Armed Robbery, Kidnapping In Hudson Valley

PORT JERVIS, NY — A senior citizen was robbed and kidnapped at gun point in Port Jervis Friday. The Port Jervis City Police Department said, around 12:30 a.m. Aug. 3, officers responded to a 911 call that reported an assault and robbery of a 67-year-old man in the parking lot of a senior housing complex on Jersey Avenue.

Police said the man had parked his 2015 Subaru outside the apartment complex where he was confronted by two men, one of whom was armed with a silver handgun.

The victim was robbed and then ordered into the trunk of his car. He tried to resist but was assaulted by both of the other men using the pistol and their hands.

They got the victim into the car’s trunk and then drove off in his Subaru.

The 67-year-old was able to get himself out of the trunk by using the emergency trunk release while the robbers were driving the vehicle from the lot.

The man fled on foot to a nearby residence where he reported the incident.

He was taken to Bon Secours Community Hospital for treatment of his injuries.

A police bulletin was broadcast to area law enforcement, and the stolen Subaru was seen around 1:38 a.m. by Orange County sheriff’s deputies on Route 211 in the Town of Wallkill.

Deputies tried to stop the vehicle, but the men did not comply.

They were pursued for about 5 miles into the Town of Montgomery where deputies apprehended the two men after they crashed the car and tried to flee on foot.

Tranelle Drake, 28, of King Street in Port Jervis, and Justin White, 28, of Orange Street in Port Jervis were turned over to Port Jervis detectives who charged them with the following:

• First-degree robbery, a felony
• Second-degree kidnapping, a felony
• Three counts of second-degree robbery, felonies
• Second-degree assault, a felony
• Third-degree criminal possession of a weapon, a felony
• Third-degree grand larceny, a felony

Additionally, Drake was charged with being a fugitive from justice for a warrant issued by the state of Pennsylvania for a parole violation.

Orange County deputies were assisted at the scene of the apprehension by the Wallkill and Montgomery police departments and the New York State Police.

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