An armed carjacker took a yellow taxi cab for a joyride throughout Manhattan not long after midnight on Sunday, Mar. 22 and was arrested after he crashed into an unmarked police car downtown.
Suspect Joseph Ryce reportedly ended his unauthorized journey in downtown Manahttan, about three miles south of where the carjacking took place in Hudson Yards at W. 33rd Street.
According to a a criminal complaint viewed by Straus News, Ryce allegedly drove on the sidewalk at one point during his commandeering of the vehicle, and struck multiple additional vehicles.
Cops say the spree began when Ryce brandished a gun at the unidentified 53-year-old driver of the parked cab, in front of 450 W. 33rd St.—located in Hudson Yards, and otherwise known as Five Manhattan West—at around 12:27 a.m.
Ryce initially drove the car north up 10th Ave., cops said. At one point, police officers say they tried to conduct a traffic stop, but were unable to convince Ryce to comply. He reportedly sped off, triggering a hot pursuit, with a police report saying that cops tailed Ryce at “safe speeds.”
Cops say that Ryce eventually crashed into the aforementioned police car at the intersection of Canal St. and Lafayette St., which is located 3.1 miles south of W. 33rd St., where he allegedly jacked the vehicle. He was reportedly taken into custody shortly thereafter, without incident.
Ryce has been hit with an array of charges including: robbery, grand larceny, reckless endangerment, unlawful fleeing of a police officer in a motor vehicle, criminal possession of stolen property, menacing, obstructing government administration, and unauthorized use of a vehicle.
Nobody was physically injured throughout, cops added. Ryce listed his address as 625 8th Ave., otherwise known as the Port Authority Bus Terminal.
The Manhattan District Attorney’s Office said that Ryce was being held on $50,000 bail, after they sought $100,000 cash bail or $300,000 insurance bond bail. His next court date set for March 27.