Stolen truck driver who led police on chase through Staten Island was wanted for stealing 3 other cars, NYPD says
NEW YORK -- The NYPD identified the man who they said tore through a Staten Island neighborhood in a stolen truck and damaged dozens of cars in the process as 48-year-old Michael Rompa of New Jersey.
Moments before arresting Rompa on Thursday night, officers had their guns drawn and surrounded the W.B. Mason truck as it sat under cars it plowed through on Van Duzer Street.
"I was all really quiet before anything happened and then all the sudden it just exploded out here, and it literally sounded like an explosion," said witness Juan Perez.
New Jersey police alerted the NYPD about Rompa after they said he crossed into Staten Island behind the wheel of the stolen truck.
At least 28 vehicles, including three police cars, were damaged during the 40-minute chase, police said.
Debris remained scattered throughout Van Duzer Street, five miles from where officers said they first tried to stop Rompa at Bishop Street and Cranford Avenue, on Friday.
Rompa faces six charges, including assault and reckless endangerment, fleeing an officer in a vehicle, unauthorized use of a vehicle, grand larceny auto and leaving the scene of an accident.
The chase ended in front of Shaw-Nae Dixon's restaurant. Many of the damaged cars belonged to her patrons.
"They're all very, very, shaken up, I will say that much," she said.
Dixon said she paid for customers' rideshares to get home before the scene was cleared at around 1 a.m. Her son saw police arrest Rompa.
"When he looked out, he heard the gentleman running and saying, after he had been picked up by the police, saying, 'I'm gonna do it again,'" said Dixon.
Miraculously, only minor injuries were reported among residents and police officers who were taken to nearby hospitals.
"That's the biggest blessing we can ask of all of this," said Perez.
Police said Rompa previously stole three cars and was wanted for "numerous crimes" in New Jersey and Staten Island.
Sources told CBS New York that Rompa is from Sayreville, New Jersey.