A funny thing happened to Jamie Arias on his way to being promoted to detective in the Port Washington Police District on July 24 – a car was stolen.
So, Arias and his partner, detective Mike Cetta, quickly got into a squad car and went to find the vehicle and the person who stole it before eventually making the arrest.
“We were in the downstairs office when the radio transmission came over the radio that a vehicle had been stolen on Main Street around a quarter to six, which is a very busy time on Main Street,” said Arias, who has served on the Port Washington force since 2017.
“Every officer was looking for this car,” said Arias. “One of my co-workers found the car abandoned near a dense wooded area, and we could hear the man in the woods, so we hopped the fence and went after him on foot.”
Arias said the officers chased the suspect to an area just outside the police district, where they confined him in the wooded area adjacent to the LIRR tracks.
“Next to the tracks is a bit of land that basically goes from the Plandome Train Station all the way down to Main Street,” said Port Washington Police District Chief Robert Del Muro. “He couldn’t drive out of the area, so he got out and ran. It was a small area, with only four or five roads. So they had him blocked in that area.”
The officers called for a helicopter, a dog and a drone to come and look for the man on foot. Since crossing the train tracks would be fairly easy, the officers didn’t know which way the man would go. For safety reasons, the officers called into the train stop that was due into town shortly to warn them that officers would be near the tracks.
The area the suspect was backed into goes into residential and commercial areas down Main Street. The man then came out on Marino Avenue, one of the residential blocks.
When he stepped onto the street, the suspect approached a house to ask the homeowner to call him a taxi.
Del Muro said the man told the homeowner he fought with his girlfriend, and she threw him out of the car without his cell phone, so he needed a taxi service.
The homeowner called a taxi for the man, Del Muro said.
When the taxi arrived, the man requested a ride to Hempstead but had no cash. The man said he had a credit card to pay, so the taxi took him to the company office to pay with a card before the ride.
The homeowner felt uneasy about the whole situation and called the police to share what he just witnessed, Del Muro said.
After receiving the homeowner’s call, an officer called the cab company to ask if the man was still in their offices.
“The taxi company is on Main Street at the train station, which is basically a hundred feet away from where he stole the car,” said Del Muro. “The company told us he was still there trying to get a taxi, and I was down the road, so I drove up there and got him.”
The man was then arrested by Arias and Cetta, who brought to the police station where he confessed, police said.
At the headquarters, Arias and Cetta learned that the man had used a false ID and stolen credit cards from the car. He was charged with stealing a car, impersonating someone and stealing credit cards.
“Every officer did a great job,” said Del Muro. “They ran out and pinned the guy.”
Shortly after the arrest, at 7 p.m., the Police District commissioners called Del Muro to attend the meeting for Arias’s promotion.
“Arias’s wife, children and their dog were in the meeting room, waiting to see his promotion,” said Del Muro. “But Arias needed some time to cool off after making the arrest and processing.”
Arias made his way to the meeting and was officially promoted to detective.
“I still had mud on my boots and pants,” said Arias. “It was a day I’ll never forget.”
