Lyndhurst PD: Tailgating Thief Busted By Chief

Lyndhurst Police Chief Richard Jarvis played an educated guess and caught a fleeing thief who’d just slipped out of a local supermarket with nearly $850 of stolen energy drinks and candy, authorities said.

Matthew Hemphill
Photo Credit: *MUGSHOT*

Jerry DeMarco

05/20/2020 6:56 p.m.

Jarvis was driving on Page Avenue around 12:30 p.m. Wednesday when another car came speeding up behind him.

Jarvis pulled over to let it go by, then stopped the driver.

Matthew Hemphill, 36, of Kearny had a large duffel bag filled with the drinks and candy that he said he bought at Costco and another large store – but no receipt, Acting Police Lt. Vincent Auteri said.

Playing a hunch, Jarvis dispatched detectives to the nearby Stop & Shop.

There, they watched a surveillance video showing Hemphill filling the duffel bag with merchandise as he pushed the cart, Auteri said.

He was wearing a coronavirus-protective mask, the lieutenant said.

Around the same time, police were called to an unrelated disturbance in the Stop & Shop.

Hemphill saw responding police cars as he left the store and assumed they were for him, Auteri said.

So he turned onto Page Avenue, hit the gas and zoomed up behind the chief.

Police charged Hemphill with shoplifting and issued him summonses for tailgating and driving while on the suspended list.

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