Home Depot Armed Robbery Leads To Wild Chase Into Swamp, 1 Arrest

UNION, NJ — A scheme to shoplift at a Home Depot in Union with a weapon turned into a wild chase across Route 22 and into a swamp.

The Shoplifting

Home Depot workers at the location at 930 Springfield Road called Union Police on Tuesday at about 5:49 p.m. about a shoplifting incident.

One of two people pulled a knife on the store loss prevention worker and then they fled with the stolen merchandise in a shopping cart and pushed it through the lot towards Route 22, the worker told police.

The worker then saw the two people got into a Lexus with the stolen items and drove onto Route 22 east, police said.

The Chase

Sgt. Dan Hanselmann was on Route 22 and saw the Lexus pass by. But when the driver saw the marked police car, he reportedly accelerated and tried to get away from Hanselmann.

The Lexus then struck the curbing twice before becoming disabled near the entrance to the Garden State Parkway northbound, Union Police report.

Both men got out and ran away from the car and Hanselmann ran after the driver who ran across all lanes on Route 22 and then up the hill towards the Garden State Parkway, police said.

Hanselmann was able to catch up to him on the grass hill and tackled the driver and arrested him.

The Alleged Lie

While being handcuffed the driver told Hanselmann that he was carjacked and the other guy had a knife and or gun and he forced him to do everything, authorities said.

The Home Depot surveillance video showed the driver was part of the shoplifting plan and the carjacking story was a lie. Instead the video showed the men worked together and the man who escaped pulled a knife or box cutter and tried to injure the employee, according to the report.

The Search

A witness told officers that the other person in the car jumped over the guardrail down into the Kawameeh swamp area. A large-scale search began where officers searched for a few hours with the help of a Union County Sheriff’s search dog, Union County Police, and a State Police helicopter.

The heavily wooded area made it difficult to search and the other person was not found, police report.

The Arrest

The driver arrested was identified as Rashon Plant, 45, from North Munn Ave., East Orange. He was charged with robbery, eluding the police and various drug charges since he had heroin and cocaine when he was arrested. Plant is being held at Union Police headquarters until he is sent to the Union County Jail.

The car was towed to police headquarters and a search revealed about $2,000 worth of various tools in the
trunk. Lead Detective Robert T. Kiselow is working on identifying the suspect who got away.

Anyone with information on this or any other crime is asked to contact the detectives at 908-851-5030.

(Image via Google Maps: Home Depot, 930 Springfield Rd., Union)

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