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Two people wanted in connection with nearly a dozen designer store handbag heists led police on a wild chase driving against traffic on the Manhattan Bridge Tuesday night.
The dangerous pursuit ended when the men abandoned their Toyota Scion with Pennsylvania plates — and one of the alleged thieves jumped from the top of the bridge onto its lower level then crossed the subway tracks that serve the B/D/N/Q trains, law enforcement sources said.
Police caught up with the fleeing suspects on foot and charged the driver with reckless endangerment as the FNDY put out a small fire in the getaway car’s engine, caused by mechanical issues, sources said.
The ch ase stared around 6:30 p.m. when police recognized the car in connection with a spate of snatch-and-run robberies, and tried to pull it over on Spring Street and Greene Street in Soho, according to sources.
A 13-block pursuit to the mouth of the bridge ensued, as the suspects headed east toward Brooklyn on the westbound lanes of the East River crossing, snarling rush hour traffic, sources said.
The unidentified men were believed to be involved in 11 brazen robberies of high-end stores in Soho, Midtown, the Upper East Side and White Plains, and police found stolen goods in the car, according to sources.
Organized robberies of luxury stores had soared during the COVID-19 pandemic, as large groups of shoplifters ransack boutiques, grab high-value merchandise and flee before police can arrive.
In one such incident last month, five men stole $48,300 worth of purses from the Céline Boutique in Soho in a matter of moments during a broad daylight strong-arm holdup.
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