On Thursday, a Middletown police officer was at the supermarket located at 416 East Main Street for an unrelated matter when the store’s loss prevention officer approached him and pointed out a black woman as she put Dove soap into a purple Halloween bag and then walked out without paying.
The police officer followed her and yelled for her to stop, but she jumped into the passenger side of a car that was waiting in the fire lane right in front of the store.
The officer was close enough to grab the door frame of the car, since the window was open. Both the passenger–who had just stolen the soap–and the driver looked at the officer in the eye, and then the driver put his foot on the pedal and began to move. The officer let go after several steps as he continued yelling for the driver to stop, but the car kept going.
The driver sped off through the parking lot, nearly hitting at least five shoppers who had to jump out of the way. Then, as he sped out of the lot, he almost hit another car, police say.
The officer advised dispatch and gave the license plate and car description, and the car was quickly stopped on Route 9 after hit got stuck in heavy traffic. Both people were taken into custody.
The driver, who the officer had previously interacted with for other incidents, was identified as Willie Earl Perry, 51, of Middletown. He was charged with assault on a police officer, interfering with a police officer, reckless endangerment in the first degree, operating an unregistered and uninsured car and misuse of a license plate. He was held on $100,000 bond.
The passenger , who the officer witnessed stealing $61.37 worth of merchandise from the Stop & Shop, was identified as Angelica Lebby, 28, of Middletown. She was charged with robbery in the third degree, larceny in the sixth degree, and interfering with a police officer. She was held on $25,000 bond.
Both suspects live at the same address, but their connection was not made clear by police.
