'Operation Thundercat' Snares Fleeing Suspects After CT To NY Chase

NEW ROCHELLE, NY — Suspected burglars picked the wrong time and the wrong place to try to escape Connecticut police early this morning.

At about 3:30 a.m., the Greenwich Police Department got a report that a car had driven into the front doors of a Saks Fifth Avenue store on Greenwich Avenue and that the car's passengers were busily stealing items from the store. The suspects used their car, a 2019 Toyota Camry which was stolen from Boston, to back through the front doors, according to police. The brazen thieves stole an undetermined amount of merchandise and fled the store in the car, according to investigators.

The car was soon spotted by Greenwich Police Department officers. Cops attempted to stop the fleeing car, but the Camry was able to enter onto I-95 southbound. Greenwich PD quickly coordinated with police in New York.

At about this time, New Rochelle police were taking part in “Operation Thundercat,” a countywide operation organized by the Westchester County Police Department to combat recent thefts of vehicles and catalytic converters.

At 3:36 a.m, the Westchester County Police Real Time Crime Center reported that Greenwich PD were pursuing the Toyota southbound on I-95. New Rochelle police and Westchester County police were in the area and were able to use new pursuit mitigation techniques developed by the Westchester County Police Department to safely and successfully deflate the tires of the suspects’ car. The Camry came to a stop on I-95 and, after a brief foot pursuit, two suspects were taken into custody by New Rochelle police. Items stolen from the burglary in Connecticut were found in the car, according to Greenwich police.

Both of the men taken into custody on charges related to the stolen car, are from Chicago, according to police. Alton Jackson, 34, was charged with felony possession of stolen property, criminal impersonation, unlawfully fleeing police and reckless driving. Police said the 34-year-old was already a fugitive with warrants from Illinois for violent felonies.

Mykuan Smith, 28, was charged with felony possession of stolen property.

The Greenwich burglary is still an open investigation and burglary and larceny charges are expected to be brought against Jackson and Smith in Connecticut, according to authorities.

Police officers from 27 police departments in Westchester County participated in "Operation Thundercat."