bob shiftright
11-23-2004, 12:01 PM
http://www.trentonian.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=13420109&BRD=1697&PAG=461&dept_id=44551&rfi=6
Wild chase, gunfire turns fatal: Cops: Dad mows down robbery suspect with SUV
TRYMAINE D. LEE , Staff Writer
TRENTON -- When armed robbers jammed a gun into his face and threatened to rape his two daughters, something snapped, Trenton resident Bob O’Neal said yesterday. "I just couldn’t take it anymore," O’Neal said. "He put a gun in my face and threatened to rape my kids. I’m not having that."
According to police, O’Neal jumped into his SUV and chased his attackers after they confronted him in front of his Hiltonia home Sunday night and stole about $1,500 in cash.
The chase ended minutes later, on Route 29, after O’Neal allegedly ran over one suspect who fired at him, leaving him dead at the scene.
"I wasn’t trying to kill anybody... I just wanted to get the tag number on the car," a visibly-shaken O’Neal said. "But they intended to kill me," he added.
Police said the bizarre robbery turned fatality began in front of O’Neal’s Cornwall Avenue home around 9 p.m. Sunday.
O’Neal, who is currently undergoing chemotherapy for a liver disorder, said he had returned home from an outing with his two daughters, ages 16 and 17, when he saw an old white Chrysler station wagon pull up and park a few doors down from his home.
Police said the 54-year-old single father of three escorted his daughters into the house and returned to lock up his Dodge Durango a few minutes later.
That’s when he was confronted by the group of guys in the white station wagon.
O’Neal said the now dead gunman hopped out and shoved a gun in his face, demanding money.
Police said he and his bunch made off with $1,500 and assorted credit cards.
O’Neal got in his Dodge Durango and trailed the four suspects along Route 29, eventually ramming his truck into the rear of their car.
Sgt. Pedro Medina said O’Neal rammed into the suspects car a second time, at which point the alleged gunman, a Hispanic male, fired two shots from the rear of the car.
Then the suspects hopped the curb and drove onto the median, with O’Neal on their tail, jumping the curb as well.
"They went into the grassy part and at which time they fired again," Medina said.
Three suspects hopped out and ran, while the fourth stayed, fired a few more shots, police said.
O’Neal said as the gunman fired those two last shots, he ducked under the steering wheel, and everything after that is kind of a blur.
Seconds later the gunman was dead, his body shorn in half, allegedly by O’Neal’s SUV.
Police said O’Neal made the gruesome discovery after he exited his truck to retrieve his truck’s bumper, which had fallen off during the incident.
"I looked down and saw half of him," O’Neal said when asked if he knew the man was dead.
Half the suspect’s body lay in a ditch off Route 29 southbound near Sanhican Drive, the rest of him was allegedly ripped from his torso, witnesses said yesterday.
Police arrived later and found the dead suspect. Medina said a silver .25-caliber handgun was recovered from the scene.
They later arrested two suspects, while the fourth suspect remained at large yesterday.
Kyle Gibson, a 19-year-old white male; and a 15-year-old black juvenile, both of Trenton, were in police custody last night.
Medina said the pair are charged with armed robbery, weapons offenses and possibly a felony murder charge in connection with their cohort’s death.
Gibson and the juvenile were arrested when Gibson called police sometime later and reported that his car, the one used during the robbery and abandoned at the scene of the killing, had been stolen.
Detectives used information from Gibson’s conversation with police to track him down and connect him and the 15-year-old to the crime, Medina said.
A third suspect, described as a 6-foot-1-inch black male, possibly nicknamed "Black," escaped capture and remained on the run last night.
While disturbed by the horrific episode, O’Neal said yesterday he did what he had to do to protect his family and others.
"I just couldn’t let this (type of robbery) happen to anyone else," he said tearfully. "Most people would run, but I just don’t have it in me to run... I had to protect my two girls and, I thought they were going to come back to hurt them..."
Yesterday evening as neighbors, curious about the fuss, walked past his home, O’Neal said he believed thieves consider Hiltonia residents to be easy targets.
"But I wasn’t scared for a second," he said.
Wild chase, gunfire turns fatal: Cops: Dad mows down robbery suspect with SUV
TRYMAINE D. LEE , Staff Writer
TRENTON -- When armed robbers jammed a gun into his face and threatened to rape his two daughters, something snapped, Trenton resident Bob O’Neal said yesterday. "I just couldn’t take it anymore," O’Neal said. "He put a gun in my face and threatened to rape my kids. I’m not having that."
According to police, O’Neal jumped into his SUV and chased his attackers after they confronted him in front of his Hiltonia home Sunday night and stole about $1,500 in cash.
The chase ended minutes later, on Route 29, after O’Neal allegedly ran over one suspect who fired at him, leaving him dead at the scene.
"I wasn’t trying to kill anybody... I just wanted to get the tag number on the car," a visibly-shaken O’Neal said. "But they intended to kill me," he added.
Police said the bizarre robbery turned fatality began in front of O’Neal’s Cornwall Avenue home around 9 p.m. Sunday.
O’Neal, who is currently undergoing chemotherapy for a liver disorder, said he had returned home from an outing with his two daughters, ages 16 and 17, when he saw an old white Chrysler station wagon pull up and park a few doors down from his home.
Police said the 54-year-old single father of three escorted his daughters into the house and returned to lock up his Dodge Durango a few minutes later.
That’s when he was confronted by the group of guys in the white station wagon.
O’Neal said the now dead gunman hopped out and shoved a gun in his face, demanding money.
Police said he and his bunch made off with $1,500 and assorted credit cards.
O’Neal got in his Dodge Durango and trailed the four suspects along Route 29, eventually ramming his truck into the rear of their car.
Sgt. Pedro Medina said O’Neal rammed into the suspects car a second time, at which point the alleged gunman, a Hispanic male, fired two shots from the rear of the car.
Then the suspects hopped the curb and drove onto the median, with O’Neal on their tail, jumping the curb as well.
"They went into the grassy part and at which time they fired again," Medina said.
Three suspects hopped out and ran, while the fourth stayed, fired a few more shots, police said.
O’Neal said as the gunman fired those two last shots, he ducked under the steering wheel, and everything after that is kind of a blur.
Seconds later the gunman was dead, his body shorn in half, allegedly by O’Neal’s SUV.
Police said O’Neal made the gruesome discovery after he exited his truck to retrieve his truck’s bumper, which had fallen off during the incident.
"I looked down and saw half of him," O’Neal said when asked if he knew the man was dead.
Half the suspect’s body lay in a ditch off Route 29 southbound near Sanhican Drive, the rest of him was allegedly ripped from his torso, witnesses said yesterday.
Police arrived later and found the dead suspect. Medina said a silver .25-caliber handgun was recovered from the scene.
They later arrested two suspects, while the fourth suspect remained at large yesterday.
Kyle Gibson, a 19-year-old white male; and a 15-year-old black juvenile, both of Trenton, were in police custody last night.
Medina said the pair are charged with armed robbery, weapons offenses and possibly a felony murder charge in connection with their cohort’s death.
Gibson and the juvenile were arrested when Gibson called police sometime later and reported that his car, the one used during the robbery and abandoned at the scene of the killing, had been stolen.
Detectives used information from Gibson’s conversation with police to track him down and connect him and the 15-year-old to the crime, Medina said.
A third suspect, described as a 6-foot-1-inch black male, possibly nicknamed "Black," escaped capture and remained on the run last night.
While disturbed by the horrific episode, O’Neal said yesterday he did what he had to do to protect his family and others.
"I just couldn’t let this (type of robbery) happen to anyone else," he said tearfully. "Most people would run, but I just don’t have it in me to run... I had to protect my two girls and, I thought they were going to come back to hurt them..."
Yesterday evening as neighbors, curious about the fuss, walked past his home, O’Neal said he believed thieves consider Hiltonia residents to be easy targets.
"But I wasn’t scared for a second," he said.