Police Charge Two Men with Shoplifting Following Chase

Two men charged with shoplifting from the CVS pharmacy on Morris Ave. in Springfield led police on a multi-town chase last week.

On Tuesday, Aug. 14, CVS employees contacted police, reporting that shoplifters had just fled the store. Corporal Danielle Kahora, on Morris Ave. when the alert went out, responded. Upon her arrival, witnesses pointed out a man walking in the parking lot, saying he was one of two men who had run from the store activating the door sensor alarm.

The man, Robert Banks, 43, of Newark, fled when Corporal Kahora ordered him to stop. Kahora chased Banks on foot into Millburn where he reportedly stripped off his outer shirt and tried to hide among the factory buildings on Bleeker Street.  Banks was apprehended with the assistance of Millburn police officers.

After police watched store surveillance video, a description of the second suspect was radioed to officers. Lieutenant Damon Quirk and Captain Patrick McLaughlin apprehended the second suspect, Mark Anthony, 43, of Piscataway, who was reportedly attempting to hide among parked cars in the lot of an office building at 150 Morris Avenue.

Lieutenant Quirk also recovered a large blue shopping bag that contained boxes of baby formula and the outer shirt that Banks allegedly stripped off to alter his appearance from witness reports.

Police reportedly found the shoplifter’s car illegally parked in a handicapped parking space at the rear of the CVS parking lot. This car reportedly contained additional stolen boxes of baby formula the first suspect had thrown into the car before running off.

Police charged both men with Shoplifting and Possession of Drug Paraphernalia. Latter charge was for glass "crack pipes" reportedly found inside their car. Banks was also charged with Obstruction while Anthony received tickets for operating a Motor Vehicle with a Revoked Driver License and for parking in a handicapped parking space. They were both turned over to the Newark Police Department for multiple warrants that agency had for them.

Their court date in the Springfield Municipal Court has been set for Sept. 10.