SHARE

Police Nab Third Suspect In Fort Lee Rapper Robbery, GWB Chase

Authorities have caught the last of three men who they said robbed a popular rapper-turned-reality TV personality and a companion of $183,000 in jewelry and cash at gunpoint in Fort Lee, then led police on a wild chase across the George Washington Bridge into Manhattan more than two months ago.

Safaree Samuels (main photo) / INSET: Tacuma E. Ashman

Safaree Samuels (main photo) / INSET: Tacuma E. Ashman

Photo Credit: FACEBOOK / INSET: Courtesy of BERGEN COUNTY SHERIFF

The NYPD caught two alleged accomplices who bailed from a black Cadillac Escalade that crashed on the Henry Hudson Parkway after a chase that followed the April 2 holdup of "Love and HipHop" star Safaree Samuels.

"[It] was probably 1 of the worst scariest nights of my life," Samuels tweeted after the holdup.

On Friday, Tacuma E. Ashman, 39, was booked into the Bergen County Jail on charges of first-degree robbery, aggravated assault with a firearm, making terroristic threats and illegal weapons possession counts.

"Fort Lee detectives relentlessly pursued multiple leads to make this arrest," Capt. Matthew Hintze told Daily Voice.

Ashman remained held in the jail Monday -- as did Shawn Harewood, 33.

Harewood was brought to the jail from Manhattan on April 11. Like Ashman, he's charged with first-degree robbery and the other counts.

The third defendant, 28-year-old Jonathan Ricketts, was also brought to the jail on April 11 before being released hours later pending a hearing on a single robbery charge. 

******

FROM THE ORIGINAL STORY:

"Two dudes with guns just ran up on me," Samuels said during a visit to Power 105.1 FM. "Had me face down on the ground with a gun to my head."

His Instagram page also has a photo of the red fur coat that Samuels was wearing when, he said, the robbers ordered him and Corey Bryant to the ground at gunpoint in Fort Lee before fleeing on foot with the valuables around 2 a.m. April 2.

Responding Officers Patrick Cillo and Natalie Mateus spotted a black Cadillac Escalade without front or rear license plates, its headlights off, make a sharp U-turn and head to the bridge’s upper level as they approached, Capt. Matthew Hintze said.

Fort Lee police notified their NYPD and Port Authority colleagues that they were trying to stop the vehicle, which smashed into the southbound Henry Hudson Parkway ramp median and kept going, Hintze said.

The Escalade finally broke down and came to a full stop at the West 158th Street exit, he said.

Three occupants jumped out and ran across several lanes of traffic into a wooded area.

The NYPD soon after caught two of them. They were identified as Shawn Harewood and Jonathan Ricketts.

Both were charged with first-degree robbery and were being held in the city pending extradition to New Jersey. Additional charges were pending, Hintze said.

The third suspect remained at large, he said Tuesday afternoon.

to follow Daily Voice Fort Lee and receive free news updates.

SCROLL TO NEXT ARTICLE