READING, Pa. — A third Allentown man is now in custody in connection with an alleged theft that resulted in a Reading police officer opening fire on the suspects’ vehicle.
Members of the U.S. Marshals’ Fugitive Task Force apprehended Marlon T. Carrasquilla in Allentown, detectives with the Berks County District Attorney’s Office announced Monday.
Carrasquilla was one of three masked men attempting to steal catalytic converters from vehicles that were parked in the 200 block of South Fifth Street in Reading on the morning of July 14, the detectives said.
As RPD officers arrived at that location, the three men got into a car and took off, leading the police on a chase through the city and onto the West Shore (Route 422) and Warren Street (Route 12) bypasses at speeds of up to 100 miles per hour, authorities said.
The suspects’ vehicle got off Route 12 at River Road, where it stopped at a dead-end. Police said the suspects refused to comply with their commands and drove toward one of the officers at a high rate of speed. That officer shot at the vehicle, but the suspects’ car hit a police cruiser and continued along River Road until it broke down in the 4000 block in Muhlenberg Township, officials said.
Officers took the driver, identified as Tyvan Barnett, and the rear passenger, Ejau Collazo, both of Allentown, into custody at the scene; the front-seat passenger, later identified as Carrasquilla, ran off and remained at large until his arrest in Allentown on Friday, authorities said.
Carrasquilla, 24, was committed to the Berks County Jail on charges of theft by unlawful taking, receiving stolen property, and criminal conspiracy. A magisterial district judge set his bail at $250,000.
Barnett, 25, was wounded by the officer’s gunfire and taken to a hospital for treatment, officials said. Berks County District Attorney John Adams later determined the officer to be justified in shooting at the vehicle as it sped toward him.
Investigators said they found seven stolen catalytic converters in the trunk of the suspects’ car.