Armed Rockland Murder Suspect Crashes, Calls Mom For Ride: NJ DA

A Spring Valley man facing a murder charge in Rockland County ended up in a New Jersey jail after a crash and a chase Dec. 11 led to several weapons and obstruction of justice charges.

According to the criminal complaint filed by Bergen County prosecutors, Hakeem Gentles, 26, is accused of crashing his car in a Montvale homeowner's front yard while driving drunk, then grabbing a black Luis Vuitton bag filled with cash and a loaded gun, running off and calling his mother to come pick him up.

A 911 call sent Police Officer Russell DiLauri to Magnolia Avenue, where he found a highly damaged car on a lawn and a resident who told him the driver ran "that way."

The next thing he found was a woman making a U-turn near a gas station with another car right behind her. Both drivers acted so agitated that DiLauri concluded they were trying to deceive him, according to the criminal complaint.

DiLauri doubled back to the gas station and saw a man with a black bag running toward one of the cars — then changing direction after spotting the patrolman and running toward the other car.

The officer chased the man through the gas station parking lot and caught him when he tried and failed to hurdle a guardrail.

The man appeared to be intoxicated, said DiLauri, who checked behind the guardrail and found the black Luis Vuitton bag. Inside was a loaded Smith & Wesson and what DiLauri described as "bundles of cash." The woman driver admitted she was Gentles' mother and had been called to pick him up, he said in the complaint.

The gun had a defaced serial number, prosecutors said.

In New Jersey, Gentles faces numerous weapons charges, including carrying a gun in New Jersey after having been convicted of a crime, as well as obstruction of justice.

Gentles has a pending indictment for second-degree murder in Rockland County, Peter Walker, Chief of Detectives in the Rockland County District Attorney’s Office, told Patch. He was convicted for third-degree robbery in 2016 and sentenced to probation.

Gentles was arrested in 2017 by Ramapo police after another Spring Valley resident, Rem Louis, was shot in Hillcrest and died of his injuries several days later, The Journal News reported.