Online court records show Aponte was arrested in December 2023 and rearrested in April on theft charges, and Canty was handcuffed in July on weapons possession and harassment charges.
Both men were scheduled to appear in court next month.
The end of Friday's encounter was captured on video, with Aponte and Canty hanging near a Bank of America, police said.
Several officers chased the SUV as it tried to cross the road amid chaos as police sirens screamed and officers banged their batons on the stolen car's windows, breaking the windows. A video posted on social media by NYC Scoop showed.
“Hands up! On the ground!” one officer yelled, drawing his gun, after the Ford finally crawled to a stop.
On the other side, a police officer yelled, “Get out of the car!” Please get out of the car! ” The video shows them grabbing him, throwing him to the ground, and handcuffing him as his wrecked car was smoking next to him.
Andre Gonzalez, one of the 49th Precinct patrol officers, opened the passenger door and tried to pull Canty out of the car, but the alleged accomplice stepped on the accelerator again, and Canty was dragged away. An officer slammed the door shut, the DA's office said.
Gonzalez was later treated for his injuries at a Bronx hospital.
The two also nearly hit another officer, Stacey Pena, the DA's office said.
Police charged both suspects with a series of charges, including assault on a police officer, assault, grand theft, vehicular assault and leaving the scene of an accident, authorities said.
Aponte pleaded not guilty, but the driver was stranded on Rikers Island on $300,000 bail, according to online court records. She is scheduled to appear in court on November 27th.
Canty also pleaded not guilty and was released on his own recognizance. The next court date is January 13th.
