Man shoplifted, stole Uber after released under bail reform, police say

An East Meadow man released under the new bail reform law after he allegedly crashed into a police car while smoking crack was arrested again Thursday — this time, Nassau County police said, after he went on a shoplifting spree, then fled in a stolen Uber, causing the driver to jump from the moving vehicle.

Police said Genri Palacios Acosta, 35, ended up in handcuffs a short time after he stole the Uber, because he was wearing a court-mandated ankle monitor. That had been issued Sunday after he was released following his arraignment on charges connected to the police car crash.

Court records show that Palacios Acosta also was previously released on his own recognizance after being charged with misdemeanor assault in November.

Police said that on Thursday, Palacios Acosta called for an Uber to take him from his home to the Target store on Corporate Drive in Westbury, instructing the driver to wait for his return from the store. Then, police said, Palacios Acosta went inside, took "several items" and put them in a shopping cart before fleeing the store without paying.

That's where things really went south, police said.

Store security officers chased Palacios Acosta into the parking lot, where, police said, he ditched the shopping cart and the items and ran to the Uber. But the Uber driver, witnessing the commotion, refused to drive Palacios Acosta from the scene, police said.

The driver, identified only as a 28-year-old man, got out of the car. When he did, police said, Palacios Acosta jumped from the passenger seat and got into the driver's seat — only to have the Uber driver jump into the passenger seat and try to stop him, the two fighting over the keys as Palacios Acosta drove off.

At some point, police said, Palacios Acosta told the Uber driver he had a gun. At that, police said, the Uber driver jumped from the moving vehicle as it slowed.

Police said Palacios Acosta then drove off with the car.

 Afterward, Third Squad detectives  reviewing security footage realized the suspect was wearing a monitoring device. Police said that led them to the East Meadow home where they found Palacios Acosta sitting outside in a taxi he had hired after ditching the stolen Uber in nearby Hempstead.

Police said that during his arrest, Palacios Acosta was found in possession of marijuana and a pipe containing crack cocaine.

The subsequent investigation then determined Palacios Acosta was the same man who had been arrested Saturday night after he allegedly fled police twice, crashing into a police car while smoking crack.

That incident began shortly after 9 p.m., police said, when plainclothes officers went to check on the welfare of a driver behind the wheel of a white 2003 Infinity parked on Broadway in Westbury. When the officers displayed their shields and identified themselves, police said, Palacios Acosta, holding a glass tube and "smoking a substance the officers believed to be crack," fled. Police then followed him and stopped him on Prospect Avenue in Westbury, only to have him strike their police vehicle and flee again, police said.

Officers managed to stop Palacios Acosta in a parking lot on Duffy Avenue in Hicksville, where they needed a Taser to subdue him after police said he resisted arrest. 

Palacios Acosta was charged Thursday with second-degree robbery, petit larceny and seventh-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance following his arrest on Thursday, police said. He is scheduled for arraignment Friday in First District Court in Hempstead. 

It was not clear if he was represented by an attorney.

By John Valenti

john.valenti@newsday.com

John Valenti, a reporter at Newsday since 1981, has been honored nationally by the Associated Press and Society of the Silurians for investigative, enterprise and breaking news reporting, as well as column writing, and is the author of “Swee'pea,” a book about former New York playground basketball star Lloyd Daniels. Valenti is featured in the Emmy Award-winning ESPN 30-for-30 film “Big Shot.”