This story was updated at 3:47 p.m. on 1.7.13.
A motorist driving a stolen vehicle took a Long Beach police officer on a chase before he collided into his patrol car and was arrested Friday, according to the Long Beach Police Department.
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Anthony Mills, 48, of West Hemsptead was driving eastbound in the left lane on West Park Avenue at Washington Boulevard when patrol officer Brian Martin got a hit on his license plate reader for a stolen vehicle, a light-blue 2012 Honda Civic, at about 9:41 a.m. on Jan. 4, said Eric Cregeen, the department’s public information officer.
Martin followed the vehicle and observed it crossing two lanes of traffic to the right lane, after which the stolen vehicle gained speed. Martin turned his emergency lights and siren on in an attempt to stop the motorist, but Mills refused to pull over and struck two parked vehicles.
“Officer Martin was able to call for assistance from other units in the area, as the stolen vehicle proceeded north over the Long Beach Bridge into Island Park,” Cregeen said.
After crossing the bridge, Mills spotted police vehicles surrounding him on Austin Boulevard and he made a sharp left turn and drove westbound onto Rail Road Place, where he struck Martin’s patrol car and the airbag in the stolen vehicle was deployed from the collision.
Mill’s stopped at the northwest corner of Rail Road Place and Austin Boulevard, and Martin’s car blocked the vehicle’s driver’s side door as a result of the collision.
“The driver of the stolen vehicle refused to comply to officers instructions to put his hands up but instead was reaching under his seat,” Cregeen said.
Martin used his baton to break the driver’s side window of the stolen vehicle to gain entry, after which Mills was placed under arrest at about 9:50 a.m. Mills was arrested and charged with criminal possession of stolen property, unauthorized use of vehicle without owners consent, unlawful fleeing a police officer in a motor vehicle and resisting arrest.
A Nassau County Police Department ambulance transported Mills to South Nassau Communities Hospital in Oceanside to treat pain in his leg due to the collision.
Long Beach City Court Judge Frank Dikranis arraigned Mills at LBPD headquarters Saturday morning. No bail was set and Mills was remanded until Jan. 7.
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